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Kickoff: Does Jordan Morris unlock the Seattle Sounders attack?
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It was an electric first half and a chaotic ending as the Seattle Sounders topped Sporting KC 3-2 at Children's Mercy Park in Matchday 24. With Jordan Morris marking his return with the opener as part of a three-goal outburst, is Seattle's attack about to get rolling? We'll also dive in to the second-half struggles, which included yet another red card for a Sounders fullback.
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Lobbing Scorchers is a Seattle Sounders and MLS focused show brought to you by Sounder at Heart. Hosted by Major League Soccer's Ari Liljenwall and Producer Noah Riffe. Join us as we lob our scorching takes on the American soccer landscape, Seattle Sounders, Major League Soccer, USMNT and more.
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Transcript
Introduction to Lobbing Scorchers
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.
Seattle Sounders' Victory in Kansas City
00:00:22
Speaker
Well sir, we got a scorcher today. Gonna be a real scorcher today. Why the scorcher today? Well it's gonna be scorcher.
00:00:44
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 here this morning. The Seattle Sounders took a little road trip down to Kansas City, and they returned with all three points, but not before.
00:01:03
Speaker
A lot of goals, penalty kicks, Red cards, drama and theatrics. We're going to talk about all that and more, including Seattle's short turnaround next matchup coming up against the Colorado Rapids on Wednesday at Lumen Field.
Analyzing the Sporting KC Game
00:01:21
Speaker
Nico, I can't wait to dig into into this game with you. i think this was probably the craziest game of the season so far. How are you doing? Hey, what's going on, Ari? First of all, how am I coming on? How how are you hearing me, my friend?
00:01:33
Speaker
No, you're sounding good. You're sounding good. The tech is on point this week. Love it, love it. Excited to be on. And yes, man, it was... a
00:01:42
Speaker
It was a rollercoaster sort of performance there from the Sounders, starting really high and then having some issues along the way. ah Some, you know, beyond the pitch, which, you know, I'm sure we'll get into as well.
00:01:57
Speaker
um But excited to be on, man. Thanks for having me, saying ah hello to everyone out there. Appreciate everybody hopping on. And, you know, let let let's get to it, man. think it's going to be... ah ah is a short week, right? We're going to be able to talk about today's game. We'll talk about Wednesday's game.
00:02:15
Speaker
Then, you know, the game after that. I mean, that there's going to be a lot of soccer over the next week for the Seattle Sounders, which means rotations. It means,
First Half Highlights: Seattle vs Sporting KC
00:02:24
Speaker
um you know, consistent play and, you know, all of these things that we'll get into here today.
00:02:31
Speaker
Having some issues, I think, is a good way to put how that game ended for the ah for the Seattle Sounders. But ah yeah, let's let's talk about this Sporting KC game first and foremost, because I got to get your takes on it. both There's a lot of positives and some negatives. we're going to talk about ah We're going to talk about both of them right now. But before we do all that, everyone, please like the video.
00:02:58
Speaker
Like the video. Like the video, sub to the channel, follow us on all socials, including Instagram and TikTok, and go to lobingscorchers.com slash sauce to order the Lobingscorchers hot sauce, which is out right now.
00:03:12
Speaker
Code LS with your order, and you get a free bottle. So you can't beat that. ah All right, Nico, let's talk about this ah Sporting KC game, because like we both alluded to, lot happened.
00:03:25
Speaker
ah lot happened. ah Like I said, I think this is this would be my pick for ah craziest game of the season so far. But let's start. Yeah.
00:03:37
Speaker
end of the game with the chaos and the red card and all that that was sort of fresh in our minds and that's what we spent a lot of time talking about that at the top of the show think a couple days removed from it now ah we can we can start with what we saw at the beginning of the game because there was a lot of good stuff in that first half And in fact, I think that was I mean, it was certainly one of the best halves that Seattle has played all season.
00:04:00
Speaker
I think you could argue it was the best half that Seattle has played all season. And what was exciting about that to me, Nico, was that I feel like we have not been able to see what the Sounders attack could look like with Jordan Morris, who is back starting for this game, played that first half, 45 minutes.
00:04:16
Speaker
Hayes Fuster-Ferrera and Albert Rusnak all together on the field at the same time. I don't think we've seen that much, if at all, this season. And I feel like in this game, we got a taste of what that can look like when it is firing on all cylinders.
00:04:34
Speaker
And honestly, that was pretty electric. ah They were generating really high quality chances through the ah throughout the first half. I think you have to credit Paul Rothrock, obviously, a lot.
00:04:46
Speaker
for that. But the entire front four, I mean, they were on point. They looked sharp. They looked like they were executing. ah Like I said, the chance generation was great and the output ended up great. They end up getting three goals.
00:04:59
Speaker
Jordan Morris gets back on the score sheet early. He loves scoring at Sporting Kansas City. ah So that was great to see, but that was an excellent, well-worked goal by Seattle and a great assist by Rothrock.
00:05:12
Speaker
And They get the penalty kick on the handball on Daniel Salawi, but that was an earned PK, not against the run of play by any stretch of the imagination. Rusnak had had one cleared off the line just a few minutes before that. So that was another great chance.
00:05:28
Speaker
yeah So that puts them up to zero. And then Jesus Ferreira gets another goal in transition at the very end of first half stoppage time. Sporting KC has a dangerous little opportunity in the box. Christian rolled on, wins the ball as he does frequently.
00:05:43
Speaker
uh, gets, Hey, springs, Jesus Ferreira out in transition, and then just excellent interplay between Jesus Ferreira and Albert Rusnak, which that was great to see because there was a lot of talk earlier in the season as to whether those two could play together.
00:05:56
Speaker
Looked like they played together
Seattle's Offensive Strategy
00:05:57
Speaker
pretty well to me on, uh, on that play and then Jesus Ferreira gets his third goal in his last six games he looks like he's heating up and it looks like he and Rothrock are kind of solidifying themselves as the top dogs at those respective positions so really ah for as not ideal as the as the ending was you couldn't have done it up much better in the in the first half And it was just great to see this team have that personnel out there playing together like they were and then getting three goals out of it. So Nico, what did you see offensively from the team in this first half that you liked that led to these three goals? And how do you feel about their chances of sustaining that type of performance as we approach the stretch run of the season here?
00:06:44
Speaker
Yeah, look, this is what I liked. Um, when it comes to the concepts and principles, that first half was immaculate. ah For one, i think that Brian Smetzer has been really cleared and focused on starting games on the front foot.
00:07:02
Speaker
And, you know, whether it's the first 15, 20, 30 minutes he wants to controlled the tempo of the game. She wants to have a lot of intensity. And I feel like both against Columbus and now in Sporting Kansas City, they got off to a hot start. And there was a lot of intensity, a lot of movement.
00:07:21
Speaker
A lot of it came thanks to Paul Rothrock. I got to say that in the first 45 minutes, he was outstanding. yeah Looking at my notes from the game, i mean, he... By the 15th minute, he had the assist for Jordan Morris.
00:07:36
Speaker
He created a chance on top of the box for Jesus Ferreira. He had a shot himself inside the 18 that he i could have put that on frame would have been great. But his overall movement and the way that as the farthest guy on the left side of this system, he created so much havoc.
00:07:53
Speaker
ah But it wasn't just that. It was also patience where they needed to be patience. um If you need to drop back and not rush in or force a situation, ah thought that he did that well.
00:08:08
Speaker
I think Seattle, when it comes to being a possession-based team, that's what they want to do. In those first 45, it was effective movement of the ball, switching the point of attack consistently. In the fifth minute,
00:08:21
Speaker
Ovid Vargas puts a dime for Alex Roldan on the right side. Alex brings it down, puts it into Ferreira. Jesus, I think, doesn't quite know if he wants to pass it or shoot it.
00:08:32
Speaker
And he kind of does one in between. So it doesn't quite go to Jordan, doesn't quite go on frame. So it's a missed opportunity. There's another opportunity where it's the exact same thing, but they're switching it to Paul Rothrock. So when this team is able to set up the way they want to play,
00:08:51
Speaker
and execute on the field, I'm going to give them a lot of credit for it. um I think that when the Sounders in I believe it was their third goal, um that's a 21 pass spell of possession prior to Jesus Ferreira getting that tap in. in front of goal, right?
00:09:16
Speaker
ah They show patience. you know they They bring the ball on both sides. 21 passes. they They reset it all the way back to to the back to Jonathan Bell, and they're able to bring it back forward, and they're able to exploit the channels.
Challenges in the Second Half
00:09:32
Speaker
Jordan Morris, as a guy who does give you the ability to stretch out a defense, He didn't have a lot of room to run back and and and get behind the defense because I think Sporting Kansas City did a good job, at least in that sense.
00:09:48
Speaker
Because if there's something that was surprising about this specific game when he came to Sporting Kansas City was that they played with double pivots. It's unlikely. It's not something that they do. I think that they wanted to overpopulate the midfield. They they wanted to keep Albert Rustic contained, and they didn't want – um Jordan i have a lot of room in the half spaces as Ferreira, but they didn't do a very good job just because I don't think they run it.
00:10:12
Speaker
So there was it was very gappy. There was a lot of space. It was actually compressing their back line a little bit and was just giving Seattle room to run. and I think that Seattle with Albert and with ah Jordan Morris, and that's where I want to focus on here as I finish my conclusion of kind of my overall take of the game, is that Jordan Morris, despite not being able to do as his forte implies, right? He's the speed guy. He's the that's going get behind that the back line.
00:10:45
Speaker
In the goal, he is receiving the ball top of the box. i've I've said quite a few times that Jordan last season showed me that he could be a nine that could play with his back to goal better. And in that play, he does that. He receives the ball. he, he he knows where he wants to go. He passes the ball to ah Paul Rothrock. He sees that the center backs are dragged out.
00:11:12
Speaker
He makes that run to the near post and Paul Rothrock puts it in on a dime as well. And then obviously the technique for, uh, Jordan to put the ball away with little to no angle and with a ball that's coming pretty red hot.
00:11:29
Speaker
I was just very pleased. And that's what Jordan does. Jordan looked dangerous all game. and i And I think he only got 11 or 13 touches in the 45 minutes he was in, but they were all positives, positive with the ball, positive in his link up play.
00:11:43
Speaker
um So, I was just very pleased on what you want to see out of the team when Brian Smetzer puts it together and says, these are principles. This is the way we're going to play.
00:11:54
Speaker
And even Jesus Ferreira, a guy that there were some opportunities in this one that you
Red Card Issues and Nuhu's Ejection
00:12:02
Speaker
wish you would have done better with, but he's just very smart. And you could see why You want him in that right winger position where he tucks inside and you allow Alex, who also had a very good game.
00:12:16
Speaker
and Alex Jordan was on point both offensively and defensively.
00:12:21
Speaker
He helps him get connections. and And we talked to Precky. last week And you can find that on Sandra Hard YouTube and um the No Cerede podcast, I'm sure.
00:12:34
Speaker
ah But it's it's about what he does in terms of patience, connecting, and playing for the system. And so he he helped out. help Helped out on the build-out. Helped out on the possession spells.
00:12:48
Speaker
He's just very... cerebral with the ball and a little bit of patience does help out this specific system. Do we want to see him be more aggressive at times? And he was, I think there was a lot of moments specifically in his goal where he takes his pace. He makes the hard run.
00:13:04
Speaker
He's with the ball. He allows Albert Russ, that's actually credit to Albert, that he does the overlap to the right side and then he gets the ball. So I do think that we're starting to see, like what you said, this team really come together.
00:13:19
Speaker
um And there were even times where I think that Jordan and Ferreira still had a bit little bit of rust. They've only played hundred and some minutes together all season long. And there was a couple of moments where Jordan's making a run.
00:13:31
Speaker
Ferreira hits him to the wrong space and it's a missed opportunity. But I feel like Seattle, slowly but surely, is effectively using their concepts and their principles to be very good at what they want to do.
00:13:47
Speaker
But all of that, however, is encapsulated into the first half because in the second, Everything changed. And of course, I'm going to give you the ball back here, Ari. I'm not going to hold it.
00:13:59
Speaker
But there was adjustments ah from ah Sporting Kansas City. They realized that they were way too gappy. ah They bring in Munoz to ah kind of pin back a little bit of that offense of the Sounders that just was getting...
00:14:14
Speaker
way too forward. They switched Salahui with Shappi at one point. Then Shappi comes off to bring in Munoz. ah They also get rid of Memo Rodriguez in midfield that was kind of lost. It just chasing shadows there for him.
00:14:27
Speaker
And those adjustments do kind of bring back a little bit of fortitude to supporting Kansas City. And then the Sounders between The climate, I'm sure a lot of miles in these guys, and the fact that Sporting Kansas City down 3-0 through the kitchen sink and everything in between, at you it was kind of hard for them to manage the rest of that second half.
00:14:51
Speaker
Yeah, we're going to talk about the second half. We're going to talk about the second half. Didn't go as well. I think it's fair to say. But i did want to start by you know giving giving credit and just noting the overall attacking performance in the ah in the first half because...
00:15:07
Speaker
ah Like I said, you can't do it up for an in-conference road game much better than that. They looked like the home team. They got three goals. It ended up being enough to get them what was a really important win. you know i was i was thinking to myself ah before the game, like this is just a sneakily...
00:15:25
Speaker
big game this is a dogfight right now for one of the top four spots in the western conference you got the portland timbies in there you got lafc in there uh vancouver is got they've got a solid hold on the third spot right now they're five points up on seattle and portland But they're in a little bit of a free fall. They might be vulnerable to yielding that spot. You know, San Diego and Minnesota have a little separation at the top.
00:15:48
Speaker
But ah this is it right now. The Sounders are in a stretch of the season where it's make or break as far as if they're going to get these home games in the playoffs. And if they had drawn or lost this game, that would have been...
00:16:01
Speaker
Crucial points dropped in that race in a situation where ah they were up three goals, which anytime you're up three goals, you have to see out the game and you have to get all three points.
00:16:12
Speaker
So the fact that it got that close to them dropping a couple of those points wasn't great, but that doesn't take away from the fact that the first half performance was fantastic. that That opening goal that you were breaking down from Jordan Morris, just such good stuff.
00:16:27
Speaker
the I love the outside the foot trademark kind of sweep he he did to ah hit Rothrock on there. And then Rothrock's service from out wide right now is just on point.
00:16:39
Speaker
And it feels like this front four is really solidifying as as far as who's going to be in it ah in a first choice starting eleven Right now, it's pretty clear that it's Paul Rothrock, Albert Rusnak, Jesus Ferreira, and Jordan Morris.
00:16:55
Speaker
There's been a lot of talk about who should be starting on the wings week in, week out. And with Leagues Cup and stuff coming up, that's going to be a rotation. But ah right now, Paul Rothrock and Jesus Ferreira are the ones who are providing the end product.
00:17:10
Speaker
And it's also, you know, I'm obviously happy to see Jesus Ferreira heating up like this because i i was i stuck my neck out there and said that it was coming. I was like, yeah you know, he's going
Managing Disciplinary Issues
00:17:20
Speaker
to people. People were so sure that he was going to goose egg for the season on goal scoring, that they were making tattoo bets with Noah and stuff and getting all up on us in our in our comments section about how Craig Weibel is.
00:17:34
Speaker
ah the most incompetent GM of all time for making that trade, all that stuff. And now he's up to three goals, six assists. And it looks like he, when, if he keeps up this relative pace, the numbers at the end of the season are going to be acceptable to very good potentially for what he's making, which is not a DP contract.
00:17:55
Speaker
So all that, all that is great. All that is great. Can't play a Western conference road game in the first half much better than that. The second half, like I said, did not go as well. You had Moose come on for Jordan Morris at the half for fitness, minutes restriction type stuff.
00:18:17
Speaker
ah But i think, there like you said, there was a couple of factors that at play here. someone Someone brought it up in chat earlier. Maximus Dorcas here. How bad does the humidity and heat affect players?
00:18:31
Speaker
A lot. And like I think that was part of it. It was 70% humidity in ah in Kansas City. And Seattle looked like a team that was playing in 70% humidity that's not used to playing in elements like that. They were gassed. like By the 60th or 70th minute, it was pretty clear that the team was gassed.
00:18:50
Speaker
And, you know, Nico, for me, the way I see it, the the fact that the ah game state and the game management deteriorated in the way it did and they had to absorb that much pressure, that didn't surprise me.
00:19:04
Speaker
And I can live with that to an extent. That's just... I know people don't want to hear it, but like in in an MLS road game like this, when you're playing at a place like Sporting KC, stretches of games like that where you're there on top of you and absorbing pressure when you're playing in extreme heat, extreme conditions like that, that periods of the game like that are just kind of baked in. It's going to happen. It's about how you deal with it. It's about how you absorb that pressure without conceding goals.
00:19:32
Speaker
And it's a survival test. That's that's what it is. And so you just have to make it out of that by any means necessary. And so as far as like the, the attacking performance and output, not sustaining itself in the second half and it becoming more surviving and absorbing pressure and all that, that's like not a shock to me. And I could live with that if that was the only thing, but now Nico,
00:19:57
Speaker
It is time to play everyone's least favorite game. And it's called, can the Seattle Sounders make it through one one MLS game without one of the fullbacks getting ejected? They could not quite do it this week. They they got they got pretty close.
00:20:12
Speaker
They got pretty close. It was down to the last couple minutes. I was like, all right, might end this with 11 men for the first time in a couple weeks. That's that's looking good. No fullback has been sent off so far. Okay, here we go.
00:20:25
Speaker
And this time it was new who once again, seeing red for the second time in what the last three weeks or so. And ah but we'll, we'll talk about new who that I, I, I don't want to like pile on him. Everyone's been on him deservedly and I get it, but let's, let's just contextualize everything that with this team that's led up.
00:20:47
Speaker
to this latest red card over the last few weeks, ah because you now have five, five red cards in Seattle's last four league games.
00:21:01
Speaker
Look, That's some of record? It's got to be a club record. I don't know if it's the MLS record, but I mean, you have a record for sure. That I could probably get a good amount.
00:21:13
Speaker
You had the ah the two red card doozy famously up in Vancouver where New Who gets sent off with one of the one of the worst red cards I've seen from a Sounders player until this last game.
00:21:25
Speaker
Uh, J bell also against that off in that game, RBW and KKR also get sent off in the last couple of weeks. And then you have this one from new who, which was one of the craziest red cards, uh, I have seen, but before we talk about exactly what happened with this new who one, I mean,
00:21:46
Speaker
Look, Nico, I'm not a, uh, I'm not like a disciplinarian
Sounders' Culture and Management Challenges
00:21:50
Speaker
type guy. All right. Like I understand, uh, people make mistakes. Okay. And, uh, also over the course of a long regular season where you got 34 games plus, uh, plus leagues cup, plus clubs, world cup, plus playoffs, all the, you're probably going playing up close to 50 games before the end of the season. There's probably going to be a couple of situations where you get a guy sent off that happens every year to, ah to every team.
00:22:16
Speaker
So, you know, a red card here and there every once in a while is not like the end of the world. And I'm not going to get too bent out of shape over it. ah But is it a is it a lot to ask to not have ah five red cards in four games?
00:22:34
Speaker
Is it a lot to ask ah for them to make it through one game without a fullback getting ejected? What's going on with this, Nico?
00:22:43
Speaker
The concern there is the, the pattern and the variety of red cards, right? I mean, clearly there's a difference between having a yellow and having the maturity and the awareness of playing with a yellow, like a guy like Christian Roldan, who got a pretty soft yellow in the 37, 38 minutes, I think.
00:23:09
Speaker
And then he plays the whole game, physical, strong, but... smart, you know, intelligently, you know, very smart on the way he comes into tackles. he He's not the one that's going to, if there is a necessity for a a tactical foul on a transition moment, he knows he can't do that. He knows he can't take it.
00:23:29
Speaker
you know, he's got to be careful in certain moments in the field and he does it.
00:23:33
Speaker
But guys like Kalani, guys like Reid, that although younger, I am not. I am not going to let them off easy and and just say, hey, you know what? Just the young players, it's the way it is. No, especially Reid.
00:23:46
Speaker
Reid should know better. Reid has been part of this organization for a long time. Reid is a very, you know, smart player. And he's a guy that in soccer years should know better at this point in time to be very careful. And he's been caught up on those moments of the double yellows.
00:24:03
Speaker
But that's fine. That's part of the game. It's, you know, um I'm still going to get on him and I don't think that it should just be okay. And i' I'm not going just give him a pass, but you know, it's part of the game. But then there are the moments of lack of, oh man, lack of maturity and lack of understanding that are have to leave above moments because if you allow a player to get under your skin or a fan to get under your skin and your reaction ah your impulse being bigger than your team, that's a problem.
00:24:44
Speaker
that's That's a huge problem for me. and NuHu getting into it with a fan kind of goes beyond what is control the controllables in terms of you know using some of what Brian likes to say.
00:24:59
Speaker
um Brian can't control that decision, but he certainly can't control how he handles it. Because um I'm not going to beat up on Nuhu. ah like I'm not going to crucify him.
00:25:13
Speaker
I'm going to be upset at him. And I definitely think that he needs to do better. And there has to be some sort of repercussion. I'm, I'm, I'm wondering what that might look like. Brian said he was going to handle that internally, but that sort of red card kind of goes and over exceeds that, that the point, the soccer component of things.
00:25:31
Speaker
So, That's the concerning part is that it's not just soccer. It's just the mentality is where the team is at is, you know, how do we move forward? You know, how do I get one of my best defenders to get in line and, and,
00:25:45
Speaker
Understand that he has to do better in that moment. So that's the concerning part. It's just the variety of the red cards, the variety of the moments and the moments in which it happened.
00:25:55
Speaker
It didn't cost Seattle. It almost does because Sporting got City was a Alex Roldan safe in the line away from tying this game. If you know, it all comes together. It was at a different time in the game, but had Alex not save that ball right as he's about to enter the the net.
00:26:15
Speaker
it's another story. And we're here sitting
Pressure Management and Tactical Adjustments
00:26:17
Speaker
talking about how, ah you know, the red card ended up causing, you know, a ah potential 3-3 game, right? so So, so many issues, so many different um factors that Brian's going have to look into that that it is concerning.
00:26:34
Speaker
I'm glad you brought up that Alex Roldan play because in the context of everything else that had happened on the postgame show, I feel like we totally overlooked that. That was an insane play. Like, first of all, just well just the ball pinging around in the box there. It goes off the post, lands right to Jovulic.
00:26:50
Speaker
he ah he had That ball is going in. i don't even understand how he contorted his body. like Yeah, that was weird. I don't know how his foot went that way. It almost looked like a scene from the – um the fantastic four like he just stretched out his leg and i just stopped it it was crazy that was one of the craziest goal line clearances i have ever seen huge play in the game like you mentioned straight up saved a goal by contorting his body in ways that i didn't even know was possible i was i was worried he got injured because of his reaction right after that uh he turned out to be fine he got up he played out the rest of the game ah but that was a uh that was a hell of a play uh
00:27:35
Speaker
But yeah, no, I mean, as far as these red card red cards go, ah you know, I'm a simple man. I don't really ask for a lot. But my one challenge for the Seattle Sounders for this game coming up against the Colorado Rapids on Wednesday, can they make it the full 90 with all 11 guys on the field and both fullbacks.
00:27:56
Speaker
they at some point At some point, they're going to have to do that. It's funny, like their record in these last three games, all of which have had seen them get a fullback ejected, they're 2-0-1. So, I mean, it's i think it would be...
00:28:10
Speaker
an even more serious discussion. You know, I'm kind of joking around about it, but like it would be a more serious discussion if it was costing them results, which it it hasn't thankfully, but it will eventually if you keep getting guys sent off and just overall like,
00:28:26
Speaker
playing with a lack of discipline like that, it is going to catch up to you. And they're frankly, they're, they're fortunate that it didn't cost them in this game. Like it's it's all well and good to say a win is win and it doesn't matter. And I agree with that to an extent, but it's about like, what's a sustainable formula for success moving forward, getting a guy ejected every single week.
00:28:47
Speaker
for five guys in four games on ah what has to be a league record pace of ejections. That is not what I would dub a sustainable method of taking results and victories in major league soccer or frankly, any league.
00:29:02
Speaker
You gotta be able to make it to a game with all 11 guys still on the field. ah But let's let's talk about this new who won in particular because this was just an absolute debacle that it,
00:29:16
Speaker
It made it feel like, i don't know, it take it took away from the vibe that you usually get from a win, I think. I might have been overstating it after the game a little bit. I was talking about how this low-key is like a win that doesn't feel like a win and stuff like that. I mean, I don't know if if I would go that far now, a couple of days removed from it, but it's just like, oh, God, like you can't do that.
00:29:39
Speaker
And the The whole circumstance of how new who got sent off was just crazy. ah Like you said, he gets into it with a ah with a fan. He claims the fan flipped him off.
00:29:51
Speaker
And then he throws the ball into the stand. I'm pretty sure it hit the hit the fan, which, I mean, he's going to get suspended. He's going to get suspended for at least a couple games. In addition to the one game suspension, he was already going to have to serve for for the red card.
00:30:06
Speaker
And there's just ah there's just no circumstance where the events that were being described can lead to that reaction. So he he claimed that the fan flipped him off and that's why he reacted that way.
00:30:22
Speaker
So number one, if that, if that's the case and it was just the fan flipping them off, that is That is not a reason to throw a ball in the into the stands. There's no way.
00:30:33
Speaker
that that yeah ah An opposing fan like at a road venue flipping you off, that's that's like a normal day at the office ah for a professional athlete or an MLS player. You're going to get flipped off.
00:30:44
Speaker
There's a video, a famous video of Jordan Morris after scoring his fourth goal at that exact stadium, ah giving the Sporting Kansas City fans the one, two, three, four for all the goals that he scored. Every single fan that you can see in the video is flipping him off.
00:30:59
Speaker
Did he throw a ball into the stands? No. so that that if Now, if it comes out that a fan said something crazy to him, like way out of pocket, way out of line, then I'll i'll assess that as ah as it comes.
00:31:12
Speaker
But with what we know right now, that the provocation was just a fan flipping him off, That is not a proportionate reaction, and it's something that you have to know is probably going to get you sent off. Then there is the clip of him where it looks like pretty clear that he is flipping off the referee, which is also something you can't do.
00:31:30
Speaker
there's There's stuff floating around out there, theories. I think... ah schmet Schmetz might have alluded to this at one point, ah but supposedly there's an explanation out there that the he was flipping the ref off as a demonstration of what the fan did to him, which when I first heard that, I was like, okay, that's probably not true. If you watch the clip and look at his body language, it's like, okay, maybe that's what he was doing.
00:31:56
Speaker
you still You still can't do that because if you if you do that, then the ref is rightfully going to think that you're just flipping him off. So that's another that that's just an added layer of something that you can't do in that situation.
00:32:09
Speaker
then you ah Then you throw in the the issue of... Like he got a crazy red card in the Vancouver game. He made a really boneheaded play in the Botafogo game
Player Management and Team Dynamics
00:32:22
Speaker
where he conceded the foul off the ball that led to the free kick where they scored.
00:32:26
Speaker
And now he gets thrown out of the Sporting KC game at a point in the game where Sporting KC had just gotten a penalty kick. just a a minute before that was going to bring this game within three, two with a lot of time left in the game.
00:32:38
Speaker
You absolutely under no circumstances ever at all can get sent off in that situation. It can happen. ah He's going to get suspended. Like I said, for at least two or three games on top of the suspension that he already is, is going to get hit with.
00:32:53
Speaker
And then at that point, it's Brian Schmetzer. It's on on Brian Schmetzer to figure out how he how he deals with this, because ah with the disciplinary issues with Nuhu in the last couple weeks and then this is dating back to last season, too.
00:33:07
Speaker
He he and Rui Diaz got into it with Schmetz in the locker room after they won against FC Dallas. And I think they both got suspended for a game in that context. He missed his Uber in, in DC and missed a film session, got suspended for that.
00:33:22
Speaker
ah Now you have two red cards and ah a boneheaded off ball foul that might've cost you a result in the club world cup in the last like three or four weeks. ah what do you what's What's going on with Nuhu, Nico? Because to me, it seems pretty obvious that there's something going on like off the field that is... I don't know if it's he's upset with his contract or his role on the team or if there's something else going on off the field.
00:33:51
Speaker
Whatever it is, whatever the case may be, i don't i don't know how you can put him out there in an MLS game right now. Not because of... ah ability necessarily. It's because he is losing his composure, getting ejected, ah committing fouls that are hurting the team. And the the net result is that it it ripple affects everyone else. Like that's the thing with like the selfish act like that, where you get ejected in a situation where it's just completely unbathetic.
00:34:24
Speaker
Unnecessary not It's not like a foul that takes Place in the course of the game or in the Case of the vancouver red card it's just One that you got to know not to make so i don't Know what do you what do you make all this nico Look i think it's very Complex and and i'll be Very careful with how i phrase This uh but it's a Cultural thing and It is something that is not Uh to your Theory It has nothing to do with something being wrong.
00:34:54
Speaker
This is new. And this is the new hood that we've, we've always had. I mean, I, I can point out things that have been reported and not reported of just new whose demeanor sometimes and, and, and, and impulsiveness and, you know, maybe ah lack of awareness. And this is where, this is worse though. This is like, no, no, it's absolutely worse. And that's where I'm heading.
00:35:17
Speaker
That's where I'm heading. Cause it is, it is worse because, In sports in general, does it doesn't matter which, you know, soccer, you got the Pepes of the world and basketball, the Rasheed Wallaces of the world, and you have a talent and and ah and and a player that does a specific thing for you.
00:35:38
Speaker
And he is a huge part of your team. So you have to know how to deal with that person. And, ah not with giving him necessarily the privilege to just do whatever he wants, but you're going to be ready for him to have a couple of mistakes along the line of a season.
00:35:57
Speaker
The problem with Nuhu is that if he's starting to over exceed the amount that of damage that he does for the team in comparison to what he's providing the team, then that's when it becomes an even bigger problem.
00:36:12
Speaker
Uh,
00:36:14
Speaker
And culturally, is it getting beyond the point of it being manageable for a team or or or or a coach?
00:36:28
Speaker
And I think that there's a variation of things, right? The whole thing with Raul and Nhu, that's very different than you know something like this where it's costing you You being out the next game, and ah you know that was an internal policy problem, but now you're, like you mentioned, you could essentially be suspended beyond the regular of of a red car or whatever that might be.
00:36:53
Speaker
So you're hurting the team. And that's where Brad's metric gets put in a difficult situation the organization as a whole. And they have to sit down with new and say, look, we understand that this is the way things have gone. And, you know, there's been moments where bad decisions have been made. And, you know, there there are things like, oh, you know, maybe when I'm with Cameron, I lost my,
00:37:16
Speaker
passport or you know something happened and have to be here a little bit later and those are things that you can manage but when you're going out of your way in a game to lose your composure against a fan and as you mentioned it's something that every athlete should unfortunately know is that they're going to get heckled at a stadium now not saying that it's okay part of the job I'm not saying that it's okay. So if there was something said that was racial or whatever, that, that you know, we could be like, wow, you know, understand why he might've had the reaction. you You still, there's, there's still ways that you can handle
Game Management Tactics
00:37:51
Speaker
it it. And, you know, we've seen it in soccer where, you know, a player will go to the ref and be like, Hey, you know, this is what happened. So-and-so said something and the ref can stop the game or whatever it might be. There's always a way around
00:38:02
Speaker
And that's kind of where I'm disappointed with you. And I, again, have always been a new supporter because of what he provides for this team, because of his specialist role, that he has been a a a a very important pillar for this team for a very long time in order to get trophies and success.
00:38:27
Speaker
And so for me, it has to be a cultural issue with the player. and and kind of the behavior that maybe you have allowed him to do certain things and now it's kind of escalated to a whole other point.
00:38:44
Speaker
um And this one is is the worst one. This one is the worst one because you're
00:38:51
Speaker
And I know he doesn't want to do this, but but it almost feels like you're kind of slapping your team in the face, right? I mean, he I know he doesn't want to let his team down, but he he did it. He let his team down by allowing that moment to get him red card.
00:39:04
Speaker
And although I do believe, you know, when I rewatch the game, I've watched it a couple of times, I do think that he's saying, what, red card, but he did this to me. You know, he he did it to me, right? So I would understand where that would be a reaction,
00:39:20
Speaker
but it's just not the way that you want to go about it. Right. And you see J Bell just kind of grab them. Right. Cause maybe J Bell's thinking, Oh, is he flicking them off? Like what's going on here? So it's a whole mess all to conclude that me, you just have to be careful where the culture of the, of the group is headed to, and you need to snip this in the butt immediately. And I don't think that Nuhu is guy that is going to be negligent on his behavior just because, but you also have to make sure that you let let him know that impulsiveness is also not an excuse for something like that to happen because you need to be above that. You need to be a better. You're,
00:40:07
Speaker
to experience. you far You're too far into it. you know You're too good at what you do to allow something like this to just define you. So it's it's it's a difficult situation. But I do think that it's not about and anything that's happening today.
00:40:19
Speaker
I just think that that's kind of the things that come in new. And when they start hurting the team more than helping, and that's when you know situations like this happen and when you've got to have more serious conversations with players.
00:40:34
Speaker
Flipping off the ref to demonstrate That you got flipped off It's just like I think I can see it If you watch the clip It makes sense Really he did this to me That kind of makes sense But without a context And with the cameras on you looks totally I mean a picture says a thousand words Although out of context words But you know that's difficult Yeah It was just ah it was a ridiculous situation. The team shouldn't have been in that situation. And ah if it did a if it had cost them the game or like the result, the two points, they would have had no one to blame. It would have been another self-inflicted
00:41:17
Speaker
situation Not the other team getting the better of you, but you doing it to yourself. the Sportacus City was on top. Jovlich gets one in the final minutes that he probably should have shot and he doesn't shoot and he ends up passing it back top of the box. But if that goes in, you know, that that ties the game.
00:41:32
Speaker
Yeah, no, they were fortunate to win the game. They were very fortunate to get out of there with the win. Luckily, they ah they did. Andy T rose to the occasion in place of Stephen Fry, who's still in concussion protocol.
00:41:44
Speaker
I thought that Andy T made some nice saves. i I was never all that worried about ah Andy T. I've watched a lot of Andy T. I feel like pretty confident that he is an MLS number one.
00:41:58
Speaker
i think we saw that in that ah in that game. He's got some freaky athleticism, Nico. Like some of the jumping around and acrobatics he was doing, ah he played well. so And he had to in the in that second half.
00:42:11
Speaker
So that was good to see, I guess. Andy T's solid. and ity solid my one um concern about him is just his distribution. And he's he's worked at it. he He's gotten...
00:42:28
Speaker
gradually better, but with his feet and passing the ball around and where he needs to put it, i feel like he he does struggle at times and whether he lags it too far out or, ah you know, he's got difficulties putting the ball where he wants.
00:42:43
Speaker
That's something that Steph has worked on. Also, he wasn't great at it initially and then he was very, very good at it now or just a lot better at it actually. don't want to say very, very good, you know, but he's gotten a lot better at it.
00:42:55
Speaker
I feel like that's the one component that what we're
00:42:59
Speaker
Andrew Thomas can can get better at. well I'll say one last thing about the whole situation before we move on from that subject is you had kind of mentioned that it kind of killed the vibes. What I would say is that that's where maybe i will lay the line.
00:43:13
Speaker
i think that that situation in that red card was maybe the cherry on top or the straw that broke the camel's back type of situation because the vibes are already going to be bad because that entire second half was...
00:43:26
Speaker
was poor, right? You weren't able to be in possession. struggled to adjust to some of the things that, uh, sporting Kansas city was doing. think that you were exposing the flank side entire first half, but between exhaustion and the way that sporting kind city decided to play you, with a four, four, two, and there were times, so it was a four, four, two diamond. And then, you know, they were just using two guys to really press you, um,
00:43:54
Speaker
and Betis was getting a lot more space on his left side ah in the second half. So numbers were getting forward. So you you were unable to manage the game.
00:44:05
Speaker
So I think the Bavs were going be bad regardless, but New, whose moment and mistake, let's not call it beyond that a mistake, ends up being the cherry on top.
00:44:18
Speaker
And I think that's what really just killed the the whole thing. But I feel like the vibes were going to be bad no matter what, because like you said, Seattle was lucky to get out of there with the win. Yeah, no, I see what you're saying regarding how the ah the second half went.
00:44:34
Speaker
For me personally, if you took the new hoo situation and the red card out of it and it was just a situation where they were put under a ton of pressure for the entire second half, conceded a goal or two, didn't come close to replicating what they did on offense in the first half and just looked exhausted, beat, and surviving the game. If they had... if they had done that and made it out of there with all 11 guys on the field and without the whole extra debacle of an ending me personally, I'd have been like, all right, whatever. A win is a win. That second half was not great, ah but it's you're on the road at sporting Casey in 70% humidity. You take whatever kind of win that you can get, especially because ah you look fantastic on offense in the first half.
00:45:19
Speaker
Ruth snack was firing. Jesus Ferreira got another goal. Jordan's back. He gets a goal. Like there's a lot more positive than, than negative. And I, I still think like the potential positive implications of what we saw in the first half, as far as how the attack looked and how it's coming together would have in the longterm outweighed whatever negativity I would have felt about the second half.
Preview: Sounders vs Colorado Rapids
00:45:43
Speaker
And I probably, I'll probably feel that way further down the line, but, Just with it being fresh and coming off the game like that. i Yeah, I don't know. I might see that a little bit differently, but I definitely I see what you're saying in that it wouldn't have felt like the greatest win ever, regardless of what happened with New Who. That's definitely true.
00:46:05
Speaker
ah Nico, before we talk about this ah Colorado game, let's hit this from Alex in chat because this is ah is a topic we've been keeping track of and I think it's worth talking about more. He asks, how are we going to manage Obed and Christian's minute load for the rest of the season? Do we think Leyva and Snyder Brunel are enough or were Alex Roldan a back or is Alex Roldan a backup option as well? I trust Alex there. Nico, how do you see this situation with load management for the double pivot? Because i mean, it's that they can't play a full 90 every single week.
00:46:34
Speaker
No, no, they can't. And I, I do believe that Snyder is going to be in the rotation, in the conversation. But knowing Brian, I feel like he would be a lot more willing to slide a guy like Kalani there, a guy like Alex there, trying to, you know, essentially...
00:46:57
Speaker
get a more experienced person that he could trust there. I mean, Schneider-Burnell was 18, you know, never played. Oh, he's, I guess he's played some minutes with the first team, but you know, he's definitely been part of the preseason ah in Marbella. So I like him. I'm very high on Schneider-Burnell, but at the same time, I've never never played it. He's never played an MLS game.
00:47:21
Speaker
never played in the MLS game. So then those those are the things where you want to protect that. You don't want to burn him out. you don't want to put him in a situation that he's not there to succeed. So that's why I think that you could do that.
00:47:32
Speaker
ah I do know that they um have some, you know, center midfielders in that they've looked at in the past that could be on the cheap, but I don't know how that would work in terms of like the,
00:47:45
Speaker
the roster build of things. um Obviously, the U22 is going to go to a forward, so can you go out there and bring an experienced CM to play? I mean, I don't think that's out of the question.
00:47:56
Speaker
ah But I do think that if necessary with this current roster, you probably see more of a Kalani or a um
00:48:06
Speaker
Alex, maybe maybe ah Kim Keehu. ah No, but I would say maybe ah an Albert, maybe. i mean, you know ah you know, he's played there before. I'm just kind of throwing stuff out here. I mean, if I have Ferreira who could play at the, you know, false nine, can you drop Albert a line? I don't know if, you know, they would love that. Yeah, don't that. That something that he did when he was first on the team. so so so So there are things that they can do, ah but it's definitely not ideal.
00:48:35
Speaker
It's not ideal. And I do think that he does hold Obed... here for a little bit longer. I mean, obviously, Sandra Hub reported the extension that hasn't been official or anything like that, but, you know, obviously very well sourced.
00:48:50
Speaker
um And I think part of it is that, is that you might have to, you know, kind of keep over here and and, you know, see the the rest of ah ah the season and then maybe next season you send him where he wants to be. And I think that Obed is in no rush to leave.
00:49:07
Speaker
I think he's betting on himself that he can continue to maximize his talent, maximize his time here and ah value himself even more than he is now. And and so that's, it's a good conversation.
00:49:18
Speaker
but But Seattle's current depth at center midfielder, it's looking tough. Bad sequels coming in with the first super chat of the show. Thank you for the five sequels.
00:49:30
Speaker
$5 towards Nuhu's red card trading classes. I mean, yeah, that's a valuable um man that's a valuable donation at the moment. God knows that he could ah that he could use it. ah All right, Nico, let's talk a little bit about this Colorado Rapids game coming up on Wednesday.
00:49:47
Speaker
You've got a situation here where it's a short short rest, short turnaround, ah midweek game coming off a Saturday a saturday game. So we know how those goes they therere how those go. There's going to be some squad rotation.
00:50:02
Speaker
ah So what I wanted to do was i'm going to pull up the lineup builder here in a second. But I guess as far as this Rapids team goes, I don't think there's all that much to say about them that wasn't covered when I interviewed Mark Asher Goodman, a.k.a. the Rapids rabbi rabbi of soccer rabbi the Holding the High Line podcast the last time these two teams played. The way I see the Colorado Rapids, they've got a couple of good players, especially in attack.
00:50:28
Speaker
Georgie Mihailovic is an upper tier number 10 in the league. And Rafa Navarro, I like i like him. We saw what he could do – in the Seattle game where he scored that goal that got waved off, but that was still like a pretty sick play.
00:50:41
Speaker
And just in general, ah he's a good number nine. yeah he He has good movement. He's, he's pretty better finishing, but he, but yeah he's very dangerous. He does a lot of things. Yeah. He's always, it feels like he's always getting chances. He's always, he's got a nose for goal. He's always in and around the goal.
00:50:57
Speaker
You got to ah ah watch out for him. Aside from that, it's not like that. This is not, you know, Real Madrid out there
Colorado Rapids: Strengths and Weaknesses
00:51:06
Speaker
out there. It's like Colorado Rapids.
00:51:07
Speaker
They they ah Seattle beat the Colorado Rapids 1 0 a little bit controversially because of that Rafa Navarro non goal or whatever, but they did beat them in Colorado the last time these two teams played.
00:51:20
Speaker
And just historically speaking, Colorado typically struggle on these road trips to Seattle in a similar way that Seattle usually struggles a little bit like playing at altitude in in Colorado. But I know the all time records when these two teams play at Lumen fields pretty lopsided in Seattle's favor.
00:51:38
Speaker
So you do have that, but you also are going you're going to have some ah squad rotation. But so before we do this ah lineup stuff, Nico, anything, any thoughts on the Rapids or where they're at right now? I mean, they're I think in seventh or eighth place. I'm about to look at the table here.
00:51:55
Speaker
They're they are, Oh, that's the East. They're in seventh right now, eight, 10 and five negative six goal differential. So I don't know. What do you, what do you think of the ah Colorado Rapids?
00:52:08
Speaker
I think that they are an inconsistent team that struggles to play what Chris Armas has designed for them.
00:52:19
Speaker
I think that ah Colorado is a team that has a lot of big names who are maybe just a shell or or just not as good as they once were.
00:52:32
Speaker
Vines, Cannon, Cole Bassett. um Those are guys that you look at on paper and you're thinking, wow, that's pretty good team. But if you look at the way they've played and the struggles that they've had, you know they've had some issues.
00:52:45
Speaker
I think they like to get wide. i think that um Calvin Harris and DiPetro, over the last couple of games that I've seen, They're dangerous. They gave themselves into good positions. I think that Navarro is everywhere.
00:53:00
Speaker
They have some issues putting the ball in the back of the net despite them beating Vancouver 3-0 this weekend. It should have been five. It should have been six. I think Navarro misses a PK as well. I think that they struggle putting the ball in the back of the net, but the volume is there.
00:53:15
Speaker
um I think that defensively, they're very vulnerable, especially when it comes to winning duels. I feel like their fullbacks are very good getting forward, but they have issues defensively.
00:53:29
Speaker
ah Vines more than Cannon. ah stan um um Zach Steffen is back, so that's kind of interesting. He had a big game against Vancouver, a couple of big saves, um making himself big, couple of good shot-stopping moments.
00:53:43
Speaker
um you know he He saved one against Brian White right on the right right right on Brian White. So that that helps this team definitely in a lot of aspects um when it comes to distribution, when it comes to ah just the leadership of that back line.
00:53:59
Speaker
i thought that they were pretty good against Vancouver. Again, Vancouver was also, if not unlucky, just not clinical in front of goal. I mean, they had a couple of opportunities that she had be put away not to take anything away from Zach Steffen, but there was a couple of moments where I'm like, man, if you put that to the far post, that's going in. I don't care who it is. That's on goal.
00:54:18
Speaker
So, uh, they're just a very inconsistent. I do think that Seattle should look at this as a win, especially at home. We'll see about the rotation. Uh, but, but there's definitely no slouch.
00:54:31
Speaker
Uh, I'll say that there's no slouch, but, uh, the The depth of the team as well. I don't know. They're going to have to rotate too. They're going to to rotate. Right. So when you look at the depth, I don't know if they have ah that that much of a depth.
Sounders' Lineup Predictions
00:54:45
Speaker
Obviously, I got that Rosemary. It's a guy that you can bring in and, you know, he's a fullback that gets forward very well. Joshua Tensey didn't play last game, so he's probably going to come in and play. Oh, there they saved him.
00:54:56
Speaker
They saved him up for this. Saved him. That's right. and don't Come here and show us. So Josh Tensey is a guy that's been very good for this team. So, you know, and it'll be interesting how they they come out and play. But I don't think it's an impossible task. Seattle's probably still, they're still the underdog. Seattle's definitely going to be the favorite here at home.
00:55:16
Speaker
So now they've got to play like it. right, yeah, let's ah let's talk about how Seattle's going to ah tackle this squad rotation. I'm going to pull up the lineup builder right now because I think this is this is a situation where it is ah it's worth looking into how exactly they're going to line this up to start.
00:55:34
Speaker
you have This is like the theoretical first choice 11 that FOTMOP has right now, but we're going to go through and build how we think, Nico, that Seattle is going to line it up on Wednesday versus Colorado.
00:55:47
Speaker
with the knowledge that there's going to have to be a a fair amount of rotation coming off the ah Saturday game. Before we do that, James has got the $2 super chat coming in. Thank you, James. Appreciate you as always. This one's for you, Nico.
00:56:01
Speaker
ah Rumor, no Ohio bid was rejected, and they said the price is $10 million. I also saw this rumor. Is that true? ah I don't know where the rumor came from, but ah last I heard,
00:56:17
Speaker
The last number that was not 10 was still above what Seattle was willing to pay. um i had seen more of a five and a half million dollar um um rebuttal, right?
00:56:35
Speaker
the The Sounders set a price. um No Ohio's team set a price. And at the end of the day, um it was at 5.5. I don't think 10. I think 10 is outrageous. So I don't know about the number.
00:56:51
Speaker
But I do know that complications were already coming. in Me and Jeremiah, as she talked about it on Friday, not on the show, but off the mics. But it was already...
00:57:02
Speaker
the level of confidence had dropped dramatically by Friday. So negotiations are still ongoing, but the price tag has seemed to skyrocketed from where he first started.
00:57:13
Speaker
it's It seems like that they are, whether they said 10 or 5.5, they're trying to set a price that they already know that Seattle is not going to want to pay because they don't want to do the deal anymore for whatever reason. If they were asking for 10, I mean, you may as well just say we're not selling them. Like that's not happening. Exactly.
00:57:33
Speaker
Exactly. And look, they still have some targets down in South America. One specifically that I like. He's 19, he's 19 in – but he's nineteen in in in a specific South American league that by the time you're 19, you got a whole lot of experience at 19.
00:57:53
Speaker
He's got a similar frame, maybe not right at six foot, but maybe five eleven ah five ten And you know he's got a lot of similar check marks. So ah there's options, but just like I said, it's it's all gonna be about the money, it's all gonna be about you know the guys that you've kind of missed on already.
00:58:16
Speaker
So it's complicated. ah Additionally to that, i if if there's one thing that I don't quite understand when it came to where they're scouting and where they're going for this is that if i'm if I don't have...
00:58:33
Speaker
a a free range of of a budget, if I don't have that Arthur Blank money, I don't know if I want to be in Europe. You know, Europe, first of all, you're dealing with pounds and and euros and you're dealing with European players at 22, 20, 19, that they feel like they're where they everybody wants to be.
00:58:53
Speaker
And having them move down to MLS can be a lot harder, especially for some of these leagues with a bit of a pedigree, right? Red Vadise, Serie A, Bundesliga.
00:59:05
Speaker
those Those type of leagues is where people want to go develop, they want to go play. So it can get difficult there. So that's my only thing ah where that's why in South America you have a lot more...
00:59:17
Speaker
leverage to one money wise money goes a longer way down there and then two is the fact that you know you could say hey you come to MLS and MLS is a stepping stone for you to end up in Europe like this this this this this and oh okay so it gives you more leverage
Tactical Evolution of the Sounders
00:59:36
Speaker
Got it, James. Thanks for bringing that up. I meant to ask Nico about that rumor and forgot. So ah good shout there.
00:59:43
Speaker
ah all right, Nico, let's hit this lineup. i want to ah I want to prognosticate how we think they're going to do this because it is going to be a different one than we saw against Sporting KC, without a doubt.
00:59:55
Speaker
So ah let's start with the back line. We know that Andy T is going to draw another start. We know that new who famously is not. So let's start right there.
01:00:06
Speaker
Who gets the nod left back in this game, do you think? Maybe read Baker Whiten. Yeah, I agree. I think we're going to see an RBW. And again, we're going to find out if ah the Seattle Sounders can make it through a game without a fullback getting ejected.
01:00:23
Speaker
RBW, he's had his own issues with that at times. So this is a ah so big game. It's a big game for the fullbacks. Alex Rodon, I imagine, is going to start on the right. I trust him. But ah you never you never know at one point you're going to be playing with 10 guys right now.
01:00:39
Speaker
How do you see the CB situation? I think this is an interesting one because Yamar traveled but didn't play ah in Kansas City. I think Jackson Reagan is probably going to start again. They usually have no issue riding him on short rest. But ah you think this is accurate right here, J-Bell?
01:00:58
Speaker
Uh, no, I think going to be gamer. Good luck. you martin pat One more game. Good luck doing that. That dude has been ready to go. He, he, he's work as he's worked his tail off to get back at the very least you put him on a minute restriction. Uh, but he, I think he'll start this game. I think that the probability is a 90% that he'll start this game. He loves playing against Navarro.
01:01:22
Speaker
Uh, he feels like he plays good against Colorado. ah So yeah, I definitely think that Yammer and Jackson Reagan will start this game. ah Joel asks, can Kalani play on the left? RBW hasn't been very consistent this season.
01:01:38
Speaker
That was the one alternative ah idea that I thought of for what they could do at left back. I think it i think it's going to be RBW. And i be I'd be good with that. Like RBW ah for for the red card that he took, he he gave up the penalty in the sporting KC game.
01:01:57
Speaker
Uh, he, yeah he is a very talented attacking player. So I'm, I'm still happy to see more of them, but do you think just, I guess in general is, uh, playing on the left, something that's in KKR's bag. Do you think?
01:02:11
Speaker
Uh, I wouldn't necessarily advise it. I've mainly seen him play on that right side, on those right that right pocket, and it could be difficult. We've seen Alex have issues with switching to that side at times.
01:02:25
Speaker
um He, I wouldn't call him an ambidestrous player. if we're, you know, If we have a necessity and you feel like you needed to go with somebody, I'd rather go with Paul Rothbard. He plays that side.
01:02:39
Speaker
ah He's played, you know, wingback before. I mean, shoot. i mean, if you're really struggling there, I would much rather have Paul play there. That has to look comfortable on that side rather than Kalani, especially because I think that Kalani will start instead of Alex in this one.
01:02:55
Speaker
Oh, okay. So that was the next thing I was going to get to. But yeah, i think I think you're right. I think you're right. that With Alex putting it in in that game. And also, I mean, he seems fine, but ah he it's it's a good opportunity to give him a rest and give KKR some more run.
01:03:15
Speaker
So ah this is a fun little backline. The RBW KKR fullback team. duo, you know, the red card, the red card situation that we're talking about. ah Those are, those are two of the offenders in the last couple weeks, but they both do offer more dynamic attacking play from, from that spot than, know,
01:03:39
Speaker
most other players on the roster certainly rbw does more than uh than new who and i think kkr has shown to be a very effective attacker this year so maybe they can uh bomb these guys forward get after the rapids from uh for with their wide backs a little bit uh but let's ah let's hit the double pivot because i think this is a situation where you have to rest both of these guys like do would you agree with that I think that you should.
01:04:06
Speaker
i don't know if they will because of the current roster. um And although my pick would be to rest Christian.
01:04:16
Speaker
you have You can't start Christian here, can you? You can't. Again, I wouldn't, um and it it's concerning, ah but he has been so so pivotal and he has been so durable throughout his career um that I don't know. I think he'd be the guy that might stay on. um If I had to bet, if if i had to be I would say that they do rest him just on metrics alone.
01:04:45
Speaker
So what I have as the pivots is Danny and Obit. Okay. And I would be, I'd be okay with that. I kind of been joking about how Obed's 19, so he doesn't need to rest. But I mean, in all seriousness, like, but like Christian at the end of the KC game, it was just like, all right, give this man, give this man a day off.
01:05:07
Speaker
Like, yeah yeah he's earned it. He's earned it. I want that for him. so But I feel like there's going to be a lot of deliberation on that. I really do think that that's the one position of the field that could shift everything, right? It could move everything.
01:05:19
Speaker
Can we give Alex another go and put Kalani there? You know, what do we do? I've told you that that the I think that the Alba Rusna thing could be a thing. So, you know, I think that that's probably the hardest decision going into this Colorado game, specifically knowing that you got San Jose coming in.
01:05:35
Speaker
Very good offensive team, team that you're going to want to ah be able to limit. In the midfield So yeah, it's it's ah it's a tough decision But I'm going to go ahead and go with that Benjamin brings up the man that I was going to talk about next. Do you think that De La Vega may be seriously considered for a six, eight role at some point, giving his motor and defensive willingness?
01:05:57
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, we're all kind of pontificating right now on ah other ways that De La Vega might get on the field. I mean, we had a caller in the post game live, Jeremy Peterman talking about ah playing him at ah left back, which is an idea. I, I, uh,
01:06:13
Speaker
theorized about in preseason which i don't think is going to happen but a six or eight role i mean some of the work he was doing in this kansas city game after his cameo uh could could have lent itself to something like that but uh for now i i think de la vega has to start this game coming up out wide would you uh would you agree i agree i think uh peter de la vega will start on the right side All right.
01:06:39
Speaker
We got De La Vega in there. But what about these next two spots? Rusnak is one that Schmetz doesn't seem ah all that concerned about load management with, and he's been very, very durable, very consistent throughout his time on the team.
01:06:54
Speaker
So ah do you think Rusnak starts at center attacking mid here, or do you think they give him a rest? No, think it's Albert. Okay, all right. I kind of agree. I think there's not usually an aversion to playing him on short rest, and it's gone.
01:07:09
Speaker
He usually maintains his level, roughly. so But what about this? what about this letter I think... i kind of feel like that it might be Rothrock here again, but... Well, actually...
01:07:20
Speaker
I think this might be a Ryan Kent situation where you, why, why not use him and see if you can get him going a little bit and give Rothrock, who's been putting it in lately a little bit of a rest here. So I, I would plug Ryan Kent in. Do you agree with that?
01:07:33
Speaker
I absolutely agree. I think that you need to, first of all, Ryan Kent is a guy that you're starting to see a little bit of, or I have during games, some body language frustration.
01:07:44
Speaker
i think that you want to get him going. I think that you want to assess what you can get out of him if you need to in the future, right? This a guy that is here in a short term and There's been question marks about where he's at, what he can provide, what he can do.
01:08:02
Speaker
I think that he shows us small you know moments, even in the last game, where you know he does he's very smart, he shifts very well, he goes inside.
01:08:13
Speaker
i think that him and Reid are a good pair on that end. um So, yeah, I think that without a doubt, this should be a Ryan Kent game. And then ah what do you think about ah what about striker Moose or or JMO? Like ordinarily, i think it would be ah an easy spot where you just plug Moose in. But with Jordan just coming back off the injury and only going 45 at Sporting KC, maybe they do start him and run him for the first half again.
01:08:41
Speaker
ah do you think this is a ah Moose or Jordan situation?
01:08:48
Speaker
Oh, oh, Nico's frozen.
01:08:52
Speaker
Nico's frozen.
01:08:55
Speaker
Adding and removing. Okay, i got you now. Moose or Jordan? Yeah. Jordan, I think you said it perfectly. I think that in another um situation, in a normal situation, it would be you know a Danny Musovsky-Turber game. But because of everything that would you just mentioned, I think Jordan Morris needs the time.
01:09:15
Speaker
Maybe do you push him 50, 57, 60 minutes? Do you do 45? Regardless of, and still under minute restriction, I think Jordan starts his game, no doubt for me. All right. So there you have it. This is the official Lobbing of Scorchers kickoff projected starting 11 sponsored by no one, you know, hit me up if you want to ah sponsor this new segment that I just made up. yes But, um ah you know, this is a I think this is a situation where it's a it's a depth test. We can see if the depth that this team supposedly has can see them through a game where they're on short rest.
01:09:53
Speaker
colorado is going to have to be rotating their starting 11 similarly so it's going to be depth on depth and uh let's see what they can do i mean as uh i want to see la vega you know hopefully find some form a little bit that's obviously been a big storyline on this team for the last few weeks is ah if and when he can get going and make good on his $7 million dollars potential.
01:10:16
Speaker
Ryan Kent, obviously, the storyline with him right now is how hot a start he has that he hasn't been able to recapture in recent weeks. I still think that we were talking about this on the postgame as well, but I still think that the individual moments of just like brilliance and flair and style that you see from Ryan Kent, you're still seeing those pop up every now and again. The latest one was in this ah Sporting KC game where he was just just dribbling through bopping through guys like traffic cones uh so you still do see that but uh the final product has not been there in the in his last really like month or so since his uh super electric start to his sounders tenure so i think that's the big thing that i'd be watching in the event that this is the lineup that we see is the uh the wing play can de la vega and ryan kent
01:11:02
Speaker
get going. And then obviously if Jordan Morris does get the start, can he build off what was a fantastic ah ah first start back at sporting Casey?
01:11:12
Speaker
And then and the fullbacks would be ah another storyline as well. KKR and RBW. Can they kind of add a, an attacking element against a Rapids team that's playing on the road?
01:11:27
Speaker
Can this is my task. This is my task for the Seattle Sounders this week. Can they make it through 90 minutes plus second half stoppage time without one of the fullbacks getting ejected? It might just be RBW and KKR tasked with that this week. And really, at this point, Nico, if I'm Brian Schmetzer, I'm like, all right, if anyone gets a red card in this next game and makes it six and five, I'm literally flipping the entire line.
01:11:56
Speaker
ah The entire 11, I'm throwing Tacoma Defiance out there. or so He's got to like put his foot down and say that, you boys, we got to finish this with 11 guys on the field, no ejections.
01:12:08
Speaker
So that's another thing I'm keeping an eye on. And then, of course, if Jaimar starts, that would be fantastic. And it would be worth keeping an eye on if he looks to his...
01:12:19
Speaker
to his old self, which I have no doubt that he will. He's one of the most, uh, consistent players on the team. One of the best defenders in the league. I've been saying for weeks, I just cannot wait to get him back because, he's been sorely missed. You really see what he means to this team when he, uh, is out for any sort of extended period
Closing Thoughts and Garth Lagerwey's Health
01:12:38
Speaker
of time. So, uh, I like this 11.
01:12:40
Speaker
I think this is an 11 that should be expected to go out there and be able to beat the Colorado Rapids coming into Lumen Field. And i think these situations, it's, ah you know, you always like to see your first choice starting 11 to get an evaluation on that. But this these types of situations are important too to find out where your depth really stacks up against teams that are also having to rotate. So, Nico, any last thoughts on the lineup or this Rapids game?
01:13:09
Speaker
Yeah, no, think you you need some competitive minutes out of a lot of these guys. I think that it's more than positive to have a game like this one where ah you are coming from a... a good win.
01:13:20
Speaker
ah you're You're moving up in the standings, you're at home, ah you got things under control. You are going to have clearly a plan B if things are not looking correctly and you might have to, you know, adjust in the second half.
01:13:34
Speaker
ah But I think that's solid. I'm also interested on, you know, like maybe, i don't know, now that I'm looking at it right now, like if, If the problem with De La Vega is the fact that he's a little too free-willing on the right side, you know, as he comes inside, does all these things, like, you know, can you flip him up to the left side and, you know, tell him, hey, you're going to be an end-line type of guy, you're going to be way on this side, you're going to...
01:13:58
Speaker
ah Try to take guys on, but be the guy that crosses the ball in on your left perverted foot. And maybe you move a guy like Ryan Kent on the right side where he clearly likes to cut inside and work in those inside pockets. Clearly, he prefers the left side, but I don't know. it just You could just play with it, tinker with it.
01:14:17
Speaker
And then Danny Leyva, man. I think that he's a guy that you need to continue to groom. And you he needs to be in here with some competitive minutes because you are going to need him more and more as you get closer to Leak's Cup, as you are going to try to figure out how often do you rest a guy like Christian Roldan.
01:14:38
Speaker
So all ice, in my regard, are going to be on Danny Leyva and the sort of performance he can have against a very good midfield in in in Colorado. So...
01:14:48
Speaker
um is a big challenge. It'll be nice to see him, ah you know, help out with the distribution and the buildup. Without JP, Danny Leva's role immediately becomes more important. And he immediately has more responsibilities for this team because he does have a very a very preferred foot. He's a guy that that distributes the ball great. I've said it a thousand times that he's got one of the best foot on on the um the team, whether it's on set pieces or whether it's coming out of the back. So it's going to be interesting how Brian uses him
01:15:29
Speaker
if he start i mean Unless Brian is like, you guys are guys have no idea. um I'm running it back. I mean i don't know. But Leyva is the guy that starts, I think that he's going to have a bigger role going into this this game.
01:15:43
Speaker
Yeah, no, it's a good shout. His role on this team is elevated with the JP injury situation. There's no question about it. And i think that I think that we're going to be accurate that he's going to be starting this game.
01:15:54
Speaker
And it's going to be an important game for him and his stock as the as the Sounders take on the stretch run of the season in a dogfight for a top four spot in the West without a out JP in there.
01:16:07
Speaker
All right, Nico, I think we can call it right there for this episode of Lobbing Scorchers Kickoff. Thank you all, as always, so much for tuning in, starting your week off with us here.
01:16:19
Speaker
Appreciate all the support. Appreciate the super chats this morning. If you have not done so yet, like the video. That is the number one best way, as I understand it, to get us in that in that algo, which really helps us out.
01:16:31
Speaker
So. Like the video. Don't be stingy with the like button. Like the video. If you have not done so yet, please subscribe to the channel. Follow us on Instagram. Follow us on TikTok.
01:16:42
Speaker
Lobbingscorchers.com slash sauce. we'll be ah We'll be back at it. I'm not sure about post-game lives on ah on Wednesday, but if i if I don't do it on Wednesday, i think probably what's going to happen is I'll do what I did last week and take some calls on under the lights. That just might be how it has to go with this ah this midweek game here. We got to juggle stuff around a little bit.
01:17:08
Speaker
ah But yeah, we're going to get out of here on that. Nico, thanks as always for ah for doing this. And yeah, do you have anything, parting parting thoughts you wanted to ah get out there? Yeah, two things. One, i mentioned during our last show that this negotiation was going to get slow.
01:17:30
Speaker
Think of it like that, right? Right now, maybe the the number was heightened. Maybe Seattle walks off the table. That doesn't mean that it's completely off the table. You're always going to get a callback. It's kind of when you leave that dealership, like, right, man, you know what? Fine. You know what? i'll take the I'll take the four. I'll take the three. You know, it's always not a thing until it's a thing.
01:17:50
Speaker
So, you know, be be mindful. If that price right now went up and there is, you know, clear concern that that number for no Ohio might be too high. You know, I wouldn't be surprised if at the end of the day, they'll come back and all man, well, you know, we thought about it. You walked off the lot. Just come back and pick up your car.
01:18:08
Speaker
So go ahead and be be patient there. And then number two, I did want to give a shout to Garth Lagerwey. um You know, he was diagnosed with cancer.
01:18:20
Speaker
Atlanta United sent out a press release. It sounds like it's ah it's a treatable and there's a lot of positivism when it comes to you know him being able to overcome this, but we sent him a huge shout and we wish him a a quick and full recovery from that situation.
01:18:40
Speaker
absolutely uh well said there nico best wishes to garth once again from uh everyone here at lobbing scorchers in that uh in that press release they ended it with a quote from garth where he said i shall return which i thought was a very garth it's almost like a way of garth saying like i got this like i'll be i'll be back so uh yeah thanks for bringing that up and uh
Follow Us and Gratitude
01:19:03
Speaker
Yeah.
01:19:03
Speaker
ah Follow me on Blue Sky for updates on what the schedule is going to look like with our stuff throughout the week. It's going to be a little bit different, like I said, with the midweek game. And we will catch you guys next time. Thank you so much for the support. Thank you for tuning Peace.