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Lobbing Scorchers: Grading the Seattle Sounders’ Offseason
299 Plays4 days ago
We are back with another offseason episode as the beginning of the 2025 season draws nearer. With the Jesús Ferreira and Paul Arriola trades now official, we grade Seattle’s offseason thus far based on all their moves to date. We also have a handful of headlines from around the league, including more transfer movement, a couple of new coaching hires, and chaos and turmoil engulfing Austin FC.
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Lobbing Scorchers is a Seattle Sounders and MLS focused show brought to you by Sounder at Heart. Hosted by Major League Soccer's Ari Liljenwall and Producer Noah Riffe. Join us as we lob our scorching takes on the American soccer landscape, Seattle Sounders, Major League Soccer, USMNT and more.
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Transcript
Introduction and Episode Overview
00:00:02
Speaker
What's going on, everybody? Welcome to episode 81 of Lobbing Scorchers. This is Ari Lillianwall. Got producer Noah here with me. Noah, we're back with another off-season episode. How are you feeling? I am feeling alive, Ari. I said it last week, but I'm ready for some games. I'm tired of all these transfer rumors, ambition ratings. Let's get some let's get some games going. Let's get some games going.
00:00:28
Speaker
Yeah, unfortunately, we still have several more weeks to go before before the games actually start. But until then, we're going to keep putting out this offseason content as the beginning of the 2025 season does draw
Seattle Sounders Off-Season Overview
00:00:41
Speaker
nearer. We've got a few topics of discussion related to both the Seattle Sounders and MLS for this show tonight, ah including the official arrival of Paul Ariola to Seattle. He's in the city, reportedly. No, he's in the city.
00:00:55
Speaker
ah We're going to grade the Sounders off-season to date. I feel like the biggest moves have been made. So we're at a point where we can credibly give some grades. ah Going to do some headlines from around the league, including concerning some drama in turmoil ravaging Austin FC and and a couple other headlines, transfer headlines, coach hires. So we've got a fair amount to get to, despite still being in the off-season. Drama pod.
00:01:20
Speaker
It's going to be a little there's a little bit of a drum pod at the end. Going to want to stay tuned for that. ah But before we get to all that, I do have to let you all know that Lobney's cartridge is a part of the Sounder at Heart podcast network.
Supporting the Podcast
00:01:30
Speaker
If you want to get the best independent Seattle soccer coverage, consider supporting us by going to sounder at heart dot com slash LS. No, what's that link? Soudertart.com slash LS. Scroll down to subscribe and support to get 30 days completely free. Every sign up through our link helps support and grow this show. Uh, if you have not done so yet, go ahead and sub to our YouTube. Uh, we're at ah about 1100 subs now past the, uh, the road to one K, but now we're on the road to 1.5 and two K. yeah So go ahead and help us be out on on the road to 1.5K and beyond. ah Also, thank you to everyone who gave our IG a follow after I requested as much on the last show. We stacked about 50 or so. So I appreciate that. But if you haven't done that yet, go ahead and drop us a follow on IG. We're actually we're growing into a relatively credible IG presence.
00:02:27
Speaker
Yeah, we also have some new subs, Ari. Should I read their names off? Read their names off. I think I should. Patrick Kline, Mike Valeri, Aaron May... Man, I can't read today, Ari. Aaron Meyer, Matthew Durland, Will Munslow, Torgny Ornes, Mark Kovarik, Fred Olson, and Mark Thorrington. Listen, if I... Wow, that was a lot. How many are we up to?
00:02:52
Speaker
62 62 thank you all ah our new subs. We love and appreciate every single one of you. That's awesome to see Do we have anything else to plug I thought I had something Oh Wildfire donations potentially oh Yes, um we did another live show where we ah donated some of the proceeds from super chats to the happy foot sad foot go fund me to benefit ah those affected by the wildfires going on in LA and Yeah, we actually contributed a fair amount of money to the cause um If you're interested in donating link in the description link in the description yeah um Go ahead and help them out. We love happy foot sad foot
00:03:34
Speaker
um And the live shows in general make sure you're subbed in the keeping your notice on for those We had a lot of fun on our last one We did get popped by the feds, but you know that's what are you gonna do to be expected? Yeah? All right Noah are you ready for this offseason pod. Let's rip it.
Paul Ariola Trade Confirmation
00:03:49
Speaker
Let's rip it. Okay ah first thing I wanted to talk about was this Paul ariola trade ah This had been reportedly happening for a while, but now per sounder at hearts Jeremiah O'Shan. This is official He was at long acres Reportedly um the paperwork is finalized. I guess there were some hang-ups with the the contracts and the bureaucracy But oh the oligarchs were holding up the deal, but now it's official so he joins Jesus Ferreira as players poached from FC Dallas to come to Seattle this offseason and
00:04:21
Speaker
Us Mnt washed up FC. Yes. So yeah, I guess that's the first thing I'll say is, ah you know, I like the ah I really like the Jesus Ferrero move and I think this Paul Areola move is pretty solid i I will say I do I do accept the memes about it being like the 2019 Gold Cup squad when you throw Christian right in there I get it. I think the gold the 2019 Gold Cup squad is like Using that as your MLS squad is actually a pretty good strategy. I think it's going to play, but I do accept those memes and
MLS Viability of Gold Cup Players
00:04:53
Speaker
that discourse. yeah with that you With the Ferreira move alone, I wasn't going to allow it. I wasn't going to allow it. But now with the Ariola move, um I'll accept it.
00:05:02
Speaker
Yes, it's the 2019 Gold Cup squad. But I, you know, I think they should lean into that, you know, and people are going to say that, you know, negatively that it's the 2019 Gold Cup squad. I don't, why is that a negative? I don't see that as a negative. what Well, why is it a positive Ari? I don't know. Like, I don't think it's a negative or a positive. They won that tournament, right? Or am I am I wrong? Well, that was Mexico. I mean, regardless of how they did in the tournament. I mean, I think to answer my own question, um people have very negative associations with that era and that particular iteration of the national team, like when Paul Ariola and Jesus Ferreira were prominent players. So that's why people say it derisively. But as far as how it's going to play an MLS, I think it is going to play. But let's talk about Parayola specifically, just the compensation and then what we think he's going to bring to the team, what we want him to bring to the team. yeah um Per Jeremiah O'Shan, compensation is a first round draft pick in 300K conditional game. So I guess just right off the top, I don't care about either of those things.
00:06:06
Speaker
no That means we'll be free yeah first round draft pick is for sure meeting lists and then 300 K of game game conditional not even just yeah Well what that means is that there's like a like set amount and then based on like incentives right go higher so it's probably something like 150 or 200 K game up front and then with incentives they can push it up to 300 and game is fake money we're pretty much i think we've decided that on the show at least but and if you throw a game amount at me i'm just not gonna care that much so as far as the resources they gave up for paul ariola i i definitely don't think it's like the ferrero one where the game is such where people there were some people who were like
00:06:47
Speaker
That much game for Jesus for air you're gonna give up that much game. That was a lot of game. This is way less game So, I mean they did not break the bake for Paul areola I think we need to make sure it's that say I bought this shirt with general allocation money. Yeah, exactly But you know as far as what we can expect and what we hope to see from Paul areola as a sounder um I think as a as a depth move ah on the wing or as as a wide back, ah he can he can fill in and he can still play some pretty good ball for you. i mean His season at FC Dallas last year, he was kind of a horse for them. He played over 2K minutes. He had five and seven. So um that's not like an A-list acquisition by any means, but he definitely has always had an insane work rate. he's definitely like He can run like a freak.
00:07:42
Speaker
And ah he's been decently productive throughout his MLS career. He would at one time was considered a very like he was playing in League of Mechis for a while. That's when he got into the US national team. picture That's why I've never understood why the bots dislike him so much. I get it because he moved to DC United. Yeah. But before that, he was playing in League of Mechis, which I think to them is like a credible league right somehow. So he's that quality of player. like But anyway, um I'll tell you what I'm hoping to see with this, Noah, is I'm hoping that they give him some run as a fullback.
00:08:16
Speaker
and that he can provide some of that attacking presence. Because he has a winger skill set. So I'm hoping he can provide that ah attacking presence from the wide back position that this team hasn't had enough of since the Jovan Jones and Brad Smith days. And Paul Ariola is a player that I could see feasibly um playing that position and being effective at it and giving the team a little something that it hadn't had previously. we'll see I don't think he's played that. like predominantly throughout his career. He's mostly a winger that's played higher up the field, um but I'm hoping they try him at fullback and he can provide that. No, I mean, the at the end of the day, you got to look at how many games the Sounders are going to play. This is not your starter. This is not a starting player. I mean, maybe for certain games, but like yeah so you're picking your, if you're picking your best 11,
00:09:05
Speaker
Yeah, you might not be in it, but it raises your floor of what you can play as your second or third best eleven by quite a lot. I mean, especially to it's not it's not a bad thing to bring him in when you're debating, bringing a lot of young players in in the back. You know, that and that mentorship is great. And at the end of the day, we're bringing back the twenty nineteen Gold's Cup squad and i'm I'm bought in for it. All right. We're going to we're going to lose to Mexico in the final, but that's OK. That's OK. Yeah.
00:09:34
Speaker
um
00:09:37
Speaker
All right, I mean, do we have anything else to say about Pollard? I think that about sizes it up. Okay, what I wanted to do next, Noah, was ah grade the Seattle Sounders offseason.
Grading Sounders' Off-Season Moves
00:09:49
Speaker
We're each going to give them a letter grade based on their moves to date. Like I said, I feel like all the biggest moves have been done. You know you might see a Kim Ki-hee signing an announced.
00:09:59
Speaker
ah You might see other more supplemental type moves, but ah the histories for our trade was obviously the big move of that window And we're gonna give them these grades based on that and a collection of the other moves that they made here I'm gonna go over there's real quick, and then we're each gonna give them a letter grade, and then we're gonna defend it I came up with the idea for this little segment and I haven't even really, I realized I haven't really thought about what grade I'm going to give them yet, so we're going to freestyle this. Well, we better talk it out then, because that's usually how we come to the best conclusion. It's true. Okay, so the moves, the collection of moves that we're going to be basing these grades on are, first and foremost, the Jesus Ferreira trade, the Paula Riola trade,
00:10:38
Speaker
Um, bringing Albert Rusnak back as a DP, the Jordan Morris becoming a DP situation. That wasn't like an acquisition or a signing type move, but it was a, it was like a roster change. yeah Okay. So I threw that in there and then bringing JP back.
00:10:54
Speaker
So that's been the offseason so far. And out of those five moves, only two of them are, you know, bringing in players from another club. And both of those are from FC Dallas. So ah for fake money, for fake money. So when you put it like that, ah It doesn't sound like the most inspiring of off-seasons. But once you dig a little bit deeper. It's not about inspiration, Ari. It's about did you get the work done and did you get the answers correct? Yeah. So as far as letter grades go, um i feel like I feel like this off-season is a solid B. It's a solid B for me.
00:11:34
Speaker
um The Jesus Ferreira move in isolation, I really think the more I think about it, the more I like it. I think it's great. I give that move ah on its own in A. And I really think people who actually know the league and the business of it and and how the rosters work, like see Jesus Ferreira on Tam,
00:11:56
Speaker
i Think that like that's pretty universally considered good business Yeah, you know outside of the there's a vocal minority obviously that thinks he's it's like the worst most unambitious move of all time But I think I think they possibly might have finessed a DP quality player ah For Tam money, which that's good business any way you cut it and really for me this offseason was all it was always gonna be about like how can you meaningfully improve this offense and this year compared to what it was last year. When you scored 51 goals, and really, it just it wasn't enough. You didn't have enough on offense. You needed to take steps towards solving that this offseason. Jesus Ferreira being the biggest move towards that end was not what I expected. like you know I think most people were hoping that you know they would go out and sign somebody from Insert Whatever League. yep um
00:12:53
Speaker
But now that it's happened, i'm I'm definitely happy with that as a step towards improving this offense. And I think that he's going to he's going to make this attack better. I would be pretty surprised if he doesn't. So I'm basing my B mostly on liking that move.
00:13:12
Speaker
ah I would say that the Jmo DP escalator doesn't upset me as much as some people, and I'm fine with him earning his money, but I don't know. That situation is sort of... It's not good business. It's why I landed on B instead of A. So without Jordan Morris, you think... This is okay. If this roster still had Jordan Morris on Tam money. Yep Then that that would be a For me because you'd have an open DP spot to go hit in the summer, right? Yeah, like it's not it's not like I'm not I'm really I said this on the live show. I'm not against this escalator Routine and also but like Jordan, let's be honest Jordan had been giving this team
00:14:02
Speaker
a bargain on production for many years from being a homegrown at the start of his career to, ah you know, playing on playing on Tam money for a long time. And ah so now he's gotten paid. But it did it. I think it ah that situation sort of Made their less roster movement than there could have been without it, you know, if that makes sense So that's the only thing that I look at and i'm like man like I wish that worked out a little bit differently and I wouldn't give like an a or an a plus But that brings you to the bringing albert rosenac back on it on a dp Which one is more offensive to you? I guess is that the jordan morris escalator? Is it bringing rosenac back on a multi-year dp deal? Neither of them neither i'm not saying that they I'm not saying that they're like you're you're you're writing a manifesto all everything i mean With the Jordan thing bring bringing it down to a bee is that we're business guys here. Well. I yeah, I just ah
00:14:59
Speaker
I would have loved the roster with him on Tam Money and then them getting a little more flexibility with that. i'm really i'm not I'm not melting down over it. I think it's fine that he earned his money. i I'm not against the escalators, so it's nothing to do with that. it's ah it's more just like ah That put them in a situation where they couldn't they couldn't make an edition that they might have been able to without it right I don't know if I'm making no that makes sense I mean I could toss my rating up unless you want to add on bringing JP back um I mean so stuff like bringing JP back ah is you know like
00:15:38
Speaker
I don't think if they let him walk and replaced him with someone else on the same number, I don't think that really would have changed the grade one way or the other. But I didn't even address bringing Rusnak back. which i mean I'm pretty clear on record that that's what I would have done. I i honestly understand people who think it's a little Risk averse, I guess, and ah like people not being excited by it. But I rate Rusnak. And I think that he I mean, he had a career year last year. So going into this season where you have all these games, I'm i'm happy to bring him back and ah build the offense around him again, as opposed to like ah taking the ah greater risk of importing a new guy or playing like Pedro de la Vega there. Right. Which would be, you know,
00:16:25
Speaker
That's a lot to put on him right after coming back anyway. Noah, what's your grade for the Sounders offseason? I'm gonna give the Sounders A C plus. A C plus, you're passing. This is like my average grade when I was going to school was a C plus. Like I did the assignment most of the time, but it really was not well done and not well thought out. Jesus Ferreira trade is pulling crazy because I think if that trade doesn't happen and you bring back Rusnak on a DP and you bring back Jordan Morris as ah as a DP,
00:17:02
Speaker
That's that's that's a disastrous offseason. If they had made zero attacking additions, if they well, yeah, if like you were only able to make an attacking addition on a TAM deal that.
00:17:14
Speaker
I just realistically a tam deal. You're not going to get the type of fire power that you needed, right? So I think they got really, really, really lucky with this Jesus Ferreira trade and I think that it was a good trade and it was great dealing and the fact that they were able to push it across the line and get Jesus to agree with it too is Beautiful. I'm like a plus in that um Paul areola. Hell yeah. More reinforcements in the back. He's not going to be making a ton of money. I love him as a second or third option. Like that's that's awesome. Albert bringing Albert back. We've both talked about it.
00:17:52
Speaker
I like Albert, we both rate the player higher than most people, unfortunately, I don't know why. But I think there is some truth to the fact that if he hadn't performed the way that he had performed, he probably could have agreed to a TAM contract. And the question is, is he going to continue to perform that way? Is there any flexibility? Were they playing it too safe with the negotiations?
00:18:17
Speaker
maybe I don't know he may come back and beat his career year this year you literally never know right and that's just something you can't bring into a ah boardroom and say hey Albert I know you just had your best year ever well there's no way you do it again like you're not gonna have that conversation be productive so I'm not mad at it per se, but it's like, it is very risk averse. And that's okay in a vacuum. But then when you have Jordan Morris being escalated to a DP, a player who, yeah, you're right. He's he's been undercharged basically his entire career with the Sounders and has been incredibly productive. um Yeah, I don't mind
Sounders' Contract Decisions Debate
00:19:00
Speaker
rewarding him with that. But I also think what just happened is
00:19:04
Speaker
Now you, you bring in Jesus, you could have maybe tried to sell Jordan or do something else ah with Jordan. I, people are going to hate me for saying that even or bringing that up, but you're now locked into two longterm DPS where the only way that you can have Jordan be bought out is another extension where he's going to be making guaranteed money until he's like 37 or whatever, you know? And I'm sorry, like that is not,
00:19:32
Speaker
That's not great. That's rushing through your homework. That's, you know, getting lucky and kind of guessing the multiple choice answer. ah It worked out. I really do think that the offseason didn't turn out poorly. I think they passed. I think they got by. But what does this leave you to do in the summer?
00:19:51
Speaker
What does this leave you to do in the next off season? U22 spot. U22, but like I said on our livestream, I don't put a lot of stock in a U22. I'm scared to put all of our eggs in another young player's basket. I just don't think that it's super lucrative all the time. I think that it's it's a higher rate of failure and not being able to bring in another DP for at least two years.
00:20:19
Speaker
I can understand why people are frustrated. It frustrates me a little bit and that's where I land on my C+. plus I think they did good. I think that within their margins of like money that they got and within the margins of what they had to work with, I think Craig did a fantastic job of getting some of these deals done. And I'm not mad at that. I just do think that at the end of the day if you zoom out a little bit it starts to look a little bit of house of cards because what if Jordan Morris gets injured what if Albert Rusnak gets injured how does that how does that signing look well you could say that about any DP in the league though sure if your DP gets hurt and then what happens to your rosters But one more one more season ending injury for for Jordan and that's that's three season ending injuries I don't know how you recover from that going forward, you know, there's there's there's other things like the age is a factor That's all I'm trying to say here. Yeah, he and Rusnak are both 30. So I do understand that concern um Based on what I saw last year
00:21:22
Speaker
I feel decent about the bet at them producing at or potentially above the level that they did this year for one to two more years. yeah Beyond that, I think you know when you get and more towards your mid 30s, it gets dicier. But i'm I'm less concerned about the age for players that are 29, 30 and have shown that they are still playing well at that age already. You have that to look at.
00:21:48
Speaker
um I just get a little bit of a rivalry Diaz PTSD, you know what I'm saying? Like what's gonna happen if this another DP spot sits on the bench In one year or two year that is going to drive me insane. Okay. All right I'm glad you brought that up actually cuz I want to do a I wanted to talk about the Raul thing Yeah, because you you you're talking about it on our last show and a lot of people have brought this up I mean we've brought it up. Yeah, um why they why they didn't buy Raoul out sooner and a lot of people have described that as malpractice. I was just i was thinking about it a little more. i think I think that is getting talked about in a bit of an oversimplified way. um I think going into last season,
00:22:35
Speaker
the the decline of Raoul was not evident yet. I think we going into last season, i go i so I thought of him as the starting number nine, no question about it. So then moving off him before last season,
00:22:51
Speaker
it That strikes me as monday morning Monday morning quarterbacking a little bit I think it is like ah it's one of those things that looks obvious in hindsight But if you went back and talked to all of us at the time I don't think many people would have questioned that aspect of it should ah I was Where were you back then? I mean, I don't know I don't know if it was the first two games, but no pretty or pretty quickly you got on the train like Midway through the season when it was before the summer though when it was clear what was happening before the summer weather either way It was not like conventional wisdom that that was the right move. Okay. I mean and then I whatever I think i' monday marrying quarterbacking backing And then even even ah
00:23:34
Speaker
buying him out mid-season. I think with that, we are presupposing an outcome that if you bought him out mid-season, then you just go out and buy the replacements, slot him right in, and all of a sudden it's super awesome. I don't think that outcome was guaranteed. And if they had tried that and it backfired, people would be probably more pissed about that than they would be of ah about him not getting but bought out mid-season. But also- But isn't that the same thing you're saying as like Monday morning quarterbacking?
00:24:03
Speaker
oh well anything can happen you know you're just picking the outcome that you want like i think i think there is a genuine argument to be made that them not moving off him in the summer jammed them up and made it inflexible completely whether it was they were going to sign a dp9 or stay with jordan because they knew his contract had escalators they knew they knew how close he was to hitting him at that point they could have signed a 10 they could have signed a nine, they could have signed whatever they wanted in that DP spot and it changes, it completely changes the roster. It gives you more argument. Again, like with Rusnak, let's say you signed another DP and you're like, listen, we just, it's not going to happen.
00:24:44
Speaker
You know, we're not gonna we're not gonna be able to resign you to a DP contract because Jordan just got his escalator You know, and maybe maybe again, we're we're making this shit up as we go, right? Like you never know but I just think that I really do think there's an argument for the summer Okay, I agree with you beginning of the season hundred percent if anyone was saying that Okay, you're right, sure, you you were right, but buying him out at the beginning of the season or in the off season of last year, there were people calling for it. It wasn't immediately clear that that was the right decision. In the summer, I do think it was. Okay, so another point on this though, which is that um first of all, you're not guaranteed the outcome of the replacement hitting, but second of all, whether people like it or not,
00:25:34
Speaker
There is a way that these things get handled when players have a certain status within the club. And you can argue that you think that should be irrelevant. Like if you're a club legend, it doesn't matter. You need to be ruthless, move on, move off and whenever it takes. if Buying Ra'u out mid-season,
00:25:58
Speaker
after everything he was already done for the club. Yeah, but what does he want? is earn one list Because then you're doing you're really doing them like that on the way out. And like, ah there's a way that I think there's like a right and a wrong way to treat people. I don't think that would have sat right like with me at least. like hi The roster implications be damned, man. like The guy has put so many trophies in the trophy case. He's the leading goal scorer in the history of the club. like If he wants to stay, he can stay. He can be a Tam player.
00:26:33
Speaker
I don't understand what the difference is. If, if he truly did give a shit about the club and not just about that extra, you know, buck in his pocket, then yeah, like it's, I get it, but like, no player is going to tell a hundred. I agree with you. I agree with you. I'm not saying that that's something that he even should have to think about, but come on like it's it's he was already pissed he was pissed with brian for not playing there were there was a whole sounder heart article that went on and on and on and on and on about how unhappy he was and that was made public i mean it it would not have been a ridiculous thing to say listen clearly this relationship right now isn't working
00:27:14
Speaker
We're going to buy you out, but we still care about
Raul Ruidíaz Contract Implications
00:27:16
Speaker
you. If you want to be on this team, we would love to have you on a senior minimum. Or some other contract. I don't know. I just think that i think that people are oversimplifying that calculation. I think that's oversimplified. and also The outcome that you would have gotten from doing it is way, way dicier than I think people are giving credit for. And then also, this is the other thing I was going to bring up. Matt Doyle brought this up last year. ah Whatever editions, big time editions, big money editions that this team was going to make going forward,
00:27:50
Speaker
That was to be informed in part by their evaluation of De La Vega and whether he's going to be a contributor moving forward. They had no way to make that evaluation last year because he was never playing. But if they had bought Raul out and then made a big money signing without having an evaluation on De La Vega, I'm just telling you that drastically increases the like the likelihood that the signing is going to miss. It is. Because like when you're scouting these ah these roster spots up. It's not just about like ah talent and skill set per se. It's about like fit on your specific roster, which ah they didn't have a good beat on that with how little evaluation they got on De La Vega, which sucks. But it also it also means that making the move like you're proposing, it would have been it just would have been very, very risky. Like I can see why they wouldn't want to I can at least see the argument the other way, like why they wouldn't want to do that. Yeah and I mean there's you know there's also an argument though that like at that point in the season they had seen the De La Vega was injured they had you know I don't know there I just think there's a counter argument to all of those things of like well
00:28:58
Speaker
depending on nothing even you have the flexibility of having that spot if something comes up because he was sitting on the bench doing nothing like i just it's it is ridiculous to me to be in a league with three spots where you can do whatever you want with them and you have that guy sitting on the bench and you're just trolling him and pissing him off. Like, I think that's ridiculous. And it doesn't, it's the same thing of like, oh, he's a club legend, you know, we shouldn't treat him bad. Well, that he was getting treated poorly then because he wasn't playing, he wasn't being communicated with, he was unhappy with all of that. And then now you're in a situation where because they didn't just go and make the really hard decision, they had the decision made for them.
00:29:43
Speaker
And that's my problem. Sometimes you have to be ruthless in the business side of soccer. It's not about making friends. LAFC turns their roster over every single year. Well, and Garth was famously, he was ruthless with stuff like that. And I think they're... But you can do something equivalent of if he had done the same thing he did with Ozzy Alonzo, but mid-season. But that was a good move. Would that have sat right with anybody at all? Yes, it was a good move.
00:30:10
Speaker
I mean, it was. Well, it was a good move. Like when they moved off him during the offseason, I think if they cut him mid season, I don't I just like you don't see you don't see teams do stuff like that very often for a reason. Like if they didn't even i I would love to know if they approached him and try and buy him down off his contract.
00:30:28
Speaker
Raul. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know. i ah it it is a It's an interesting discussion. i Like I said, my my contention is that I i think that gets that gets oversimplified as a super obvious thing when I think there's almost in like when you really think about it, there's almost an equally obvious ah standpoint from which they wouldn't do that, both related to like how it affects their future roster build. And then also like the ah just how you treat people. That that plays into it. like I mean that's like it doesn't necessarily ah I know fans might i might not might not like that reasoning behind it but like I think that does play in at a certain point especially when you're talking about players that are proven champions you know like if ah if Raul would have been a DP here for as long as he was and never won anything
00:31:16
Speaker
and everything played out the exact same, then I think you have more of a leg to stand on when you're talking about a potential mid-season buyout. Raul won you so many trophies. He scored in MLS Cup and CONCACAF Champions League Finals. like I understand being ruthless, man. but like i mean And also what you were saying about the fact that he was pissed off anyway, but it's like, are you making a bad situation worse? No, you're not because look, this happened every day. This happened with Nico. This happened with Aussie and this happened with Raul. You think they left happy. It doesn't matter if it's six months earlier. It's about flexibility. And I'm sorry, like I just completely disagree. Like it is.
00:31:54
Speaker
It was malpractice that they didn't even maybe they did. You know what? I'm saying this because I have no idea what they actually did to look at that because I'm sure it was an option in their head, right? And they made a decision of what to do. And I just really do think that that is what I mean. Overarguingly, that's why I gave them a C is that they put themselves in this situation and they just accepted it.
00:32:17
Speaker
And that is what it is. If that's the way you want to do it to preserve a legend for the club. Okay. I respect that. I don't agree with it from, from my point of view, but I respect it. I understand that it's just. like i don't know you knew he was unhappy you knew he wasn't very good at that point i mean he was not very good he was not playing well and a striker who's already not playing well and unhappy that's usually just kind of disastrous yeah i mean it's definitely unfortunate how it ended
00:32:48
Speaker
and but ah Yeah, I don't know if you got thoughts on that go ahead and leave them in the comments. I don't think ah I think it's a type of thing where it's like a personal preference type of thing. There's not like necessarily a i saw up black and white ah Right or wrong answer, but yeah, I mean people are gonna hate me for this so like they've been on me, but okay. I mean honestly meant just this up like for me it is less about the ah the club legends aspect of it than it is about that even if even if you did that you have no guarantee of the positive outcome that I think people are talking about i agree being guaranteed and then also
00:33:27
Speaker
um i Like I said, like I think Doyle last year made a good point with the de la Vega thing like Spending a bag on a player that you have no read on how would how would fit in because you haven't been able to evaluate the other DP that you signed is Risky at best and reckless at worst in my yeah I mean, it's it's a tough. It's tough. I mean, there's no right answer. I mean, they were they were in a situation where they had ah aging DPS that were cycling out and that happens. But and sometimes you hold on too long. And I think the sounders love to do that. That's something that they've been criticized. They love to do that. But
00:34:06
Speaker
You know, for me at this point, like it's more about how they get themselves out of that situation and back on like solid footing with with the DPs on the roster, yeah at least like having them playing. You know what I mean? like ra you can have you Obviously, never again, ideally, can you have a situation where you got a DP bench riding. yeah um so at least but not even just bench riding genuinely should be bench riding like he was that bad be like oh man ah all right we love you Raul
00:34:39
Speaker
Raul is a legend. He's a legend. We love him. OK, the next thing I wanted to do is talk about this Jesus Ferreira trade, ah specifically as compared to some of the other transactions that have taken place across the league this offseason.
Analyzing MLS Trades: Ferreira vs. Others
00:34:52
Speaker
Oh, yeah, I love this. i ah I wrote down four others that I thought were the most prominent. There's been a lot of more moves than this, but these are the ones that I think are the most like ah comparable to the Jesus Ferreira deal. So I'm just going to lay these out.
00:35:07
Speaker
And we can go through them one by one and see ah how we like Seattle's move compared to the other teams. So I've got Brandon Vasquez to Austin for $10 million. A Boba C to LAFC. For fake money fake money. Fake money. Leo Campana to the Revs for $3.5 million of fake money. And then I threw in for fun Fafa P call to Jeremiah for some fake money. um But so I guess,
00:35:37
Speaker
First, let's talk about Vasquez to Austin FC. We're going to talk about them yeah later in the show. Do we like the Jesus Ferreira deal better or ah worse than Brandon Vasquez to Austin? I mean, I think this Ferreira trade is better business because they had to drop $10 million that like that's yeah that's bad to drop ten million dollars and and on Brandon Vasquez, who i Don't know I might regret saying this but I really am not so sure there's a huge difference in and MLS quality player between Jesus Freire and Brandon Vasquez They're different positions. So you can't really like for u like compare them Brandon Vasquez is like a pure number nine Jesus for Eric does he's more versatile um but
00:36:27
Speaker
Like I think I think ah this move for Seattle is better than that move for Austin. um When you take into account the amount of money that they spend on Brandon Vasquez and how much work they have a lot more work to do than Seattle like rebuilding the rest of their roster. So I understand why they would go for like a linchpin foundational type piece and just throw down as much money as it took to get that done. um But 10 million dollars is a lot more than Seattle gave up to get. yeah I think there's three ways to look at it. There's the business side. So how much money did you spend? What did you give up to get the player? The like tactical side? How well is this fitting in on your roster and just overall like hype, right? I think that like that's probably a fair way to grade these business wise. Obviously the Ferreira trade clears that. I mean, they, they got,
00:37:15
Speaker
They got a 10 million dollar player for nothing. For fake money. For fake money. Even so what, like 3 million dollars? I'm sorry, I don't know how much different Jesus Freire is than Brandon Vasquez. In terms of pedigree and quality, I really don't know how far off they are. I think they're, I don't know, are we tripping? I feel like they're pretty close. I feel like they're pretty close. They're not similar types of players, but I feel like they have, we could both see them on the US men's national team tomorrow. I mean, they both been on the US men's national team, but just as far as what they bring production wise, I think it's gonna be relatively similar and it didn't cost Seattle 10 million. And then what about the hype?
00:38:04
Speaker
The hype factor? Well, the hype factor with Austin and Brandon Vasquez I think is pretty high, isn't it? Yeah, I would say so. And the Jesus Ferreira deal, I think it's actually, I think most fans are actually excited to have him on the team. There is a vocal contingent that is very unhappy about it because of the US men's national team stuff. But they don't count because they're just dumb. That's not... But like I think Vasquez has more hype like in their fan base than Ferreira does. When you drop a bag on someone, you're going to be happy. Well, and also like they haven't had a lot to be happy about the last couple of years.
Austin's Internal Issues and Vasquez Trade
00:38:43
Speaker
So like that that's where that they should be excited to get a player like that. But like part of the hype is because they haven't been very good and this is something that they think could make them good. I think yeah, I think I think it's like different kinds of hype. Yeah, I think honestly, like if we're looking at it and
00:39:01
Speaker
I think it's even I think this trade is even and maybe you maybe you're gonna say I'm crazy but like Because they have another open DP spot potentially in Austin ah Building off of Vasquez and kind of that rebuilding and having him as like an anchor point up front That's a great move. That's awesome the bag they spent I mean, I don't know, you know, who cares some front offices don't care about that kind of stuff They're just happy to spend and the thing is like I think Atlanta is the only front office where you can say it like really really doesn't matter what the right are because it matters if ah if they spend this 10 million dollars and ah And Brandon Vasquez is either not what they hoped you'd be right or a bust and then that hamster they They're not I don't think Austin's ownership group is like rolling in it to the extent that they can just throw around another huge like they are very They're betting on this. Yeah, they are betting on this now which like yeah there, but I really do think they both have the same amount of upside. I think daisies for has more upside and that's all I'm going to say so I would say hasters for era, but like but like by like a point one percent is wins this one out just based on the deals um a boba see to la fc for ah for fake money.
Jeremy Ebobisse's Impact on LAFC
00:40:12
Speaker
I can't remember if he was free or I think he's free age. I think it's free yeah um he's ham
00:40:18
Speaker
I don't think so. I'm not sure we'd have to look that up. okay But um I mean, either way, they did not break the bank on him. Like he's not taken up. If he was taking up a DP spot, that would be new nose newsworthy. but ah I was a fan of this move for LAFC like it's kind of a classic like high floor like when they signed Kaikomara like this is of that ilk except he's way younger and uh has a lot more years left than Kaikomara and Obobasi is underrated like he is an underrated MLS forward and that's why when I saw LAFC did it I wasn't even like oh I wanted uh like Seattle to do it as much I was just like god damn it like we were we were chatting about it we we saw him on the free market and we were like
00:41:01
Speaker
What if we just threw what if we just bought moose out and just left him out to dry former bomer Yeah, but a Boba see like they're gonna they're gonna play him a lot And I think he's gonna I mean he's gonna ah he's gonna score more goals than Olivier Giroud Someone in the comments clown me for my Giroud pronunciation they said I said it like J. Ru Who cares? He's French. Like, what? Giroux. It's not even a real language. they ah that's what what i'm what The point I was getting at is that LAFC has upgraded at the number nine. Yeah, yeah. see yeah Over Olivier Giroux.
00:41:37
Speaker
ah but
00:41:41
Speaker
That's kind of a banger deal. It is it's kind of a banger deal. Okay. It is a banger deal, but I do. I honestly, uh, and I would have said this when Ferrera was on FC Dallas, I rate Ferrera pretty healthily above, above as he has a player. And I think what he brings that Abobasi and Vasquez don't is a lot more versatility. yeah They're very good number nines, but they, Abobasi, the Timbers were trying to play him on the wing for years and that never really worked. He's only ever been effective in m MOS as a number nine. and um So he, I mean, they're good signings for those teams, but what I like about what Ferreira brings to Seattle is ah
00:42:17
Speaker
Like how many different places you can plug them in and I think this season like there's gonna be a lot of squad rotation There's gonna be a lot of different lineups that we see and so just the flexibility to be able to kind of of move him around I like that. Yeah, so that's why um That's would I would still I would still give it to Seattle between the two of these deals. I want just because yeah, like I want i think Ferreira is ah If you have to better. player Yeah, I think if you have to compare them, I would not it's not really necessarily Comparing player quality straight up like it's what it's what we were saying. Yeah, what type of business it is um But I think they're even like but business wise. I think they're even yeah, like they're both great business But Pedigree hates us for I'm sorry. He he clears. I think so. And in hype factor, like our LAFC fans really going to get hyped because they signed a boba C on a free. They're not, but they should. be Right. But I'm saying like, you know, I think they're even hype levels in terms of like what's going on. Although I would say I would have still loved him on the Sounders if they could have made that work. I think the former honestly, if they would have signed him, I think this would have been an A off season for me.
00:43:27
Speaker
if they had got a boba if they had got a boba sea on a tam or gam or bam or fam deal and figured out a way to have him as you know your backup striker come on that's nasty you just wanted a ah new backup striker and that would have taken it from c plus day but think about it right when the sound when it wasn't working up top They really didn't have any option to go to. Raoul was dead, and what are you gonna put Moose in there? that dude That dude has two left feet. I've never seen him strike a ball nice, okay? Like, I'm sorry, with respect to Moose. Like, you you toss a boba sea in there, you can get him minutes, and you get to rest Jordan. Jordan played every goddamn minute of every game, and you get to rest Jesus, played every, you know. Like, I'm just saying, you sign him, you give a lot more people a lot of rest.
00:44:15
Speaker
I mean looks good. Moose is on the floor. Moose is on the team this year and he's going to be he's going to be playing them know exactly the role that you're talking about. So I hope I hope Moose goes out there and he better obviously in that discussion. I would take a boba seed but like realistically a boba seed wouldn't I know we were talking just hypotheticals, but like a boba sea wasn't gonna go anywhere where he would be in that much of a depth role like LFC is going to be playing him a lot like and Like people might not realize this now, but like I guarantee you like we're gonna have to Watch a lot of a boba sea pamming for LA of Steve this next year And I'm not really looking forward to that, but our friends that Happy foot sad foot will be so you could have moved on from Jordan Morris and grab the boba sea so there you go
00:45:06
Speaker
hot take um yeah i'm sure that'll be popular that's gonna go off with the comments all right so this one's for you leo compana to the revs for 3.5 million in fake money i feel like it's a roughly similar discussion but do you feel any differently about it i mean it's the same thing i rate compana over both of the other guys yeah for sure i think this one's the closest of the bunch but like you know
00:45:29
Speaker
It's hard because if you're looking at the deal, the money, they're both fake money. They're both proven in the league. They're both proven inner league transfers. The hype I think is a little bit higher on Campana just because the revs have nothing to be excited about ever.
00:45:45
Speaker
um and ah But like, you know, what's the what's the overall impact on their roster? Does compana change the revs like Jesus changes the sounders? That's what I'm questioning. No, I'm question. I don't think he they have so much more work to do. But like, yeah, they have so much more work to do in Jesus for error. They still have a sorry. They still have Carlos Kiel. That's true. Yeah.
00:46:06
Speaker
I thought he was pissed, though. I thought he hated it there. He was disgruntled yeah for a while, but as far as I know, he's coming back. And he's honestly one of the better, more talented players in the league when he's on. And I think him and Kepana could... ah That's a nice duo, but like honestly, like when when you have a situation where it's like you have two guys like that, and that's it...
00:46:26
Speaker
that very seldom will carry you that far like oh yeah it's a situation where like i feel like right now with the revs like if one of those two guys goes down like you were saying like what if uh what if jordan goes down like they're like really like if anyone goes down they're cooked yeah i agree with that no i think i think Overall better deal would still love compana though. I love that man. Get him on the sounders. you do and it's almost so like I shouldn't have even ask just because I'm still logical. Okay. I can think with my feelings and my and my pundit brain Fafo Pico to inner Miami. Immediately win immediately becomes the most high-profile and important player on inner Miami's team. Yep um He's probably going to be tasked with carrying most most of the load for them offensively this next year root face of the franchise face of the fra face of the league perhaps yep, and They're gonna be wearing his jersey in every country around the world. I see precious little scenario where he doesn't win MVP I don't like him mean to clown on Fafa. I just don't know why I put that one in there and it's a good bit. I mean, but I mean I think it is kind of a good thing to point to and be like you could be getting faff up equal. You know what I mean? You got a people is like knock off his issues for yeah yeah like you could be getting you could yeah they're like we got his shoes for at home. It's faff up equal you know what I'm saying like yeah, so that was a good segment. um Yeah, well, and then I think that was an interesting exercise just because You know the discourse around the Ferrera trade has been I've been hyped enough I think I think people have come around to it because initially they were like this is our DP signing and then they were like God damn it It's Jordan and then they were like, oh wait
00:48:06
Speaker
We got Jesus on Tam. That's pretty that's all right. That's nice. I think this is a damn good deal. I mean, this is a damn good deal about the trade. I'm most I'm excited to see how he fits in with the team. That's what I'm excited about. Well, he's already besties with Jordan and Christian. Jordan Christian and he's played with Ariola too so like theoretically like with all four of those guys having played together with at the national team with as as much as they have the 2019 Gold Cup reps are going to pay dividends here and who's gonna be laughing who's gonna be laughing when the 2019 Gold Cup Cold Cup squad puts up
00:48:43
Speaker
65 plus goal. Oh, I mean we'll see we're going to be laughing. Yeah, we are going to be going to be laughing because as the biggest usm and see haters this is literally our perfect squad sort of how ah I'm starting to feel about this is like ah all the sandbagging that's going on. It's it's making me kind of like dug in like you know what you're gonna you're gonna clown for being the 2019 gold club squad yeah it is the 2019 gold club squad you're right and it's gonna bam on you i do i mean we are the two biggest us men's national team haters and but potentially the entire world yeah like so this is the perfect club for us Yeah, it's so it's it's like that's kind of what's why I kind of like it. It's like the guys from the USMNT that were like derided and treated with disrespect, really unfairly, I think, by a lot of that fan base scapegoated is the term that I was looking for. I like the idea of banding all these guys together on one club team and sticking it to the haters.
00:49:43
Speaker
If they win, if they advance out of the Club World Cup group stage, how fucking funny would that be? I'm never going to shut up. That would be so funny. It's not going to happen. But it would be so funny. Yeah. So funny. I mean, honestly, people, if this 2019 Gold Cup squad goes out there and wins a bunch of trophies this year, I'm going to be pretty obnoxious about that. Even one. I'm going to be pretty. Even one. Yeah. Yeah. Even better than one. They win none. Yeah. Otherwise, we're going to be insufferable. We're going to be pretty insufferable about that.
00:50:13
Speaker
Drama time. Yeah, you want to hit these around the league headlines and get out of here? Let's do it. Let's do it. All right. There's a lot here. Sebastian Driussi, did you see all this, or do you need me to give you the? I need you to fill me in a little bit. OK. This is per Tom Boggs. Shout out Tom Boggs. Apparently, Sebastian Driussi, Austin SC designated player, MVP candidate a couple years ago, disgruntled last year, down year statistically. It seems like they signed his best friend for a while. He was terrible. He was bad. One of the worst, one of the worst signings I think I've ever seen in the league. He got out of there. Drusi was not happy about that. Anyway, he's apparently refusing to report to Austin FC's mandatory off season programs while trying to force a transfer to River Plate. And the club is saying that they're not going to do it. They said unless they come with a way bigger number than they just came with, we're not going to do that. So he is holding out essentially until they transfer him to River Plate.
00:51:11
Speaker
But ah I bring this up because it's pretty funny. It's hilarious, for one, because this is what Anthony Precourt tried to do with his former club. And now he's being held at gunpoint by his best player. So that is just karmic justice in a way. And it's sort of you know like Vasquez, they just dropped a huge bag on Vasquez. But it's sort of, ah I think, a reminder that like ah You know, that stuff alone, like if your locker rooms and turmoil, if your DP is super disgruntled, you're coming off a bad year anyway, drop in a $10 million dollars bag on one guy. That's not going to get you out of it. Like necessary. It helps. It helps. And I'm not saying I'm definitely not saying that they shouldn't have done it. I'm just saying that as far as our expectations for how much better Austin FC is gonna be this year than last year like it that is not that like yeah They got a new striker who is probably gonna be good, but like their other DP is out at war with the organization so like I Don't know anytime. There's another Western conference team. That's like ah in turmoil and dysfunction It's a good bit. It's like it's definitely entertaining for us. We can kind of just sit back and Watch the chaos unfold wishing him nothing but the worst all so down for that well in
00:52:31
Speaker
We have have we have we bu butted heads with Austin FC. No, we we actually only Columbus We love we love the Austin fan TV. That's one of our favorite yeah so Look them up on YouTube. Actually. I do need we don't even know them Yeah, just we just them but it's we like their content they do content where they interview fans after the game like the guy just goes up to them and he says like What did you think of the team today? And it's just incredible content because they almost always lost it yeah they lose everybody flash game yeah so ah
00:53:03
Speaker
that yeah was just sh short I don't think it would have been as good of content if they were a good team. Yeah, I agree. um So here's to them staying bad. Yes. um Two new coaching hires. Let's give our takes on these. Toronto FC hired Robin Frazier, the Philadelphia Union. we never We didn't talk about this, right? and The Philadelphia Union hired Bradley Carnell, who was most recently the coach of ah St. Louis City SC. And he coached the Red Bulls at one point, too.
00:53:27
Speaker
um But ah Robin Fraser, I love that. I do like that higher a lot, especially for Toronto. I always felt like Robin Fraser ah got a raw deal with the rapids. I've done a lot of his press conferences over the years. he's like on flavor watch coach um No, he's like a a very like chill reasonable guy I mean honestly though like there was a couple like he'll he he'll give blazing hot brass conferences, but in a very like I'm just I'm just talking with reason I'm not gonna lose my cool But that was the worst officiated match I've ever seen in all my years being affiliated with this game That was an absolute joke So, you know, that's awesome. But but so that'll even he'll probably give us a couple of blazing hot pressers this year with that um but also um I think he I really think he did a good job with the rapids like they were he had them punching way above their weight and Not a lot of support from their ownership group and was still like ah he got them I think to a Western Conference final damn um and
00:54:33
Speaker
I just think that he was underrated during that stint, and if and he's coached Toronto FC before, so I actually think that's a good move by them. Yeah, no, it's good for them. I agree with that. He's ah he's a fun coach. and they're They're in shambles. They need someone to come in there and just he like they need to be Him being monotone is exactly what they need. They just need that. Let's just chill. Like, thinking about Toronto FC, I was going to make this point earlier, and I forgot. Like, like when I look at ah teams like Toronto FC or what's going on with Austin FC, that's where I think that the discourse around the Sounders offseason has lost the plot a little bit. I've seen people throw around terms like embarrassing and pathetic.
00:55:16
Speaker
I'm just telling you guys, I watched the full the whole league, Toronto FC, San Jose Earthquakes, what's going on with Austin FC and the the ah war that they're having with their DP. that's That stuff is like embarrassing. ah Trading for Jesus Ferreira, even if you aren't like enthralled by it, it's like a pretty normal MLS move. It's not embarrassing, is it?
00:55:39
Speaker
no no i like so that's I just wanted to get that out there like there's like there's a lot of clubs in this league that are like in shambles and I'm just glad that we don't cover those clubs yeah Philadelphia Union downgraded that's so that's all I have to say on the Bradley Carnell hire yeah I think ah I don't really understand why they fired their head coach in the first place but like that's not a that's like a lateral move if anything Bradley Carnot and like why not just keep Jim Curtin who Jim C Club legend see legend Bradley Carnot had that really good first year in st. Louis but that was a fluke let's be honest and he unsettles me just his face I don't know what it is about him he just he unsettles me he uh
00:56:21
Speaker
i Don't know he's fine, but ah ah Maybe maybe like so another thing like people talk about Seattle moneyballing which is which is true Seattle does Moneyball you're we're not being those allegations not beating those allegations the Philadelphia Union are like the all-time All-time ultimate moneyball team, so maybe they think Bradley Carnell me I think Jim C was finally getting to the point where he was like I'm tired Yeah, like I'm using that I think I think players were. Yeah. Yes. Kai Walker. Yeah. Yeah. Like they all they were starting to talk about it. And I think once the ah ownership saw that dissent, they were like, they're not going to stand for this. You're done. want to see You're done. We're going to bring in a guy who's going to like be all about the money ball. Maybe that's it. I don't know. Maybe. I'm just theorizing. Sporting Kansas City, the club of professional wrestling enthusiasts, have transferred Alan Polito to Chivas. That's also funny because they gave him a contract extension a year or two ago. ah And he was... You want to talk about hyped signings? I remember when Sporting KC signed out with... They were like all their back.
00:57:26
Speaker
Yeah, they they were supposedly back. ah He was going to be the number nine that carried them to MLS Cup glory. He was going to work his way back into L-Tree with how good he was going to be in MLS. He was going to tear up the league, the club of professional wrestling enthusiasts. It was just nothing but goals and wins ahead. And now they're transferring back to Chivas. And I think when we sized up the Allen Polito era in the ah in the wrestling enthusiast club,
00:57:56
Speaker
Flop. Flop, man. That's not even flop. From the damn rafters jumping into trying to suplex someone and missing. Yeah. And hurting yourself. Which I guess that's, ah it's it's just another example, man. These outcomes are not guaranteed. Allen Polito, I think was considered about as high percentage. Like those links to MLS were there for years. And he seemed like the quintessential, like I'm going to tear up Liga and Mackie's, then move to MLS and also tear it up.
00:58:24
Speaker
He was injured the whole time and honestly, he was he had some productive runs for them, like when he was healthy. yeah But ah the last year or so, not really, man. no Not really. So unceremonious end to the Allen Pulido in MLS era. And now whats what is the club of professional wrestling enthusiasts going to do? They're going to have to sign another wrestler. They're going to. And like where did you go to WWE? wwewe do I don't know. Are we talking like ah minor leagues, I don't know. This is a Sounders related headline, Noah. The Chicago Fire have signed Big Sam Rogers. Sam, not slam and Sam. Not slam and Sam. Different Sam. yeah Sam Rogers, for anyone who, the sickos are good for sure. Yeah, they'll know about this.
00:59:10
Speaker
Sam Rogers was an academy defender for Seattle who he really, when he was coming up, he was considered, he was like the stew Hawks. But back then I was like, Oh, Sam Rogers, like chat Marshall 2.0 incoming. Like I, you know, I mean, I don't know if I got that hyped on it, but he was, for sure considered like the CB coming through Seattle's academy that was going to be like an MLS starter and that did not pan out he was trying to make the first team um back in the day and didn't and then went to like I think he went to Norway
00:59:43
Speaker
and then started or Norway or Belgium and started bawling out like he actually kind of became the player he was supposed to in uh in Seattle over there and I remember being a little annoyed about that I think I had a meme at one point about like uh you know the like society if yeah I did society if the Sounders had kept Aaron Long and Big Sam Rodgers yeah so like ah That's how I was thinking about it at the time ah But like ah I bring this up because he's coming back to MLS and he's actually but he became a good player Yeah, like he's not a bad player. ah I don't know how he's been done recently, but I know there is a time as recently as like Within the last couple years where he was playing in ah in Belgium. I'm pretty sure I'm pretty sure it was Belgium and ah and he was balling like he was he was a
01:00:32
Speaker
like playing really well at CB for them, but he also scored like a bunch of goals. He's a big, we call him big Sam for a reason. But ah anyway, if you're looking for your big Sam Rogers update, there was, i we talked about this on the live show, but I haven't mentioned it on this pod yet. Oh, I should have put the, this is the one I forgot in the, ah in the bigger other biggest attacking moves. I put FAFA, I did not put Chicho Arango going to the San Jose Earthquakes ah from Raul Salt Lake. um But what was interesting about this was for not that much money, not that much fake money. Only 1.5 million in fake money. um So why don't we just why don't we just go back and ah and do what we did with the other ones. Jesus Ferreira deal versus the Chicho Arango deal. Now that one's closer.
01:01:22
Speaker
A lot, it's quite a bit cheaper, quite a bit cheaper, but honest, and I get why the Earthquakes did it because they're taking swings, they got a new coach, they're taking swings to try and get out of like wood and spooning, so good deal for them. Chitro Arango went and just in the tank down the stretch last year. I don't know what was up. I don't know if he was hurt or if it was attitude stuff or if he was just not informed, but like,
01:01:47
Speaker
enough to like raise my eyebrows. I told you he donated his whole salary to the Mormon Church. That's what happened. I got him. but and then And then he goes for this cheap? like What's going on? What's happening? There's something in his file that is not being reported.
01:02:02
Speaker
that's keeping him down. Something just doesn't add up when you consider that at his peak, this was like one of the best goal scorers in the league. And even as recently as halfway through last season, he was like a very credible MVP candidate. Right. And if you look at his stats from last year, he had like 17 and 12, but that was all in the first like 19 games. And then he didn't, he didn't do anything. And then we all saw Lake torpedoed without him like producing.
01:02:27
Speaker
Yeah, I don't know what happened, but it is also a Similarly distressed asset to Jesus for who is like not really coming off of a historically bum season ah
Chicho Arango's Move to San Jose
01:02:39
Speaker
But has a lot of us. It's like when you when Chico is good. He's great when he's bad That dude is a talk about ghost. I just don't know like I don't know what's going on with him. Why did he torpedo ah down the stretch for RSL? Why did he go for so cheap and fake money? I don't know. I don't know. But either way, ah bouncing i back at the quakes is a tough one. Yeah, exactly. Well, I that i don't know. Like I felt like their roster is obviously terrible and their defense is terrible. But like Christian Espinosa and Obobisi when he was on the team, that like isn't
01:03:15
Speaker
A terrible combination. They scored on the Sounders a lot. They beat the Sounders last year, famously. So who knows? Make it that way. Good for him. Good for him. um All right. I just had one more little topic yeah to talk about, and then we can call it a wrap for episode 81. Atlanta United, reportedly per Tom Boggs, are putting down $18 million dollars on a Middlesbrough striker named Emmanuel Latte Loth. That's fire. Latte Loth. Incredible name. which is notable because $18 million dollars would be the biggest fee in lee in MLS history. And Tom Boggs also ah posted the biggest transfers in MLS history. FC Cincinnati just broke it with the $16.2 million dollars they spent on Kevin Denke. The next four all also belonged to Atlanta United. They saw that they got passed, so apparently they're going to throw down $18 million. But ah Tiago Amada, Ezekiel Barco, Pity Martinez, and Alexei Mironchuk
01:04:14
Speaker
all went for $13 million and above. So Atlanta United, assuming that they spend this bag on this player, they're gonna have the top five biggest transfer fees in league history, which, not to belabor the point, man.
Atlanta United's Record Transfer for Latte Lath
01:04:32
Speaker
Well, they'll have the top four. Oh yeah, yeah, you're right. I'm bad at math. Same thing, same thing. They will have five in the top six. Right. But so that's just, it's like when I look at this list,
01:04:43
Speaker
um Amada Barko and pity Amada wasn't a bust. I won't put that on him He was productive and pretty fun to watch their team wasn't that good when he was the centerpiece No Barko and pity were busts. Yeah, they were busts and like Theoretically when you're spending arthur blank money like dolan out transfer fees like this Like your percentages should be higher right because you're You're buying more expensive players that are theoretically like either more proven commodities or such polished prospects that the odds of them busting are way lower um It's just it just doesn't always it doesn't always work like that man. You got to spend smart not just drop massive bags oh and but also
01:05:30
Speaker
ah We were talking about it on the ah on the live show when we brought Brian McKinney on, but I do think it's funny that you know FC Cincinnati spent 16 million dollars on Kevin Denke and you know they're getting praise for that because it's like a good signing, but like the Belgian league that he came from,
01:05:50
Speaker
not that much different from MLS and his stats are not that different from his who's for era. You know, so make it that what you will too. Let's wait and see on that. Exactly. We're going to play a game in MLS. see You're right. You know who has more MLS goals? The guy in MLS. So can't be those stats.
01:06:12
Speaker
I mean, you know what I'm saying. They are just being facetious here. 16.2 million. Like, I mean, it's fake money, but I mean, that was real money. I i don't know. I just thought that was a worth pointing out.
01:06:27
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I think that there is valid concern that if you bring a player in, they are going to bust when you look at the sample size, like they're it's just realistic. ah And when you have people who come up to the MLS system who are solid and talented, they can kind of turn into really good MLS players. Jackson Reagan versus buying some random ass fucking 10 million dollar defender. I'm going to be honest, Jackson Reagan is probably still going to be more efficient.
01:06:57
Speaker
and That's just the reality and you know what they have him for nothing basically. Yeah supplementary roster spot I'm just saying I'm just yeah, and so I guess ah I guess to ah close it out like I think like my take I've been thinking about just the whole discourse around Seattle's money ball in and not spending as much as these other clubs and um To me like the only The only reason that I would care or be against the moneyballing is if I felt like it actually
01:07:32
Speaker
made them like and a less successful club than they could be if they were like spending money like Atlanta United um but like whatever formula that they are using has been has been working and it's been extremely successful so I guess I don't see why I don't I don't understand why things like transfer fees and even the concept of ambition at all Why like why do we care if they're not related to winning? You know, why does it like why does it matter? So I think it's just like it's sort of it just it just doesn't matter to me. Do you see what I'm saying? It doesn't matter to you. I think I do see what you're saying. Yeah, I think that you can on one hand because I feel like I'm in the middle here. I feel like I can agree and be frustrated with how the money balling makes the missteps
01:08:26
Speaker
bigger or feel bigger and i can also agree that sometimes it just doesn't fucking matter sometimes you have jackson reagan who isn't this superstar signing but is a defender of the year candidate a person who was signed out of college who played college soccer like i think that there is a way to go about it that the sounders have figured out And irregardless of what you feel about it, it's the way that they do it. That's sort of the point, man. It doesn't matter how you want them to do it. They're not going to do it that way. They've always been this way. They're going to stay being this way until someone buys them and has an unlimited checkbook. if you if you Yeah, exactly. like if you want them to be if like If your criteria for ah for ambition and what you want them to do the roster is spending these like transfer fees that we're looking at, that Atlanta United drop, like they're just not going to do that. like they're just not they're going They've dropped bags. They dropped bags on Rui Diaz and Ledero and De La Vega. and ah
01:09:26
Speaker
A lot of players throughout the years, they have dropped bags on, but they're not going to drop like the the most massive bags. It's just not, uh, like I just, I think if that's what you need your team to be, to get excited about it, you should like consider not following this yeah this isn't a team. for you Like I I've come to terms with the money ball and, and as long as they're successful with it, it doesn't really matter to me. Well, and at the end of the day, like it is fair to criticize certain moves, even with the money balling thing. You can accept that and still be critical of the club. I don't think that's what either of us are saying here. It's just that there has to be a base level of acceptance of like, this is the way that they do business. You can be tilted by it. That's fine. It can needle you. But like, you're always going to be upset.
01:10:16
Speaker
And this is where I think the anti-rosaic brigade really lives is like you're going to always be upset at one specific thing and it's gonna ruin your viewing experience. I just gotta say like Fine, cool, but there's there is a lot more to be excited about. ah And also on the same, the people who are excited and get mad at those people who are feeling that way and feeling upset, that's okay. They can feel upset. It's all right. like You can feel happy. They can feel sad. At the end of the day, it's fine.
01:10:48
Speaker
It's going to be all right. We're going to be OK. I think that is a great place to end the pawn. Good discussions tonight, Noah. I feel like we actually had a couple of points that we like we had more disagreements. Yeah, this might be our most disagreed pawn, which I think is good. Like it led to some good ah good back and forth and you know.
01:11:05
Speaker
like whenever we get the discourse flowing it gets me gets me thinking formulating my uh amended takes so yeah i know good stuff uh thank you to everyone as always for tuning in we really appreciate all the support all the viewership all all the uh all our paid subs go ahead and subscribe to the channel and turn on noties if you haven't already Keep an eye out for our live shows. We're planning on doing another one of those soon. Hopefully not get popped by the feds this time. Like, comment, subscribe, write us a review. um Share with Jesus Ferreira. Share with Jesus Ferreira. Share with Arthur Blank. paullar yo Share with Sam Rogers. um Until next time, we out. Peace.