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Bonfire, Built - Ep. 34
57 Plays1 year ago
Ari and Noah celebrate the Seattle Sounders 2-1 win over the Portland Timbers with an emphatic dub pod. Then the pod squad previews the upcoming midweek MLS matchup with Real Salt Lake and talk winners and losers around Major League Soccer including Sporting Kansas City, Inter Miami, Atlanta United and more!
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Transcript
Introduction to Episode 34
00:00:10
Speaker
What's going on, everybody? Welcome into episode 34 of Lobbing Scorchers. This is Ari Lillianwall. I got producer Noah here with me. Noah, we've got the biggest dub pod in Lobbing Scorchers history, man.
Seattle Sounders vs Portland Timbers Recap
00:00:25
Speaker
How are you feeling?
00:00:25
Speaker
Oh my god, I don't think I've ever felt this good after a Portland win in, I don't even know how many years. Yeah. I mean, this is the first time the Seattle Sounders had beat the Portland Timbers since 2021. The famous 6-2 victory at Providence Park was the last time the Sounders had beat the Timbers and they have done it.
00:00:45
Speaker
They beat the Portland Timbers 2-1 at Providence Park last night. Huge victory for multiple reasons. So we're going to talk about all that today. We're going to have fun vibing on this big W for Seattle. And we're going to talk about the rest of the match day 13 slate in MOS, which included a few other rivalry week matches.
00:01:10
Speaker
including the Seattle Portland game, so we're gonna get into all that. But before we do so, housekeeping at the top of the show, I'd like to thank all of our paid subs.
Subscriber Appreciation and Podcast Support
00:01:22
Speaker
Really appreciate you guys. I'm gonna pull up the list real quick and just go down it, because I feel obligated to shout everyone out. We got Rompus, we got Nate Bontye, we got Tyler Nakatsu, Owen Mason, David Rodriguez, Christopher Mele, Bill Breitenbach,
00:01:48
Speaker
Thank you guys so much. We really appreciate you. If you would like to join that list in supporting the show, all you have to do is go to podcast.lobbinscorchers.com.
00:01:57
Speaker
There's a little button with a heart right there, and you can pledge however much you want. Three, five, ten dollars, whatever. But much appreciated to all of our subscribers. It's huge for us, so shout out to all you guys.
Importance of the Rivalry Win
00:02:12
Speaker
And also, I would like to plug the Lobbing Scorchers YouTube, which Noah is up to 52 subscribers. I just checked. That's a pretty good number. We're on the road to 100, so if you're listening to this right now, please go subscribe to the Lobbing Scorchers YouTube as we try to grow our presence on there.
00:02:27
Speaker
but enough of that let's get into this let's get into this dub pod Noah like I said to one victory at Portland which was just a sorely needed results on multiple fronts I mean first of all we've talked a lot
00:02:42
Speaker
on this show about the extent to which the Portland Timbers have owned this rivalry in recent years. I think it was six games or something since that 6-2 victory, and Portland had either won or drawn all of them. It didn't matter where it was.
00:02:58
Speaker
That had to end. That could no longer stand. It couldn't abide. Seattle needed to be Portland. And I remember Brian Schmetzer talking after the game last year about how he didn't feel like the gravity of the rivalry was being taken into account by both the players and the staff. I remember after, I think it was the last Portland L,
00:03:20
Speaker
Schmetz was pointed about it. He was like, you know, I'm out here and we got guys yucking it up like it's just any normal game. It's not a normal game. This is Portland and we need to treat it like that. And I think in this game, that message was received.
Seattle's Tactical Moves and Key Players
00:03:35
Speaker
Seattle played up to Portland's intensity, which is always key in a game like this. And they were rewarded for the dub with it.
00:03:42
Speaker
Christian Roldan scored an equalizer. Raul Rui Diaz scored a great game winner. But first, let's talk about the lineup reaction. There was one main thing with this lineup that I thought was worth noting. It was pretty much what I expected and how I thought they would line it up. But there is this new wrinkle, though, with Obed Vargas at right mid. And Christian Roldan was moved back to the double pivot with JP in this game. So that was what I kind of wanted to hone in on with the lineup.
00:04:09
Speaker
I'm a fan of the Obed at right mid thing I think it's been working it worked in the Philly game I think it worked again in this game he got another assist but I think the question is you know are you moving Christian from his best position when when you move him from right mid and you drop him back me personally I'm good with moving him back I think that it's been shown throughout his career that
00:04:30
Speaker
that he can play that position at a very high level. When he first got into MLS, that was where he was playing and that's where he really established himself as one of the league's better players. It is funny though because we talked a lot on this show last year when Christian was out with the concussion issues about how crucial he was to the offense from that right mid spot. So there's an argument to be made that you are moving him from his best position when you tinker with it like that.
00:04:59
Speaker
But, you know, we've also talked a lot about how the offense has struggled this season. And I think I want to credit Schmetz here because we asked a lot on this show for a new wrinkle, something different, just throw stuff at the wall, right? And I think this Obed at Right Mid experiment is kind of an example of him trying something new, trying something different.
00:05:20
Speaker
and it worked and it working that's why we were kind of campaigning for just kind of anything like that because you never know what might work and Obed it looks like we could be on the on the heels of or on the press piss of a breakout here it's not enough of a sample I think to fully call it a full-on breakout yet but you know if he continues on this trajectory we might be talking about that and for that reason
00:05:48
Speaker
I tend to think in a situation where you're talking about your first choice 11, Obed at right mid and Christian drop back might, uh, he might be onto something with that. What do you think?
00:05:58
Speaker
Yeah, no, I absolutely will. For one, I'll say this. All of the haters of Brian Schmetzer that say he's only locked into the guys that he likes. He won't ever play anyone else. He won't change anything up. You're wrong. You're wrong. You're wrong. And I'm happy to say and happy to report that Obed is very clearly showing that. Does it does it mean that Paul Rothrock needs more minutes still?
00:06:23
Speaker
Yes. But that said, I absolutely love this. I think Obed has really found a position that allows him the freedom to create way more than that defensive mid position did. And I know you still probably rate attention higher than Obed. I've always been kind of on the Obed train more than attention. But to have two talented players like that of their age, I mean, you can't really complain about that.
00:06:52
Speaker
Well, I'll tell you what, my thinking on the Obed versus intensio debate is starting to change. And the reason why is because Obed is starting to impact games very tangibly. He's starting to get on the stat sheet.
00:07:07
Speaker
He's got a really nice goal in Philadelphia. He got another goal contribution in this game. If he starts doing that, then I don't think there's any question that he's the one out of the two of them that needs to be playing every week. And that's not a knock on Atencio. I think Atencio has had a really good year this year. I just think Obed is ascending to a different level right now.
00:07:27
Speaker
And should that continue to be the case, he's got to be on the field. And I don't mind keeping riding this experiment with him at right mid and seeing if he keeps playing at this level. And if he does, it would be a huge boost to this team. It already has been a huge boost to this team. They have two road dubs since they started doing this experiment, and he has goal contributions.
00:07:49
Speaker
in both games, including Colazzo and Philly. I'm down for them to keep running that, even if it means moving Christian out of that spot. Christian had a great game in this game too, playing further back. Go with what works, ride the hot hand, etc.
Game Management and Controversial Moments
00:08:07
Speaker
This game did start off about as poorly as possible for Seattle. When you're playing a road game like this, especially a rivalry game, your first task is to make it through the first 15 to 20 minutes of the game without conceding. Seattle couldn't do that in this game. Felipe Morris scored the opener in the 15th minute for the Timbers. But when I think about goal concessions,
00:08:30
Speaker
I mean, first of all, the idea that you're going to make it out of Providence Park with a clean sheet is probably just not realistic, especially because this Timbers team for all their flaws. And we're going to talk about that. But they have performed very well offensively this year. They have like 21 goals now this season. So I never really thought that Seattle was going to make it out of there with a clean sheet. But I also.
00:08:56
Speaker
I think of goal concessions in kind of two ways. Was it a dumb defensive error where you shot yourself in the foot or was it just a great play by the opposition? In this case, I think Jonathan Rodriguez made a pretty sick play. Jackson Reagan did get beat over the top, but the way he chested that down
00:09:16
Speaker
Right into Felipe Morris path that was that was a pretty good play I do think you have to give them a degree of credit there even if it was a bit of a defensive error as well but I think the timing of it was definitely unfortunate because like I said your whole goal is to kind of manage the intensity of the match and And not concede in that opening 15 to 20 minute window, and I won't lie when Portland got that goal I was like all right here. We go the Timbers
00:09:42
Speaker
coming into the game down on the Western Conference table and they're just going to play like Real Madrid against Seattle again. So that was an unfortunate start. But to Seattle's credit, they struck right back just just four minutes later in the 19th minute, Christian gets the equalizer. And that was a controversial play. It it went to VAR for check. And the whole question was Jordan Morris screening the goalkeeper from an offside.
00:10:11
Speaker
position. Phil Neville was very heated about this after the game. He called it diabolical, Noah. That was the exact same. He was saying that the Timbers have been getting hosed by the refs all season and some of the decisions that have gone against them are diabolical. I don't really want to hear that considering, you know, the Sounders and what they've experienced recently. I mean, it's a fair point, but also, I mean, having watched the replay a couple of times, I mean, there's a couple of things to consider here. If it was deflected, then it doesn't matter. Right. But like,
00:10:41
Speaker
Don't you can't really tell I but when I watched the replay I didn't think it was deflected actually No, I don't think it came off the Portland defender or off Jordan, but I think the thing is You you really also you it was not clear and obvious that Jordan was offside There's a there was a guy the Portland defender at the top of the screen that could have been keeping him on and we can't really tell like that The goal has to stand so I think that was actually the right call to have the goal stand and
00:11:08
Speaker
And Phil Neville, whenever you hear a coach going off about the refs like that, they're trying to deflect from the larger issues they're experiencing, I think. He was really heated if you haven't watched Phil Neville's press conference, definitely go give that a spin. But needless to say, the goal stood, and it's tied 1-1, and you're right back in the game. So unfortunate concession, most definitely, but credit to Seattle for the response. It was an ideal response.
00:11:36
Speaker
And they got it back to 1-1. It stayed that way until the 50th minute when Raul Rui Diaz scored the game winner. I mean, oof, Galazzo. That is an insane shot. And folks, this is why I still think that he's the first choice, number nine, when everyone is healthy on this team. You know, I was debating this after our last show with some of my sounder at heart brethren.
00:12:01
Speaker
My friend Tim Foss was telling me that he disagreed. Remember with Jackson, we were going through our first choice front fours, if everyone is healthy. And I gave one as a bit, but I think my serious one was De La Vega, Rusnak.
00:12:17
Speaker
Obed yeah, I guess Obed or Christian and then then Raul up top which you know could be controversial in some circles because Jordan is the odd man out in that scenario and I mean first of all it's one of those things where with fixture congestion and likely Likely injuries at some point like it's gonna solve itself But it's it's still a interesting exercise in theory like who would you start who gets pushed out because someone is gonna get pushed out and You know I know
00:12:44
Speaker
I know Jordan being the odd man out like that might be hard for some people to wrap their heads around and I think it's personal preference at the end of the day like I don't think there's necessarily a right or wrong answer but just Ruby Diaz being able to pull goals from nothing like that it's an attribute that no one else on this team has and I just
00:13:04
Speaker
I don't know how you could watch the goals that he scored in Philly and in Portland and think he's best served as a Super Sub. I just don't see that. I mean, the one thing I will say and acknowledge is that if you look at all the goals that he scored from Open Play this year, none of the three of them, other than the penalties, have come from what you would call sustainable, repeatable attacking movements. And he's not scoring from inside the box right now, which for him to be his most effective, he needs to be getting those looks closer to goal
00:13:34
Speaker
And like crazy Galazos from distance, like he's been scoring, it's not necessarily sustainable. But I guess my counter to that would be him pulling rabbits out of the hat like that kind of is one of your most reliable, sustainable plans on offense right now. It's not an ideal situation to be in, but that is the situation. And he hits those at a higher clip than pretty much anyone in the league.
00:14:01
Speaker
So while I would grant that for him to be producing at the highest level, he needs to be getting higher percentage looks, and you can't necessarily rely on him converting these right now or going forward, I just think that
00:14:18
Speaker
He offers a very unique attribute in that sense. And I don't know, I see these goals. And I still think that if I was making the lineup, he would be the nine. But like I said, it's personal preference. There's no right or wrong answer.
00:14:38
Speaker
I feel like the problem is not that Raoul isn't converting and scoring Galazos and bangers, it's that your most reliable option is a guy who can only score from outside the box and is like only scored what, two or three goals from the run of play? Three.
00:14:56
Speaker
three, so I mean they're all they're all just like very insane. We all know that I we all know that I hate XG and statistics, but like point oh five XG on every single run of play goal is kind of insane.
00:15:23
Speaker
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00:15:49
Speaker
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00:16:19
Speaker
No, yeah, and I definitely acknowledge that. But like I said, I just with with how things stand right now, I think that's it's your best plan. It's not necessarily a good plan. I don't know if it's a sustainable plan, but it's the most sustainable plan that's been working the last few weeks, you know.
Seattle's Future Lineup and League Standing
00:16:34
Speaker
Yeah. So but, you know, but I'm coming. I'm not here to say that.
00:16:39
Speaker
If if anyone would rather Jordan be the nine in first choice front four I could see it and I don't necessarily I don't necessarily think that's wrong but I mean
00:16:54
Speaker
credit to Raul for another sick goal and another really sick goal against Portland. I think he has 13 goals in his career against the Timbers now so he's definitely the first choice starter in any matchup against Portland just purely based off that but I mean either way that's just how I see it and it'll be an interesting debate going forward as as guys get healthier and De La Vega comes back.
00:17:13
Speaker
We'll see how they line it up, but like I said, it's one of those things where it usually works itself out based on injuries and squad rotation. Obed did log another assist on that Rui Diaz Galazzo, so he's up to one goal, two assists now on the season. I mean, we already talked about it, but just more good stuff from him overall in this game from that right mid spot. And the Sounders also did well to see out this game. The Raul Galazzo occurred in the 50th minute,
00:17:43
Speaker
and they had to make it all the way that 40 plus minutes through the end of the game at 2-1 which I won't lie when he scored that goal I did not really think the odds were especially high that they were going to do that they got
00:17:57
Speaker
kind of close to conceding the equalizer a couple times but not really. I didn't think Portland really did all that much. I think Jonathan Rodriguez had one pretty good look but overall I thought the rest of the second half was managed pretty well and they get out of there with all three points singing jingle bells in the locker room so
00:18:18
Speaker
Huge dub, Seattle moves to three, five and four, 13 points in 10th in the West. So not great, but they are right there as far as working their way back into playoff positioning, if they can go on a run and string together a few more results here. But it's not going to get very easy in the short term. They got Rial Salt Lake coming up. Rial Salt Madrid, actually. Rial Salt Madrid, exactly. I mean, that's kind of a bit, but kind of not this year.
00:18:46
Speaker
Let's so let's preview that real quick before we get to questions from the people I Mean I hate this matchup right now First of all Seattle never wins at real Salt Lake. It's one of the more difficult places to play in
00:19:04
Speaker
in the league, and historically, the Sounders have struggled there quite a bit, and that's compounded by the fact that you've got it on midweek, short turnaround, and they're one of the best teams in the league right now. They are first in the West, and the guy to keep an eye on is Chicho Arango. He would be the MVP front-runner, if not for the antics of Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez at Inner Miami.
00:19:30
Speaker
So Pablo Mastroni has, you know, he's known as an ex-dog manager, but I think you give him Chicho Arango and he's got them flying pretty high. They're coming off a 2-2 draw against the LA Galaxy where they really should have won that game. Miguel Berry scored an insane equalizer right at the end to level that. But Rial Salt Lake, I mean, I think at this point, we're far enough into the season to say that they're one of the best teams in the league this year.
00:19:56
Speaker
So, um, it's really, really not ideal timing for this matchup for Seattle. And I'll be honest, even if Seattle had been in like really good form all year, which they haven't, but even, uh, even if they had been, they're coming off a huge win, but I just, I never, I never feel good about a game going into real salt Lake away.
00:20:19
Speaker
Yeah, midweek matchup at Salt Lake after two heavy weeks of play. I mean, I don't know if I'm Brian, I'm not rolling out every single starter. Well, you have to rotate a little bit. Yeah, we'll get to the questions in a bit. One person asked, though, about if she was in the doghouse or if this would just meant that he was going to start against us. I mean, he's going to start against. Yeah, I think that was the the strategy there. But yeah, like, honestly, well, I mean, we'll see.
00:20:49
Speaker
exactly how much Schmetz chooses to rotate, but I think this is a game where you could see Moose. You'll definitely see Leo Chu, I think. You might see a couple of other pieces mixed and matched. So that makes it even harder. I mean, to be fair, both teams are going to be on this short turnaround, so Rial Salt Lake might be a little rotated too, so they might be more vulnerable in that sense.
00:21:11
Speaker
I don't know, man. Just remember how that League's Cup game last year? That was one of the most painful Sounders games ever. It kind of got swept under the rug in the midst of everything else. But it's not just that game. It just feels like every time they go down there, it's a really tough game. And Real Salt Lake looks like the best team I've ever seen. I mean, they are the best team in the West right now, too, which is something that facing Chichol Orango at any point in his career sounds like a nightmare to me, personally.
00:21:38
Speaker
Yeah. And I mean, but we'll see how many minutes he plays. He just logged full 90, I believe against LA. Um, so maybe there's some hope that he won't be able to log a full 90 in this game. Uh, but anytime he, I mean, he's, he's a beast man. Like, uh, it's pretty funny that LAFC wasn't able to keep him. And, uh, and now he's just, uh, he he's performing better
00:22:01
Speaker
For real Salt Lake even better than he and he was I think at any point during his career with LA FC Where he was one of the best number nines in the league for LA FC as well. So anyway, not to be a Not to be a doomsday kind of guy right now, but it's just It's pretty hard for me to see Seattle getting a result in this game. Even if real Salt Lake is rotated. I just feel like it's just I
00:22:31
Speaker
It's just so hard to win down at America's first field, which is the, I think probably the dumbest stadium name in Rio Tinto was such a sick name.
00:22:44
Speaker
Yeah, just hold on to that Portland win Sounders fans keep that close and anyone who's chirping at you just look down and say whatever we've knocked Portland down in the last place because you know what if we lose we get bammed on who gives a shit we want in Portland, right? I think that's That's a good shout for how to console your console yourself for what might happen in this game
00:23:08
Speaker
Think you know if you can If you can grind out a 0-0 or a 1-1 here, that would be a fantastic result That'd be basically like a win. Honestly when it comes to playing at Rioso Lake Let's get into questions. No, we are on a bit of a time crunch for this episode So we're gonna try and mob through this So we'll hit we'll hit a couple of these and then get into some takeaways from matchday 13 and
Listener Q&A
00:23:32
Speaker
MLS
00:23:32
Speaker
As always, thanks for lobbing your scorchers and Ari's mentions. We always appreciate it. We're going to hit it here with the first question by Soundaboy. Would love to hear the New Who haters after this match. Not the best going forward, but one of the best defenders in the league. Also, I think you'll have to add Portland to the list of professional wrestling enthusiasts, Ari.
00:23:55
Speaker
Yeah, what do you have to say for yourself? I mean I'm not gonna get into the fine points of the new debate on this episode We don't have time for that, but I mean I did think he He had a he had a pretty good game. Yeah, he was he was locking it down You know like you said not exactly offering Superdynamic attacking threat, but I do I think I think new who's been playing well on on defense the last couple games at least I
00:24:19
Speaker
Yeah, I agree with you. I've been chatting a lot with you and with Mark Kastner, Sounder at Heart, about how the last few games I think New Who has been cooking. And yet, I would still rather have someone else in that position. He did have a really funny yellow card in this game. I forgot about that. Yeah. And I got to say, if we're talking professional wrestling enthusiasts, they were wrestling each other on a couple plays. So what do you think? Are Portland in that category?
00:24:48
Speaker
Not yet. You have to do a rock bottom before you get put into that category. Yeah, I love that. Here we go from Matt Drumdog. Thought the Christian in the middle experiment worked great with Obed out on the right. Christian and JP make a balanced and dynamic pair in the central midfield. Replace Jordan Morris with Pedro de la Vega on the left and this team is cooking, right?
00:25:09
Speaker
I think it might be yeah, that's sort of that's sort of what I've landed on as how I would How I would line up first choice 11 we talked about it a little bit of at the top of the show But I think I think it's a situation Yeah where right now you ride the hot hand You keep running Obed out there at right mid and you drop Christian back and you just see if you can keep the momentum going
00:25:31
Speaker
Yeah, I think I've loved what I've seen from Obed, and you can't take him out of that starting lineup. And I think Brian doesn't want to. It's very clear the fact that he didn't even put him on the bench for Open Cup. I mean, he sees him as a very important starting piece. And I love Jordan, but I think maybe his time is coming. What do you think about that?
00:26:04
Speaker
I guess the way I see it is you have a pretty clear first choice band of three between De La Vega, Rusnak and Obed right now. And then maybe you just rotate Jordan and Raul up top based on matchup and fitness and stuff like that. Rather than it being a thing where like Jordan is benched, I mean, it's just like you've got to rotate it to get everyone their minutes.
00:26:23
Speaker
I mean, we'll have to see what happens, but I think there's a...
00:26:30
Speaker
Yeah, I think realistically, that's probably exactly what's going to happen. So we're going to finish it off here. This is rapid fire. I think this is our fastest question section ever. But from JP with open cup and Cascadia wins. Are we on our way back?
00:26:47
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, they're going to have to string together a few more results and climb up the table to prove that.
Impact of the Rivalry Win
00:26:53
Speaker
But what I will say about that is that a rivalry win like this is definitely something that can springboard your season.
00:27:03
Speaker
And we've seen Portland use games like this to that effect countless times over the last couple years, where they're in a bad run of form, they beat Seattle, and then they go on a little bit of a run. So hopefully Seattle can just do the same thing. They're gonna have to prove that, but they did give themselves a chance at creating that narrative, that's what I'll say.
00:27:26
Speaker
Yeah, I think the X vibes are on the up. The statistical X vibes have definitely taken a strong curve up towards the positive. I think with the open cup win, you very clearly have a core of young players that are motivated and driven because they see an opportunity to be able to get minutes in the first team. And I think honestly, like they could they could they could make a run in that. That feels good. That core of players that's probably going to start and play.
00:27:52
Speaker
In Open Cup, they look excited, they look good. Then you have a win at Portland. You have, you know, just the vibes of that, the fight that those players were giving in Portland looked better than any game I've seen this season. I think this was the first game where we went down a goal and it actually felt like it was 100% possible to still win that game.
00:28:15
Speaker
Yeah, and I think it also shows that the lineup that was fielded for the Open Cup game was the correct decision because now you're in a situation where you got the kids some valuable experience in a tournament elimination game like that and you got the win and you advanced and you were able to field
00:28:36
Speaker
your first choice 11 for the Portland game, which you also won. And if you had gone all out for the open gov game, you wouldn't have been able to really do that for this game. So that actually worked out well as well.
00:28:49
Speaker
Yeah. Thank you all for your questions. We appreciate you. Make sure to drop Ari a follow on Twitter if you want to get your questions in or just harass his mentions. Yeah. I mean, yeah, you don't have to follow me to harass my mentions. Yeah. Anyone can Kool-Aid man in there. All right. Let's let's get into match day 13 winners and losers from around MLS. Noah, we're going we're going fast today. We are on a little bit of a time crunch because I got to be out of here by 9 30 a.m. on this Monday morning.
00:29:17
Speaker
But we still got a little bit of time to make it through our last segment here, so let's jump into it Before before I get into my winners and
MLS Highlights and Team Challenges
00:29:25
Speaker
losers though. I did want I did want to talk about this Toronto FC and NYCS Oh, yeah, you see this no this rock
00:29:31
Speaker
This really popped off. There was a huge altercation after Toronto's 3-2 defeat. It wasn't one of those fake fights. They were really going at it. There was a lot of, hold me back, hold me back, but it looked like there were some swings taken. Sean John was getting at it. Sean John was really getting at it.
00:29:48
Speaker
So that was one thing. It was a good altercation. But the craziest part about this was, so you can read about this in The Athletic, too. John Herdman, Toronto C head coach, alleged that NYCFC head coach Nick Cushing punched a player in the face in the locker room of a previous game between the teams. Not this game, but I guess it was at halftime of the last time they played.
00:30:12
Speaker
he said that he cornered a 19-year-old player. And there's an allegation that the coach punched the opposing player in the face, which, by the way, Nick Cushing, like, adamantly, categorically denied that. So you've got a little bit of a he-said, he-said thing going on here. But anyway, so I don't know what happened. I'm not here to say whether or not a punch was actually thrown by a coach by Nick Cushing at an opposing player.
00:30:38
Speaker
But it's just kind of wild how that whole thing escalated. It was so funny to watch. I had the MLS 360 show flipped on and I'm just laying there doing some work and all of a sudden I see, you know, usually they're yelling.
00:30:54
Speaker
It's a goal. We've got a goal. They flipped it over and it's we got a fight and they just flipped it over and there's just this massive brawl and suing and I see Sean Johnson trying to rip the shirt off of somebody while it's still on him like just it was kind of insane. I do wonder there are cursed vibes
00:31:14
Speaker
There are fucked vibes and then there are Toronto vibes. I just I don't know what's going on in that city, but it's there's something happening in that water.
00:31:24
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, they've actually been much better this year than I expected. But it was it was if you haven't seen a clip of the fight, definitely go look up a clip of the fights on Tom Bogart's Twitter. And it like usually those just they don't pop off quite to that degree. Like I was watching it live. And every time every time it popped off again, I was like, wow, I mean,
00:31:48
Speaker
They are going at it. Anyway, let's get into winners and losers here. For the winners section, DC United and specifically Christian Benteke, Noah, he's legitimately one of the best forwards I've ever seen in the air.
00:32:03
Speaker
The way he wins headers, it's definitely, and like I'll couch that take by acknowledging that I watch MLS far and away more than any other league. So I'm not saying he's the greatest aerial number nine of all time or anything like that, but definitely out of the players that I've watched consistently, he is
00:32:21
Speaker
He is just such a beast in the air, and there's stats to back that up. Tom Boger had a tweet on some of the numbers on that. He said, when Air Benteke takes off, it may be the most singularly dominant skill in MLS. Benteke leads MLS with 134 aerials won. Second has 54. Most aerials won in a single season in the last seven years is Benteke with 241 in 2023. The highest non-Benteke season total is 174.
00:32:49
Speaker
So that just kind of shows you just how much of a beast this guy is in the air. He scored a hat-trick against Atlanta United yesterday, all three headed goals. And it's just so fun to watch him work when there's a cross coming in or just service into the box.
00:33:09
Speaker
Like he had this one goal against Atlanta where it's just, it's just such clever movement and the way that he's able to kind of contort his body to make perfect contact with it and place it perfectly. It's like so satisfying to watch. Um, anyway, he's been taking, he might be my favorite number nine in the league to watch right now. It's crazy. It's crazy. Like what he does on these aerial duels.
00:33:30
Speaker
I can never be mad watching a Ben Teke goal, even when it was against us shamelessly. I was like, God, he's so good. Yeah. And I think it sort of was under the radar coup for DC United to get this player. I mean, this is a guy that he's played for Aston Villa, Liverpool, Crystal Palace, Belgian national team, a lot of pedigree. And he's he's been he's been great for them. My boy, Troy Lissane, formerly of New Mexico United, really lucked out getting to coach him.
00:33:59
Speaker
I think because of Troy Lissane, he is as good as he is. That's my take. I'm down to credit him for that. Yeah, I like that. Inter Miami did the bit again, Noah. They went down 2-0 at CF Montreal and they ended up winning 3-2. Luis Suarez scored again, but Messi didn't even score.
00:34:17
Speaker
Um, but I mean, I'll just say it again. I know I sound like a broken record every week. If they concede the first one or even two goals, it doesn't matter. They're probably still going to win the game because they score three to five goals every game themselves. So, uh, it is funny though. It's just the same thing every week. They concede a really dumb goal.
00:34:37
Speaker
to open it and then in this case they actually conceded the second goal and we're down 2-0 and I promise you man I swear to God when I saw CF Montreal scored the second goal I was like I was like there's gonna be the takes again about how their defense is gonna be their downfall but I'm dead positive that they're still gonna win this game but I thought what was interesting about this is like I said Messi didn't even he didn't even score in this game and
00:35:00
Speaker
So they signed this guy, Paraguayan international midfielder Matias Rojas. And he looks insanely good. He scored a free kick in this game that was better, I think, than anyone that Messi has hit this season. It was from way deep. And the only reason he was taking it is because Messi got fouled and he had to come off the field on the new rule that if it's a non yellow card foul and you have a trainer come out, you have to be off the field for two minutes.
00:35:27
Speaker
So if Messi had been on the field, he obviously would have taken it. And then they have this other guy that they just signed who just bams it from way outside the box. So, I mean, just the rich have gotten richer, unfortunately. Like, you already have this super stacked team. And now, like, watching Rojas play, I was just thinking, God, I wish Seattle would sign a guy like that. I don't know if Seattle has anyone right now that could hit a free kick. I mean, did you see that free kick? It literally looked like it was Messi.
00:35:56
Speaker
Like it literally was just like okay, yeah clearly you train with the guy But like I didn't know that you just absorbed all of his technical ability as well. It's a good point. Yeah Anyway, I think the message is once again that if inner Miami concedes the first one to two goals of a game It doesn't matter and you shouldn't fall for any narrative that it does matter. I
00:36:18
Speaker
They might have broken the goal differential record if they did have a defense, but unfortunately, all of these one goal wins. Imagine if they did have a defense, they would be far and away the best team in MLS history, statistically. They might be one of the best teams in the world.
00:36:33
Speaker
Like, genuinely. Yeah, I mean, that is a pretty blazing hot take. And especially people are going to point out that they crashed out of CONCACAF Champions Cup. But I really, like, I don't read that much into that as far as their overall quality, at least just from the eye test of when I watch them play. Like, I think they probably win that series and they probably win CCC if Messi doesn't have to miss the first leg of that series with the injury. I mean, we'll never know. But anyway,
00:37:01
Speaker
They're still wrecking shop down there in South Florida. FC Cincinnati won Hell Is Real 2-1 over the crew. Lucio Acosta scored a game winner. And so, I mean, this was a big rivalry win for Cincy, but the reason I thought it was notable is because it kind of shows the perils of juggling CCC for the crew. No one's immune to it. I think the crew are the best team in the league right now other than Inter Miami, and they're in CCC final for a reason.
00:37:29
Speaker
But they kind of, Wilford and Nancy talked about it after the game. They kind of just never looked like themselves during this game against Cincy. And it just, it kind of reminded me of the season when Seattle was on their CCC run. And you just,
00:37:46
Speaker
You see the pitfalls, man. It's it's pretty hard to to escape it. LFC did a pretty good job of escaping it last year overall. But even then, like you just you see how hard it is to juggle those competitions. They didn't do well after they actually crashed out, though, in the final. They had they had just the worst. I mean, we literally did it while they were while they were playing in it. They were looking really good. And then you're right. After they had a little bit of a downturn.
00:38:13
Speaker
Yeah, a little bit is I feel I can understand it until they beat us in the playoffs, but we don't need to talk about that. Yeah. All right Let's hit the loser section and then get out of here. No, does that sound good? Beautiful. Okay We got a couple of coaches on the hot seat to that or this is sort of a combined segment with losers from match day 13 and coaches on the hot seat and
00:38:35
Speaker
Atlanta United, man. Gonzo Panetta is on, I think the hottest seat in the league right now. They've lost 3-2 to DC United on the Benteke hat trick. And I watched that game. I mean, 3-2 kind of flattered them. I thought Atlanta looked really bad in this game and they've looked pretty mediocre all season. And their fan base, Noah, is pissed off.
00:38:56
Speaker
They are not having this right now. If you look at the replies to any tweet from the club account, it's all Pineda out, which, you know, I'm partial to Gonzo Pineda. I think he's a good coach and but like, you know, admittedly, I don't follow them.
00:39:11
Speaker
super closely, so I could be wrong about this. But to me, the issue with them has always seemed to be their roster build more than the coaching. I really think it's one of those situations where you could fire Gonzo Pineda. That's fine. I'm skeptical that that'll change all that much. I think Boca Negra is the one who should take more heat than Gonzo. That's just the way I see it. If any Atlanta fans are listening to this and you think I'm off base about that,
00:39:36
Speaker
feel free to voice your disagreement. But I think, you know, Boca has taken a lot of heat, too. But, you know, I was listening to an interview with Garth Loggerway from before the season, that five stripe final, the new substack, which is really good Atlanta United coverage. They were playing audio from Garth before the season.
00:39:56
Speaker
And he was saying, you know, we need to see progress this year. Like the pressure is on, the fans deserve better than what we've shown the last couple of years. There are very tangible ways that we'll be able to see if we're making the progress that we need to. And the reading between the lines with it, it seemed like if we don't make that progress, there's probably going to be a lot of changes, both on the coaching staff and with the roster.
00:40:17
Speaker
So anyway, like we might be seeing Atlanta United really like blow it all up soon, which is definitely a storyline to keep an eye on because going into the season, they were a trendy pick, I think deservedly based on some of the talent that they have on their roster to be a contender to be up towards the top of the Eastern Conference. And that just has not panned out there in 10th place.
00:40:36
Speaker
Yeah, it's it's sad. You know, it's also said that we're not seeing hashtag Garth out because that would build bridges between the worst sounders fans and the worst Atlanta fans. Yeah. And that would be funny. But Garth really has. He's not taking the heat yet. It's mostly Gonzo and to a lesser extent, but still pretty heavy extent, Boca Nigra.
00:40:58
Speaker
Second loser of match day 13 Portland Timbers tough scene man Last place in the West after 2-1 rivalry defeat at home to the Seattle Sounders Phil Neville is also on the hot seat Yeah, he's literally like it's not too early to say that he is on the hot seat and this hire was always pretty comedic to me because
00:41:19
Speaker
What about Phil Neville's time in Inner Miami made him a super hot hire for another MLS club? Like, if anything, his time in Inner Miami at Inner Miami was pretty underwhelming. Like, I think they underperformed based on some of the talent they had. I know they didn't have all the Barca boys yet. Like, Messi wasn't there. So I wouldn't have expected them to be shield contenders under Neville or anything. But I just don't think he didn't demonstrate when he was at Inner Miami that he's the type of coach. Like, remember we were talking about how Wilfred Nancy
00:41:49
Speaker
in the category of coach that can give you an edge in a in any given game like I never thought I never thought oh Phil Neville is one of those guys so I thought there was just I think every every Seattle fan when they saw that the Timbers hired Phil Neville was like oh hell yeah and anyway it's working out
00:42:10
Speaker
I think even more poorly than I would have predicted. They started off the season pretty well, but when you look back on it now, they got into a Van der Galazzo at the very last second in their game against NYCFC to win that game. If they don't get that goal, they have one win this season.
00:42:26
Speaker
So not only did they lose this game to Seattle, but they're I mean, by pretty much any measure you want to use, they're one of the worst teams in the entire league right now. And, you know, they are scoring some goals. But I, I don't know, like this Phil Neville era, it might not he might not be long for that club.
00:42:46
Speaker
Yeah, it's he is doing Seattle fans the biggest favor ever potentially. But what's even funnier is that he could get it done in Miami while breaking roster rules. You know what I'm saying? Like if you can't even get it done while cheating with five DPS.
00:43:06
Speaker
Yeah like what are you're you're you're bad you're a bad coach and you have a Nepo son and he's not good either so that's well we'll see how long this continues in Portland but if they keep losing games like he might not make it even like halfway through the season.
00:43:25
Speaker
last loser of the week uh sporting kansas city the club of professional wrestling enthusiasts lost 2-1 to the houston dynamo at home they're having a bad season they're down there on the west table um but uh peter vermes i think gave the hottest coach press conference of the week phil neville was up there he gave her he had a really blazing hot press conference as well but peter vermes really he went in on his own players and his press pressor if you want an entertaining presser definitely
00:43:51
Speaker
look at Peter's. What I thought was interesting about it is he was calling out the effort of his own players. He said like the heart and the desire wasn't there. And so on the game winner that sport in Kansas City conceded to Houston, he specifically didn't name them by name, but he called out two players for not putting in enough effort to stop the goal and said it was unacceptable. And this is what I thought was interesting about that. No, I watched the replay. One of the players he was talking about is Johnny Russell.
00:44:20
Speaker
Like he was literally saying he was calling out Johnny Russell as not putting in enough effort on defense to prevent the game-winning goal and I just think that's interesting because a he was saying that Lack of effort is something that he can't tolerate and that he will bench guys that that aren't putting in the effort so but is he really gonna bench Johnny Russell like a club legend who's one of the Only guys on their team that consistently stuffs the stat sheet
00:44:49
Speaker
I doubt it, but like it's it's clear as day when you watch the replay who he's talking about. He's talking about Johnny Russell and then Jake Davis, who's like a homegrown defender, who is a young player who's more on the less established than Johnny Russell. But I just thought the fact that he very clearly called out one of his best players was pretty notable. And I'm interested to see how he handles it as as the club of professional wrestling enthusiasts tries to to ascend the table themselves.
00:45:17
Speaker
I still don't know how he has a job. I still don't know how he didn't get fired last year. It's the safest job in the league. Yeah, like it has to be extended him last year. I know it's insane. You had one of the worst seasons and then by the grace of God and all those above you make the playoffs and then get potentially the easiest first seed of all time.
00:45:40
Speaker
And you win it. And it's a rivalry. Like, I don't understand how this man has a job. I'm genuinely, I'm in awe. Yeah, it seems like the sporting Kansas City fan base is in large part in agreement with that, but it does seem like, I mean, they just extended him last season. Did he lose his spot as like sporting director? Is he just coach now?
00:46:00
Speaker
No, I'm pretty sure he's still both. I could be wrong about that. I'm not sure off the top of my head. But no, I mean, he is an institution at that club. And, you know, I tend to think what happened last year will probably happen again in the sense that it'll even out a little bit. And I think they'll probably be a playoff team. But it's definitely it's not good vibes. Daniel Daniel Shallaway was getting interviewed after the game and he gave a really blazing hot interview as well. He was saying, you know, if guys aren't given the effort,
00:46:28
Speaker
then maybe we need to get rid of some guys and that includes me like if I'm not if I'm not putting it in out there maybe they got to get rid of me I've heard that I was like whoo you might not want to say that man you might get what you wish for yeah I mean I think you'd probably be better off somewhere else anyway I wouldn't mind Daniel Shalloway on a Tam
00:46:44
Speaker
Yeah, no, I mean he's a he's a pretty good player and he did score a goal in that game SKC is one goal. So maybe maybe he's available. Yeah sounder sounder All right. Well, let's wrap it right there No, I am in a little bit of a time crunch here this morning, but I think we got a good good dub pod in there Thank you everyone so much for tuning in to episode 34 and thank you to everyone who listens to the show every single week and
00:47:06
Speaker
Our listenership, I mean, it's, as I keep saying, it's beyond what we could have expected. We're averaging like 350 to 400 listeners per episode, and we're going to keep trying and growing that number. Thank you again to all our paid subscribers. We love you guys. Thank you to everyone who's been subbing to the YouTube.
00:47:24
Speaker
I'm happy to see it. We're on the drive for a hundred subs on YouTube and it seems like every single show We get a little closer to that If you'd like to support the show, like I said, just go to podcast.lobbagascortures.com click the little heart We appreciate every single person who does so But that'll be a wrap for episode 34. We'll see you guys next time until then we out. Peace