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Episode 248: Gustav Svensson shares some stories
58 Plays8 years ago
It’s been an interesting couple weeks to be a Seattle Sounders fan. The Sounders, of course, won their first game of the year, a confidence-building win over the New York Red Bulls. The goals from Clint Dempsey, Jordan Morris and Harry Shipp all doing their part to aid in the good feelings. The game also featured standout performances from Joevin Jones, Cristian Roldan and even Gustav Svensson, who’s proving himself to be a regular Swedish Army Knife.
But then Dempsey went on the international stage and bagged himself a hat trick. That doesn’t do much for the Sounders directly, but it sure is nice knowing that the Designated Player appears to be back to his old self.
Speaking of Svensson, we also got to interview him. He’s got some great stories about playing in Crimea at the time of the Russian invasion and apparently even played a game in Turkey in front of a 45,000-strong crowd of all women. Definitely worth a listen.
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Transcript
Introduction and Sponsors
00:00:00
Speaker
This episode of Nos Adieres is sponsored by Full Pool Wines. Full Pool Wines are based in Seattle, owned and operated by Sanders fans, and have been sponsoring Nos Adieres since 2011. They offer the best boutique wines of the world to members of their mailing list, with special focus on their home, the Pacific Northwest. Their model is simple. One, they email compelling offers. Two,
00:00:24
Speaker
You request bottles that sound appealing, and three, your wine arrives at their soda warehouse and is ready for pickup or shipping. Their soda tasting room is also open to the public. If you're interested in joining their mailing list or learning more about them, visit fullpaulwines.com. Hey, this is Christian Roldan. And Jordan Morris from the Seattle Sounders Football Club. And you're listening to... There's no study at this.
00:01:07
Speaker
The bluest skies you've ever seen are in Seattle And the hills the greenest green in Seattle
Sounders' Recent Performances
00:01:22
Speaker
Welcome back to another edition of Knows Adiathis, sponsored by Full Cool Lines, Constellation Company, Queen Anne Action Hunter, Verity Credit Union, Designers Marble, and our broadcast partner Bootstrapper Studios. This is episode 248 and we're recording on Monday, March 27, 2017. I am your host, Jeremiah Shand, and I'm joined by my co-host, Aaron Campo, and our engineer, Lickett. Later in the show, we'll have an interview with Gustav Svensson.
00:01:45
Speaker
So it's been a pretty good two weeks in the world of the Sounders. They got their first win of the season, a reasonably dominant 3-1 victory over the New York Red Bulls team that came in on an 18-match unbeaten run and having won their first two league games. The Sounders haven't played an official match since then, but we did see Clint Dempsey put on one of his best performances ever, scoring his second career US Nens national team hat-trick and a 6-0 win over Honduras that may have saved their hopes for an eighth straight World Cup.
00:02:14
Speaker
So let's start off with the Sounders and that win. I'm not sure there was a player who didn't look good, but I thought the most impressive performances were probably turned in by Jovan Jones, Christian Roldan, and Svensson. All for different reasons. Jones had another rampaging match down the left side, picking up two assists and generally having his way with a defense that appeared willing to let him try to beat them. Roldan was a bit more of a workman-like performance, but he barely put a foot wrong and even spent 25 minutes as a perfectly capable right back. Svensson made his...
00:02:43
Speaker
center back debut and may have made a case for a more regular role for himself there. Given all that, Aaron, what do you think was the most welcomed development of the past 10 days or so?
00:02:55
Speaker
Uh, I think winning was pretty welcome. Um, you know, that was, that was nice. I mean, I feel like, you know, when we were talking about this game, uh, on the last episode and the lead up, it was kind of like, you know, we're feeling pretty good about this team and, you know, playing on the road is tough. So, you know, everything's probably going to be fine, but, uh, I mean, that's a really, really good New York team and the sounders just Boston, uh, Boston around pretty, pretty handily. So.
00:03:22
Speaker
Um, in terms of specifics, I mean, I think that Jovan was, was great down the stretch last year. Um, Jovan, you know, was, was, was good in the first two games, but he was on a different level in this game. And I think that, you know, it's, he's, he's doing a lot of the same things DeAndre Yedlin was doing in 2014. Uh, but, but I, I feel like he's doing them better than Dean Yedlin was at that point.
00:03:46
Speaker
I think it's hard to argue the final ball is much more polished from Jones than it was from Yedlin during his time here. Yeah, no, I think that's totally true. I think he's a little bit more solid defensively, especially in 1v1 situations.
00:04:06
Speaker
Yeah, we got a lot of stick for his defense. I never thought he was bad by any stretch of the imagination But I think Jones is just a much more balanced player You know, I think he's equally strong and in both facets of the game and you know, you're gonna notice is attacking more but it
Jovan Jones' Future Prospects
00:04:21
Speaker
When somebody is that involved in the attack and also just doesn't really give up anything down their flank, I think it says a lot about the quality of player that they are. So he's having really, I think, a breakout season. Left back for the Sounders has been a tricky thing since Leo Gonzalez kind of drifted away as a regular. Jovan had a, I would say it's fair to say, kind of a rough start last year.
00:04:49
Speaker
you know i think everybody saw the potential but you know there were moments where he just he he had some slip ups um there were definitely there were times where he seemed like he was was lost and i think it's under like there's definitely people in the fan base that uh were pretty down on jovan and i think if anything
00:05:09
Speaker
that ended up making him a better player in that he had to go, I think he kind of came through some struggles and I think he maybe even bought into having to be a little bit more meticulous with his defensive prep.
00:05:24
Speaker
Yeah, I think that's it's fair to say. I mean, I think that, you know, the areas where I think we've seen significant improvement in his game have all been in the areas where there were noticeable flaws early last season. And I think that that kind of speaks to that to that point that, you know, he the upside was always pretty clear. He's, you know, he has a great athletic skill set. He does have good delivery.
00:05:46
Speaker
He's always been capable of causing some problems in the attack, but he's willing to pick his spots a little bit better. I think he has gotten stronger in defensive one-on-one situations. He does seem a little bit more committed in the defensive aspect of the game. It's tough to have two full backs in MLS that can provide that sort of two-way threat, right? I mean, when the Sounders had Yedlin, I think we saw how important it was.
00:06:16
Speaker
It's tough to have two of them, you know? It would be cool if we could have a right-sided version of Jovan Jones, but having one is just...
00:06:24
Speaker
It's I mean, it's it's huge. It's really huge And it just it makes the attack so much more dynamic It allows you to keep the the center of the pitch a little More well protected because you know You're not having to have both midfielders get involved in the attack as much One can kind of cycle back and cut down the flank and so it's just it's it makes things a lot easier And I feel like having you know one
00:06:49
Speaker
two-way attacking fullback is almost a must-have at this stage in the game in MLS in terms of how much development has happened tactically and in terms of the talent. He's a crucial player.
00:07:05
Speaker
So yeah, I mean that was exciting. And I also think, you know, O'Neill Fisher is not Jovan Jones and I don't think he's ever going to become Jovan Jones, but it's nice to, you know, he had a, I think a really solid game. Yeah, very unfortunate that he went out when he did. Yeah, until he got injured. And that kind of is the story with him. And it's a huge bummer because he's
00:07:26
Speaker
You know, he shows well and then something bad happens. But it's nice to know, even though I think, you know, Brad Evans is still probably the long-term answer there, it's nice to know that the Sounders do have that more attacking option. And I think, you know, they can feel comfortable bringing him in even as a midfielder to close down games or, you know, to fill in for Jovan on the occasions that he can't play there. So, yeah, I mean, I think that was my biggest takeaway is that
00:07:52
Speaker
You know, Jovan Jones playing at home when the Sounders are attacking a little bit more, going forward and causing problems is going to just be hell for opposing teams this year. So one of the things that came up and I feel like was a big topic of discussion on Sounder at Heart this week was the
00:08:08
Speaker
European or just in general transfer prospects of someone like Jovan Jones I Think we probably are on the same page But what do you think like is that a player the Sounders should be worried about losing or Sounders fans more specifically should be worried about losing? You know, I think it's really really unlikely that Jovan Jones is gonna be fetching a lot of big transfer offers certainly not from Europe He's just
00:08:35
Speaker
Teams from Europe are looking at, when they look at this side of the world, they're looking for 20, 21, 22-year-old players. They're looking for players like DeAndre Edlin, for example, who has a ton of talent, has been a key player at a lower level, has done well internationally.
00:08:56
Speaker
They're not looking for twenty five twenty six year old guys who you know, I mean Jovan is still a young player He's still got a lot of good years ahead of him But at that point you're not buying potential as much as you are right, you know And the reality is that he's just he's worth more to the Sounders than he is to European clubs you know, there are a ton of talented fullbacks in Europe and
00:09:19
Speaker
there aren't that many of them in MLS. I think that the modern fullback, the kind of stuff that makes those players good, they're things that the US is not great at producing, so they're kind of at a premium in MLS.
00:09:33
Speaker
Um, you know, and, and teams are going to want to pay him enough to, you know, have him force a move. So, um, you know, if he were out of contract this year, you know, maybe there, there are teams in Mexico that would be interested. Um, but I don't think, I mean, I think he's going to be here at least another couple of years. And when he, he does a long time, I think one of the things that I kind of found interesting and.
00:10:01
Speaker
is that, you know, I think we sometimes overestimate how much European teams, European scouts are watching MLS week in and week out. And you'll notice that virtually everyone that transfers from
00:10:17
Speaker
from the Americas to Europe is someone that's getting pretty good exposure at the international level. You look at D'Andrei Yedlin was not really an international prospect until he had that game against Eden Hazard in the World Cup and Azard, I'm sorry.
00:10:34
Speaker
You can kind of look down the roster of guys who have kind of made that jump. And it's almost always because they had some kind of standout performance at the international level. And this is one of those things where playing for Trinidad and Tobago just kind of hurts players' international prospects of big transfers. And there's not a lot of Trinidad and Tobago players that play in Europe. There's, I think, one guy right now on the Trinidad and Tobago team. He's a 19-year-old attacker.
00:11:02
Speaker
and I think he plays for Oz Ed. Kenwin Jones is probably the best example of a Trinidad and Tobago player who went overseas. He actually had a pretty decent career in England but he's, you know, these are attacking players. I don't think there's a lot of
00:11:18
Speaker
you know, defensive players, a lot of full backs that are moving over from Trinidad. You know, you even look at like a nation like Jamaica who has sent over more players to Europe. But none of those guys are really on big numbers. Most of those guys aren't on teams that are gonna be out paying the sounders. So, you know, I think, I don't know, I'm not, especially as a 25 year old, I'm not super worried about losing him to the international market.
00:11:47
Speaker
Yeah, again, I mean, I think that if someone's going to come and prime away, it's most likely going to be, you know, a team from Mexico, which, you know, really the Mexican league for talent like that is the only league that's really can outspend MLS for players like Jovan Jones. And I mean, as good as he is,
00:12:08
Speaker
I don't think there's a transfer fee that teams are going to be willing to pay that's going to really make the Sounders set up and pay attention. And, you know, he probably couldn't make that much more money in Mexico once his contract is up, then he could make an MLS. So, I mean, if he, you know, if he has a huge breakthrough,
00:12:26
Speaker
and, you know, improve significantly. I mean, it's a distinct possibility. But if this is his level, I mean, he's a great MLS fullback. But there are, you know, there are a lot of players that are great MLS players that never left MLS that probably had, you know, better chances of leaving than Jobin does now.
00:12:45
Speaker
Right. And I would, you know, this is another player where, you know, Jorge Villafana, I suppose, is someone that you might be able to use as a similar kind of situation. You know, he of course had a decent run in MLS, most notably with the Timbers.
00:13:18
Speaker
are non-spanish speakers who end up going to mexico and i don't know that the mexican leagues are you know looking for players who who don't have a pretty good grasp of the spanish language uh and as far as i know uh joan jones is is an english only speaker but uh i could be wrong maybe he speaks some uh you know he may he may speak more of a a creole kind of caribbean
00:13:25
Speaker
in 2015.
00:13:44
Speaker
as well but as far as I know he doesn't speak Spanish and so I would imagine that's another thing that kind of keeps that move from happening but the other player I thought was or two other guys Christian Roll Dawn you know it's funny you look at his passing stats I think he only completed something like 70 75% of his passes which doesn't really
00:14:02
Speaker
jump out at you as a super impressive performance but he was just everywhere defensively i think i counted up something like 20 positive defensive actions uh over half of those came in his 25 minutes playing as a right back i mean that's just you know that's kind of that's the kind of game that i think quietly
00:14:21
Speaker
You start to just appreciate that Roldan puts in that he he doesn't make a lot of bad plays He makes a lot of little plays that get the team going the right way And then he was rewarded by being the the captain in that friendly on Saturday I think you know it's slowly, but surely Christian Roldan is becoming a very important part of this team
00:14:42
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I think that we talked a lot about what his best role was going forward.
Christian Roldan's Role in Sounders
00:14:49
Speaker
And it was always like the people that kind of knew and knew him and knew what kind of player he was and been watching him for a long time were like, he's going to be Azealon's replacement. And I think a lot of people were skeptical of that. But I think we're definitely seeing why people thought that now. He's a bulldog. He's all over the place. He has just an incredible engine
00:15:12
Speaker
He reads the game so well. He's a really intelligent player. And he is versatile. I mean, he can be effective going forward. But when he's kind of just patrolling the defensive midfield and allowing Ozzy to get a little bit more involved in the attack, it works out really well. But it is. I mean, it's really a true double pivot. And the Sounders haven't had that. Ozzy Alonzo has always been primarily the defensive midfielder, letting him kind of get involved in the attack a little bit more.
00:15:41
Speaker
Sort of paradoxically saves his legs a little bit because when he's you know, playing that defensive midfielder role, he's just all over the place When he's playing in the capital of extra ground Yeah, he doesn't have to do that as much when he's when he's getting forward a little bit more. So It's working out great. It's I think it's a the perfect partnership for
00:15:59
Speaker
the way this team is structured, where they are pretty heavy on the attacking talent, they're pretty top heavy there, they don't need a lot of contributions offensively from the central midfield. And having those guys that can kind of pick their spots is key. And I think Christian Roldan is another player that
00:16:18
Speaker
probably is never gonna attract a ton of big money international attention, but could be just a truly great MLS player for a long time. And I am very happy that Garth Lagerwey managed to find a way to swing a trade for him because he's just turning into a, you know, just a crucial cog on this team.
00:16:37
Speaker
Yeah, it is kind of funny to think that, you know, a couple years ago, the Sounders made that trade and it seemed kind of like too good to be true at the time. And then I've kind of taken a lot of, I found it very amusing how the soccer world, like I remember at the end of last year, people were like,
00:16:56
Speaker
seriously saying that oh this was all like a a conspiracy to get rolled on to the Sounders you can't really think that 15 teams passed up on this guy such a clear top talent and I was thinking to myself like no one was saying this in 2015
00:17:12
Speaker
You know, no one was saying what an obvious move this was for the Sounders. I think Sounders fans were encouraged by what they saw from Woldan, but I think that the jury was still very much out. And I think it's maybe being, there's a lot of Monday morning quarterbacking talking about what an obvious decision that was for the Sounders to go out and get Christian Woldan. But they were, the reality is I think that they were one of the only teams in the league that was really high on them and thought that they knew what kind of role they wanted them to play.
00:17:40
Speaker
I mean if you remember going back to that draft even though he was projected as the number two pick he was being projected as the number two pick because You know everyone thought that Jason Christ would use him as a number 10 in a diamond midfield And I don't know it's it's hard for me to even see that play like he's just such not that kind of player right now and It's gonna be really interesting to see what happens this Friday for the game against Atlanta United because
00:18:10
Speaker
It looks like O'Neal Fisher is going to be out with a hamstring. Brad Evans is still going to be out at least one more week. And so the Sounders are either going to have to play Gustav Stenson there.
00:18:22
Speaker
Or I think that there's actually a possibility that they're gonna, I mean, what do you think? Do you think there's much of a possibility that they move Roldan to right back just to see if he can do it for a whole game? Or do you think that they go with Svensson? But I'm thinking that maybe they use Svensson back at center back, let Romontoros get a little bit more rest, and drop Harry's ship into the defensive midfield and bring Alvaro Fernandez. I don't know, am I being crazy?
00:18:49
Speaker
Don't know if you're being crazy I would be terrified of seeing Harry ship in the defense of midfield though. I know I don't want to see that I mean, I thought he looked pretty good there against New York. Yeah the game state with I don't know I just I I think he can do the job there I think that when you have something that's working as well as the world on Alonzo partnership is
00:19:13
Speaker
there and it's it's such a key part of the game uh that you want to keep that intact um you know that that's kind of your first priority um spenson yeah i mean he he might not be as good at right back as uh as raldon is i'm not sure but i don't think he was bad at right back aside from like the first 20 minutes of the huesing game no i agree with you i don't think he was bad against i don't think he i think the degree to which he was bad was
00:19:40
Speaker
vastly overstated by the people that really didn't like him out there. But I thought he looked fine as a right back. My concern is that if you have Roman Torres coming off two 90-minute performances for Panama, and he already looked like he was maybe a step slow, maybe a little out of shape,
00:20:02
Speaker
in the in the first two Sounders games I'm kinda just worried about using I suppose you can still use Tony Alfaro you could bring Tony Alfaro in as well and and still put Sensen on it right back but I'm just a little worried about starting Torres where he's gonna end up playing I mean I guess it helps that he he got the week off essentially for the for the Red Bulls game for the suspension but still that he's gonna end up if you were to play in the red in the Atlanta game you're talking about him playing
00:20:33
Speaker
potentially 270 minutes in this course of 13 days or whatever. I don't know if I'm dying to see that.
00:20:42
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, that's fair. You know, and if that's the consideration, then obviously it changes things a little bit. If you are putting rolled on it right back, I'd much rather see Flacco play in the center, you know, in the center with Alonzo. I just feel like he has a better skill set there. He has a lot more experience there, I think, than Chip does. And, you know, Atlanta is probably going to be short-handed, but I'm still just...
00:21:08
Speaker
Concerned about Harry ship and playing then defensive midfield against that team. So And if Doris can't go I mean that obviously complicates things And we're sure Fisher's out. I'm assuming I don't know that we're a hundred percent sure but it sounds like like he was training on the side today There's you know, there's obviously four days three days between now and Friday. So
00:21:33
Speaker
anything you know there's there's obviously things can change with his health so who knows maybe he can go I'm just working on the assumption that he can man what a shitty week to play on a Friday right isn't this it's so funny like and the really funny thing is that the way that this you know in in some ways the friendly
00:21:51
Speaker
was perfectly scheduled in that you use an international break. The guys that you needed to get rest, you got rest. Chad Marshall didn't play. You know, it looks like Gustav Sen, guys that played in that game, you know, they were playing on their regular schedule, guys like Harry Ship, Christian Roldan, Gustav Svensson, Loco Fernandez. I don't know if there was any other starters that...
00:22:12
Speaker
or that heavy rotation guys that got into the game but those were I thought it was a good game from that perspective like from a scheduling perspective but uh yeah with the the international break you know these games being on Tuesday guys aren't going to get back into town on Wednesday they might get one day of training on Thursday and then you got to play um
00:22:32
Speaker
It's tough. Luckily Nico Ligero didn't play at all in Uruguay's loss to Brazil, so even if he goes 90 minutes, I would suspect that he's going to be fine to go. Clint Dempsey is another one, though, who I think there is a question. If he plays 90 minutes against Panama,
00:22:53
Speaker
which now it's starting to look like that. It's a pretty realistic possibility. I don't know that he starts. Jordan Morris obviously hurt his ankle against the Red Bulls. He got sent home from US National Team Camp. I'm hopeful that he can play, but yeah, there's just a whole host of players who are kind of questionable for a variety of reasons in this game.
00:23:13
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, and, you know, Atlanta is probably the only team in the league that could feel that pain as much as the Sounders, I think. Right. So I guess that's fortunate. I don't want to say fortunate. I mean, it's kind of a bummer, really, because I want to see Atlanta at full strength and they're not going to be. And I want to see them play in the full strength Sounders and the Sounders would be.
00:23:33
Speaker
but you know from a practical perspective not the worst timing there I guess no and I and I and I will say that I don't think the Sounders have any room to complain Joseph Martinez already looks like he's probably out he's their leading scorer they've got three other guys that are on national team duty at least one of whom
00:23:54
Speaker
is likely to play two 90-minute performances. And then they have to fly across the country. So at the very least, at least this game's at home. Again, if the Sounders end up not doing well in this game, I don't think they can use the excuse that, well, it was in a really bad time. That said, it is at a bad time. It would be nice to be able to see these two teams square off at full strength. And I think we're going to learn a lot about both the Sounders and Atlanta one way or another.
00:24:24
Speaker
Yeah, no, I mean, that's fair. And I think that, you know, especially after the Red Bulls game, I think that the biggest concern everybody has right now is depth, flexibility, things like that. We're definitely going to get a, you know, get a sense of how that's looking.
00:24:38
Speaker
Yeah, that said, I do think that there are some questions going into this year as to how deep the sounders really were, because at the top, like we've said, 15, 16 players I think are as deep as they've ever been, maybe even the top 18, but you don't need to have very many injuries before you start chipping away at that group.
00:25:03
Speaker
And all of a sudden, you have a reality that there's a lot of young guys on this team. There's a lot, there's actually not, the roster still isn't full. They just cut Darius Barnes, which is not like a
Young Talents in Sounders
00:25:16
Speaker
big loss. I don't think that it's particularly notable except that he was one of the only veterans that was still trying to make this team. So it's gonna be interesting how this plays out and if this, you know, how this works itself out.
00:25:33
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, it's exciting in its own way because we're kind of used to having veterans to plug into those roles and they haven't always been especially effective. It'll be kind of cool to get a different perspective there and see what the kids can do. I mean, as much as I love her Gomez, you can't convince me that you couldn't get the production that he gave out of one of these Academy kids.
00:26:02
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. And I don't want to diminish, you know, a lot of the other good things Herc did, but, you know, I'm excited to kind of get the other side of that coin.
00:26:12
Speaker
Yeah, no, I agree with you there. But I think this is probably a good time to go to break. We're going to come back. You're going to hear my interview with Gustav Svensson. And I will apologize ahead of time. I did something to my audio that it came out less than ideal. But Gustav sounds great. So that's what's important. And then we'll come back. We'll take your questions. You're listening to Nos Adiates.
00:26:38
Speaker
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Speaker
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Speaker
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Interview with Gustav Svensson
00:28:24
Speaker
Welcome back to Nos Adietes. We're here with Gustav Svensson of the Seattle Sounders. You've gotten off to a pretty interesting start. You've already played two different positions, started all three games, neither of which I guess are presumably your preferred position. How would you say it? Yeah, I don't know what to say. I think I'm trying to go for a record, like play...
00:28:51
Speaker
in all the positions in as few games as possible. So next game, I'm going for left-back. There you go. And then I'm moving forward to my position, center-mid. But I mean, I'm a team player. So whatever I can do to help the team, I mean, I'm up to it. No problem.
00:29:13
Speaker
So you played the last play. If I remember, if I read this correctly, you did play the center back, some in China, right? Yeah, I did. It was a three back set, I guess. Yeah, we did three, five, two, where I played center mid or center back, depending of the situation of the team and who we played.
00:29:35
Speaker
And you moved around on the field, but you've also moved around physically a lot too. You were in Ukraine, then Vegas, back in Sweden, and then China, and then MLS, and that's, is that all that different? Have you switched to each of the last three off seasons? No, I went to Turkey first, 2010, to play there for two years.
00:30:02
Speaker
And then went to Ukraine after that. And after Ukraine went back to Sweden for two years and then went to China. And now I'm here.
00:30:15
Speaker
So how is Turkey? You don't hear a lot about the Turkish Super League? I mean, the atmosphere and everything around the soccer is amazing. I mean, you can walk everywhere in the country and people just talk about soccer. That's what they do. So the atmosphere in the games is outstanding.
00:30:39
Speaker
I mean, we played a game where we played Fennebaccio Way, and they got punished by the Federation the game before. So they were not allowed to have any fans. But the Federation tried a new thing where they only allowed women. And everybody thought, OK, maybe 10,000 women will come to see the games. But they filled out 45,000. All women. All women.
00:31:09
Speaker
That's how much you love soccer over there. I'm going to go on a limb and say that I can't imagine there are too many professional soccer players in the world who have played in front of 45,000 women.
00:31:23
Speaker
Though some of them were outdressed for guys that wear makeup and fake hair and stuff like that. No, I think I'm probably one of few who play for 45,000 women. You've had some interesting stops along the way. Just today I learned that when you were in Ukraine, you were playing for a team in Crimea during the Russian invasion.
00:31:49
Speaker
Yeah, and that's why I ended my contract there. I didn't want to play during the war over there or whatever it was. But yeah, that was an interesting time. Were you in country when the invasion essentially happened? Yeah, it was. We just had a friendly game.
00:32:12
Speaker
And when I came back into the locker room and I saw my phone and I had like 300 missed calls and I looked at some messages and news channels and it said that Putin has agreed to go in with his military into Crimea.
00:32:30
Speaker
So at that time I just told my team that I'm leaving you have to help me to organize a car with to my family or bus for all the foreigners to try to to leave the place.
00:32:50
Speaker
Yeah, luckily I didn't have children then, but my wife and her parents were there. So my first thought was to get them to safety. So I told them to take the car and just go. But they waited for me and we went together with the foreigners of the team to a safe place.
00:33:17
Speaker
Were you able to get out of that, was the team pretty accommodating in terms of letting you get out of the contract? Not from the beginning but they understood the situation so after some back and forward that was no problem.
00:33:34
Speaker
And so have you kept in contact with anyone from that team? Not really, actually. But the team ended up in Russia for a couple of weeks.
00:33:50
Speaker
But we have found FIFA. They didn't allow it to play in Russia. So I think the team is, there's no team anymore. Really? Wow. And then from there, I guess you were in Sweden for a little while, and then into China, which I have to imagine was, China was not a league that I don't think a lot of us in the West certainly thought about. I doubt many people in Europe thought about. But over the last two years, they've become a real,
00:34:18
Speaker
player in the international player market. What was your experience like in China?
00:34:25
Speaker
I mean from the beginning I was flattered that they wanted me because all the players that go there are basically strikers or attacking players and I'm a defending midfielder who can play centre-back but I was there as a defending midfielder and I played most of the games as a defending midfielder.
00:34:49
Speaker
So I was flattered that they wanted me. So I went there. I had no expectations of the country or the cities or the soccer. But I was surprised. I mean, it's an upcoming league. They have a lot of good players, a lot of good coaches as well. So the tactic is getting better. It's in the beginning.
00:35:17
Speaker
It's good soccer, but the rest of the soccer hasn't really come up to standard. The stadiums are pretty bad, training caps are pretty bad. The fans are good, but not as good as it could be.
00:35:36
Speaker
And so, what was the, like, what city were you in? Guangzhou was a city with 15 million people, so it's pretty big. Down south, so it's good climate, good hot, sunny. So you've traveled around a lot. I mean, have you, is that something that you set out to do? Is it something that's just gonna happen? Do you feel like you have kind of a wanderlust
00:36:06
Speaker
I mean, not in the beginning. I mean, I'm starting professional soccer. I think I, like all the other players, want to play probably in Premier League or Bundesliga. But I mean, the kind of player or the kind of person I am, it's...
00:36:26
Speaker
I've been honored to travel a lot with my soccer and to experience other cultures and see a lot of things that I probably shouldn't or wouldn't have seen if I didn't play soccer.
00:36:38
Speaker
And I guess, has your family been pretty understanding? Have they enjoyed the traveling as well? Yeah, they have. I mean, they don't know also that this opportunity to move around and to see different cultures doesn't come that easy. And to live a good life during the thing that I love. I mean, yeah, they're very supportive. And so you now, you have a son, is that right, that's about to turn two? Yeah, he's turning two in April.
00:37:09
Speaker
And so how has that been moving around with such a young kid? I think it's easier now that he's in this age. I mean, he's just learning to speak. I think it would be more difficult if he probably learned four. Because now he's just with me and my wife. He doesn't care where he is. As long as you guys are around.
00:37:37
Speaker
Yeah, or sometimes not. I mean, if he has a playground or a ball, I mean, he's happy. He doesn't care what it is. And so have you found Seattle so far?
00:37:50
Speaker
Nice! The weather is sometimes pretty much like Sweden, which is sometimes good, but sometimes bad. I heard that the summer is very nice here, so I'm just waiting for the summer to arrive.
00:38:11
Speaker
Yeah, what I always tell people is that it's good to show up in, well, I think it's probably better to show up in summer because then you can kind of build up some good feelings about the city and then you know it's kind of around the corner. But I can assure you that the summers here are as good as the summers you'll have anywhere. Yeah, we'll see. Just remember when it comes. Yeah. Hopefully, because I'm staying here all summer, so hopefully it's going to be a good one.
00:38:40
Speaker
And so you came here with a little bit of a unsure role, I guess. I mean, it sounds like you came with an open mind as far as what positions you play. I don't know. What was the terms under which you showed? I wouldn't say that I was unsure on which position. I came as a central midfielder. I mean, that's what I am. That's my qualities, like I can do.
00:39:09
Speaker
I can do my best. I can help the team the most if I play center midfielder. Soccer is a team game.
00:39:22
Speaker
adopt and try to help as you can. So I came as a center midfielder, but when Ryan asked me to play other positions, I'm not going to say no. So was the possibility of playing right back something that was basically presented to you like the week of the game essentially? Five minutes before the game.
00:39:48
Speaker
No, not really. I went to Sweden to fix my working visa and stuff. When I came back, we had some injuries.
00:40:01
Speaker
And I don't know how he found out that I played some games as a right back. But he asked me if I could help the team. And I said, yeah, of course. No problem. So had you played right back? Yeah. I mean, I started my career as a right back.
00:40:19
Speaker
So my debut as a professional soccer player is a right back. And then I played that year as a right back. But then, I mean, I've always been a center mid, but as a young player, there was a position where I saw that I can reach to the first team as a right back.
00:40:46
Speaker
with the discussion with the coach I had at that time. That was a natural thing to do because I wanted to go in the first team. I was 17, 16, so of course you want to play.
00:41:06
Speaker
I pushed myself to become a write back and it turned out pretty good.
00:41:17
Speaker
that playing in different positions is just a good thing. I know that some players or experts or whatever say that you should have just one position because then you can focus on that one. But for me it's just good because even in games sometimes you have to play in different positions if something happens in the game.
00:41:38
Speaker
So the center back seems a little bit more of a familiar role for you. You've played it more recently. I know when I was watching, the two moments that really jumped out of me, you had a couple switches where you 50, 70 yard passes that opened up Jones on the left wing. Was that something that you went into that game looking for those kind of plays, or is that something that more happens in the run of it?
00:42:07
Speaker
I mean, that's how I play when I play center mid. I do a lot of switches. I do a lot of crosses. So I mean, that's a normal thing for me to do. So when I have the opportunity, I'll try to do it. So it's trying to help the team to open up more. So yeah, when I get the ball, I try to see before I get it if there's an opportunity to switch.
00:42:37
Speaker
And so I was playing with Chad Marshall. He's had quite a few partners over the few years that he's been here. It seems like he's someone who's willing to kind of make the move as is needed. Yeah, I mean he's experienced. I have so many questions. I'll let you finish. I'm interrupting the interview, aren't I? It's okay. Perfect.
00:43:00
Speaker
Garth was like, oh, just, I'll go get you seven. I figured you guys had already talked. He's the boss. Hi, sounder heart. Love you guys. Okay. Bye bye. Uh, yeah, I forgot what we talked about.
00:43:15
Speaker
Playing with Chad. Yeah, Chad. I mean, he's experienced. I mean, you can tell just by looking at him. You know that he knows what he's doing. And it helps me to have someone that knows his position and knows what to do when it's tricky time sometimes in the game. And he knows to stay calm and he knows what to do. And it's helped me a lot.
00:43:43
Speaker
So how is it playing against a player like Bradley Wright Phillips? I don't know how much you knew about him coming in, but he is as good of a scorer as this league has. Obviously, he had the goal, but you otherwise did a very good, I mean, even on that play, you did a pretty good job marking him. I mean, what's your kind of mindset going into when you know you're facing a player that's going to move around and find space like you do?
00:44:09
Speaker
I don't know, I'm not that kind of player who thinks so much before going in the game. I'm more a guy who focuses on my game plan and I just know that if I'm
00:44:26
Speaker
Where I want to be mentally, I know what to do when the situation presents itself. So for me, it's just more to try to stay focused. I mean, I've played against a lot of players and a lot of different qualities and a lot of very good players. So you try not to think about so much what they can do, like more what I can do to try to stop him.
00:44:54
Speaker
And so that game in general, obviously you knew that there was going to be this banner unveiling. What was the emotion?
Impact of Sounders Fans
00:45:03
Speaker
But as someone who wasn't necessarily part of the team that won the title, what was your emotions like and how familiar or how aware are you of kind of what that atmosphere is going to be like going into that game?
00:45:16
Speaker
I mean it felt like I was there last year. I mean the atmosphere is so good and I think that's one of the reasons why The Sounders won last year because of the atmosphere in the stadium and
00:45:34
Speaker
the fans behind the team. It's what you need to win titles. It makes it so much easier if you have fans like that. But what can I say? I've heard a lot of good things about the stadium, about the atmosphere.
00:46:00
Speaker
It's so much easier to go out there because you try to not motivate yourself too much before they came because you expect the atmosphere to be good and it really was personally helped me a lot to get really motivated. So I guess one of the players you talked to before making this move was Eric Freeberg. You never played with him I guess but you grew up in the same town.
00:46:27
Speaker
Yeah, we're both from Gothenburg. We're both pretty much the same position, so we've fight against each other a lot of times. I don't know the scores, but I think I've won pretty much most of them. Of course. Because he's not here to defend himself.
00:46:48
Speaker
No, he's a good player and a good guy. I mean, just talking to people around here and everybody loves him. So yeah, and I talked to him before signing here as well and I asked him about the city and the team and the teammates and everything. And he helped me to make a good choice to sign here.
00:47:16
Speaker
And what was that process like? Did someone approach your agent? How did you, you know, it seemed like press came out of the blue. Yeah, I mean, for me too, it started, I went to China in January after the break. The season is the same like here. Coming to China, thinking, okay, I'm going to do another good year because I played all the games there last year.
00:47:45
Speaker
But then they just changed the rules. Right before the season. Yeah. So just from one day to the other, they just said, OK, we have some problems now. We have too many foreigners.
00:48:00
Speaker
We have to let you go. And then Seattle called and asked if I want to come. And I said, OK, let me think a little bit. And then called back five minutes later and said, OK, I come. So were you familiar with when the sounders, when you hear that the Seattle sounders are interested in you?
00:48:25
Speaker
team's name? Do you know who that is immediately? I think a lot because of Freeburg. I know a lot of things and I've watched a lot of highlights and stuff from the last year. So yeah, I mean I was
00:48:46
Speaker
It was a good feeling like when Seattle called and said that they wanted me. It was a good feeling. So, yeah, I just called Freeberg and asked him some questions and he basically told me what I wanted to hear. Very good. We'd like to hear that. Well, Gustaf, it's been great getting to know you. I really appreciate you sitting down for this and we'll go ahead and let you get out of here. But this has been great and hopefully, you know, we get to see a lot more of you.
00:49:14
Speaker
Hopefully, yeah. Alright, will you listen to no study at this?
00:49:25
Speaker
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00:49:51
Speaker
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00:50:13
Speaker
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00:50:48
Speaker
Welcome back to NOS Ariete.
Game Analysis: Sounders vs. Atlanta United
00:50:51
Speaker
So, Likit, we have some questions. I'll just turn it over to you. Here we go. T. Steege. I think that's how you say it. Will international or national players be available on Friday? Is Atlanta for real or have they yet to play a good team?
00:51:08
Speaker
Well, let's start with the Atlanta question. I think that we're about to find out if they're for real or if they're just playing bad teams. I think it's definitely fair to say that they have not really played a... They have not been tested in a way that would tell us a whole lot about them. I think we know that they have an offense that is scary when they get opportunities, but
00:51:33
Speaker
Let's also keep in mind that their first game was a loss at home to the New York Red Bulls. I don't think you can judge them too harshly for that. They did play reasonably well. Then they beat Minnesota on the road, which was a great win. I think it was 6-1. And of course, Minnesota's
00:51:55
Speaker
has been losing like that bad to everybody so I don't know how much to take away from that one and then Chicago looked they can't I mean in their defense Chicago came into that game looking pretty good and they absolutely dismantled them they said they I think they completed something like 890 passes or some unbelievable number like that they I think they actually
00:52:16
Speaker
made like nine hundred fifty passes there's always passing records that they just absolutely destroy may look like buyer munich uh... in terms of the passing numbers uh... they put a man up that whole game almost right exactly but that's the other thing is that they played a man up for something like seventy eight minutes or something like that so it's it's hard to know what to take uh... out of that i mean there's a lot of teams that are gonna play a man up for that long and not win whatever it was five to one but uh...
00:52:43
Speaker
Yeah, I think this is their first real test. I mean, they're gonna be going on the road against the defending MLS Cup champions. Tests don't get, you know, a lot more, you know, serious than that. So, you know, we'll see. I definitely am not taking these points for granted, I'll say that.
00:53:01
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I think that they have shown that when they're on their game, they are an incredibly dangerous team. They can put up a ton of goals. You don't put up as many goals as they have in the past two games without having a legitimately potent attack. I don't care who you're playing. But I mean, I think that it's easy to start hot when you have a lot of talent. I think it's going to be the grind that shows how much of a real contender they are.
00:53:30
Speaker
And, you know, it's still early in the season, but flying from Atlanta to Seattle is definitely part of that grind. And then, you know, we'll see how the depth is. I mean, Joseph Martinez is a huge part of how good they've been, probably the biggest part, I would say. And he's probably not going to be available, so...
00:53:48
Speaker
I'm not taking it for granted, but it's tempting to think they're the real deal. And I'm inclined to kind of believe that they are, but we just don't have enough information to know yet. And I could see the Sounders winning this game pretty easily, I don't know.
00:54:05
Speaker
Yeah, the I think that's that's definitely a possibility and one thing I thought was kind of interesting I went back and looked and as as great as this start has been for Atlanta I believe they scored more goals than any other first-year team through three games for whatever that's worth again You know, the Sounders started really good too in 2009. They were 3-0. They hadn't given up a goal I think they
00:54:27
Speaker
Outscored their opponent something like seven to zero in their first three games So and that's in the centers obviously went on and made the playoffs, but they also didn't win the supporters shield They didn't win them lost cup that there's definitely gonna be some regression I think and You know, I wouldn't be upset if it started this week. I
00:54:50
Speaker
Okay, Twimberly23 asks, Kevin Schmetzer stating he sees ship as able to play in any of the five midfield positions. Where do you like him best? I like him on the opposite wing from Lodero or in the middle, I guess. I mean, in the middle is tough because you've got Dempsey and Morris there. I think that might be his best position. But I think whichever side you want to put Lodero on, I don't know if it matters all that much. I think you stick ship on the other side.
00:55:18
Speaker
yeah I think I really like ship cutting in from the from the left that's where we saw him this last week that's where we saw him two weeks ago and or two games ago I really like him on that side I think he gives the sounders a dynamic presence I think he has a great
00:55:35
Speaker
analytical and tactical sense of the game. He's very sound in a lot of ways. He seems to always be in the right spot. He easily could have had a couple assists in this last game. And he, of course, had that goal, which was a funny little goal. He just redirected a shot from Jovan Jones. But it was, I really liked ship enough that I'm not really worried about when the sounders are gonna bring in a designated player.
00:56:03
Speaker
presumably they're gonna bring in a player to play that position but I don't you know I'm not I'm not I think if anything it gives them the freedom to maybe go out and get a younger player who you're not relying on from heavy minutes necessarily right away
00:56:19
Speaker
Yeah. And I think that's my preferred outcome, uh, for, for a lot of different reasons, but if they can get somebody who, you know, maybe say can take over for Clint Dempsey, uh, in a year or two, I think, but, but kind of, you know, bleed in and the short term, um, and not freak out cause they're not playing 30 games a year. I think that's the best case scenario and it saves you some, some Tam too, which is nice. Right. I think he also mentioned ship. I also mentioned that he and Jovan are kind of familiar with each other. So I think.
00:56:48
Speaker
Yeah, I can't underestimate that as well on the left.
00:56:52
Speaker
Right. Twerverly also had another question. He said, any players who surprised you, good or bad, in the Nacaca? Nacaca? How do you say that? Nacaca? Apparently, how do you say it? Nacaca. That's another, I watched the, what's the game on JoTV, by the way? Because I, apparently, I recorded the Spanish language version of it, and Nacaca is actually how they were saying. Nacaca. Yeah. Who impressed me?
00:57:20
Speaker
I thought, I don't know that anyone was any of the non-starters. I guess Flaco Fernandez had some good moments. He scored the goal. I thought he had a good game. I thought Tony Alfaro was sound.
00:57:36
Speaker
defensively I don't remember him I guess he made one kind of regrettable mistake towards the end of the at the very end of the first half where he saved the ball and and it ended up leading to a counter attack that I was the last ended up being the last play of the the first half I also had this Jordy Dellum I thought actually was much better as a right back than I expected now I don't think that means I expect him to be starting anytime soon but I have not been super impressed by Dellum in the middle but I thought he
00:58:05
Speaker
held his own. I don't remember them really making any mistakes on the right. And I'll tell you, one guy who I was kind of frustrated by was
00:58:16
Speaker
Nahu who I I mean he's clearly got some physical abilities He actually has a really nice first touch, but man he has no positional sense He seemed to get caught out of position all the time And he also has a very his body is just like he has no chill in his game like there's no nothing about the way he plays feels relaxed or easy and
00:58:42
Speaker
I actually didn't watch the game, so I don't have anything to add. Fair enough. I went with my four-year-old daughter and actually had a really good time, but then I watched it again. It seems like a good time to take a four-year-old to a game where it's just like you don't really care about it. Yeah. I thought it was great. I think it was a... I actually went from being not really into friendlies to all of a sudden feeling like, you know what? If you go to friendlies and you treat it like just a totally different experience, I actually think you can have a lot of fun with it, but whatever.
00:59:14
Speaker
Yeah, I thought, uh, Tolo had, uh, he had like a, a little bit of an aura forearm. I don't know what you call it. He just reached out and kind of touched the guy in the box and the guy kind of fell down. It was just like, you can't even do that. Right. Don't give him the option. Uh, let's move on. Jeffrey M. Williams asks, Torres has seemed more error prone this season, early season rust or something to be concerned about.
00:59:39
Speaker
I'm always concerned when defenders start doing uncharacteristic stuff. Because it's just like, steadiness is such an important part of a defender's game. But I'm not super concerned about it. I mean, he's been one of the best center backs in CONCACAP for a few years now. He's not old by any stretch for a center back, so I think he'll be fine.
01:00:00
Speaker
I would probably be more concerned if Svensson didn't look as good as he did against New York. If he does just end up collapsing, well at least we've got a guy they can step in and do a pretty good job. But I think there's a pretty low probability of that happening.
01:00:16
Speaker
I mean I think it's not to me what's happening here is I don't want to say obvious but it feels pretty like an easy explanation this is a guy who came back from what nine months off from doing his knee played basically every week for
01:00:35
Speaker
four months and then had the shortest offseason of his career. He got called into the national team pretty early, so he hasn't really gotten a proper rest. I think he's just kind of out of shape.
Player Fitness and National Team Prospects
01:00:52
Speaker
you know, he'll probably get into shape over the course of the season. I don't think I would, that's obviously not the ideal situation to have a player have to work himself into shape during the early part of the season, but I, for one, would not be upset if the Sounders just kind of gave him Friday off as a way of just kind of catching a breath, essentially. Yeah, you're kind of talking me into that too. I think it's, I think it's, he's pretty clearly not right, so.
01:01:22
Speaker
So you guys kind of hit on it, but it's related. Adam P, underscore 360S is goose, a better option. His nickname is the Swedish Army Act, by the way. A better option than center back over Torres, given possession base that Al Schmitz wants to play this year.
01:01:41
Speaker
I would be reluctant to say that he is the preferred choice all things, both players being fit and up to the best. I think ultimately I want my center backs to be really good defenders first and I am convinced that Torres is probably a better defender than Svensson is.
01:02:03
Speaker
That said, Svensson is a really good pass. I mean, he had a couple switches in the Red Bulls game that were as good of a pass as we've seen a sounder's, you know, player make, frankly, and maybe not Nico Lederder or Clint Dempsey. But yeah, I mean, it's a joy to watch him pass out of the back.
01:02:31
Speaker
Yeah, it's, it's a, I feel like Svensson is the center, like, based on one game, and this is, you know, hyperbole, but I feel like Svensson is the center back we kind of assumed Brad Evans would develop into before he, you know, got hurt and sort of getting moved around again. Just like kind of ready made, you know, like really good.
01:02:50
Speaker
passing vision kind of a different kind of a partnership than we're used to. But I still think, I mean, the reason Brad Evans stopped playing center back was because we got Ramon Torres because he's really good. So I'm with you, but having another guy that can do it is nice because I think Alfaro is going to develop into a pretty good player, but I'd rather not see it happen in front of my eyes, I guess.
01:03:19
Speaker
You just want Alfredo to just be a, all of a sudden. Yeah, I just want him to be good. When I like the preferred outcome. Right. That's what us two swear, right? Right. Exactly. Yeah. I think it's just great to have Svensson as an option. Like if something happens, of course, or they need a rest. So that's great.
01:03:41
Speaker
Uh, Bill Jones, STRPT asks, now that we've seen some minutes from this team, what would be the best use of a DP slot? Has your opinion changed from earlier this show?
01:03:54
Speaker
I think mine's still the same. I mean, if there's a Lodero level. Early in the show. Go ahead, sorry. I mean, I had to think about that. If there's a Lodero level player that's just more of a direct winger type player, which I think is the guy that we talked about before, and he wants to come here and they can get on. Sure, I think I'm all for that. But if that guy's not out there,
01:04:23
Speaker
I think that, from a practical standpoint, it makes a lot of sense to either get a younger version of that guy or a younger version of a player that you would expect to step in for Quint Dempsey. That's not going to hit the cap as much, isn't going to worry about playing time as much. Maybe somebody that could be a TAM player next year, if there's any transfer fee involved, sort of drifts away. So that would be, I think, my preference.
01:04:50
Speaker
I'll say that two weeks, three weeks ago, I was really, I don't know if excited is the right word, but I was definitely on board with trying to sign someone like Kesuke Honda. But after these last couple games with Harry Ship,
01:05:06
Speaker
I'm just not convinced that, I mean I think Keisuke Honda would be an upgrade, but I don't know that he's enough of an upgrade to justify the expense and the opportunity cost and whatever else that goes into it. And so I guess in the sense that my attitude has changed a little bit, it has changed in that I think
01:05:30
Speaker
I don't, I wouldn't be disappointed if the sender signed Honda, but I'm definitely not nearly as enthusiastic about that potential signing. And I'm starting to make less and less sense, especially if you think you can go out and get a 20 year old Argentinian, you know, who could develop a little bit. I would be disappointed. I'll go on record to saying that. I think it would be fair. Ryan Enbaum asks if you had to pick one
01:06:00
Speaker
To start, every MLS game for the rest of the season, Flacco or Ship.
01:06:06
Speaker
Yeah, I think, I mean, I love Flacco. I'm a huge Flacco fan, but I think it's got to be ship. Especially because, you know, Flacco is a pretty nice guy to have coming off the bench. Yeah, I think he was, I thought he was much more effective off the bench than he was as a starter. And I think that he provides a lot, a lot off the bench and it's a great luxury player to basically have, I think.
01:06:32
Speaker
Ryan's follow-up question is, also, do you think Ledero needs to play in the center to be more effective, or is he better suited out wide? I like, I love him coming out wide. I think that, especially if you've got a guy like Dempsey playing in the center, I think that, you know, Ledero is just, it just feels like it's so much more of a natural flow to his game to be able to, because it feels like it gives him a little bit more freedom, weirdly on the right side.
01:07:01
Speaker
then if then when he's on the in the center and i i just you know i think i go back and think about it and i don't know all of his best games i feel like i've come when he's on the right yeah i mean i think i just think he the way he approaches the game i mean he can definitely be the traditional number 10 center tracking midfielder kind of player and be really effective but i think the way he approaches the game it's it's more suited to just kind of you know uh
01:07:27
Speaker
kind of drifting in when he needs to, but also, you know, playmaking from the wing. I mean, there's nothing wrong with that, right? Like you've got really talented attacking players in the center, Lodero being able to, you know, get, beat players to the byline and then hit those nifty little cutbacks. I mean, that's a huge part of this game. That's a huge part of why it's so effective.
01:07:47
Speaker
He can come in and shoot. He can just do a lot of things there. He's matched up against fullback a lot of the time rather than center backs, which I think kind of helps. So, yeah, I think he's great. Fullbacks instead of defensive mids as well. Right, yeah, that's probably even a bigger deal.
01:08:06
Speaker
So yeah, and he can exploit me when teams that have attacking fullbacks, he can exploit that space. I just, yeah, I think it's his best natural position. And, you know, the fact that I think it suits the personnel better for the team, I think it just makes it even more of a win. Okay. Trivia Lex asks, Garth said this roster is intentionally small. How do you feel about this, given that the injuries are already testing our depth?
01:08:31
Speaker
So I actually went back and looked to see exactly what Garth said. And it wasn't that the roster is intentionally small. I think it's more that the Sounders just aren't in a hurry to fill the roster up. I think they have something like 25 guys under contract and only 16 of them are actually senior roster players. So they're actually being theoretically, you know, punished, although it's it doesn't really matter for two of those roster spots. So I don't think this is
01:09:02
Speaker
you know, would it be, is it better to have a set roster or close to a set roster at the beginning of the season? I suppose it is, but what it does is it gives the Sounders a lot more flexibility. And yeah, we're seeing that tested a little bit right now, but I don't, you know, it's like if you have a Darius Barnes on this team, I don't know if that has, that would have helped them in either of the first three games. And those are realistically the kind of players they were probably going to be using those bottom roster spots on.
01:09:29
Speaker
Yet again, I'd kind of rather they feel like they can get through to the secondary window. I mean, it's not just DPs that you can sign in that window, right? I mean, there are a lot of pretty talented players that are going to be bench caliber players in leagues and, you know, in the rest of the world that they can maybe add. You know, it happened with Freeburg a couple years ago. It happened with Flacco.
01:09:50
Speaker
last year. And those are good guys to have and it's a good time to sign them. So, you know, I think it makes sense. It's another one of those opportunity cost things where, okay, we can, we can sign Darius Barnes or we can wait a few months and get a player that can be, you know, kind of part of the, the more important rotation and just trust that the youth are going to get us through. And I think it's a good approach. Right. Fliplops asks, why has rolled on not been called up yet?
01:10:18
Speaker
It's he's he plays in a position where there's a lot of talent. None of it is like elite level talent, but there's a lot of competition for minutes there. And as good as roll down has been, I just.
01:10:33
Speaker
I can't point to any player that's getting call ups ahead of him and say, roll down should absolutely be there. And it's tough. I mean, it's just a pretty deep position for the US. I think he'll get call ups. I think he almost certainly would have gotten a January call up if it hadn't been for the fact that their offseason one is going to be about five minutes long. So I don't think that was a slight necessarily. I think it was just like, please don't take our players away from us and let them sleep.
01:11:01
Speaker
Kind of situation. So, um, yeah, I mean I it's just It sucks because I think he deserves it but I can't point to any one player that that's getting minutes out of him and say He deserves it more than that guy. Um, or at least, you know, understand why bruce arina might think that that guy deserves it more than ron does Yeah, and I and I think that it's he's still looking like he might be in line for a gold cup call-up, uh, depending on what kind of roster they put together for that but uh
01:11:30
Speaker
I think that Roldan will get called up. I'm not stressing about that yet. But I guess there does become a time by which Roldan is going to have to choose if he wants to roll the dice with Guatemala or El Salvador. But I can see why he's holding out the chances of him. Every player wants to play in a World Cup and the prospects of going to a World Cup with El Salvador or Guatemala are not real great.
01:12:01
Speaker
Okay, Kirby the King asks, how much do you love the bag policy? Now I'll be first to admit that even for this game where I sat in the stands, I used my press credential so that I could bring in a backpack. So I'm maybe not the best person to ask. That said, I think that the policy is really dumb. I don't understand the like, I guess there's some
01:12:31
Speaker
benefit to having clear bags because it makes the security lines go a little faster, but the size of the bag seems so arbitrary and I just don't see how this is making anyone safer. The fact that you can still store your bag in a locker, which is great, I think they should allow that, but that seems to totally undermine the whole security aspect of it.
01:12:58
Speaker
There's just so many problems with that. I hate the term security theater, but it does feel like security theater. I haven't gotten a single, you know, dating back to when they first started implementing these various security measures. I don't think I've gotten a satisfying answer from anyone.
01:13:20
Speaker
And what I tend to think it is is that there's some calculation with the insurance people putting together insurance policies where they say if you institute all these different security measures, we'll give you a discount on the insurance. And that's what this is all about. I don't think it's about necessarily making you buy more food in the stadium. Yeah, I mean, yeah, I'm sure you're right about that, which, I mean,
01:13:49
Speaker
makes it so much more annoying. It's weird because it does a thing where it's like, well, I understand that as a business decision, but it just pisses me off so much more. I agree with all of that, and I hate this policy a lot. I went off on a huge rant a few years back when they first started introducing The Wanding, so I hate all this security theater shit.
01:14:15
Speaker
But at the New York game, there were just multiple people in front of me online who were seizing ticket holders using the apps on their phones that got push notifications about the new bag policy, holding up the line, like throwing just like entitled little baby hissy fits about it, being just like awful to the people that work there. And it's just like, man, why are you taking out your frustration on this admittedly stupid policy?
01:14:42
Speaker
against your old woman doing bag checks. If you're really upset about it, I think by far the most effective thing you could do is call your ticket rep and don't be mean to them, but explain to them that you dislike the policy and if enough people complain about it,
01:15:04
Speaker
Maybe something gets done, but I do think it's important to be civil to the frontline people who are the ones in charge of making this happen. The only thing you're doing is making yourself look bad. You're not going to make anything get fixed by doing stuff like that.
01:15:23
Speaker
Yeah, I I'm with you like I there's certain exceptions where I feel like it's it's really a pain in the butt like if you are bringing kids You're gonna have to convert you know you I can move all your your baby stuff into like this clear bag Which is kind of a pain in the butt or if you're coming from work, and you have your laptop You can't bring it. I mean there's a lot of
01:15:42
Speaker
if you're trying to ride your bike. I mean, honestly, the people who are most legitimately impacted by this, I think, is if you're riding your bike to the stadium, they make it almost impossible to do that now with this policy without having to pay essentially like a $10 tax to use these lockers. $10, by the way, is an outrageous amount to put your stuff in a locker. But anyway, it's a dumb policy, but I think we need to kind of check ourselves when we are complaining to people about it.
01:16:11
Speaker
So I used the bag to bring stuff in this week or last week and it's not that big of a deal.
01:16:19
Speaker
bring the bag but the bag itself is kind of a it's painful to use so is it just a crappy bag it's just like the straps too short to like use as a shoulder bag or to put her you know you have to hold it so if you have it filled up with stuff it's heavy after a while it's kind of a pain doesn't yeah and then doesn't need for the jacket but like I mean you could totally
01:16:43
Speaker
like I had my jacket in there and then I put it on before I went through the line and like you could totally just fill your jacket with all your crap bring it through the line they'd never check you or you could
01:16:55
Speaker
you can actually bring a bag inside the bag and that's legal, like an empty bag inside the clear bag. That was my absolute favorite thing I saw them make someone do was they had a camera bag and they were like, okay, if you take the camera out of the camera bag and put that in the plastic bag and then put the camera bag in the plastic bag, but the camera can't be in the camera bag. And it's just like, Jesus Christ. You can literally put a backpack that's empty in your clear bag, bring it in and put everything in the backpack.
01:17:23
Speaker
And then you could walk around the stadium with the radio. Yeah. I mean, it's an asinine. I mean, it's a dumb. And that's part of the dumbness of the policy. But I think it's probably important, given all that, to like, don't take it out on the people that are wanting you. Agreed.
01:17:42
Speaker
Anyways, look for our no siding at this branded clear bags coming up soon. Let's see. Shots Fired asks, how excited are you guys for the return of the US OC games at Starfire during the summer?
01:17:58
Speaker
You know, I always liked those games. We're not gonna see Clint Dempsey again this year in case you forgot. He's still got... Man, I think he's still got five games left on his suspension. I think the Sounders would have to go to... Well, he's gonna miss this year regardless because it was a two-year ban at minimum. But, you know, that might actually be a fun little project for us to do. I've been trying to figure out a way to do that.
01:18:31
Speaker
Yeah, I always like US Open Cup. I don't think I went to the Kitsap game last year, though. But yeah, I love going to Open Cup games at Starfire. Yeah, it's fun. And I'm in the south end now, so it's a lot closer. Oh, yeah, there you go. How far away from Starfire do you live? I mean, I'm pretty far. I'm like 20 minutes away. Oh, OK. But it's all south, so I don't have to deal with traffic as much. I think they only have to take one bus, too, which is nice. Oh, that is nice.
01:18:51
Speaker
But maybe we'll figure some way to celebrate that on the podcast.
01:18:59
Speaker
um yeah but ever since they just they changed the format up to where it's like okay well we play one i hate to say it but cupcake team and then we play the timbers it's like it's still last but it's like less you know playing the timbers virtually every year definitely uh like i i really think that the best thing that the open cup could do is to go to more of like and i hate just saying oh you do it like europe it'll be better
01:19:25
Speaker
but I do think doing a full draw like they do in England for the FA Cup would be so much more satisfying and so much more interesting and it would create different kinds of match-ups and I think would make the whole tournament just better than essentially like every year the Sounders are gonna play San Jose, Rioso Lake, Colorado or the Galaxy or the Timbers at some point in the you know in the run-up and it just feels like
01:19:54
Speaker
You can only go through that so many times before you just start rolling your eyes. Let's see. Tropic Sounders asks, why can't Brian Spencer be the tracksuit coach of the MLS? Do we have a tracksuit coach right now? Are there any tracksuit coaches? I don't know if we do. I think they're all pretty well dressed. Yeah. It's kind of weird.
01:20:20
Speaker
Yeah, Brian, I feel like he's better dressed this year, too. Yeah, I think so. I think so. I think he heard us making fun of his suit game last year. Yeah. Well, he's got the job permanently now, so he's probably, you know. Right.
01:20:35
Speaker
Probably gonna perk him. Yeah. Right. Yeah, exactly. He's making bespoke suits money now, you know. Right. So, um... No more men's warehouse. Right, right. Not that there's anything wrong with men's warehouse. I swear I bought my suit for... No, they're fine, you know. Not everyone could afford custom tailored suits. Right. I sure as hell can. Jerome637 asks, what color scheme would you like to see for next year's kit?
01:21:06
Speaker
Hmm We've been saying purple for a long time. Yeah It's never gonna happen. I would love to see like a a Gray kit kind of like the way that the Seahawks had a few years ago wolf wolf gray. There you go Although I mean we have a white like it would be kind of a bummer to have green white and gray. I
01:21:30
Speaker
Yeah, although there's this persistent rumor that MLS is totally getting rid of third kits, and that would be kind of a bummer, especially for Sounders fans who have been pretty good about buying those third kits. I wonder if... I thought they said they were on a case-by-case basis, basically, so people that sell them really well won't... So then we'll keep getting them is what you're saying? Yes. That's what I heard, right? I haven't heard the change or not.
01:21:55
Speaker
It would be super dumb for them to like, I'm fine with them saying like, no, you're like, sorry, Columbus or whatever. You don't get one until you sell enough. But for teens, like, why would they say I don't have money? That's crazy.
01:22:08
Speaker
Yeah, agreed. Well, maybe Columbus is just getting punished for putting out that flag flag kit. You know, it's funny, though, in hindsight, I don't hate that kit nearly as much as I'm starting to become of the mind that as long as you take a chance with your kit, you don't like I would rather teams take chances than just like there's so many
01:22:33
Speaker
bad boring kits right now. And I realized that this is not a great example because they basically had to go off the rack. But the Minnesota jerseys are so awful, especially the white one. The white one looks like a bad rec league jersey. Yeah, it's terrible. It's so bad. It's insulting.
01:22:57
Speaker
And I think too, like the sounders, I mean, they used to have super wacky third kits, but they've been a little more conservative, I guess lately with the last few. And I think that's okay because they're, I mean, their primary is like,
01:23:10
Speaker
bright green pretty garish yeah if you're you know if you're a team like the galaxy who wears white like 90 percent of the time and you have like a sort of stayed buttoned up kind of image like that black and red and green one then they did was a huge disaster but at least they tried to do something interesting right yeah i agree i'm totally i'm totally with you on that like if you're gonna have a third kit and and your regular kits are kind of conservative just go nuts right
01:23:40
Speaker
that should bring back the electricity yellow then. I agree. ECS underscore Jerry asks, if we announced starting 11 WWE style, what theme songs would Torres, Ozzy and Morris have? Oh my God. Well, I mean, they would all be written by Jim Johnston or CFO, and they would sound a lot like, like, you know, popular music, but they wouldn't actually be the songs because they're not paying for that anymore. So.
01:24:10
Speaker
Is that how WWE doesn't have popular songs for come out music anywhere? Yeah, I mean they they only did it for a few people even back in the day. So for back in the day, which songs would you choose for those three? Yes, but I like the idea of Ozzy like being announced right after glass breaks. So yes. Who are the other two?
01:24:37
Speaker
Taurus and Morris. I think Taurus could be the Undertaker's music, I think would be good. Yeah, that'd be good. Yeah, because the gong would work well. I'd be cool with Jordan Morris getting, like, Sean Michaels. Sean Michaels. Sean Michaels, yeah. Yeah, it'll be good. But he'd have to do the little stretch. You'd have to do the dance. Yeah, strip off. You guys are way over my head on this.
01:25:05
Speaker
Let's see, Irish Sounder asks, I passed my citizenship test last week. Now that
Cultural Conversations and Humor
01:25:10
Speaker
I know... Congratulations! Yeah, that's awesome. Welcome to the Shit Show world. Now that I no longer take one international slot, how should I celebrate? Oh, man. That's tough. Yeah. Applying to... How do you celebrate becoming a citizen? From the US? I don't know.
01:25:34
Speaker
start plotting the overthrow of... That's not a bad idea. I mean, I guess you could like... I don't know. I don't know. Do I need to steal you? Yeah, that's a good one. Go to Denny's. Go to Denny's, this is another good suggestion.
01:25:54
Speaker
Yeah, or Waffle House. That's what you should do. You should get the cheapest flight to the middle of nowhere state that you can and go to Waffle House. It's worth it. It's worth 250 bucks or whatever it would cost to do their own trip. Yeah. There you go. Emily R. Cummings asks, what's your favorite canned good?
01:26:21
Speaker
I use a lot of canned goods in my cooking I think tomatoes actually are preferable from a can yeah unless you get them like for the few weeks that you can get them like in perfect season here I think if you're using them for especially if you're using for cooking I think tomatoes are preferable yeah I think corn out of a can actually is usually pretty good
01:26:47
Speaker
Beans, I eat a lot of beans out of a can. I think canned food is great. It's a great, it's a great invention. Yeah. And like it's slightly unhealthier than frozen vegetables and isn't quite as good, but it's a lot cheaper and easier to deal with. Right. I agree on canned tomatoes though. I think like it's crazy to cook with fresh tomatoes. I do too. I mean, like I've actually made quite a lot of tomato sauce in my, in my day and salsa.
01:27:17
Speaker
And I'll tell you every now and then, if you get a really good tomato, you can get better salsa from fresh tomatoes. But I would say that I have never made a tomato sauce from fresh tomatoes that I thought was better than using cans.
01:27:34
Speaker
No, I will. And you have to dedicate a lot more time to it, too. Yeah, it's a lot. It's a lot more work. A lot more work. Yeah. I mean, obviously you can't make like pico de gallo from. Right. Sure. But that's that's really about it. I mean, everything else you kind of can. Yeah. Peaches. Peaches from a can. Can't peaches are good. They're put there by man. Can pineapple is bizarrely good, too. I can't say that I know like the ring.
01:28:03
Speaker
I've never had rings out of a can. I don't eat a lot of pineapple, but I'll have to try that sometime.
Minnesota's Soccer Strategy
01:28:14
Speaker
And our final question, Matt Oak, the Matt Oak, could the crew of No Sadia score six on Minnesota?
01:28:26
Speaker
uh probably not but man minnesota's their defense is comically bad i thought one of the the funniest moments of the game against who they play last week
01:28:38
Speaker
uh... new england uh... new england uh... there is a turnover by their brazilian playmaker guy and he didn't even bother to turn around and like those hands up he just stood there this is like deep in his own unknown in his own end he just kind of stood there was like uh... and through his hands up in the air didn't bother to look at the play the revs go down the other side of the field score goal it just seemed very indicative of a team that
01:29:07
Speaker
Four games, this was their fourth game. And they've like giving up their like, I mean, what a disaster. Like I, anyone, I know that a lot of people thought this was going to be a bad team, but no one in their right mind saw the level of badness that they had through four games. Yeah, I was expecting like, you know, Vancouver 2011 bad or, but this is like, this is historically bad. And I see no reason to think that,
01:29:36
Speaker
Like they're not going to give up 153 goals, which is what they're on pace to give up. But I see probably not. But it's like, you know, like you see their expected goals and it's and people are like, OK, guys, chill out. The numbers say they haven't been as bad as they've looked. And it's like they're expected goals. Numbers would still make them like a historically bad team like.
01:29:59
Speaker
They're just, man. It's like less comically bad. Right, but it would still like, I think their expected goals against would still like, over the course of a year, set a record.
01:30:09
Speaker
Right, I mean, they've given up 18 goals through three games. They have a negative 12 goal difference through four games. I will say that it's impressive they have six goals. That's not even remotely bad, but that just kind of speaks to how bad their defense is.
01:30:33
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. They're going to give up. They're giving up more goals in four games than the a lot more goal. They've given up seven more goals in four games than the Rapids gave up at home all year last year. Yeah, it's crazy. And like is like their their defense is obviously the biggest problem. But like if they were scored like you're right, like six goals in four games is not a horrendous. It's not great, but it's not, you know, it's not horrendous by any stretch. But if they were scoring like two or three a game,
01:31:03
Speaker
Uh, and you know, we're just that team that was like, well, we're going to be shitty, but we're going to be fun. Yeah. But it's like, yeah. Cause they don't, they don't have any deep, like, so I heard that they're using Tam to buy down one of their contracts. Even though they don't have any DPs.
01:31:22
Speaker
like to save cash like how did they just like clear out their savings account to pay the franchise yeah it's it's really it's kind of depressing yeah they spend a whole bunch didn't they send a whole bunch of tam or something to uh orlando for they did yeah yeah they did like that was their guy it's like you know you're right you're building your team around
01:31:48
Speaker
the
01:31:59
Speaker
You know, I really hope, I think that's a great market and I think that, like, I don't want to say it's a bad ownership group. I mean, they've already committed a ton of money to building the stadium and it seems like they, like, I think they have some, like, some of the big players in the market or like the, I thought the Timberwolves owner was involved in it. I think the twins owners involved in it. So they should have, I think the ownership has money. It's just that they aren't spending it at all. And, uh,
01:32:28
Speaker
Yeah, it's bad. I'm sure their thought was, let's just put together a team that, okay, they're gonna be bad, but let's wait until we have the stadium to really pump a bunch of money into it. Expectations are gonna be that high, but I think they really, really underestimated what they needed to not be a clown show.
01:32:53
Speaker
The thing that's really crazy is that if you were to bring up any random nasl or usl team like just randomly bring them up to MLS without going through an offseason where they were preparing for it I don't think you would think they would have been this bad Like through for a grain and that's I mean, but that's how like no one gives up goals like this It just doesn't happen in there was right and I mean
01:33:17
Speaker
Yeah, it is partially. I mean, it is unsustainable. But it's just also amazing. Yeah, it's incredible. Like it really does kind of feel like they tried to make the team as shitty as possible. Like it's like a major league situation, but it's like they just got the team. So why would they want to move the team? But it could have put in a bit in Miami or whatever if they'd wanted to. This is all a ruse by some kind of David Beckham's pulling the strings behind the whole company behind the whole scenes.
01:33:46
Speaker
So to answer Oak's question, I think we could score six, but it would have to happen in the first 25 minutes because by a minute 30, we'd be all dead. Right. We'd lose. We'd still lose like 15 to six. Right. I would just stand next to the goal and hope the ball rolled towards me. Yeah. And I probably would. I mean, they'd probably back pass all the time, even though they were playing two, three guys. Yeah. Yeah.
01:34:12
Speaker
All right. That's it. That's it. All right.
Closing Remarks
01:34:15
Speaker
Well, thanks to Gustav Svensson for sitting down with us and doing that interview. That was a lot of fun. I hope you guys enjoyed it. I thought he had some some interesting stories in there, too. But thanks to our sponsors, Foolpool Wines, Constellation and Company, Quinn and Acupuncture, Verity Credit Union and Designers Marvel. This show was produced with the help of our broadcast partner Bootstrapper Studios.
01:34:42
Speaker
I am Jeremiah O'Shan, signing off on behalf of Aaron Campbell and Likitt. This is No Study at Dis. Remember, you will never get alone.
01:35:04
Speaker
Roll on, Columbia Roll on Roll on, Columbia Roll on Your power is turning our darkness to dawn Roll on, Columbia Roll on We love you! Let's win another one!