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Kickoff: Can the Seattle Sounders stay hot at Atlanta United?
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Coming off a 3-2 victory over the San Jose Earthquakes at Lumen Field, it's an Eastern Conference road trip for the Seattle Sounders as they get set to take on reeling Atlanta United. With one last match before Leagues Cup begins, can Seattle make it a fourth straight game with at least three goals scored? Later on we'll hit some headlines from around the league, including a comedic ending in Saturday's El Trafico showdown between LAFC and the LA Galaxy.
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Lobbing Scorchers Kickoff is a Seattle Sounders and MLS focused live morning show. Join Ari Liljenwall and Niko Moreno live on YouTube every Monday, at 8am Pacific to kickoff your week with the inside scoop on the Seattle Sounders and Major League Soccer. Hosted by Major League Soccer's Ari Liljenwall and Pulso Sports' Niko Moreno. Grab a coffee as we talk about the American soccer landscape, Seattle Sounders, Major League Soccer, USMNT and more.
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Transcript
Introduction and Theme
00:00:00
Speaker
This episode of Lobbing Scorchers was previously recorded and streamed live on YouTube.com slash at Lobbing Scorchers. If you want to listen or catch these episodes live, see the video, and see all the rest of our content, go to YouTube.com slash at Lobbing Scorchers or LobbingScorchers.com slash YouTube.
00:00:22
Speaker
Well sir, we got a scorcher today. Gonna be real scorcher today. Why the scorcher today? Well it's gonna be a scorcher.
Show Content and Technical Acknowledgment
00:00:43
Speaker
Good morning, everybody. Welcome in to another episode of Lobbing Scorchers Kickoff. I'm Ari. That's Nico. And we've got a big show for you all here this morning.
00:00:53
Speaker
Thank you all for bearing with the minor technical difficulties and slightly delayed start. But it's going to be worth it.
Seattle Sounders Match Discussion
00:00:59
Speaker
We've got a ah Seattle Sounders win. to talk about three, two over the San Jose earthquakes that I think there are a couple obvious big storylines that you and I got to hit Nico Atlanta United coming up next on the road. Last game before leagues cup break opportunity for Seattle to stack some more points.
00:01:18
Speaker
for going into that tournament. And then we're going to jump around the league a little bit. think hit a little El Trafico. That was probably the match of the of the weekend for this la last match day.
00:01:30
Speaker
And then whatever else comes up. ah Nico, how are you doing here this morning? Hey, what's going on Ari? Hopefully I'm coming in decently. As you mentioned, we are doing our best to fix the audio. We know that there's a little bit of static-y popping that we've had in the past.
00:01:48
Speaker
I've tried a couple of things and have been a little bit unsuccessful. As you can tell, I'm working a little office space here to get it going, like with the mobile app, but hopefully all of that works out. But all...
00:02:05
Speaker
with the intent to provide you guys the best possible content. And ah yes, it was a big, big win for the Seattle Sounders ah against a very good San Jose team. So i'm just excited to get on and talk about it, regardless of the obvious big elephant in the room, which it is Jordan Morris's injury, which I'm sure we'll get into.
00:02:28
Speaker
Lobbing Scorchers tech issues. I can't believe it. And there is no precedent for that. It's never happened before. It's definitely not a on my end. I've never had tech issues. so I don't know what's going on. But ah yeah, ah that's a good place to start. Let's get right into it in just a second here.
Support and Engagement Opportunities
00:02:42
Speaker
Before we do that, though, if everyone could please like the video.
00:02:47
Speaker
If you haven't yet, subscribe to the channel. Follow us on Instagram. Follow us on TikTok. Lobbingscorchers.com slash sauce. if ah If you haven't gotten the hot sauce yet, code LS, free bottle with your order.
00:03:00
Speaker
Lobbingscorchers.com slash archive if you haven't ordered your Orca kit, which... Those continue to look absolutely fantastic. i don't know about you, Nico, but I think I've been saying those are my favorite kits since my all-time favorites were the black and green ones in 2014.
00:03:17
Speaker
These are up there. They're really nice. So it's fun to see them ah keep wearing those for this win that they got over San Jose. And we got a new new YouTube member to start off the show, Sean Rooney.
00:03:30
Speaker
Sean, thank you for joining the ranks. Hey. Appreciate the support. Everyone should ah follow Sean's lead, become a Lobbing Scorchers YouTube member. That's another great way to support the show.
00:03:42
Speaker
All right, Nico, let's, ah let's get into this Quakes game because there's, there's a lot to talk about here.
Injury and Team Impact
00:03:49
Speaker
ah i think there's, there's two main storylines coming off this game.
00:03:53
Speaker
ah Like you mentioned the Jordan Morris injury. He, uh, injures his AC joint in his shoulder and is going to have to get surgery and is unfortunately going to be out for the timeline I saw on blue sky from J o was eight weeks minimum.
00:04:13
Speaker
That's sort of how I was thinking of it. The moment that Schmidt said after the game that he needs to get surgery Usually surgery is at least like a six plus week situation. That sounds like what this is going to be, ah which is obviously just highly unfortunate.
00:04:28
Speaker
ah You finally had a situation where all three designated players were on the field. They were healthy. They were playing professional soccer together in the same starting 11 at the same time.
00:04:39
Speaker
a virtually unprecedented situation for the Seattle Sounders that lasted all of 15 to 20 minutes. ah Jordan Morris going for a long ball over the top and collides with Daniel, the San Jose goalkeeper, goes tumbling and hurts his AC joint out for probably eight weeks minimum.
00:05:01
Speaker
Danny Musavsky does come in and get the brace. He continues to be... ah the most productive backup number nine in MLS. So there's that.
00:05:12
Speaker
But ah Nico, I guess first, before we ah before we get into the more positive takeaways from this game, ah have you heard anything ah new or different regarding this Jordan Morris injury in the timeline? And then what's sort of your assessment on the outlook for the team in the number nine position moving forward?
00:05:35
Speaker
with the knowledge that, ah you know, you have Danny Musavsky, who's been playing out of his mind all season. He's got 10 goal contributions in 11 games started, but you're also now without the desert designated player number nine for
Strategic Adjustments Post-Injury
00:05:51
Speaker
the foreseeable future.
00:05:53
Speaker
Yeah, so first my first reaction was just being devastated for Jordan Morris, a player that has tried so hard to get back in full fitness, a player that gives this Seattle team and X factor up top.
00:06:08
Speaker
Quite honestly, I'm getting quite tired of the rhetoric and discourse about how Jordan Morris is just injury prone. And look, I understand that he's had a lot of injuries, but this is not a hamstring injury. It is not a muscular injury. It is you getting flipped over and falling on your shoulder.
00:06:25
Speaker
So let's be reasonable in terms of in soccer, things happen. And this is one of those moments. And has nothing to do with age and he has nothing to do.
00:06:36
Speaker
with the fact that he's had recurrent injuries in his ACLs. This is his shoulder. I mean, can we just separate that for a second? This was him falling full, the the entire weight of his body falling on his shoulder. So excuse him for not being, you know, Robocop or, you know, just invincible. So because he's not the Terminator, he got injured. Yes.
00:06:59
Speaker
So is that unfortunate? 100%. still think it's i still think that ah it's a very unfortunate ah circumstance and it's something that just happened. So I just wanted to phrase that in there.
00:07:13
Speaker
ah In terms of what he means for the team moving forward, it's it's difficult. Look, I love that Danny Masavsky had a brace in the perfect time. He could not have had a brace in a more special important time for, for this team, right? It's against San Jose, against Bruce Arena, right after Jordan Morris gets hurt, clearly it was a serious injury.
00:07:37
Speaker
And so that's great. And I love it. And I think that he did a lot of positive things. Uh, we can break down his goals a little bit later, but I thought that he, uh, was ah very savvy on his movement. I thought that he came in,
00:07:50
Speaker
ah like a spark plug and I think he came ready to go, which is not easy to do right off the bench, especially in the, what, 18 minutes or something like that. I mean, early in a game, you're not expecting to get on get on the field. You're not warmed up. I mean, all of these things.
00:08:05
Speaker
ah So I thought that's something to praise him for. Do I think he's the long-term temporary solution? No. I think that as much as I'm going to get heat for it, I continue to think that whether it's Jesus Ferreira, or especially with how well your wingers are playing, Pedro De La Vega was outstanding. And we'll talk about him, I'm sure, here coming up.
00:08:30
Speaker
But when you have so much depth in the wing position, you're trying to get Georgie minutes. You're trying to get Paul Rothbard minutes. You're trying to get Ryan Kinn minutes. Pedro De La Vega. I would just move Ferreira up top and and work with him. He's been getting confident. He's been cooking.
00:08:47
Speaker
He's been doing a lot of things that he wasn't doing early in the season. So I don't see it past him to go in, play at the ninth position, and be successful. So that's just my opinion.
00:08:57
Speaker
I always tend to push my... ideology of how I would approach handling a team to the max potential of a group.
00:09:10
Speaker
And max potential comes with Ferreira on the field. Mussovsky, he's been good, and he's probably going to continue to be good. But I do believe that his ah role is limited, his potential is limited.
00:09:24
Speaker
And that's why I would move forward with Jesus Ferreira. Obviously, we know that the Seattle Sounders are working on bringing in a U-22 striker. And that's obviously going to come and help, ah even if it is just a guy that's going to be part of the rotation.
00:09:40
Speaker
But all in all, I think that Seattle does have enough talent to hold the forward into hopefully Jordan Morris is back at some point this season.
00:09:51
Speaker
Yeah, let's talk about that ah Moose Ferreira topic that you mentioned. I think that's ah that's a good thing to get into before we get into De La Vega. I will say before before we get into that, I did see the ah Jordan Morris injury-prone crash-out discourse as well, which is...
00:10:12
Speaker
It's just unlucky. It's just unlucky. That is all it is. There's not like a deeper commentary on like whether he's injury prone. Like you said, like a a freak collision like that. It's something that unfortunately does happen sometimes.
00:10:27
Speaker
And I get that it's frustrating, but it's, It's unlucky. it's He's having a cursed season. And it really sucks because every time I've seen him play this year, he looks like a designated player number nine to me. He's been banging in goals.
00:10:42
Speaker
He's looked honestly as good as he ever has to my eye and to the production side of it. So it just sucks. We don't need to do the, like, this guy is injury prone and this is a deeper commentary on the designated
Tactical Analysis of Sounders
00:11:00
Speaker
player escalators and Craig Weibel.
00:11:03
Speaker
That is just, like, not relevant. So... Unfortunate but also I guess not unexpected to see that flying around but yeah as for the topic or yeah go for it if you have anything no no did I forgot one thing you did ask me if I knew anything else nothing new on the injury but I have heard that and I'm probably surprised to no one that he's taking this pretty harshly obviously he's a guy that wants to do right by the team and uh
00:11:35
Speaker
that there is a sense that, you know, he's, is he's having a difficult time. So I'm hoping that the team rallies around him. I'm hoping that he gets, he has a great circle ah around him. That's for sure. Friends and and and teammates and, you know, everyone that surrounds him as a player and as a human and that as a person.
00:11:54
Speaker
So I think that he's going to have a great support group, but but I did hear that it wasn't, um, an injury that kind of took a toll on him. Not just physically, I mean, mentally.
00:12:05
Speaker
I can only imagine the frustration given the injury situation that he's already had to work through this year. Rehab those, got re-aggravated it, had to rehab it again.
00:12:19
Speaker
then as soon as he gets back, he injured his shoulders. So it's just, ah it's a shitty situation. And, you know, I guess we just have to hope that after this eight-week timeline or whatever it is, they can get him back. And if they can get him back and contributing close to playoff time, that'd be great. But for now, ah I'll give my take on the on the Moose versus Ferreira discussion that you mentioned.
00:12:47
Speaker
Because to me, I do agree that... ah in In a situation where Moose has to rotate out or, ah you know, you got fixture congestion or whatever the case may be, the the plan B, I think, is certainly Slide Ferreira over. And I think we're going to see them run that. But I guess i feel like it's not really a one or the other situation I feel like it's a mix and match and rotate situation because ah you can't Christian rolled on it with Moose and play him a full 90 every single week.
00:13:22
Speaker
I think all things being equal on a normal week with normal rest and everything. I think Moose is going to be the starter. And I think, I think he should be. I, ah I hear what you're saying about the ah theoretical limitations. ah He's sort of, he's not like a yeah super like hyper dynamic all around number nine, like, like some in the league, but he, they've clearly figured out how to maximize his effectiveness and production within the system.
00:13:55
Speaker
And to me, when I'm looking at who should be starting up top, you, uh, you earn in equity through goals in that. And he has been scoring goals pretty much every time he's gotten the opportunity.
00:14:06
Speaker
So for whatever limitations he might have, and you know, I know people get frustrated too, cause he's, he's scuffed a few chances this year, but, uh, I think he has earned,
00:14:19
Speaker
being the the first choice starter in like a normal 11 on a given week. However, when he can't start, which those situations are going to happen, then i don't really see what else you do other than slide Ferrer over. Like I get what Gianni saying in chat, like moving a player who's just starting to gel to a different position could throw him off.
00:14:41
Speaker
Which is like, yeah, but you don't really have, you're not really strapped for options right now behind Moose on the on the depth chart. There's Osaze still there, but that is still like an unproven projection type situation, right?
00:14:54
Speaker
So I wouldn't mind seeing Osaze getting run here and there, but for now, i think the way I see it, this is a Moose-Ferrera rotation mix and match where Moose is the start. You'll see Moose starting,
00:15:08
Speaker
up top and uh probably ferreira still in that wide channel where he's been very effective lately and then in a situation where moose does have to rotate out ferreira is going to slide over and i you know i know people some people might be scarred from uh a couple of the games earlier this season where uh they ran ferreira at the nine and it didn't it didn't go super well uh That was a different time.
00:15:32
Speaker
That was a different time. To me, it's pretty clear that ah we've seen him adapt and gel and just figure out his role and look more comfortable and know how to combine with everybody to way to much greater effect, kind of regardless of where he's playing. Like, yeah,
00:15:50
Speaker
earlier this season when they ran him in the nine in St. Louis and at San Diego didn't go that well. They ran him at the nine against San Diego again in Seattle and he got the game winner.
00:16:01
Speaker
So I think, uh, with what we've seen as far as his ability to kind of adapt and find his way in different roles on this, on this team recently, whether it was the San Diego game where they ran him at the nine and he got the game winner or these last few weeks where he's looked very good in the wide channel.
00:16:20
Speaker
Uh, I think it's a, your only option and be not, uh, not a terrible option based on his form and how he's looked over the last really like month or so. do You got anything else on the, uh, on the number nine situation?
00:16:35
Speaker
Yeah, it's obvious that Danny has earned that spot and he's earned it with what everyone judges a nine on, which is goals, right?
00:16:49
Speaker
Um, As you mentioned, regardless of limitations, the Sounders have found a way to unlock his talents to the max of its abilities and it's been effective.
00:17:01
Speaker
However, to the comment in terms of when a player is starting to gel, is shifting him going to mess that up? That's a fair assessment.
00:17:13
Speaker
That is something that you know kind of Precky mentioned during our one-on-one talk was that If it's working, why change it? Because I did ask him, I said, look, have you guys made up your minds that that's where Ferreira is going to go? And he just mentioned, well, you know, for right now, that's the way it goes. But he did say they'd go from a game-to-game basis. And I think that's what you're goingnna see here between Danny and Ferreira. think there's going to be times when Ferreira starts.
00:17:39
Speaker
think there's going to be times when Danny Misowski starts. And it's going to be each player's doing to play themselves out of the lineup or not. um I do think back to that same comment that that adaptation that you're seeing and that gelling, all of that can very easily,
00:18:00
Speaker
go in terms of the group, the system, the confidence, and not necessarily just the fact that he's playing on the right side, right? i mean, he's using those inside pockets. There's been a lot of times where he's the guy behind the defense.
00:18:13
Speaker
And I think that that's something that we had not seen out of Ferreira, and it's starting to show. I think you've mentioned it a couple of times that he he's doing what he wasn't doing before. There certain runs. There are certain times where he gets the ball, picks it up. It's aggressive against, you know, what while he's dribbling.
00:18:29
Speaker
ah He had one, think it was last game, not not not this game. I think it was a Colorado game where he has a breakout. And unfortunately, he yeah doesn't take the right touch and doesn't put it away.
00:18:42
Speaker
love that run, though. I love i loved that run. But the run was amazing, right? And I think those are things that he could do from the ninth position that he wasn't doing before. and And it's not just, again, about where he's playing. He saw the space. He made the run.
00:18:56
Speaker
He was confident enough to do so. He should have done better finishing that play. But those are things that continue to progressively get better with a talented player. So I have no doubt in my mind that if you put him up top, he's going to continue to show you those steps of progress regardless of where he is on the field.
00:19:15
Speaker
We got Matt coming in with the $5 super chat. And then i'm going to hit a couple other items from chat. Matt, thank you so much for kicking off. The super chat train here this morning. Appreciate the support as always.
00:19:26
Speaker
He says, no, no, no. Number nine. It's odd that we don't seem to continue to sign players or that we seem to continue to sign first team players to contracts that we don't feel comfortable playing. I saw Zay Danny and Cody ah Rosie also saying that I don't understand why they signed Osase. If not going to play him.
00:19:44
Speaker
I think the thing with Osaze is that it is, uh, they, they should give him some run to see if he can help this situation and they got to find spots to do that.
00:19:57
Speaker
You can't like rely on that. I think we're, we're talking more about like what you, what you can rely on weekend week out when you're filling out your starting 11,
00:20:08
Speaker
ah Osaze, he hasn't gotten enough run to be able to tell if he can handle like the type of workload that would be required of a number nine on this team that's going to be getting a lot of minutes. you know so with As far as that situation in particular goes, the way I see it is, well, first of all, you got Leagues Cup coming up.
00:20:31
Speaker
I think that's a great... Leagues Cup, if you can make a run, that'd be great. that'd be great But I think it's also a good opportunity for just some experimentation to figure some of this stuff out. Give Osaze an actual run in a couple of those games where he's getting like more like 30 minutes instead of the five 10-minute cameos we've seen from him.
00:20:52
Speaker
It does feel like he's fallen off the map a little bit, but you know that was before this latest Jordan injury. ah So you know if he if he trains... well I guess, Nico, I'll ask you... ah what what Your thoughts on Osase, but you're at training a lot.
00:21:09
Speaker
what have you ah What's your impressions of him? What have you seen from him? And what how is that lefty feeling as far as his prospects of of getting more minutes and maybe trying to help the depth chart here?
00:21:20
Speaker
Osase fell into a situation where he knew going into this, and I think we all knew that he was going to be a deep, and at the bench, that piece, right?
00:21:33
Speaker
And when you are dead, coming out from the Tacoma Defiance, you have to be outstanding to get on the field and then you have to be outstanding to remain on the field ah the way Kalani has done, the way that Paul Rothrock did at one point.
00:21:55
Speaker
And I think that between the level of competition at the position that were the needs. And again, going back to Osase during in training and the moments he's had on the field, he just has not been able to wow.
00:22:14
Speaker
And those are things that you need to do when you're that far down the depth chart. And so Going back to training, I think that he does a lot of things right. I think that he is a player that's very physical.
00:22:28
Speaker
But has he been guy that it's a highlight on the training field? No, he hasn't. So I think those are the reasons why he's kind of fallen or stayed where he's where he was meant to, of the reason why he was brought up.
00:22:47
Speaker
He was brought up just in case something happened to Moose, just in case we were, the Sounders were in a dire need for someone to replace a striker, kind of another body situation.
00:23:01
Speaker
And although players, in The Sounders have had those same constraints when they were brought in. Some of them have kind of showed up higher than they were meant to, and that's why they've remained on the field. So ah I do think that at some point, just like Danny Leyva, you're going to need to give them competitive minutes, right? Because there's clearly Danny Leyva is a guy that fell on the exact same situation a while back when he was signed you know, 17 or 16, when he first signed with the Sounders, there was a whole bunch of depth in front of him. He barely got any minutes.
00:23:39
Speaker
And now, even now, when there is a need for him to play, it kind of feels like Brian doesn't quite trust him. And I think that that is ah a little bit of a Brian problem that, you know, if you don't give a guy minutes and you don't really trust the guy, then, you know, why is he in there?
00:23:57
Speaker
So Sass is kind of following that same thing. ah lines, but I do feel like Osasio's situation is different ah because there are other options, Ferreira, Osowski, Jordan, rather than Danny, where it's just him.
00:24:12
Speaker
And still, you know, we're playing the same pivots. like seven games in a row. you know So it's just something that that that does kind of ah change depending on the situation.
00:24:24
Speaker
But in terms of Osase, I think that hopefully he could continue to develop. And he'll definitely get his chance now that Jordan Morris is... going to be out for quite some time. You got Leak's Cup, as you mentioned.
00:24:36
Speaker
That's going to be moments where you're to need to ah play somebody else. Brian, and knowing Brian, he loves and everyone loves Ferrar at the wing. So I know that there's going to be some hesitation to put him up there.
00:24:47
Speaker
So ah perhaps there's going to be moments where it's going to be just Mosavsky. And when Mosavsky is done, it's going to be Osasak because there's nobody else. Here's my read on the Danny Leiva situation. you Tell me what you think of this.
00:25:01
Speaker
i I don't think it's that Schmetz doesn't trust Danny Leiva. He's been playing Danny Leiva in certain situations dating back to when he was
Midfield Role and Dynamic Changes
00:25:12
Speaker
sixteen Danny Leva, he is like a ah reserve role player on this team, but it's not like Schmetz has never given him run or never giving him MLS minutes.
00:25:22
Speaker
I think it's a matter of tactical fit where, ah to me... A double pivot of Danny Leva and Obed Vargas. I would be concerned about that going into any given game ah because sort of what I've been saying is it's like that's not ah those aren't complimentary skill sets in the way that you need for a double pivot to be effective in This system you need a dog an enforcer a bruiser type player to To play off of a player who's more finesse and hyper technical with Danny labor and Obed Vargas together That's two players who are finesse and hyper technical and you don't have the dog the enforcer the JP the Christian Ozzy type profile so
00:26:08
Speaker
I think it's more a matter of Schmetz probably feeling like he had, if he's going to run Danny Leyva, it has to be with Christian also out there. And that doesn't really solve the issue of needing to give Christian some rest.
00:26:21
Speaker
You could say, okay, well then rotate him out for Obed Vargas who also needs some rest. I don't, I don't think Schmetz would have an issue of running Danny Leyva with Christian. It's just about, uh,
00:26:33
Speaker
if you're resting Christian and still playing Obed playing Danny Leyva, you don't have like a double pivot that has the, uh, the profile that I think he probably figures that he needs. And that I think you, you do need, like you need a, uh, Christian type player at, at that spot.
00:26:50
Speaker
That's why this JP injury is actually, you know, for whatever people think about, uh, how he might have ah how he might have declined or wasn't playing at his best level this year. Just in terms of the profile of type of player and skill set that he is, that's what you... that that's This is the other thing why I think it's not like a trust issue. They were running the JP-Dani Leva double pivot and rotating Christian and Obed before JP got hurt. They were running that. And I don't...
00:27:16
Speaker
Yeah, and I don't think Danny Leyva did anything to like sacrifice trust. I mean, I know that the San Diego game with that double pivot was a disaster, but I think i don't think Danny Leyva alone was what led to that. The double pivot was a contributing factor. They got ran on in that game, but i don't think that I didn't see any indication that that factored into Schmetzer being like, oh, I'm not going to run that again. I'm not going to run Danny Leyva out there again.
00:27:44
Speaker
But that's just that's just sort of how I see it. And really, ultimately, I think it underscores that this JP injury has created a pretty big hole on the roster. Like, you don't have a Christian contingency right now of that of that skill set and of that profile, really.
00:28:02
Speaker
That's an issue because, as has been noted extensively, Christian Roldan is... ah I mean, God love him. he's He's laying it on the line, running his ass off, playing every single minute, every single week, and having one of, if not the best seasons of his career, one of, if not the best players in MLS at that position right now.
00:28:25
Speaker
He's the heart and soul of the team. He is the hardest worker I've ever seen. He runs more than anybody I've ever seen. But something's got to give where you have – you have to have plan B's in this. Like this league is, there's too much, too many games, too many tournaments, too much fixture congestion to run the same 11 every single week.
00:28:45
Speaker
ah Schmetz ran that 11 with that double pivot three times this last week. And, uh, I'm not i'm not like super pressed about that from the standpoint of it worked. they he yeah They scored a ton of goals and they won two out of the three games. So I'm not going to question it from that perspective. It's just about sustainability. So what are I don't know. What are your thoughts on Danny Leiva and the double pivot and all that?
00:29:14
Speaker
Yeah, I think there's you are partially right about the fact that ah the J.P. injury handicapped Danny Leyva's potential to get on the field.
00:29:27
Speaker
And I think that that's something that Brian needs to resolve because over the last two minutes of the of the last couple of games, including the one that you gave up points on against Colorado, regardless of Ed working, meaning playing the same pivots again during the first 45, 50 minutes,
00:29:50
Speaker
Christian Roldan made mistakes that he only makes when he's exhausted. yeah He made a lot of mistakes in that game that happened because of tire legs. And Bryant's mattress inability to see that early and the the lack of, as you mentioned,
00:30:06
Speaker
who am I going to bring in for Christian? It's not Danny because he's not the same profile player. But maybe you have to just run a Kalani there or you put Kalani in and push Alex to that position. But you got to have a a plan in mind because you know that that's going to happen. And same thing in this last game.
00:30:22
Speaker
thought that he was outstanding again, yes. But in the 70th minute, you could start to see a lot of wear and tear on a guy like Christian. And he started to make some passes that he usually doesn't make. So,
00:30:35
Speaker
Because of that, I think that ah although the Danny Leyva situation does have to do with that, there is – there's always been a tough um assessment from the coaching staff of where should we put Danny.
00:30:55
Speaker
Brian even said just recently that he'd like to play him for Albert, a little bit higher up the field because he is such a – Smart player. He does have this great vision. That's a better spot for him, in my opinion, honestly.
00:31:08
Speaker
Absolutely. So then once again, is that an issue of just the roster build? There's definitely something that goes down to ever since Danny Leva was brought into this squad, he's always kind of felt behind in the roster chart ah to Atencio, to Ovid Vargas.
00:31:26
Speaker
And I think it does have to do with Brian and the coaching staff not really trusted in place or in positions or just not knowing exactly where he can succeed. um But To your point, and and that's the one that was right, I think that with someone else, they are definitely willing to do so.
00:31:43
Speaker
Just like they did with JP, there were times where he played with Atencio as well, and he seemed to work. So yeah those are things that Danny Leyva is going to have to continue to do to figure out where he fits on the field.
00:31:56
Speaker
ah But in general senses of this team, there is a need to do. to figure this out. Cause not just about sustainability and the fact that regardless of how durable Christian Roldan has been, you gotta have a plan B. And I thought that over the last two games, I could see it.
00:32:17
Speaker
I could feel it that he would look at that bench and he didn't know what to do when Christian Roldan is injured. So there's gotta be something done better. He has a 1,898 minutes, just an MLS alone.
00:32:30
Speaker
And the second highest minutes is Ovid Marcus with 17. There's like 12 games left. It's 1,800 minutes with left. It's insane.
00:32:40
Speaker
it's I mean, the guy is a freak. He's an Iron Man. But yeah again, something does have to give at a certain point. Let's talk about ah what we think we're goingnna that what they're going to do to to solve this issue real quick. A couple people have brought up names in chat. Rosie brings up Snyder Brunel, which I think that is a great shout. They haven't announced that they?
00:33:04
Speaker
they haven't announced that yet have they i thought that was They haven't announced it. All right. Well, I think they're going to bring him up, I would i would have to imagine. And as I understand it, Snyder Brunel is that type of skill set that we're talking about as far as that kind of that doggone defense physical type player.
00:33:24
Speaker
ah They love his passing ability. it's i think it's ah It's valid to be excited about Snyder Brunel based on ah this team's track record of developing this exact position in recent years.
00:33:38
Speaker
ah For whatever else you want to say about the Youth Academy and they haven't developed enough attackers or whatever. I mean, this is six and eight FC. They have done this to great effect. Obed, they're about to sell for $10 million. dollars judge Josh Atencio, they they ah traded for 1.3 GAM, and he starts every week for the Colorado Rapids.
00:33:58
Speaker
Danny Leyva, I mean, we're we're talking about how hard he time he's had breaking in, but he's at least become like an MLS level contributor yeah that that has a lot of appearances in a lot of minutes. So this this organization can develop these types of players.
00:34:10
Speaker
So if they say if they're saying, which they have been saying for a while now, Snyder Brunel is next up. he he is ah We think he's really good, and he's absolutely like a first-team caliber guy that can be an impact player in the same way as Nobett Vargas or Joshua Tensio.
00:34:25
Speaker
I do put stock in that. like They know what they're talking about when it comes to sixes and eights. So I think Snyder Brunel is... ah is one that is an intriguing one that definitely i'm i'm interested to watch and i think people should be excited about he's also 18 and never played an mls match so again it's like uh you need to think of it through the lens of what can we rely on like what can we hang our hat on and go into a game we can go into these games week in week out and be like all right we're solid at that spot.
00:34:56
Speaker
Snyder Brunel is 100% similar to Asazi. It's like projection. You're hoping that they hit the upside or whatever. ah But as for if you can rely on it, I don't know.
00:35:07
Speaker
What I think they're going to do is what someone else mentioned in chat. Rico here. Could Alex play the six? That's what they're going to do That's what they're going to do. yeah this is the seattle This is the Seattle Sounders way.
00:35:20
Speaker
If you have an issue like this, you got a roster hole and injury, you just plug a Roldan in there and that's it. and the And it's fine. They did it at right back for years with Christian.
00:35:30
Speaker
They did it in goalkeeper famously in San Jose with Alex. They did it at center back a couple of weeks ago, famously with Alex. ah They did it with Christian at the number 10 and at right mid at different points.
00:35:46
Speaker
It's a it's brilliant tactics, Nico. I never I i never really ah thought of it before the Sounders started doing it. More teams should do this. You just get a roll down. You plug them in wherever and it works.
00:35:57
Speaker
I think that's what they're going to do at the six. And to be honest with you, that's the option that I feel by far the best about. especially considering that we just saw Alex Roldan do a similar thing and play center back where I went into the the first game against ah Austin where he played center back.
00:36:15
Speaker
And I was like, I don't, I mean, as good of a defensive player and as smart a player as he is, it's a whole different ball game, even against a historically bad attacking team like Austin FC.
00:36:27
Speaker
It's a whole different ballgame when you're playing center back and, you know, you got Brandon Vasquez or in the case of the crew game, you know, you had Gauzdog and Diego Rossi running at you. when When you're actually out there, it's a whole different thing. And then he looked...
00:36:42
Speaker
actively good. So I think, I think it's just going to be a situation where they go, uh, all right, we got one role. Donnie's tired. 1800 minutes, 1800 MLS minutes, uh, with 12 games left to go in the season.
00:36:57
Speaker
let's just plug the other rolled on in there. yeah Do you see that differently? I'm pretty sure that's just what they're going to do. And I support it. Yeah, and going back to Schneider-Burnell, who it is obviously a good shout, and that's what they're bringing him up.
00:37:09
Speaker
He's not a six. He's more of an eight. I mean, a lot of the qualities that he does provide, and we've seen his vision. He is very steady. He has a high floor. ah You know what you're going to get out of him. he has all of the Brian's much of check marks without a doubt.
00:37:25
Speaker
ah He's the guy that even in Marbella over the last couple of seasons, ah he's the guy that you look for, that you look at. you know I know that I did my best to ah watch the preseason games and Schneider-Bernard was always a guy that ah was interesting that the other senior players also liked the way he plays the game.
00:37:42
Speaker
So he that's why you're bringing him up, but he's not sick. So ah I've even thrown Kalani in there, but I think Alex would be the most experienced player to play there.
00:37:53
Speaker
He has, just as you, I was i was but pleasantly surprised by his physicality and um savvy plate one play when he plays center back.
00:38:04
Speaker
So I feel like that could, without a doubt, translate to that sixth position. um And, you know, who better to play the sixth for this team than I rolled them. Yeah, no, exactly. I think that's the, ah you know, it's basically a meme at this point, but that's what they're going to do. And I think it's the best decision.
Goalkeeping and Player Performance
00:38:21
Speaker
ah Let's hit a couple of super chats that we got here. Thank you guys for the support. We got a 499 from Bad Sequels. Thank you, Bad Sequels. What were your thoughts on Andy T? I thought he played really well, especially at the end, but I still miss the baseline confidence that you get with Steph.
00:38:35
Speaker
I think Andy T's been been doing great. He's been putting it in. ah He gives up the penalty in the Colorado game, which that's the most, that's like the glaring error that he, that he made that ah I think that's one where it's like Steph Fry has the experience where he knows when to, when to come off his line, when not to come off his line.
00:38:59
Speaker
And I think, he He probably doesn't make that error, and that was a big error. like That gave Colorado one of the PKs. that They famously gave up two PKs in three minutes in that game. That was one of them, and they end up drawing that game.
00:39:14
Speaker
ah So that that was a ah learning moment. think Andy is 26. He's not a... you know andy t is twenty six he's not a ah young player per se, but he's an inexperienced player. He hasn't played a lot of MLS ball.
00:39:28
Speaker
So to me, that's a situation where I can look at it and be like, all right, uh, that's like a, that's a bang, bang judgment call. He, uh, made the, he made the wrong decision, gave up the penalty. But, uh, as long as that doesn't become like a recurring issue or pattern, I think, uh,
00:39:47
Speaker
you just hope that he learns from it. And then other than that, I feel like he's been, he's been jumping around, making some crazy saves. ah He claims that he got a finger to that Christian Espinosa free kick at the ah end of the San Jose or yeah, at the end of the San Jose game.
00:40:04
Speaker
I don't know about that, but then he, ah he made the rebound save, which was incredible off ah the Joseph bicycle kick, which he was offside. That wouldn't have counted. It was still a sick save and really, ah I think the thing that stands out when I watch Andy T now that we've gotten to see him get some run here is just the, just the raw athleticism. Like he is springy.
00:40:23
Speaker
He is jumping around in there and swatting, swatting these shots away. ah You know, Steph is a great shot stopper as well. ah But as we think about the future coming up here with Andy T is the presumptive heir apparent to Stefan Frye.
00:40:41
Speaker
i've I've liked what I've seen from him you know in these Open Cup games when he's ah gotten run or the yeah whatever MLS cameos he had before that. I've always felt like Andy T. I feel pretty confident in him as an MLS number one.
00:40:53
Speaker
ah So I think the Andy T. experience has been good so far. the ah penalty kick conceded notwithstanding. What do you think, Andy T., Nico? Yeah, I think he's been good. I still need to see more in terms of being a full number one.
00:41:10
Speaker
i think that he has great ah soccer goalkeeping principles. And I think he's very good at shot stopping that that's clearly his number one attribute is that he is a phenomenal ah better even than Stefan Fry when he comes to stopping shots because of his athletic abilities. I mean, he gets to places that possibly Steph couldn't.
00:41:35
Speaker
um But I do feel like there's a lot of other things that he needs to get better at. His presence in the box, ah the um ability to call out and and and distribute out of the back.
00:41:53
Speaker
um When it comes to set pieces, specifically corner kicks, I feel like he struggles a bit ah to... command his area. There is a need for a goalkeeper to kind of command that space that he he's in and and go up there and get balls. He has the physical ability to do so, but I don't know if at times he hesitates and that he is a ah bit late to go and get that ball. He trusts his athletic ability, but i feel like he maybe is a step behind.
00:42:21
Speaker
All that comes with experience. All that comes with consistent competitive minutes. So that's what I want to see a little bit more. But without a doubt, the guy, when he comes to penalty kicks, when it comes to ah stopping just shots in general, ah i wouldn't want anybody else doing it, right? I mean, that ah bicycle kick by...
00:42:41
Speaker
Joseph Martinez has gotten by plenty of goalkeepers in this league. oh yeah That's the Joseph Martinez special right there. you know and And he he stopped there right in front. mean, does it come right at him? Yes, a little bit. But you that that reaction time, especially after he just flew ah across the other side to attempt making that stop of the Christian Espinosa free kick that hits the post.
00:43:03
Speaker
And then he is down on the ground, back up, ready to go. ah So reaction time is fantastic by Andrew Thomas. So I think he is. I have no problem with he continuing to be that guy.
00:43:15
Speaker
But I want to continue to see how he grows and develops as the season progresses. We got one more from James here. And then let's talk some Pedro de la Vega. James, thank you for the $2. Appreciate you, man.
00:43:28
Speaker
ah This one's for you, Nico. Any talk about buying out JP's contract?
00:43:36
Speaker
Not necessarily at this time, um but it's not off the table. And and in definitely there is something to, because obviously
00:43:51
Speaker
JP has an option for next year. And I think that the team is,
00:43:57
Speaker
trying to do right by the player and trying to figure out how he can continue to stay in this organization. ah But it's a good it's a good thought. It's something that is definitely being contemplated.
00:44:09
Speaker
Just looking into the roster, looking into what everything we just mentioned about that six, They have scouted sixes over the last couple of seasons. So there is a list of players that they feel comfortable going out there and getting.
00:44:24
Speaker
So, yeah, that's a very good comment and one that is definitely running, you know, through mindset front office. And for JP specifically, when I look at JP, the player,
00:44:40
Speaker
How much more does he have in the tank? How difficult is it going to be to get back from this injury? He has expressed desires and
00:44:52
Speaker
ambition to be a coach for the future. I didn't know that. I love that idea though, man. I could see it. I could see it. If there, if, if it turns out that he does ah decide to, to hang up the cleats and ah wants to remain in the organization in that type of capacity, maybe like,
00:45:13
Speaker
assistant coaching for defiance or for the first team even working with the midfielders whatever. i love that idea. I mean, that that guy is one of the most like cerebral players that I've been around. So I would be, I'd be all for that.
00:45:28
Speaker
Yeah. I think that there's quite a few things that the Sounders are contemplating moving forward. And a lot of it has to do with, Obviously that decision, you know potential you know players leaving or not. I think that there's a lot going on for this team.
00:45:47
Speaker
So I think um when it comes to JP specifically, it's definitely in the realm of possibility. that'll be ah That'll be one to keep an eye on for sure.
00:46:00
Speaker
All right, Nico, it's like past 45 minutes into the show. We haven't even talked about Pedro de la Vega yet, so let's talk about it. I mean, first of all, ah you know, obviously the ah the Jordan Morris injury cast a bit of a cloud over this last game, and ah it's...
00:46:20
Speaker
puts the overall ceiling of this team and this offense into question. I think I've sort of been of the mind that, ah to see what the true, true ceiling of this offense can be.
00:46:30
Speaker
You want to see with, uh, Jordan Morris in there consistently, which unfortunately we're, not going to be able to. ah But on the flip side, Nico, this offense is absolutely rolling right now.
00:46:43
Speaker
Three straight games with three goals scored. So the output has been fantastic. ah And also just how they're playing.
00:46:55
Speaker
The chances that they're generating, the XG is cooking. ah It just, Ferreira looks great. Rusnak has been going off. ah But this game, Nico,
00:47:07
Speaker
could henceforth be remembered as the Pedro de la Vega breakout game. He was incredible, easily his best game as an MLS player with Seattle.
00:47:18
Speaker
ah He was starting on the left, which... I guess I got to get your take ah on, on that, why that took so long. And ah if there's any doubt at all, that that's his best position moving forward. Schmetz finally stuck him there after weeks, weeks of ah the fan base clamoring for it.
00:47:37
Speaker
The national pundits, Matt, Matthew Doyle has been writing about how they needed to to try that. It was his best position in Argentina and they had been, uh, They'd been grinding him on the right this whole time.
00:47:49
Speaker
He moves to the left and he looks like a $7 million dollar designated player. That's what he looked like. It was not, uh, it was not just the goal contributions of which he had to, it was just how he looked in in general. He looked sharp. He looked dangerous.
00:48:05
Speaker
Uh, The way he was combining with everyone was excellent. ah The assist that he got on that first Moose goal was fantastic. I love that transition execution by both De La Vega and ah and Moose there. was almost like an alley-oop that he tossed up to him and Moose dunks it.
00:48:25
Speaker
So that was, that was just one of those, fun sequences to watch and brilliant execution by, uh, I think it was Christian who found De La Vega for the, uh, for that run out wide. And then alley-oops it to moose.
00:48:41
Speaker
And then that goal was the best goal of Sounders players scored all season. That is a world-class goal. Anyway, you slice it, uh, You could tell it was going in right when it left his foot.
00:48:52
Speaker
And I don't know about you, Nico. I physically saw the weight lift off his shoulders when that ball went in. So happy for him to just see that go. Because, look, ah on our show, as much as anywhere, we have talked about the issues with – it I've been saying that this is, it's at a certain point, it stops becoming an issue of how we all individually rate the player or how good we think he could be. And it just becomes an issue of what the production is or isn't.
00:49:23
Speaker
And it just, it hasn't, ah lived up to the price tag through his first 50 or so all competition MLS appearances. I think he would even tell you that. like that's not like a That's just a statistical reality.
00:49:36
Speaker
But I've also been saying that there's there's plenty of time for that to change. And if he goes out there and looks like that $7 million dollars player, that could be a game changer for this team.
00:49:49
Speaker
He looked like a $7 million dollars player in this game, which that could have huge implications for this team's ceiling, even with the Jordan Morris injury. So that was just fantastic to see.
00:50:01
Speaker
And ah what did you think of when you when you saw that they were starting him on the left? Did you think it would go that well? And was was it that simple? Just put him out there and then and then he's going to cook? or was there was there more to it than that?
00:50:19
Speaker
I said it on Monday, Ari. I said it here in the exact same setting when he came to that Colorado game. said, you you got to test him out on the left side. And maybe you put Ryan on the right side ah because Ryan has been cutting inside.
00:50:33
Speaker
Might be easier. Might be simpler to play on the left side where your job is to be the widest guy. Now, he clearly was coming in inside, but not as often as he does on that right side.
00:50:45
Speaker
So I... I gave up on the notion that Brian would see that the left side was the better side for Pedro de la Vega a while back. And I kind of settled for him just getting more minutes because everything you just said, it's true. he that that The production hasn't been there, but what I've been saying consistently and preaching nonstop is the fact that we haven't been able to see what de la Vega does on consistent minutes.
00:51:16
Speaker
considers the word First it was injuries. First it was rehab. And then when he did get better, it was time constraints, right? Limitations of minutes, all of these things. And then once he's full form, then it's Paul Rothbard getting all the minutes and it's Ryan Kent coming in in and it's just Pedro just falling farther and farther ah ba behind when it comes to competitive minutes.
00:51:38
Speaker
So you haven't given him a chance to play himself out of this lineup. You really haven't been able to see Pedro De La Vega because he barely starts. Before this game, how many games was he not there? And how many, you know, in the Club World Cup...
00:51:51
Speaker
How much did you play him? So those are things that I feel like Brant's measure has missed on is seeing what Pedro Levia can do because he hasn't played.
00:52:02
Speaker
And when he comes to playing on the left, to your question, I thought it was great. I thought that you needed to see that. And it worked. And it worked better than I even thought it would. I expected him to have a big game. I did not expect him to have this game.
00:52:16
Speaker
type of game, but I did expect him to have a big game right off the bat. As soon as I saw it, I knew that he was going to have a big game because he has looked very good on that left side. I feel like he feels more comfortable.
00:52:27
Speaker
He's ambidestuous. He could hit it with both legs. So he's going to give you services. He's going to give you a great shot on goal. So he gives you the best of both worlds on that side. And because I do feel like there is a more direct guidance on, on the way you play that left side as being the widest guy ah I just kind of felt like it was going to work. And I thought him and Reed actually use each other very well. Reed coming in those inside channels, him being out wide, then whenever Pedro would come inside, Reed getting wider on the left side. So to me, I saw a Pedro De La Vega that was working in all cylinders, and mentally, physically, understanding the system, the vision, ah the way he brings down that ball on the –
00:53:13
Speaker
Danny Misofsky assist is phenomenal. I mean, the way you shoulder that ball to lead the ball in front of you to keep pace, then you control it, and then you hit it with the outside part of your foot to perfectly curl it into Danny Misofsky.
00:53:29
Speaker
There is no other player in in in this roster that would do that so smoothly. And even Brian Smutcher had mentioned this week that he thought that Pedro de la Vega was the most technical player he has. And I would have to agree. I think he's the most talented player that this team has. He's the best one-on-one attacker.
00:53:48
Speaker
He's the who's beat you over the dribble. And now he showed you that he has the capability to do all these other things. Let's go back to his goal. I thought that his goal was amazing. Just the run he makes, where he shoots the ball from, the accuracy and the strength, the pace of the ball is incredible.
00:54:04
Speaker
And if we go back to the very first goal, Pedro Lovic is the one that gets in the space to pick up a bad ball from Daniel that... This is something that Seattle has been doing great over the last three games and is pressing e effectively. And they create that moment where Daniel just pops that ball.
00:54:23
Speaker
Padraic is the one that picks it up, ah puts it down to, I believe, Ovid Vargas. Ovid Vargas drops it out wide to Albert. Albert puts it into Musovsky. Go. So I thought that... Pedro was just outstanding. Absolutely man of the match, despite Danny Musowski's brace.
00:54:39
Speaker
I thought that he was way more influential in every single play. And that's what you wanted to see out of Pedro. Now, I understand why Paul Rothrock has earned the minutes. And I, I never liked to think that because I'm going to praise Pedro, I got to, you know, ah talk about poorly of Paul because he's been phenomenal, but it has been a bit unfair the way that Pedro Lavega hasn't been able to display his talent because he just hasn't been getting the minutes.
00:55:09
Speaker
But to Paul's credit, he's done the best with every minute that he got every minute that he got. He's just so good. ah He does everything right. He makes every run. He's, He's so unselfish in the way he plays the game. He's such a good two-way player.
00:55:24
Speaker
um But... In terms of just Pedro, I think that this is something that we've been wanting to see him playing on that side. I do think that it i don't think it's as easy as just playing him on that side.
00:55:35
Speaker
I think it's as easy as playing him. I think it's as easy as continuing to give him confidence and getting in him going. And that's something that I've been advocating for for a very long time.
00:55:45
Speaker
um But in terms of the left side, it does feel like that's the place where he's the most comfortable in this system.
Western Conference Competitive Landscape
00:55:54
Speaker
I said as recently as before this last game that I felt like it was pretty clear that the pecking order was Paul Rothrock was the starter at at that spot. So I'm not going to sit here and act like I didn't i didn't say that.
00:56:10
Speaker
ah But i think i also alluded to the notion that Pedro de la Vega coming good and and looking like a $7 million dollar impact player, a designated player that can win you a game by himself.
00:56:30
Speaker
if in that event that would change how I think about the situation. And I think what we saw from Pedro de la Vega in this game was just a ceiling that not just Paul Rothrock, but no one really on the team can offer Ryan Kent in, in theory has some of those same attributes, but we haven't really seen him tap into those in the last like month or so.
00:56:55
Speaker
And even, ah even with that comparison, Pedro de la Vega is just, uh, is younger. He's more gold dangerous and he's just got, you can just tell that from, from watching that game, he's just got a different, it looks different. And that's like what you need from your designated players. And like, uh, I hear what people have been saying about, uh,
00:57:22
Speaker
A lot of it's to do with opportunities. He's a lot more effective as a starter than he is as a ah super sub. And you he really, he he never got the consistent run that he would need to make good on his potential. Arguably, he does have 50 plus all comp appearances at this point. That's sort of what I was going off of with where I was coming from with it, which it's like,
00:57:49
Speaker
he needed He needed opportunities more for sure, but we've just we just have never seen really him take over a game or take over a period of a game like that.
00:58:00
Speaker
ah Like you said, he keyed all three goals. That first goal, that Moose score doesn't happen if he isn't you know in the right spot, takes a good touch, and then absolutely whips that ball.
00:58:12
Speaker
to Obed. And then, and then from there, it's just, he hits Rusnak out wide. Great delivery from Rusnak. Great header by Moose. But that De La Vega starts that whole thing. ah Fantastic assist on the second Moose goal. And then absolute collazo goal of the match day contender for the game winner.
00:58:30
Speaker
So ah he's got to sustain it. We need to see him string together some performances like this. But I mean, honestly, just the fact that he's capable of taking over a game like that and doing the stuff that we saw him do in this game, that like eases my mind quite a bit because it's like, I feel like the whole time he's been on the team, you do you do see though, you have seen those moments where you're like, oh, wow, did he just do that? Oh, damn.
00:58:56
Speaker
That looked, that looked amazing. That was sick. That was, that looked like a $7 million dollar player, but it was never like through the context of a whole match like this. This was new territory. It's really exciting. I'm not going a lie.
00:59:07
Speaker
I can't wait to watch him again. i like, I hope he starts on the left at Atlanta and see if he can keep it rolling Don't let him get hot. Don't let him get hot. Don't let Jesus Ferreira get hot.
00:59:19
Speaker
Don't let Pedro de la Vega get hot. This team could be dangerous come playoff time. ah And I mean, I really, I just love what I'm seeing in, in attack right now. I feel like they're generating great chances. They're getting a ton of goals.
00:59:31
Speaker
It's been fun to watch. Like the, uh, The alley-oop goal that he hit Moose on, that's just like ah that's great footy. that's That's fun to watch. And then obviously the Galazzo, that's the type of stuff that when we go to Lumen Field every week, like you're hoping you see something like that.
00:59:48
Speaker
And he hits it for the yeah hits it for the game winner in this game. And it could be a game changer for this team. ah Nico, anything else you wanted to do ah yeah hit on De La Vago or the offense in general?
01:00:04
Speaker
but just Just overall, just my overall takes after this game was that the Sounders definitely grinded out another win. i thought that it was a good team win, especially there at the end where, once again, Seattle has some issues just controlling ah the possession of the ball and seeing the game through.
01:00:23
Speaker
There are some moments there at the end that get a little bit dicey, and Andrew Thomas comes to play, and he saves the team from you know another unfortunate equalizer, but what the Sounders have been able to do to me that has impressed me is that it feels like Brian really wanted to make sure that this team was a front foot team, that they were going to be the protagonists. They were going to take over games.
01:00:48
Speaker
And over the last three games, including the Columbus game, and even as far as that the Austin game, probably they have been able to do that and just have been good on the ball.
01:00:59
Speaker
Um, let's Let's keep it at Columbus. Columbus moving forward, ah thought that they have had the intensity, the right intensity. They have been able to um get goals early. ah They control the tempo of the game.
01:01:15
Speaker
And that's credit to Brian's match. And the pressing has been very effective. They're creating goals, repressed moments. A couple of times in this one, Alex Rodan had moments that created opportunities.
01:01:27
Speaker
Pedro Del Viga gets one as well, where he makes Daniel make a save off of another repressed moment. So I think that the Sounders are starting to feel like they can control games by their principles is just about figuring out how to do it in 90 minutes and not in 50 or 60 minutes. So um there is a little bit of a sense that the wear and tear, in my opinion, of the pivots has a lot to do with it.
01:02:00
Speaker
ah At times, Bryant's
01:02:06
Speaker
um hesitation to make substitutions has hindered the team as well in the second half. like It just takes a little too long, 10 minutes too late to bring in serve players on.
01:02:19
Speaker
um And I think that that's been been an issue. But all overall, I think that this team is getting better game by game and week by week. I think they deserve Liar a contender in the West, especially when the West on the top is starting to not look as solid as it was.
01:02:37
Speaker
San Diego, you know, letting their ah striker ah go has put him in a difficult situation. i think Vancouver has had issues of their own. Now Pedro Vita is with Pumas.
01:02:49
Speaker
Pedro Vita was a huge player for this team. LAFC just... has issues of their own so i really do think that seattle uh has you know every right to be a strong contender in the west there's an opportunity getting presented right now in the west uh i mean you just hit on it right there but uh these last these last two match days a lot of the results have gone seattle's way which made the colorado game pretty frustrating because yeah pretty much everyone that they needed to drop points did drop points ah when they were playing Colorado.
01:03:27
Speaker
So they actually picked up ground even with the draw, but not as much as they could have. But then once again, most of the results I feel like went their way in this and this last game. and it puts them up in that top four spot, so they just got to keep taking results, stringing some wins together, and they should stay up there.
01:03:44
Speaker
And ah like you said, the Whitecaps, are not looking like the white caps of the CCC run at all, really over the last like month or so. But especially right now with Pedro Vitae moving on, that's like a centerpiece player for them. that that's yeah That's the equivalent of if Seattle sold Obed right now and then just didn't have him for the rest of the season.
01:04:07
Speaker
What would we all be saying? We'd be like, this team might be chalked. I don't know if the Whitecaps are chalked, but there I think their ceiling got lowered a little bit, and they had they hadn't looked that good recently with ah Pedro Vitae in there, frankly.
01:04:21
Speaker
San Diego is and san diego's another one where I'm starting to question, like, if the ah Not if the shine is wearing off. I do still think they're one of the best teams. But they're in the same situation where that Milan-Iloski guy, who I didn't even know who that was, and then he scored 10 goals in 12 games and went to Europe.
01:04:38
Speaker
Like... Who is that guy? but that That's one of the most distinguished um MLS legacies I've seen ah get defined this season. i I had never heard of him, and the first time I watched him, he was scoring four goals in one game against the Vancouver Whitecaps, and then he got out of there.
01:04:54
Speaker
So that's a big huge loss for them. Minnesota United, they look like a consistent factor. They just lost at home to LAFC. or Was that on the road?
01:05:04
Speaker
I don't know. They just lost to LAFC. So everyone who Seattle is like dogfighting for, for that top four spot is kind of down bad right now. And you know, LAFC gets the win. Okay. I, or, uh, I, I messed that up because LAFC had El Trafico.
01:05:21
Speaker
The loons lost the, 1-0 to somebody who was that what am I why am I blank yeah, they lost to LAFC? Oh, okay, I leave Seattle AFC, but that was the midweek game midweek and it was one where LAFC should have won that to zero but Buanga decides to don't know play around with a finish there late in the game and they didn't look at us great and they when they rely so much on set pieces and counters and ah When it's not going their way, they don't have a lot of other tools in their shed.
01:05:53
Speaker
And that's starting to show ah this week as well that the 1-1 against Portland, they didn't look amazing. It started off well. And once again, they just have a hard time shifting away from just the very...
01:06:09
Speaker
I'll call it basic or you know the in not basic in a bad way because the simplistic way of play is what has been so amazing to see that the team with a MLS history record of possession, having possession in terms of percentages, the the best.
01:06:29
Speaker
It's going to be, it could be the best set piece team in MLS history. I mean, there are just so many. oh they are. I mean, if they'll have to sustain the rest of the season, but they're like far and away. They're one of the best set piece teams in the world.
01:06:43
Speaker
Like it's, it's insane. Statistically. It's yeah. i got But, but when you kind of play your chip, so um specifically, can kind of all come down and fall apart. And I think that's what we've seen over the last couple of, of games for this Minnesota team is that,
01:06:58
Speaker
Teams understanding exactly what they have to do if we don't concede a lot of set pieces if we keep them apart if we put the pressure on them If we're careful with you know transition moments then things can get difficult and dicey for Minnesota So yeah, and plus it's Minnesota like I'm sorry to say but they have this Almost arsenal type of way of just you know, they're gonna mess it up at some point In the playoffs, yeah. they In the playoffs or, oh but you know, I always tell people, i used to in my my Spanish show ah last season that, you know, every time it's a headache for Lume fans because they're always going to look really good and then at the end of the season they're fighting to get into the playoffs and then they get into the playoffs and then
01:07:38
Speaker
They don't get anywhere. And then when they do get somewhere, it's a heartbreak at the end. So it's it's a difficult franchise to follow. But all that to say that I think that the West is wide open from one to six or one to, yeah, one to six. Let's say one to six.
01:07:54
Speaker
Minnesota is a is a tough one to evaluate because they're they're just such a unique team with how set-piece reliant they are and also their possession tactics, basically yielding the other teams 70% of the ball every single week.
01:08:14
Speaker
I think they're a ah really good team, upper-tier team in the West. They're going to get a home field advantage spot in the playoffs. It does... feel like I'm not saying that this is necessarily the case, but if I were to make the argument for what could happen,
01:08:30
Speaker
crash and burn with Minnesota is just the fact that it feels, it feels a little gimmicky. You know what I mean? Like they're doing this, uh, kind of outside the box, uh, possession tactics and, ah just being like, we're going to be hyper, hyper elite on set pieces, which the Seattle Sounders should honestly take notes with whatever they're doing on their set pieces.
01:08:51
Speaker
It is incredible, but it's one of those things where, ah when you get to the playoffs and you're playing the other elite teams in the league, Can that sort of outside the box type strategy sustain itself? Is it really going to take you to a trophy
Match Preview Against Atlanta United
01:09:09
Speaker
winning? It might, it might, but I'm more kind of just talking through the lens of, uh, how high up on the West table could the Sounders go?
01:09:19
Speaker
I think you have pretty clear evidence that San Diego and Vancouver are on a downward trajectory right now. Minnesota,
01:09:27
Speaker
they look great right now. They've been taking results all season. Can they sustain it with, uh, with these tactics and, uh, can this, can their set piece dominance sustain itself? Uh, maybe, but it's an open question.
01:09:40
Speaker
And then you've got a Seattle team that despite losing the starting striker, uh, is on fire offensively. And, Well, there's seven games on Beacon or something like that? Yeah, like, well, there, if you go back even, like, a couple months, Seattle's, like, it's, like, 9-3-3 or something. They have one of the best records in MLS over their last 15 or so league matches.
01:10:02
Speaker
So, uh... we'll see, we'll see if that means anything as far as what happens with the table. But, uh, Nico, before we, uh, before we get out of here, let's talk about, uh, what the Sounders need to do to continue climbing the table, which is get a result at Atlanta United. So let's, uh, let's talk about Atlanta United little bit before, uh, before we get out of here for this episode of Lobbing Scorchers kickoff.
01:10:27
Speaker
Uh, Everyone in chat, if you have not yet, please like the video. That's the most important thing that you can do right now is like the video. Let's get it to 100 likes. Why not?
01:10:39
Speaker
Triple digits. ah Atlanta United, Nico. Not that good. Having a very difficult year. ah This is one of the worst teams in the league that Seattle is about to about to play. And I don't say that to be mean. I say that looking at the record and the points per game.
01:10:56
Speaker
And also, i will tell you guys, this is one of the teams in MLS that I follow the more most. Partly out of schadenfreude. Anytime there's a team that spends a lot of money and has high expectations and they don't live up to it.
01:11:09
Speaker
That's fun for everyone else from the outside, not just for us in Seattle, but also there's so many Seattle connections with Atlanta United that I've been interested in following since they manifested. I mean, you could go back to Gonzo Pineda, but obviously ah Chris Henderson, Garth Lagerwey.
01:11:24
Speaker
So there's there's the Ozzie Alonzo, Alonzo, I feel like there's probably a couple more. So I, I've followed them closely for those reasons for the last few years.
01:11:37
Speaker
But this year, Nico, I bought into the hype. I said that this is the, this is the year that Atlanta United becomes Atlanta United of 2017, 2018. Again, I famously called Miguel Almiron, the best off season move that any MLS club made this off season. I did say that I shouldn't have said that, but I did say that.
01:11:57
Speaker
He's been a... It's not wild. It's not outrageous. Looking back on it with the season that they've had, ah it's like, oh, well, probably should have recognized that it's Atlanta United. I shouldn't have bought into the hype. but they're off like This is what I don't get about what's become of them is it's like,
01:12:15
Speaker
I swear like when you look on paper at the moves that they make and the signings that they make, it makes sense. Like you're like, Oh, okay. That guy has this skillset. He starts for Poland. This guy has this skillset. This is a high percentage intra MLS move. Miguel Almiron, one of the best players in their club history, fantastic player in the prem for Newcastle for the last, whatever it was, six, seven years.
01:12:38
Speaker
And he's coming back. He's only 31. I see no reason why he wouldn't be a really good MLS player again. ah and it's just been a ah tail tailspin. So I'll tell you like the things that i noticed but I've noticed about Atlanta United, watching them play as much as I have this year, and then you can give your scouting report. But ah as I see it, these are the issues that they have had this year that Seattle can capitalize on.
01:13:05
Speaker
I think first and foremost being ah they're just very poor defensively. They love conceding goals. It's one of their greatest passions in life is if the other team wants to score on them, they're going to let you do it.
01:13:19
Speaker
like There's absolutely no reason that Seattle should get shut out in this game. There's just not. but Like they, ah there will be chances. They will concede chances. They will concede can transition opportunities. There's going to be those moments there against this team. They concede, they concede those looks to every single team, every single week.
01:13:38
Speaker
It doesn't matter if you're the Chicago fire LAFC or whatever. They love conceding chances. They love conceding goals. So for a team that's playing as well in attack right now as Seattle, that's something you can exploit. And then also i just see a, we've talked we've talked about fortitude, closing out games, game management as stuff that Seattle needs to work on in recent weeks with Atlanta. I just, I see a team that's been mentally weak when they go up in games, they have that Chicago fire in them.
01:14:06
Speaker
If they, they might score first in this game. If they do, I'm telling you, like, I would not even be that pressed about it. Like they're going to find a way to like, give up the lead. Like they, I I'm again, don't say it to be mean. It's just what I see on, on film every week.
01:14:23
Speaker
So with all that in mind, i think ordinarily Nico, when you're, when you have a big road trip like this, uh, a draw like, like a distance wise, really long road trip. Even if it's against a bad team, a draw is like not necessarily the worst thing. Uh, Atlanta is a tough paint place to play. Theoretically. It's a really long road trip.
01:14:46
Speaker
If, if you draw this game, it's not like a horrendous result. They should, they should beat this team. I'm, I have watched a lot of this team. They should beat this team. It's they're not, they're not good. And, ah you also want to talk about like, uh,
01:15:00
Speaker
maybe where they aired in their roster building, their double pivots that they run. There's no, that I think Tristan Moamba was supposed to be there like enforcer type guy, but he's really not that.
01:15:11
Speaker
So they have a situation where they run click the DC United DP. And I think his name is, Sills, Sliz, the Polish guy.
01:15:21
Speaker
It's Sliz. It's Sliz. Very not good double pivot. They get run on every single week and very vulnerable in transition. So ah it's a game that it's not like a disaster.
01:15:36
Speaker
If they draw, it would be pretty bad if they lose to this team. But this is a game that I think you ah you have a full week of ah of rest. I think you can you can run like your first choice 11, go out there and and go for the win. No conservative tactics. like There's no reason to. like This is a team that you can beat.
01:15:56
Speaker
Nico, before we get out of here, thoughts on Atlanta United in this matchup for Seattle? Yeah, ah just real quick. I think you were spot on with everything that you said. What I would add in terms of defense is that they can't get out of their own way.
01:16:10
Speaker
It's a bad pass. It's a bad giveaway in the in the in defensive end. So I think Seattle's effective pressing is going to be a problem for Atlanta because that back line, whether it's Luis Abram or Morales or whoever is back there. Morales got traded.
01:16:27
Speaker
up Morales got traded to CF Montreal. even worse. that that that He was doing pretty good too. They traded. He was, it was he was doing fine. and And the funny part was that they they had brought in that. um Was it the Swedish center back that didn't work out either. greg orson Gregerson. I mean, they just, they've tried so many different things in their back line that just, it doesn't work at all.
01:16:52
Speaker
um They have only won two of their last 10 games, but the the weird part about Atlanta is that they can't be,
01:17:01
Speaker
Difficult to decipher. So one of those 10 games wins is against Cincinnati. And, you know, all of a sudden they look really good. i thought against Chicago, they look, you know, pretty decent.
01:17:12
Speaker
um So that they have moments where offensively they really get going, ah but they have a hard time holding possession. They're a team that's very poor in transition defense. um I think that on the attacking end, they have not been clinical in front of goal.
01:17:27
Speaker
Lat to Lat, despite his huge price tag and his... Clear physical ability because he is lightning fast. He could not put the ball away sometimes the easiest shot he he misses yeah He's in his head.
01:17:40
Speaker
He's in his head. Like yeah, he he's he absolutely absolutely in his head. I think I'm around sometimes ah With Marchuk they kind of press in each other's spaces. They've tried to shift it around the formation But I really do think the running dial just has spun this team out of control and he has a hard time figuring out how to get it back.
01:18:00
Speaker
um And it seems to be a reoccurring issue between what you mentioned and and mentally, which also leads to character and in in almost a a presence of whether if we start the game off hot, when are we going to start to give it up?
01:18:18
Speaker
And then if they start on the back foot, then can we get it in? yeah Can we equalize this game? So Overall, I'm with you. I do feel like the Sounders are a team that should be winning this game.
01:18:30
Speaker
A draw wouldn't be awful because you are on the road, but I think that Seattle, ah when I look back at this last Charlotte game, they can do a lot of things that Charlotte does with the ability of just expose the flanks.
01:18:45
Speaker
ah Depending on how things go well with the ninth position, I think that they can pepper this Atlanta team into submission. And I think that the possession of the ball is something that they're going to be able to have over Atlanta.
01:18:58
Speaker
And whenever Seattle has effective possession, they typically have a decent game. So I do think that they're going to be able to go to Atlanta and get a ah result. Yeah. And you know, who knows, maybe this is the week that Atlanta United ah puts it all together and looks like the team we all thought we were going to, I don't know about we all, I thought we were going to see going into the season, but ah Seattle's better than this team. They should be able to beat.
01:19:22
Speaker
this team pk uh brings up the take that i've been saying which is they got to bring back rob valentino that that was the downfall that was the downfall they overthought it they should have just kept the interim guy he that guy's sweating blood for atlanta united what does ronnie dylan care about atlanta united i don't know i'm going off on a tangent but All right, Nico, I got to get it out of here on that.
Show Wrap-Up and Future Content
01:19:42
Speaker
ah Great stuff today, as always. Thank you all for tuning in to another edition of Lobbing Scorchers Kickoff. ah Like, comment, subscribe, rate five stars, sub to the channel.
01:19:55
Speaker
what What am I missing? Lobbingscorchers.com slash sauce. Lobbingscorchers.com slash archive. Podcast coming out this week under the lights on Thursday. And then Seattle Sounders at Atlanta United.
01:20:08
Speaker
on Saturday. Vico, thanks for tapping in, man. We'll catch you next time. We're going to figure out audio. i promise, guys. we' We're going to figure it out. I'm going to meet with Noah. We're going to get it right. Lobbing Scorchers tech. You got to just give it some time get it figured out eventually. All right. Thanks, everybody. We'll catch you next time. Peace.