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LS Live: Fans React to INTENSE Seattle Sounders vs Portland Timbers Derby
331 Plays4 days ago
We react and take calls following the Seattle Sounders' 1-1 draw at Portland in Matchday 14.
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Lobbing Scorchers is a production of Just Once Media.
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 Theme
00:00:00
Speaker
This episode of Lobbing Scorchers was previously recorded and streamed live on YouTube.com slash at Lobbing Scorchers. If you want to listen or catch these episodes live, see the video, and see all the rest of our content, go to YouTube.com slash at Lobbing Scorchers or LobbingScorchers.com slash YouTube.
00:00:22
Speaker
Well, sir, we got a scorcher today. Gonna be a real scorcher today. why the scorcher today? Well, it's gonna be scorcher.
Portland Trip and Sounders Match Reflection
00:00:44
Speaker
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to post match reactions. We are live from Portland, Oregon in a beautiful hotel, the Paramount in Portland.
00:00:55
Speaker
We're looking out at a beautiful ah wall. ah A great wall. It's a very scenic view yeah of the Hilton door. We've got a great view of ah some MF Doom graffiti.
00:01:09
Speaker
um And yeah, the Hilton, which the N is currently not illuminating. um But yeah, last night we made the trek down to the city that they call Portland, Oregon.
00:01:24
Speaker
And um that's that's that we watched the Sounders ah compete in a one one draw at Providence Park. some may say it was boring some may say it was exciting we'll get all into that with our call-ins today um i wanted to start out maybe with we could each give a few thoughts on the trip down as well as um providence park and just uh generally how we're feeling about this match ari how you doing uh i'm good i think overall for us it was a successful first uh lobbing score trail i guess we we did the
00:01:57
Speaker
Lobbing Scorchers road trip for the l LA playoff game last year. yeah i feel like this is the first one we've done for an MLS game since we really kicked the content into high gear with the live shows and the vlogging.
Sounders vs Portland: Performance Analysis
00:02:09
Speaker
We got a lot of great footage that we're going to throw together another little mini doc like the one we made for the Open Cup. So excited for you guys to see that once we've got it all edited up.
00:02:20
Speaker
and ready to ready to release. But yeah, I guess let's just talk about the game itself to start it off here as we as we wait for people to trickle in. And I guess I'll just start with what we were talking about when we were filming our post-match reaction for the vlog, which is that I feel like, uh, ordinarily ah one, one draw, uh, in a Cascadia Darby like this, when you're on the road is, uh, a pretty good result, a pretty good result.
00:02:49
Speaker
Uh, I think this one doesn't feel like a draw that feels like a win for two reasons. Number one, because they were actually in a pretty good position to win this game. Anytime you get the first goal in a Darby match,
00:03:02
Speaker
You put yourself in ah at least a spot where a point becomes very, very attainable and three points actually is also attainable. So ah the fact that they could not quite maintain that lead felt a little disappointing.
00:03:19
Speaker
And then I also think ah with how big of a debacle the LAFC midweek match was, all three points here would have been a good psychological boost, but it also would have validated the decision to rotate as much as they did at LAFC. So the fact that they only come out of this with a draw, it doesn't, it doesn't like ease the sting of the LAFC debacle as much as a win would have.
00:03:42
Speaker
ah But in terms of just the result itself, a road point at Portland, I don't think that's the worst thing at all. And in terms of the performance, uh i thought i thought there was uh you know we always do positives and negatives i thought there was both but i do think there were uh were some positives in the performance i felt like uh on the attacking end they uh they held their own the chance generation was not what it was during that five match and beat unbeaten run where it was just off the charts and it felt like every time they were on the ball for certain stretches of time yeah it was leading to a high quality look they weren't able to replicate that but uh
00:04:20
Speaker
They do get a really nice goal from Albert Rusnak, which I believe actually counts. We were debating if it counts. I think it actually, i think it does. Does it count? I think it does because ah it's it's a quote unquote big game, yeah right? That was a big game. Yeah, I think so. Big game at Portland.
00:04:36
Speaker
And also Portland's pretty good this year. they're They're high up on the table. They're like top three, whatever in the West right now. So that that is a goal. And it was from open play, not a PK, not a set piece. It wasn't a merchant goal. Can anyone anyone in chat explain why that one wouldn't count? I mean, i we' we're just trying to figure it out. But I think yeah we got an Albert Rusnak goal that counted.
00:04:58
Speaker
Moose assist, which is nice to see. ah Moose continues to do good work. that whole The whole sequence on the goal I thought was great. The pass by Christian rolled on to to hit Moose there. Excellent. I thought Christian had a a really good game overall.
00:05:13
Speaker
So a good goal. ah But then i think the disappointing thing about the equalizer is that 10 minute period after you score that scenario. ah That's like if you can just make it through that, you can just make it through that you give yourself a much better chance of actually winning the game.
00:05:30
Speaker
And ah that danger zone right after they scored, they couldn't make it out of that without Portland getting on top of them and eventually getting. I mean, I think the chance that Santiago Moreno scored was the best chance either team had throughout the entire game.
00:05:48
Speaker
So a mixed bag overall, but if we're talking about result and performance, think. I thought it was pretty good. And ah at the end of the with the dust settled, you get out of this road trip with a one one and one, which is not amazing, but also not terrible. So
Match Scheduling Frustrations
00:06:05
Speaker
that's ah that's where my head's at at the moment. Noah, what about you?
00:06:09
Speaker
I feel the same. I thought it was a predictable match in a way. Before the game kicked off, I had said, this is going to be a 2-2. This is going a beautiful 1-1 draw against a team, and it's going to be frustrating, and you know we'll get some goals, but it's it's not going to be everything that everyone wants. You always want to dominate Portland away, but it's...
00:06:31
Speaker
It's a really tough task when you've just played in l LA. And I don't know, it's just like, I i really, i don't know, maybe you can speak to this more, but I hated the fact that we had to play a midweek game before ah Timbers game.
00:06:46
Speaker
And it is it essentially like both of the LA games that we played were You can't take much from them for either yeah for either team. like Seattle won the first one big, ah but you could caveat that with that LAFC was rotated. LAFC wins the second game big, but you could just as easily caveat that with how much Seattle was rotated. which yeah We really have no concept at all how LAFC and match up. Also, it's just like... ah Going into rivalry week, ideally, I would think you should want ah the teams to be able to be as full strength as possible, or at least not.
00:07:25
Speaker
It just felt like the LAFC game was just like a punt, you know? Yeah. And you can debate the ah whether they should have handled it like that but i can see why that uh the coaching staff chose to do that because this portland game you need uh need all hands on deck right so you don't want to get embarrassed by phil neville and the portland timmies the scheduling thing was uh it's so it's a little tilting just because it felt like that l lasc game was just pointless like which why why and play that Why even play that game? And then like on top of that, it was weird because though that is a big rivalry. That's a big game in general. like Sounders versus LAFC, it gets people to go.
00:08:05
Speaker
Just wasting it on ah on a midweek matchup for no reason. like Dude, give us like San Jose on a midweek. like No one gives a shit about that. you know And I don't know. This game was...
00:08:18
Speaker
ah To be completely fair with you, like I have not gone back and re-watched the first half, which I need to do, um because I legitimately was filming the entire first half. I got the first goal on video, which is going to be in the dock, and it'll be sick. like it It was a really good shot.
00:08:36
Speaker
But it's really hard to like gauge the actual play of the first half, and I felt like there was way more... um There was way more, like, going on in that first half. And something that Albert Rosanack said in the presser, he said, you know, in MLS... um oh
00:08:55
Speaker
Sorry, texting. um Someone said in... Albert Rosanack said in the presser that...
00:09:09
Speaker
um The game opens up in the second half in MLS, like very often. And it did feel like that. Like this game did feel like there could have been three or four more goals. I think maybe for even either team ah in that second half. And I do think that like it felt bad that sound the Sounders weren't able to capitalize that on that.
Expectations and Realities for Sounders
00:09:27
Speaker
So I, well, to me, it doesn't feel like points lost because getting a draw in Portland is difficult. And for four points in three games, I'm happy with that. We both said that we would be happy with that. That's probably the toughest like stretch of road games. They're going to have to play all season. Yeah. When you combine the congestion with the, uh, you go to Houston, you go to Houston, always a tough place to play and then fly to l LA and then go to Portland.
00:09:54
Speaker
Like, That's crazy. that degree crazy um it's The degree of difficulty on that swing is quite high. That's why I said going into it that 1-1-1, which is what they ended up with, I wouldn't have been thrilled about it, but I wouldn't be crashing out about it. And that's... ah that's pretty much how I feel. i think just the sort of cloud over it is just how much the LAFC game went off the rails. Yeah, if um honestly, if that l LAFC game had been more competitive and they lost like 1 0 2 1 2 0 or something like that, which to be fair was
00:10:28
Speaker
pretty close to how it was looking like it was going to go until it got away late but if that's if that had been the situation i think i'd be feeling like a lot better about this road trip just because of how chalked the situation was going into lafc uh but like i think it can both be true that that result sort of is a cloud over the road trip but that also the final result that they're coming out of it with points wise and then performance wise the performance in houston was excellent i mean you can't play a road game much better than that i think that's another like disappointing thing though is that they uh they started it started the road trip off in a way where they gave themselves a chance to like really get a fantastic haul from the trip yeah and uh with
00:11:13
Speaker
the lafc game going off the rails and then not being able to see out three and they were not quite uh they just weren't able to do that but if we're looking at just the point hall overall i think it's fine i think it's fine it's not uh it's not terrible Let's hit some chats here before we jump in. I want to watch the Brian Schmetzer presser. I think he had a lot of interesting things to say about this match and just in general, the road trip, so we can do some reactions on that. Our calls are open, so if you do want to call into the show, as always, you know that link is pinned.
Sounders vs Timbers Rivalry Insights
00:11:44
Speaker
call in lob your scorchers tell us you were dumb we have the worst takes or tell us that you had a great time and enjoyed the match if you were live in portland if you were here we would love to uh we'd love to hear from you but let's uh let's jump into some of these chats real quick zippy tuna says who had gressel scoring for minnesota before ferrera scored for us he's done other stuff well though I mean, there's a lot of funny stats up this way if we if we want to go down the list. I mean, we got new who with more goals. New who more goals. Nesus Ferreira. Yeah.
00:12:13
Speaker
I mean, do you want it? Do you want to talk about ah do a little for air discourse before we do? I think we should. Because I think that is one of the things that you could debate regarding the starting eleven, which is that. mean, we've talked a lot about how ah when they run it with Albert Rusnak and Jesus Ferreira as either dual tens or maybe you think of it more as Rusnak central and Ferreira as more of a winger.
00:12:33
Speaker
ah But that has not looked super great. And ah i I don't think I would have predicted that they would run that to start the game. I would have predicted that you would have De La Vega in that spot or Rothrock in that spot with Ferreira.
00:12:47
Speaker
coming off the bench. They choose to run it to start. And I was, ah I think we were both a little skeptical. You were maybe you more than me. Yeah. You'll see in the blog my reaction to that. sure But ah I've been saying also uh,
00:13:04
Speaker
I do think that we're still at a point in the season where you need to at least try running that in in some games this game was a big game to bust it out I think it's a big show of faith in Ferreira and you know.
00:13:19
Speaker
Ferreira individually, I didn't think it was super amazing, but I did think that it it didn't it seem like they were less kind of getting in each other's stuff, at least like it felt like Ferreira was actually playing a different role.
00:13:32
Speaker
Sure. That was one thing. And then I thought I'm also judging it ah like on how the offense ran as a whole more than just like what each guy did individually and if you're thinking of it through that lens i i thought the attacking performance in this game there was some good stuff like with ferrera involved and uh a part of it and they got a goal out of it in the uh in the first half hour of the game at portland which is not necessarily easy to do so I think ah this was probably the best that that setup has looked but if we're assessing Ferreira's performance individually ah it's not like he was you know lighting it on fire yeah and he still doesn't look particularly close to scoring a goal himself so I think there's still clearly like ah
00:14:19
Speaker
ah A lot more that needs to be done for that to be ran as like a legitimate option, like to full effect. But I don't know. Do you think it's fair to say that this was at least progress with that, even if it was incremental?
00:14:32
Speaker
I think that I'm almost on the other end of where you are with it. I think that his performance of not stepping on the heels of Albert Rusnak at the same time kind of neutered his own ability, if that makes sense.
00:14:47
Speaker
Like, I think that he was not detrimental to the game in any way, which you can look at that as a positive, especially when he's playing with Albert Rusnak. But I don't think that he made any kind of impact on this match, like at all.
00:15:00
Speaker
And I think that that's a challenge when you have a player out there who you really do want to get into form. Like I want Jesus Ferreira to be playing well. I want him to feel good and I want him to feel confident.
00:15:10
Speaker
And it does feel like a little bit of a shoehorn of like, well, we need to get our best 11 on paper out there. And that's what it felt like. It felt like, you know, you have too much talent to be sitting him on the bench, but he's not necessarily performing in a winger role and he's not necessarily performing in a nine role. And I'm sorry, Albert Rusnak is not the guy who you want to sit on the bench for this game. And it shows because he scored this goal, right? Like he is a He is a DP.
00:15:38
Speaker
He is your DP. He is who you trust. And at the end of the day, I don't know if he's more talented than Ferreira, but he's definitely more informed than Ferreira. And so you have to take that into account, right? And I and just, the way that I see it is like...
00:15:52
Speaker
Well, there are positives. Absolutely. You can take things away from it. It's just not... It's just not a... He's he he's not a winger. He is a 10. I think at this point in his career, he's established he's a 10.
00:16:05
Speaker
Can he establish something different? Maybe that he's a 9 or that he can he can start scoring? Maybe, but... it's just not it's not working right now and i feel for the guy and i want him to figure it out but uh all right just i i i don't think that that was the right selection at that position when you had a player like rothrock when you saw him come on and immediately make an impact and and fight and be a dog in this game i mean he's he's a guy who loves this kind of rivalry he this is this is a match made for him and to not start him i think was was a challenge and the other thing that this is hindsight 2020 and this is not about uh ferrera but um someone who i wanted to talk about next but i'll i'll actually i'll just wait on that i'll i'll let you respond to all of the yapping that i just did um i i i agree that
00:16:53
Speaker
I would have liked to see Rothrock start yeah in this game for ah for a lot of the reasons that you mentioned. I thought that... I think that he is a player who, like, you could you could see as soon as he came on, he was thriving on just, like, the chippiness and the intensity of it. So, I mean, there's that aspect of it.
00:17:13
Speaker
But pretty close after he came on, right? They hit him with that ball over the top, and that was a that was a great look. I think that's sort of when I... When I'm thinking about how the offense performed in this game, I thought there was some good stuff in the buildup and good stuff on the counter.
00:17:28
Speaker
um But they weren't able to get like the uh like the the quality of chances that they were generating over that run where they weren't four out of five was just fantastic like it felt like uh every chance was like just a super great look and uh they have not been able to do that the last two games the lafc game i mean it's whatever i shocklk it's fine it was chalked but this game uh i would have hoped to seen a little more high quality chance generation uh but
00:17:59
Speaker
I do think there are some positives and what we saw in the buildup and also i think the game plan was good in that ah we taught we always talk about going into these games that the Portland Timbs, you know, they are going to play this game like it's the last game of soccer that they've ever played.
00:18:14
Speaker
ah They just almost lost to an MLS Next Pro side ah with an average age of 16.5. They were not going to be particularly happy about that. No. ah So they were going to come out firing in this game like they always do at home, like they always do against Seattle. And Philly Neves wants it. Yeah, so ah I thought that they did pretty well to absorb that early pressure and weather the storm, so to speak.
00:18:41
Speaker
ah And make you just have to make it out of that first 20, 30 minutes without conceding. That's really it. Like, you're going to have to absorb some pressure. They're probably going to have a couple of chances. You're probably going to have a couple of nerve-y moments.
00:18:52
Speaker
need to be able to get through that without conceding.
Player Performances and Anecdotes
00:18:55
Speaker
So they were able to do that. And then I love what I saw from them to get through that and then get the first goal. So I think all that was good. I don't really even know where I was going with all this, but, but just final thoughts on Ferreira, I guess. Okay. fun Final thoughts on Ferreira. I still think it, it didn't look super great, but i' not ready to give up yet.
00:19:19
Speaker
I mean, no, you, yeah I mean like you're, There's no giving up. You didn't give up on Pedro after last year. You're not giving up on Ferreira yet. When you still got two-thirds of the season to go, like you can't mean you can't you literally can't like if you're speaking from the team perspective.
00:19:33
Speaker
But look, if what if what we're dealing with is just needing to see incremental progress, one of my biggest complaints was that like earlier in the season with this was that we weren't seeing incremental progress. It kind of felt like Groundhog Day, game in game out.
00:19:49
Speaker
i think it's still been uneven but uh there are there are data points that we can look at that were uh that were more positive like uh like his performance in the nashville game so i think that uh that type of stuff is still in there they just need to figure out how to unlock it regularly ah but they were not uh quite able to do that in this game but i guess to get back to my uh other point like uh I'm trying to judge it on how the attack functions as a whole, as much as I'm trying to judge not just for rare, but any player individually. Right. Yeah. So I think ah even if it wasn't,
00:20:28
Speaker
where it needs to be yet they still had a decent attacking showing yeah with that lineup so I mean I don't know maybe that's cope maybe that's rationalizing but I think it is something it's not and it's not like a what it wasn't like a total disaster yeah it wasn't like a joke Well, we got to wait.
00:20:47
Speaker
That might be a low bar, but it is what it is. it is what we We'll take what we can get. We have a friend of the pod, Jeremy Peterman calling in front of the press box, too. He he helped us navigate all things Portland Timbies and talk to some shit in the press box, which I am always a fan of. I am pro talking shit. We're pro banter on this. Yeah, like you need to be you need to have a chirper in the press box with you. Like it's honestly it makes it so much better.
00:21:10
Speaker
Jeremy. Give us a thumbs up if you're ready to pop on, and we will add you to the stage here. If anyone if anyone else also wants to ah come on and lay down some takes. There we go. That works. How are we doing, Jeremy?
00:21:21
Speaker
Oh, we we are we are still grappling with how to feel about that game, to be honest. I feel that. Yeah. um I feel like, first of all, on balance of play, I wouldn't say balance of chances, but on balance of play, should have been Sounders victory.
00:21:40
Speaker
so i will happily take the point even though i'm not very happy about it yeah brian schmetzer was saying in the post-match that um they thought that you know phil started to sit his team back to try and troll the draw towards the end and that they have to feel like that's a little bit of a moral victory even though he said there are no moral victories is that kind of what you're mentioning here ah I don't think they really like started to play for that draw at any point. I think it was more so that they just couldn't get anything going on the attacking end. And I thought Neville got a little bit cowardly with his substitutions.
00:22:21
Speaker
I don't like saying that. Yeah, share about that. but everyone was thinking, I'm sure you guys were thinking, when is Jonathan Rodriguez going to come into this game? Ignore the background. My cat's currently destroying a brown paper bag, as she loves to do.
00:22:37
Speaker
Well, you better show it. you We got to see her now. Jeremy, put the cat put on the pod. Can you get Bonald real quick? I'm just telling my girlfriend to go go get Bonald, who is my sweet baby, my angel. Okay.
00:22:49
Speaker
oh this is a pro cat podcast we're a pro cat pod everywhere should be pro cat everywhere should be pro cat and that's that's just the that's the facts of life all right we're we're getting the other one this is let's go let's go he is an adorable kitty let's go he is a demon do not do not let that face uh betray her she thinks she's a god and uh yeah She is a god. My girlfriend just confirmed it.
00:23:15
Speaker
But, um yeah, so I'm sure everyone was thinking about when Jonathan Rodriguez was going to come off the bench. He was going to be the big difference maker. For me, however, I was thinking, when is Omir Fernandez going to get into this game?
00:23:30
Speaker
I don't think there's been a single more impactful attacking sub ah for the Timbers since Fernandez arrived on the, i think it was like a day before the primary transfer window closed. I forgot about that. Oh, this guy's going to be the new goddamn Esprit, isn't he? Yeah.
00:23:46
Speaker
and I don't think he's going the new Esprit, but I do think he's going to be ah the most impactful attacking sub purely because he can play anywhere across that front three aside from up top as a striker.
00:23:59
Speaker
And that's what the Timbers were desperately missing last night. They were missing a winger, particularly in that second half, who was willing to control that game.
00:24:10
Speaker
And Santiago Moreno, he's played a lot of football this week. I think he went full 90 against SKC. He went full 90 against RSL. And he nearly went the full 90 in this game before he got subbed off due to the concussion sub for Omir Fernandez in the 90th minute, mind you.
00:24:28
Speaker
So I think that taking Anthony off was the right choice. I think replacing him with Jonathan Rodriguez and putting Rodriguez out at the wing spot was a bit of a waste because Rodriguez dealt with an injury, played through that injury for so much of last season, ended up being the team's top goal scorer on top of that.
Impact of Scheduling on Rivalry Intensity
00:24:49
Speaker
But he's only been making substitute appearances throughout this year. And I was really concerned, like, when is he actually going to get to start a game? I thought yesterday was going to be that chance he was actually going to get to start because Neville alluded to it after the Salt Lake game. he's e He said he's very much in contention to start. But one thing Phil Neville loves to do that i absolutely respect is lie his ass off.
00:25:11
Speaker
in front of a camera when there's a microphone in front of him yeah him and brian are like locked in uh had that tendency at times as well yeah his favorite thing to do is lie to every reporter at training and then an hour later go on sports talk radio and say the correct information it's actually like his favorite thing ever and i it's a decent bit it's a good bit like i i respect it and he's you know like the club gets money from that partnership so he's he's just milking it dude i respect it lobbing scorchers someday though maybe maybe we can offend we can uh bribe the club into giving us real information um but yeah i mean i want to know too um you've been to probably a lot of sounders timbers rivalry games
00:25:53
Speaker
I mean, obviously, it's not going to be one for the history books. It's not going to be a very memorable one. But did this one feel venomous? i Maybe this is a ah football's gone, football's gone woke take. But like, I feel like there just wasn't as much venom until Paul Rothrock came on the field. And then Paul Rothrock was trying to stir some shit up.
00:26:10
Speaker
Immediately. Like immediately. but Well, here's here's the thing. So I think if you're going talk about the venom in this game, I would like talk about the crowd first cause the crowd certainly venomous. It was great. That was a great. Very, very good.
00:26:23
Speaker
I couldn't hear most of the traveling supporters for most of the game. I heard them for a roost next goal. And I think I heard them like when they did like the Seattle Sounders, you know, the one that like flashes on the stadium, like when you're at Lumen, because you guys have to play your chance like on the video board. All right. All right, Jeremy. All right. Okay. But um yeah, I thought the crowd was doing a great job getting into it. The problem was though, and the reason why I think this game will...
00:26:48
Speaker
kind of not go down the history books aside from the result is that they put this at the end of a three match week yes we were just talking about that which i i fully agree with you it's such nonsense and especially from a seattle perspective which i'm going to take here this is your third road game in a row during this week you had to houston la yeah Yeah, Texas, then l LA, then back.
00:27:12
Speaker
like I guess somewhat back to Seattle before i the most manageable road trip of the year, which is, is it Portland or is it Vancouver? I can't really tell. I think they're equidistant pretty close. Vancouver's harder because you're going international. There's just more steps. The squad hasn't been in the city of Seattle in a month and a half. Yeah. like yeah we we we I talked to Ryan Kent in the locker room after as well because this is his first time in a league where there's this much travel, right? He's used to Europe. He's used to... i mean, ter you know like going Turkey played in Champions League and stuff like that, but he was like, I have never in my life traveled this much and still had to play. And he was like, I did not play well because of it.
00:27:54
Speaker
He's like, i i this is something so new to me and this league is... intense like for that travel reason and like getting used to that has been hard so i agree like dude what what why why is major league soccer doing this and then and then on top of it they got their their stupid mls tv talent saying that this rivalry is is barely top five
00:28:19
Speaker
I don't get it. I don't get it. And I feel like the way this rivalry, like this rivalry doesn't like, it does get like outright disrespected like that, but the way the schedule has been made, it really is like sticking. I will forever have beef with them sticking that Lumen game, which was keep in mind the only visit that Timbers made to Lumen last year yeah throughout like three years of the balanced schedule or the unbalanced schedule where we had play each other three times.
00:28:45
Speaker
ah They stuck it on
Game Analysis: Defense and Player Fatigue
00:28:46
Speaker
decision day. Like, why would you do that? ah of all days, it's so stupid. So, so, so, so, so stupid. But I think a lot of those tired legs had to do with it, even though both teams had players who didn't play midweek or didn't play as much midweek.
00:29:01
Speaker
But in terms of the Seattle aspect, it's just all that travel to weighing down on the team. Like Jao Paulo doesn't even travel. ah Other players, I think, were left out. i I don't remember, like, the exact differences between each of the l L.A. lineup and yesterday's lineup. Aside from Ferreira on the wing, which, for one, I am a fan of.
00:29:22
Speaker
Why are you a fan, Jeremy? Why are you a fan of that? I honestly thought he looked like pretty effective, but he was also completely withdrawn from the box. And I always think it's hilarious when there's a guy who has number nine on his jersey who doesn't really want to. there on the wing, like cooking in crosses. Yeah, just chucking in crosses, making stuff happen.
00:29:43
Speaker
Yeah, Schmetzer having his right wingers, like when he was playing Christian Roldan as a right winger, I thought was the funniest thing. It actually worked low key for a while. They yeah they ended that experiment, but there was a ah brief period of time there where we were actually like, we were yeah like we're pro this, this looks like it works. In the presser, he actually mentioned that last night. He was like, yeah, Christian will probably end his career at this defensive mid position. He's just been actually like really good. But yeah, then they moved him back. And I was like, OK, this is actually. He was like, his way yeah, you know, for a while, I really thought he was going to be a winger. It's really, you know.
00:30:18
Speaker
But I guess he's good now. just like but he wasn't even like a yeah He wasn't even like a winger. He was like that Schmetzer right winger, which is only only a Schmetzer position because he cuts inside and he tries to basically act like a second 10 while his brother just runs up and down the field. who By the way, Alex Roldan, give him his flowers. He had a fantastic game. Dude, he's incredible.
00:30:40
Speaker
He's been in good form. That was really good from him. That was really, really good. He was infuriating me the entire game. I was like, how is he making all these recovery runs so deep in the game? But once again, he didn't play midweek. So he was one of the fresher players on the roster.
00:30:55
Speaker
Uh, I, I'm more of, I'm more inclined to believe that that result while disappointing for both teams is also just like, I guess, fair based on the balance of play because mostly one team had Finn Sermon, the other one didn't.
00:31:13
Speaker
And, The Timbers actually created the best chance of the night, but it was their only chance, and it was their only shot on goal, and they scored. I think and think they they scored their only shot on goal in that decision day game, too.
00:31:28
Speaker
That was, like, a better chance because Anthony just ran through the entire defense, put Nuhu on his ass. So... I'm very okay with taking a point away, but it's, I hate this congested schedule in May.
00:31:41
Speaker
I hate it. no, we're, we're fully with you on that. Yeah. i'm From a Seattle perspective, defensively, if you told me, i really didn't have much of an expectation that they were going to shut out the Timbs at Providence. I figured they, I honestly figured the Portland would probably get at least two, uh,
00:32:01
Speaker
So holding holding Portland to one, but also like if they'd held them to one, but we're under it the whole game and conceding like chance after chance after chance, I wouldn't have been ah wouldn't have been happy about that. But ah holding Portland to four shots at Providence ah and one goal, I think I would have taken that if you told me that that was going to be the output.
00:32:24
Speaker
before the game. I mean, Jeremy, I guess you obviously watch this team ah more more than anybody and the Timbs have been scoring a lot of goals. There's not that many people that watch them too. So it's like you're the foremost expert, the foremost expert.
00:32:37
Speaker
ah They've been scoring a lot of goals. this year. did you, did you think like Seattle did anything differently defensively than anyone else has done? Or was it more about just kind of both teams with heavy legs in this fixture congestion or how did you kind of size that up?
00:32:55
Speaker
I think there were four players on the Sounders who really upped their game defensively and really just made it difficult for Portland. Alex Roldan is actually not one of them, but it was both center backs, Yamar and Kim.
00:33:08
Speaker
Even though Yamar had a couple shaky moments, he was really good at stepping out and picking his moments to step out from the back line. Same thing with Kim. They basically added like an extra layer of pressure in an area where the Timbers usually expect center backs to ret retreat, and they expect to have time on the ball there. Usually Felipe Mora does, Santiago Moreno does, David Acosta really does too.
00:33:30
Speaker
And then Christian Roldan, who is the villain in the rivalry, I'll say it again, and ah Obed Vargas, who made quite a meal out of that Ayala challenge, but since he's only 19, it was happy That should have been a red card, Dom. Should have been a red card. Well, you know who taught him how to flop?
00:33:46
Speaker
The flop goat. Nico Ladero. Nico Ladero. Like, they legitimately... He legitimately taught him. He gave flopping lessons. That's so good. Yeah, it's incredible. i hate it. it's It's awesome. It's nice. He's about to go to he's about to go play La Liga and be a $100 million dollar player, and, you know, he's going to always remember the Tim Brees rivalry, which I love. I wanted to talk about Christian Rodon, the villain of this entire...
00:34:11
Speaker
Rivalry forever and ever. But you said something to me in the press box that I wanted you to to share again about his pass that he played ah to set up the Sounders goal.
00:34:24
Speaker
ah Unbelievable pass. Absolutely unbelievable pass. It is so annoying watching him be good at every single position that he plays. That's what makes him so infuriating to me. Like Ladero, I hated him because he dove all the time.
00:34:38
Speaker
I hated him because he was pretty productive. Rui Diaz, ironically, I grew to respect a little bit because he woke up for this rivalry and he but he knew how important it was.
00:34:49
Speaker
And you have to respect a player that just understands the stakes of this game, no matter which side they're on. I don't think Dairon Esprit has entered that level of respect for you. But I think he's certainly a contender for it. I don't know. he's yeah He's a villain. That guy still haunts my nightmares. He does. He was a gary very kind good cash, dude.
00:35:08
Speaker
for For him, it isn't so much. Like, for example, Raul Ruiz Diaz never beat the Timbers at home. He never did that, which I love. But he also terrorized us at Providence Park for years.
00:35:19
Speaker
So I think it kind of cancels each other out. Why didn't you guys sign him? He was a free agent. He knows how to score goals there. Ruiz Diaz wasn't on the team for 6-2? No, he was.
00:35:31
Speaker
He scored that free kick in that game. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, he he was nuts in that game. yeah I think I applauded for one of those goals. I think it was the Madronda one because I was like, okay, just not our day today. Oh, dude, the Jimmy Madronda.
00:35:43
Speaker
Dude, I miss Jimmy Madronda. That was one of my favorite Sounders goals ever, the Jimmy Banger. Jimmy, Jimmy bangers. The best thing about him was when I worked for Sporting Kansas City, and like he immediately like when I left sporting after my internship, he immediately came to the Sounders. And I was just like, dude, this rocks. I love this guy. Just like the nicest dude you'll ever meet in your life.
00:36:03
Speaker
And then the fact that the only goals he would score for the Sounders were just worldies. I was like, there this is how could you not love this guy? He was. ah Talk about guys. We like to just name guys. We yeah we talk about Brad Smith and Jovan Jones a lot, but we probably could spare more of ah mentions for for Jimmy Bangers.
Rivalry Culture and Media Dynamics
00:36:22
Speaker
What is this thing called again? we We got Bowery this morning. Oh, those are good. this is This is banging. You should try. I haven't dove in yet. That would be good choice.
00:36:33
Speaker
Yeah. um All right. Well, we got we got no one else in the queue right now. So, ah Jeremy, if you got any other takes or narratives, go for it.
00:36:44
Speaker
I was thinking more about just like how this was the first draw at Providence between these teams since 2017 when Dempsey got that late winner after the red card. And that felt like a loss that this game feels like an absolute draw.
00:36:59
Speaker
And there aren't many draws that feel like that, especially in this rivalry. Like, I love saying that whenever the Timbers go up to Lumen and they draw, it's like a win. Usually because there's always nonsense that happens in that game that makes me laugh really hard.
00:37:14
Speaker
In this game, i don't really think there was anything that made me laugh on either side except just the easiness of Moreno's goal. And then just Finn Sermon, who made me cackle a couple times, especially during that sequence at the end of the game where he just made clearance after clearance in like a span of 10 seconds.
00:37:30
Speaker
Oh my God, he's such a player. But um I'm really excited mostly for just the development of Ryan Kent. as the perfect Sounders winger because of how directly indirect he is.
00:37:46
Speaker
He had a ton of chances to just drive at Juan Mascara, play a direct pass right in, create a big attacking chance, and he chose to sit back on the ball and let most of the defense recover.
00:37:59
Speaker
I don't know how much of that was fatigue-related. I know Noah alluded to that earlier. said he was pretty – I mean he looked – he was not – like he should not have started. He was not on his – because there was a couple of those plays, like you mentioned, where he might have had a chance to take a guy on and then ended up recycling it. And then he also got dispossessed like a lot. A lot. like a lot more than we have seen uh so far so i am i also think that timby's game planning against him knowing that he was was gonna say i was gonna say they honestly like they you have to i have to give them props i gotta give them credit they clearly watched their film they clearly were like 77 is just not where if if he looks like he's getting isolated most of the times we're gonna send like one or two other guys over there and then maybe his decision making have been a where he was, you know what he looked like? You know how Denny Bawanga this year has just been like, whenever he's isolated like that and they send two guys at him, he just is like, I'm going to charge at them anyway. And then he loses the ball.
00:39:02
Speaker
that and bad That happened a few times. And then punches the ball into the stands and won't do a front flip and all that. i thought that Timbs did a good job on Ryan Kent.
00:39:13
Speaker
And what else were we talking about there? I don't know, Ryan, Kent. um Oh, like on the topic of like the draw that it feels like a win or loss or whatever, like I think ordinarily if Seattle draws at Portland, ah depending on the circumstances, I usually consider that a good to really good result.
00:39:34
Speaker
But we were talking at the top of the show, like is this isn't a draw that feels like a win for Seattle. one because they were ahead and two because they needed to win this game to fully absolve themselves of what happened at lafc so the fact they can do that it's definitely not a draw that feels like a win to me but it's also not one that feels like a loss because i think a cascadia draw on the road unless there's a situation on the table where you like really need all three points a cascadia draw on the road is never like the worst thing so yeah especially at the end of a three match week too ah exactly yeah ah Also, I do have some words about Paul Rothrock because he did move to center forward in this game. So I asked Brian about this because I was like, I asked in a roundabout way because he hates when you ask him
00:40:21
Speaker
direct class. He wants to be able to say what he wants to say. And so I asked him, I said, you know, you made an interesting decision to add another winger. You pulled off Danny Musavsky, a target nine.
00:40:33
Speaker
I don't really know who you moved to the nine. It felt like Paul Rothrock, but I would love to hear what you, ah what your, what your thought process was there. Um, He was like, yeah, we thought that um the matchup with Georgie was just like really good.
00:40:48
Speaker
And we know that Paul is like a ah veteran guy. I don't know. i don't know if he said veteran or whatever, but he said something about... being um He's been playing well, right?
00:41:00
Speaker
And ah he thought that that was just the right move there. And clearly, i don't think he rated Osaze for this match, which I think honestly was a good choice because Osaze has been doing a lot of dumb...
Sounders Tactical Decisions
00:41:13
Speaker
Fouls. Well, it's also like a player who's barely played an MLS to put him in Derby game like that would be asking a lot. Yeah, I felt like it was asking a lot for him to make an impact on the ah on the LAFC game. So this would have been even an even taller order.
00:41:29
Speaker
But yeah, back to that, like I think it's it seemed like he really wanted to get Georgie involved in this game because they felt that that matchup on that left life side, right side, whatever it was, left side, ah was was really good. And I think that that was like not wrong, especially with tired legs. But ah i just there was no one in the box for service. Rothbrock was just not...
00:41:52
Speaker
His holdup play in that position is just not as developed yet. And also when you sub on and play a winger and you're already in that mindset and then you're immediately like, oh yeah, just go switch to the nine in an, in a nine position where Danny Musavsky has some of the best holdup play that I've seen on this team ever.
00:42:08
Speaker
Like, I don't know, maybe that's crazy to say like since Billy Bruin, Like, yeah, like he's he's just that's his thing. And is Rothrock was totally opposite. He was just hyper mobile kind of looked like Ferreira when he was playing the nine ah for Seattle.
00:42:23
Speaker
Yeah, it was really interesting. you Also, I believe Rothrock is a professional clip farmer too. I keep on seeing that. Oh, definitely. Have you seen his YouTube? yeah I have not seen his YouTube. He has a YouTube. He self-posted highlights. He posts.
00:42:35
Speaker
He's a poster. Oh my God. I love that. He's the GOAT. We love Paulie primetime, dude. He's... Oh my God. But he got he got up for the rivalry, man. like Do you think there was any Timbi's players that really got up for the rivalry like that?
00:42:47
Speaker
Juan Mascara always does. Fair enough. And he had Kent in his pocket for that entire time he was on the field. ah I think Jimmer Forrey, who made his first start in this rivalry, I think he was a wig for it. Who is that?
00:43:00
Speaker
it's aity i I saw that guy, and i and he was, like, bopping around, making, like, his presence felt, and I was like, I don't know if I know who that is. yeah Yeah, so he was signed this past offseason from Columbia, and the the Timbers had a few international signings. They had Jao Ortiz, they had Kevin Kelsey.
00:43:17
Speaker
ah No one got me out of my seat faster than when Tom Bogert tweeted about Jimmer Ford being official. Now, I was told by a team official that they were looking to bring in another defender.
00:43:29
Speaker
I didn't know which position. When I saw that, it was a left back. And then I immediately like looked him up on transfer mark. I see six foot two and
00:43:39
Speaker
I'm all the way bought in already. And then I look at FB ref and I see he's winning like 70% of his aerial duels, which I mean, I liked Claudio Bravo. I know what he's, I know what he's been able to do for this team.
00:43:53
Speaker
He has some very, very unique strengths. but he also has some very debilitating weaknesses. One of those in particular is defending the back post and winning headers.
00:44:04
Speaker
So in this game, when Ryan Kent, I think Kent's most meaningful contribution in this game, when he whips in this cross to the far post, yeah and I think it's almost on the head of Musovsky, I think.
00:44:15
Speaker
And Forrey ranges over just to head it away. unbelievable defensive header that that's the kind of stuff that like i've been waiting for this team to have in a left back and the fact that he was he he won that header and then was like strutting around like yeah for a goal yeah like that i think you're you're right that uh he's got he's got juice he was he had the juice he's got sauce and juice Yeah, and he's immediately like one of the most popular players in this locker room too. like Everyone loves him. the coaches ah Neville's always joking about him in like press conferences and stuff. like He's immediately like ingrained himself to this team and the fan base because throughout the first like five or six games, he was probably consistently the team's best player.
00:45:04
Speaker
and And offer just something that we really haven't seen at left back before. Like, I don't think he's our new who in a way in terms of like a cult hero left back, but he does a lot of the things that knew who does, except there was similarities.
Future of Sounders vs Timbers Rivalry
00:45:18
Speaker
There were parallels.
00:45:20
Speaker
i'm here for it two new who's when two new who's collide the the world it's like uh it's like splitting an atom like the world will explode if they if they ever went up against each other uh again ah but yeah jeremy why don't you give us your final thoughts here um and then we're gonna watch this presser and if anyone else wants to call in they can call in obviously like the lines are open but um no one no one else is in the queue but we got to get this present going apparently no one wants to call It's actually pretty good because I noticed you guys were live because I went on YouTube because I was like, I need to watch Schmetzer's Presser because I was finishing up my article about this game.
00:45:55
Speaker
But um yeah, I think that... ah having four shots at home, only putting one of them on target and still getting a one, one draw is really, really funny more than anything.
00:46:10
Speaker
And that's honestly what I look for. Whenever these games happen, I look for the funniest possible outcome. It could be the Sounders losing three nil as they raise a big banner and have paratroopers coming into the stadium. Wait, but that's what the Timbers did. They did that for MLS is back.
00:46:27
Speaker
that That is true. You know, I was there for that day and it was such an experience. Did they have paratroopers for the MLS's back banner? ah No, they didn't. They i think just raised it before like the 2021 season because like COVID protocols and everything. Right. Oh, yeah. but um Game's gone.
00:46:42
Speaker
Game's gone. Yeah. um ah Most of this rivalry's funny moments happen at Lumen. But whenever these two teams meet at Providence, we always see, and I wrote about this too, we see these teams as the, like, as kind of like the opposite versions of themselves. Except in this game, you didn't see it.
00:47:02
Speaker
You saw the Sounders create a ton of, like, middling chances, take a ton of speculative shots, try everything to get the final ball, but we're missing the final touch in a lot of occasions.
00:47:14
Speaker
And you saw the Timbers just fail to be good at home like they have been for most of this season. So i'm I'm really looking forward to October, whatever day it is at Lumen, because that's a long time to hold a grudge match, and both teams are going to come away from this feeling extremely unfulfilled.
00:47:32
Speaker
Both fan bases too. And that only exists to drive just the juice in this rivalry up because there always is. There's always going to be juice between this.
Vancouver Whitecaps Comparison
00:47:43
Speaker
And even though Vancouver's having their fun little time right now, it's always been Portland versus Seattle. Aside from that one year when the Timbers didn't exist I actively, and like maybe maybe you agree or disagree, I'm actively rooting for the Caps to win CCC. like I actually really like that team.
00:48:03
Speaker
And it's like they don't even exist in my brain as a rival. It's just like, oh yeah, they're like there. And now they're the greatest team ever seen. they're the greatest team ever. But it's like, i'm just they're not offensive to me. like Their players have always annoyed me. I've always found a couple players on their team that i just dislike. i don't read The fans, though?
00:48:19
Speaker
Cool. Very cool for them. like This is great. This is a very nice thing for them. Also, were you aware that their first game after the CCL is a home game against you guys?
Importance of Local Journalism
00:48:30
Speaker
No. you know what they have the opportunity to do if they win that game?
00:48:35
Speaker
Win CCC and then beat Seattle? They have an opportunity to raise a banner. Did you know that? They could banner us, dude. They could banner you. I feel like they that would be too soon. for Did they do the banner?
00:48:48
Speaker
i don't i think i don't remember. I feel like they usually do banner. I don't know if it's different for CCC, but... Yeah, it was like two months. I mean, banner banner or no banner, I just i think the opportunity of – Dude, they're going to pin that match if they do win. They're going to pin that match. That's going be Sunday night soccer. I feel like they're going reschedule that, dude.
00:49:05
Speaker
Flex it. already The Sunday night soccer for that week already because that's that's my birthday week, it's Portland hosting St. Louis. I would do anything to have that game like slightly moved. Flexed, yeah. i really I like the 4.30 p.m. kickoff.
00:49:20
Speaker
Because I just don't want St. Louis to be on primetime anymore, especially when I have to be in the stadium watching them. Yeah, get ready to watch St. Louis City SC. It is an experience. that's ah That's a choice. Well, Jeremy, thank you so much for calling in. We always appreciate you. It was fun getting to hang out as well. ah Always welcome to call in.
00:49:39
Speaker
And why don't you plug? Why don't you plug, too, since you gave us so much time? All right. um Check my website, CascadiaFC.substack.com, for an article dropping very shortly about yesterday's game.
00:49:52
Speaker
Right now, i'm currently I'm currently telling a story about walking past Brian Schmetzer in the bowels of Providence Park in this very cavernous, cavernous service level as he's completely dead silent except for the echoing of various pen clicks as he walks by. Yep.
00:50:09
Speaker
Yeah, seems about right. um that That'll be up very shortly. i actually postponed writing was like, oh my God, they went live. Like, I got to talk to them about this. And they're cool people. And I really like what you guys do with this show.
00:50:21
Speaker
I like that. It's just it seems to be growing really well. I'm really excited for that vlog, too. And be good. Oh, yeah. Did I give you both a Cascade AFC sticker? because yeah yeah Yeah, I got one. I don't see it on any of your computers right now.
00:50:37
Speaker
haven't gotten to it yet. haven't gotten to it yet. we'll We'll get them on there. We promise. I don't know. I don't have stickers, but ah I'll slap that one on for you. Well, we're we're also working on building out a new studio, so maybe we'll we'll get it in the background. Maybe that's even better.
Brian Schmetzer's Reflections on the Match
00:50:50
Speaker
I'm very good. and Anything that you that any of these audience members can do who are watching to support local journalism, just do it. Because we know this team and the teams that we cover better than anyone who looks at FB Ref and watches the highlight packages every week.
00:51:08
Speaker
we hey We were talking to ah Brett, though, smacks Brett, those in the press box. And he was he was saying how much he appreciates Sounder at heart and and all of the other local organizations. He's like, dude, I wouldn't be able to do my job without you guys. It's ah it's I want to be able to to be authentic and honest and actually like understand deeply the teams. And I wouldn't be able to do that without local stuff. So go support Jeremy. Go support all of your favorites. But ah we really appreciate you, Colin and man. And have a great Sunday and good.
00:51:37
Speaker
Kick your ass in October, buddy. Get ready, and we'll see. Are you coming up to Lumen? Of course. i'm I'm eagerly waiting what the buffet is. because we'll We'll get you with some more pasta. I know.
00:51:49
Speaker
i I was a little disappointed with that yesterday. it was a letdown spread. It's okay. We stole a bunch of beers from the the PB, so it's all good. We got ours. That's good. they They do just leave them. You can take as many as you want.
00:52:01
Speaker
Yeah. so All right, Jeremy. Thanks so much. We'll see you later, man. Thanks, man. Take care. All right. Derek Richards with the 149 super sticker. I wish we could see what super stickers they were like on the thing, but you can't. I still don't fully understand what a super sticker is. Dude, it's a it's ah it's a super sticker, bro. It's just a sticker, but it's super.
00:52:21
Speaker
Let's run this presser. i was texting J.O. He might call in um and then that would be sick, I guess. And we yeah we got an open queue right now. So if you're hankering to lay down any ah any takes on this game or Sounders season as a whole or the game's coming up, feel free to tap in.
00:52:39
Speaker
All right, let's jump into this Brian Schmetzer press conference. i'm also sort There's no such thing as a moral victory, perhaps, because I do believe that you know we outplayed them for large parts of the game.
00:52:54
Speaker
mean, look, they're a dangerous team. I don't want to take anything away from them. Got some good attacking players, but... At the end of the day, you know, end of the game, I should say, we were on top of them.
00:53:05
Speaker
They couldn't get out of their half. Who's the guy the bed? That's had numerous chances. Statistically, we were better than them. ah So points dropped probably.
00:53:17
Speaker
that's yeah If that's a direct question you're getting me, Maz. ah But a little bit of mental victory for us because we were able to push them back and they were you know delaying a game at the end. of they They were trying to get out with a draw.
00:53:31
Speaker
i mean, they were hoping for something to go their way in the second half. But I thought we were we were the aggressors in the second half. Ask the attorney on first.
00:53:42
Speaker
Ask this one. You said, we're hoping to make you complete defense. Did you make complete defense? Yeah, for sure. For sure, there was plenty of moments where we pushed them back and made them play. um you know you can You can go over all the chances we just went through it as coaching staff, but you know plenty of chances, plenty chances to put that game away.
00:54:02
Speaker
Can you just talk about Yehmar's performance? thought he was a defensive rock all game. Didn't there any duels, winning balls in the air? That's part of the game. Duels is fine, but there's other areas of the game that, you know, he needs to do better at.
00:54:19
Speaker
I thought he had a strong performance, ah but, you know, there are certain little details if we need to get better for us to start our attacks.
00:54:32
Speaker
You subbed off Dave Musovsky towards the end there and brought on Georgie and kind of slotted some things around. I thought that was an interesting wrinkle. It's not new. Could you talk us little bit about that what were even looking for?
00:54:46
Speaker
Well, ah Cole has shown that he can do the work up front. He's a kind of jack of all trades. Georgie against Miller is a matchup that was pretty clear and obvious.
00:54:59
Speaker
And it almost So he gave me a smile. You got around him once and, you know, we had some, you know, some again, half chances. We almost got him in a good position again, but ah that was just a tactical move.
00:55:11
Speaker
Brian, it seems like at the end of the game, we were kind of missing a target man because we're putting a lot of balls into the area, but we probably didn't have a real good target man. So,
00:55:23
Speaker
but that more but that but fuck ah new Can you kind of explain your sub-process? Yeah. Well, sub-process was to put Paul Rothrock up front, bring Georgian as a winger. If people want to you know talk about not bringing Osaze, if that's your direct question, I felt Paul in this moment, he's had more experience, ah was the better choice. Any other questions in the room? See, he didn't like the follow-up. He liked my question better.
00:55:55
Speaker
Uh, first hand I saw was, uh, Charles Boehm. So when you're ready, go ahead and, uh, unmute yourself and ask your question.
00:56:08
Speaker
Brian had to unmute them himself. coach ah Thanks. i I wanted to ask about Albert. He gets a goal tonight and seemed like a night that just shows how influential he is in all phases of the game. Classic Albert Rusnak goal. hes As soon as he got the ball on his foot, I knew he was going to score.
00:56:25
Speaker
He's done that countless times in his career. He's coming across the goal this way. He waits for the defender to open his legs, puts it back across the goalkeeper. Classic Albert goal. I thought he was very good tonight, very influential.
00:56:38
Speaker
It helps us get out of pressure. ah you know, some of the some of the chances in the second half came because of Albert. And, you know, I thought he was very decisive dribbling the ball down the field, trying to create stuff for us. So I gave him good marks.
00:56:54
Speaker
Alex Rodon said maybe that his his skills get taken for granted a little bit sometimes. that's because they're roommates and they're buddies. I don't take that any other way. they I don't know if Albert's got all-star game bonuses and Alex is going to take half. I don't know what that is, but, uh, we appreciate, with I appreciate how he plays for sure.
00:57:19
Speaker
Schmetz has jokes. Schmetz got jokes, dude. All right. Next ah hand I saw was Philippa Makeda. So Felipe, when you're ready, unmute yourself and ask your question.
00:57:30
Speaker
Thank you. This question is really long-winded, I'm just going to skip it. Because these guys want to get much. It's basically just asking about the rivalry itself. You guys ball, the teams ball hand-to-hand.
00:57:45
Speaker
Well, if you want the short version, because these guys want to get in and you know you know interview the players, ah the overall total record, I believe, is 57 wins for the Sounders, 47 for Portland, and 18 draws. I believe it's somewhere in that range.
00:58:00
Speaker
and MLS, it's like 15, 15, and 8, but 8 of the wins have been here in this building. ah This building, you know, some of the seats and the coaches thing are torn. They've got some things to do.
00:58:13
Speaker
ah But the rivalry has stood the test of time. ah It's the best rivalry in MLS, in my opinion. actually really like Phil. I think he's a class guy.
00:58:25
Speaker
ah he's certainly, ah you know, is backing his team. I certainly am proud of the guys tonight. I think they did a good job. uh but it's been a long story history uh you know they like to say they're soccer city usa but i tend to disagree i think you know we've done things better than them and next hand i see is uh andy yamashida so andy when you're ready go ahead and uh unmute yourself and ask your question
00:59:04
Speaker
We good? Can you guys hear me? I can hear you. Cool. oh Christian had the long pass to set up, the Musavsky and Rusnak goal, and then he hits the long ball for Rothrock.
00:59:15
Speaker
How important is his long passing to your guys' ah offense and what you guys want to do going forward? Andy, it's critical, but he can even do better. I think, you know, the only the only thing that I would say is Christian, you know, finishes out his, you know, tenure here at the Sounders, maybe in that position because, you know, I used to think he was best on the right, but he's doing a fantastic job in the middle of the field.
00:59:39
Speaker
needs to be a little bit cleaner. He can make one or two more of those similar passes because he has it in him. What you see are those beautiful long passes, but there's a couple times in the game where he misses a pass or two.
00:59:55
Speaker
So that's the final step for him. ah you know the one the The one that we're complaining about was the one that hit the referee because you know we were in behind. Forgot about that. yeah forgot about that Maybe made it 2-0.
Club World Cup Strategies and Challenges
01:00:11
Speaker
you know, game's different, but CR certainly has been a very influential player for the club for many years, and he had a good performance tonight. Thank you, Brian Schmetzer, for that presser. I thought that that he was cooking.
01:00:26
Speaker
I have not seen him cook like that in a while at at the press conference table. I wasn't expecting the the roommate bit. That was that was pretty good. god we need him on the podcast. that was Yeah, that that was a good presser from Schmetz.
01:00:38
Speaker
We got ah we got ah a caller in the queue, but I guess if I could dish a take real quick. Who do we have? and we got parker in the queue he's he's not he's not in cam so when he gets back he can give us a thumb okay we got parker in the queue we'll bring you on in just one second or he's gonna dish and then we'll get you well just just talking about the rivalry in general uh there was a storyline uh for the last couple years before really before leading into last year uh the portland timbers not just dominating the results of the rivalry, but like ah just being more up for it, like playing with a higher intensity. Like we joke about them looking like Real Madrid whenever they play the Sounders, but that was ah like a real interesting thing. It was a thing and it wasn't about like the quality of the teams. It was just about the intensity levels.
01:01:25
Speaker
And ah i think At the very least in this game, Seattle matched and was up for their intensity. So if there's a positive takeaway, I think that qualifies because that storyline was not fun. So hopefully we're done with that.
01:01:42
Speaker
All one super chat then we're bringing Parker on. Derek Richards asks, will Lobbing Scorchers be in Vancouver? I did ask for time off for that game, so I don't know if you wanted to go, but we could definitely go. TBD, Derek. we ah They may not let us back into the country because we got too many hot takes. Exactly. So you have to be careful. Not fully committed, but we're going to strongly consider it. That's fine. Me and Colton will go. If I'm not going, Colton will know where you're going.
01:02:09
Speaker
Oh, dang. Go by myself, I guess. Exactly. All right, Parker, we're bringing you on now. How we doing? How are you feeling? Rivalry week.
01:02:20
Speaker
yeah Dish the takes. Yeah, okay. So I'm excited. you guys are doing a great job, by the way. I'm loving it. Thank you. ah You're filling massive void in the space. There's you know and somebody else who's been on the scene for a couple years, and there's just a bunch of like negativity that I've seen there.
01:02:37
Speaker
and We don't need to mention names. They they don't deserve to be called out. but like But you guys bring a really educated and academic and cerebral approach.
01:02:49
Speaker
So I'm here for it. Keep up the good work. That's the first time I've ever been called i academic, Ari. So that's like, I'm going to be taking that. That's putting it on the resume, I'm putting that on the resume.
01:03:00
Speaker
some random guy on our podcast said okay
01:03:05
Speaker
okay so a couple of hot takes here one is i'm starting to get worried about the world cup because i have high hopes for our team and high expectations and i don't want us to just flop i want to show up and i want us to have a presence and we have a huge home field advantage which is unreal that we get to go play in club world cup at lumen i just like who even is our team right now we have so much depth but is there a drawback to having such rotation and not having a flow and you know is is jordan going to even ready probably not maybe
01:03:50
Speaker
um Okay, moving on from that, k Christian Muldan, I think, was the best player on the field. I know he got a little bit of crap there from Schmetz on you know hitting the referee with the pass.
01:04:03
Speaker
But everything he was doing, all of his movement, on and off the ball, he was everywhere. just And and he he's been, he's in my opinion, reached this new level for probably about 18 months now But he hasn't plateaued.
01:04:19
Speaker
And I don't understand how he keeps getting better. It's phenomenal. He's like fine wine. Just like as it ages, it gets better. Like a cheese or something. Like he just doesn't stop.
01:04:30
Speaker
He's also like the best value in the league by far. would be a DP on any other team. Like I do not understand how his salary is. so I mean, he's tea's a high-tam player, but it's like that's ah that's a DP on any other team the way he produces. it could be making more money elsewhere. Yeah. And I wanted to hit the CWC thing really quick. Yeah. Because ah we had a couple of pitchers of beer last night and we're just hanging out after the match. And on the way home, we were like talking about it, you know, a little bit looser. You know, we were like feeling it. We're like, honestly, anything can happen.
01:05:03
Speaker
I feel like genuinely anything can happen. This is a team that gets up for these kind of tournaments. This is a coach that knows how to how to play in these crazy tournaments and try things on.
01:05:14
Speaker
You've got home field advantage, you know, and you have ah you have new players like Ryan Kent. You have Obed Vargas, who's a GOAT. And like all of these people who, if you can get one win, if you can get one win, that would be amazing.
01:05:28
Speaker
Who knows, maybe you maybe you get a win and a draw and that pushes you through like anything can happen. And I really think if any team is set up to be successful in this tournament, ah it it's the Sounders. I mean, I really don't think Inter-Miami are going to compete well.
01:05:42
Speaker
And I think that like, as a. i' want to say like as a realistic fan, but like as a someone who's looking at it, I want to I want to perform better than the other MLS teams like that's my goal.
01:05:55
Speaker
And then everything else is gravy, right? Like if you if you get a win awesome like all of that, but I don't know what do you think? aria I'm feeling I'm feeling more calm. I feel really confident that I feel not confident. I feel confident. that I feel not confident.
01:06:08
Speaker
It's just so hard to gauge because there's no reference point for how an MLS team will do in this type of situation. Arguably in the last Club World Cup that they were in, they arguably could have won that game. They played well.
01:06:23
Speaker
And then off of a fluke deflection, they lose at at the you know at the death against a really good you know African club. So it's like... could things have been different in that tournament? You just don't know. like we've But we've never played against Botafogo. Exactly. This level of competition. yeah I go back and forth on it as well, but I'm not... ah it seems like there's a lot of people who are already taking it as a given. like ah Seattle is going to be fully chalked in every single game. like Every single game is going to be 5-0. This is going to be such a disgrace and an embarrassment to the sport and the country and all that.
01:06:58
Speaker
And I don't like, ah it's definitely the ah easy conclusion to come to when you consider the gap in roster spending and just pedigree and all that. But I i was cooking on a March Madness analogy last night that I thought was this was good i was that was kind of hot. It's kind of like a March Madness situation where you got like the 13 seed playing the two seed or whatever. So in this analogy, Seattle's like,
01:07:25
Speaker
you know george mason or you know west appalachian whatever state ah you know playing against duke and uh you know so most of the time in those games they go the type of way you would expect but it's not like unheard of for a mid-major to like make a little run like it it uh It could happen. So that's sort of like they're the they're the heavy underdog. We're St. Mary's College. Yeah, it's St. Mary's. You never know what can happen in an individual game.
01:07:54
Speaker
They got the home field advantage. And they also, there's a... there's quality on this team to be able to at least have like a competitive dignified showing in this situation.
01:08:06
Speaker
I don't think Ryan Kent's going to forget how to play the game because he's going against PSG. He's not going to go out on the field against PSG and start picking the ball up with his hands because just because everyone thinks that the team they're playing is so much better than them. So ah for me, my barometer for success for club world cup has remained consistent.
01:08:24
Speaker
I just want, like I said, a competitive, dignified showing. Don't ah do anything that's going to set the club and the league back multiple decades. ah Don't embarrass yourself.
01:08:35
Speaker
And if you do all that and you still lose to PSG, I'm not going to crash out over it. I just want to see them go out and ah acquit themselves well and show out to the best of their abilities.
01:08:47
Speaker
Hopefully score a couple goals. And who knows? You might get out. You actually, it's not... ah crazy to think unrealistic to think that we could get a result. I think this is this is no, not at all. yeah like This is my hopium take. Okay, you ready?
01:09:02
Speaker
Think about this. The U.S. s men's national team. Are they better with a bunch of MLS players or a bunch of Euro frauds? I think better with MLS players because they're just, they're just dogs. They don't get, this is everything for them.
01:09:13
Speaker
This is everything for them. We were talking about the US men's national team with a guy at the bar the other day. And I was just like, dude, think about this, right? These guys, they got two jobs, you know, like back in the day, at least, you know, they had two jobs, they were working.
01:09:28
Speaker
And then, you know, you bring in the the European guys, it's like, they don't want to get injured. They don't want to get injured in a tournament like this. you You think Christian Roldan's not going to go full studs up ah in CWC? Dude, this is his peak.
01:09:39
Speaker
Obed has a lot riding on showing out in that tournament. Ferreira. Ferreira has got probably more than anyone at this point. like Ryan Kent, too. So, ah yeah, I don't know. I mean, Danny Musavsky, I don't think PSG wants to see Danny Musavsky.
01:09:54
Speaker
Nah, dude, they don't want to see him. He's on fire right now. I'm so proud of him. I'm so proud of him. His assist was class. Oh, dude, it isn it was so the way he was able to body off that defender to just get enough space to knock it back.
01:10:09
Speaker
um My all-star agenda looks better by the week. ah just ah I I wish that I wouldn't have been a hater, you know? He has fully and truly pushed me i think that ah into the lover category. I think that actually adds to the narrative arc, though. It does. so ah We've been talking over you, Parker. Give us some more takes. I literally watch your YouTube podcast. like i'm
01:10:35
Speaker
Quick thing about back to CWC. yeah i I don't care what the result is. I care that I want to be proud of my team. yes yeah I want to be yelling at the screen, happy for the game, because I'm not going to make all the games, let's be honest.
01:10:51
Speaker
yeah Anyway, but like... i just I just want to be excited and like have love for the game while I'm watching it instead of like, come on, man. so and And we absolutely have that. And I think that despite whatever challenges we may have, we have the tools and the passion in the locker room to be there in that moment.
01:11:13
Speaker
And so I'm i'm excited. i am excited. Yeah, and look, to be fair, a lot of people saw this differently, but I came out of the All Ali game in the last Club World Cup, and I was proud. I was like, you know what? That was a good game. It was still fun.
01:11:29
Speaker
Yeah, people crashed out over that to almost unprecedented degrees, talking about how disgraceful and embarrassing the performance against a Ali was. That's where the anti-Alex Roldan stuff started.
01:11:41
Speaker
i mean I must have been watching a different game because I saw I saw two teams playing each other straight up super competitive hard fought game Seattle was playing that game on absolutely no that was their first competitive match right of that of that year all Ali was midseason you're playing it in Morocco as the first MLS club to ever play in that tournament ever. Ever, ever, ever. Ever, yeah, and I thought they did pretty well. like So if I come out of this one with a similar sentiment to that, I think you've got to be pleased with that. You've got to be realistic about the fact that you're talking about –
01:12:14
Speaker
ah just Just roster spending. Just look at the difference there, man. like it's that is You are up against it in that situation, but that does not mean you can't be competitive. Which insane when you consider the margins there. Sorry to interrupt. Yeah, one week of PSG's salary basically the entire cap for the Seattle. Like one week.
01:12:33
Speaker
So I know, i already know that if they lose to PSG by a couple goals, ah the crash outs about how Craig Wibes set the team up for failure. Wibble out. Wibble out because we lost to PSG. Those takes are going to be out there. I'm not going to subscribe to that.
01:12:48
Speaker
No, I'm going to be honest though. Until about January, February, i was having my doubts about Wibes, but it's just, and And I don't know what it is and and maybe it's the way he communicates or level of confidence. I wasn't like, I didn't have the like observational experience to be like what he's saying. He, I was worried that he was scaring other teams away yeah because he's like, yeah, everybody's interested in me, but I don't know if I'm always picking up the phone and I'm like, come on, dude, like let's make sure we keep those channels open.
Player Injuries and Performance Critiques
01:13:21
Speaker
But then he pulls out all of these, like,
01:13:24
Speaker
I honestly, i think we'd be in a completely different situation if Paul Areola didn't have that injury. Because all of the holes that we see with Jesus Ferreira, Paul Areola was feeding those. It was yeah like magic.
01:13:38
Speaker
We talked about that. We were like, dude, Remember how good that duo and that combination looks. We forget that now because of the downturn and how the Ferrer experiment has gone, but there were some genuinely excellent moments between those two. And I guess when I think about it through that lens, that gives me at least some sort of hope that ah he can develop chemistry like that with the guys on this team. It hasn't happened yet, but... ah Like we know he's an adaptable, versatile player who's good. He's unselfish. He's good at combining with other players for whatever the reason is. It has not clicked so far. I think last night we saw more examples of it not clicking, but I don't know.
01:14:17
Speaker
ah Maybe I'm a maybe I'm deluded on the topic, but I'm ah i'm not ready to chalk it. not ready to chalk I still think that they can get it to an effective place. Yeah, and i' I'm not ready to chunk it either.
01:14:31
Speaker
The downside is, though, is it's like, so the game last or Wednesday and in the you know the game before that, it was it was like he was thought, I don't want to like speak bad about him because I like him and I believe in him. yeah But there's that like quiet confidence of the number nine or who's like walking on the field, but then they're always in the right. and i There's a particular player who's in playing for Inter-Miami right now, who he like goes invisible on the field and then it's all a sudden like, whoa!
01:15:03
Speaker
Messy, obviously. but But like,
01:15:08
Speaker
It doesn't work for Jesus. It doesn't work for him. He can't because there are so many other... You have Albert Resnack. You have Ryan and Kent. You have CR7. You have all of these other people. Forget about Pedro de la Vega, Vargas.
01:15:22
Speaker
All of them are playing chess. So, like, they're moving into these pockets. He can't just, like, be lackadaisical about it. And so last night's game...
01:15:34
Speaker
it I can tell he has a desire to step it up, but there were at least three balls that he could have intercepted, but he just like thought about it too late.
01:15:45
Speaker
I don't know if it was panic or um decision paralysis, but if I think if he just switches that flip or flips that switch. Switches so just the flip is tight too. Yeah, I'm pro that. Yeah.
01:16:00
Speaker
anyway yeah yeah i agree i think it's tough i feel for him because he is being played i look at him like when when rusnak came on this team and it was like a great signing but they just tossed him at the defensive at the eight for whatever like because they just yeah i mean that's what he had there was the 10 you And it was like, that's how it feels right now where they're just like trying to utility him.
01:16:23
Speaker
But like you said, he is this unique player who you almost need to build around. And I think that that's why Dallas wanted to get rid of him. I think that like, they were just like, this is not what we want to build around right now. and Yeah, we can build around him either though.
01:16:37
Speaker
Yeah. yeah i go Yeah. It's just, it's, it's a tough, It's tough. It's tough. But, like, we we talk about the the process of it. It's like you can't not sign that guy. I'm glad we did. am. I really am.
01:16:53
Speaker
It's like, who else would we have signed? Like, there wasn't a better option on the table. Plus seven assists. you can't You can't argue with seven assists. Yeah. and I mean, yeah.
01:17:04
Speaker
Zero goals, you can argue with. Sure. but no that's I mean, i've been saying I've been saying even before these last two games where it didn't look super great again, and i don't think it's has been but as much of a categorical bust as a lot of people have been saying. I think, I mean, i don't want to sound like a broken record, but there's been a lot of genuinely good moments as a facilitator at different points. So I think it's it's fair to point both things out.
01:17:30
Speaker
yeah It's not good that he... hasn't scored yet uh there's been long periods of time games where it's looked like disjointed not cohesive that he's that it's not clicking yet there's been other moments uh where it's looked quite good so yeah probably more where it hasn't looked good but go for it parker uh he had more good moments last night so I thought so too. A lot of people were saying he was a total zero again, but as far as ah how he seemed to be fitting within the offense and how the team in general was getting out on the counter and combining and creating some not great chances, but some okay chances, ah i thought i thought he was i thought it i thought the Rusnak-Ferrera lineup functioned okay.
01:18:18
Speaker
Say that last sentence again. I thought the lineup with Rusnak and Ferreira, the starting 11, functioned okay. Yeah. And another hot take, and I don't know how, maybe I'm saying this just to say it, but Rusnak right now is looking better than Nico.
01:18:36
Speaker
Like... Ooh, Chad's not going to like that one. Chad's not going to like that one. Let's go. were go just trying to stir the pot, but he i love it he is looking so good.
01:18:50
Speaker
but Nico was amazing. and ni Nico was like a mature Pedro de la Vega. Whereas Albert Rusnak is... ah he's He has the versatility and the speed, but he he has like some of the essence of JP.
01:19:06
Speaker
Where he... i don't know. Just like his defensive play, his movement. i don't know. but Dude, he... he that he Slid I'm actually I'm actually people aren't gonna like that take but ah I'm actually glad that you brought it up because a lot of the brigades anti-roostnack stuff ah like so it started when he was playing as the eight and not putting up numbers so they were like that they had they dug in at the very beginning and we're like this guy we signed this guy as a dp attacker and now he's playing as the eight and not putting up stats so like that is the root of it all and then uh when they actually played him as a 10 he put up uh excellent production ah last year like 30 gold contributions all cops that's like a pretty
01:19:52
Speaker
crooked stat line but since the stat since the statue production actually was there they had to pivot to like well the goals don't count for this this and this reason and also it's a lot of like he's lazy his effort isn't there which Like, I think maybe, maybe that's something where he's getting compared to Nico in like a Nico was probably the best two way number 10 I've seen in the league yeah as far as just like work rate on both sides of the ball, just never stops running. Roosanek is not that type of player.
01:20:24
Speaker
I personally don't, The only reason I would care that much about that particular issue is if I felt like him not busting it all the time on defense was affecting the team defense ah negatively. And they were conceding goals because like he was being lazy or whatever.
01:20:40
Speaker
They've been a great defensive team with him playing that position. So I don't really see why that matters. But that's okay. back and so he did a full sliding tackle well so that's yeah that's what i was gonna get to which is like uh i thought last night uh one of the biggest plays one of the biggest plays of the game was when they were about to get on the counter and he busted it and won that slide tackle and really that could have been a really dangerous counter so uh let's uh let's give him a little bit of uh of credit for you know we we got this narrative that he's lazy wasn't lazy right there no
01:21:15
Speaker
Anyway, thanks for having me on, you guys. I really appreciate it. ah Thank you, park Parker. Thanks for calling in. we'll Hopefully we'll see you soon, man. Sounds good. Take care. Take care. All right, Ari. I think we should start to wrap it up here. We've still got to record a podcast. We may not be able to record it in this hotel room. We may have to record it.
01:21:33
Speaker
I think that's the play, to be honest. Somewhere else. but ah it is ah it is It is almost one. So if anyone wants to get their last questions in, if you super chat, we will 100% read it.
01:21:46
Speaker
If not, and no promises. We've been, some of the chats have gone by. That's how it goes. But what I want to say before we before we jump out of here, before we start answering a bunch of questions, please.
01:21:57
Speaker
please hit the like button. It helps boost the algo. It helps our personal algo and and our egos and our egos, which is like, that's the whole reason we do the show, obviously, duh, just to feel good about ourselves. Yeah. So ah pop that like button.
01:22:12
Speaker
you're not subscribed, hit the subscribe button. That'd be sick too. Super chat us if you want us to answer your question, but we're going to start digging into a few of these chats here. Nick was cooking in the chat. what he I didn't see it. Nick says item him out. This was fun. Disagree with a lot. I feel like I'm watching a different team than anyone else. This team hasn't really looked good, looked that good this year.
01:22:33
Speaker
And it feels a lot like last season did. Now, I kind of want to bring Colton on for this. If if you're, if you're up for it, you were kind of telling me a little bit about this. And I feel like I want to let you cook on this Colton VRE style.
01:22:45
Speaker
I think this could be good content. Okay. i on hes He needs his calf, dude. Because I feel like Colton has felt a little bit this way.
01:22:56
Speaker
um And so I think we you know we can get a ah good perspective from this. Okay. Let's do it. ah I've um've actually been like thinking about this for... What time is it?
01:23:08
Speaker
It's almost 1. I've been thinking about this for the last 12 hours.
01:23:14
Speaker
I think I may have been reacting a bit harshly after the game. where You? Yeah, if you if you know me well, you know that that's very surprising. I'm very level-headed. I'm very mellow.
01:23:27
Speaker
um But our good friend Mark actually made a really good point last night that I haven't really been able to stop. Mark Kastner. Mark Kastner. Yeah. um But I haven't really been able to stop thinking about is that we've had a lot of different attacking combinations put into rotation so far this season. Yeah.
01:23:46
Speaker
And maybe I, as a fan need to give them a little bit more grace Yes, I do think in some cases this does feel very similar to last season.
01:23:57
Speaker
And I love to crash out. It's one of the things that I'm best at. Yeah. um You know, what does it take? 10,000 hours to perfect something? I'm damn close. um But I feel a little bit more mellow today than I did maybe after the game last night where I was crashing out a little bit. I was trying to be calm and normal about it.
01:24:16
Speaker
passionate I'm a passionate fan. It does feel like there's been instances where we're watching the exact same team we've been watching for for like three or four years. Yeah, you to eat that bagel, Ari. It's i good. I don't want to eat on the street. That's crazy work.
01:24:32
Speaker
um And so i am probably the right person to answer this question and also the wrong person because I feel different today than I felt yesterday, which might be disappointing. As far as the point of it looking like last season, ah I think there's probably been individual games where I would say that.
01:24:52
Speaker
I think this team this team has shown a lot more attacking upside and really production in a few of the games as well ah than the team last year did.
01:25:02
Speaker
ah Has there been games that... were kind of a slog and attack like last year. Yeah. I don't know how much of that is like carry over and how much of that is like, uh, MLS.
01:25:14
Speaker
That's it's a grind. Sometimes you have to grind out games. Uh, but when I think about, uh, dropping five on LAFC at home, i thought that was, uh, a great attacking performance.
01:25:26
Speaker
ah The 3-0 against Nashville, I thought that looked way better than a lot of what we saw last year. ah Dropping three at Houston away, that's not something that last year's team probably would have done.
01:25:38
Speaker
And I also think that the ah for me, the the Ryan Kent storyline has been ah something that... looks like it could be an x x factor as far as just like four to force multiplying the whole team so uh i also think when you look at the table right now five four and five but like 19 points they're sixth in the west that alone like that is not where this team is expected to be or should be uh ah Since the start of the season, which was really bad, I think they were like one, three and one. They had the four oh and one.
01:26:13
Speaker
And really, I think I would be feeling a lot more bullish if this LAFC debacle had not gone off the rails to the extent that it did. Like, I really think that if that game was more competitive and the scoreline didn't get that crooked, I'd be like, all right, like, I really like what I've seen from this team over the last month or so, especially with Moose heating up.
01:26:35
Speaker
So, uh, I think there's, a it's funny because there's both ah there's both lenses of it where there are times where you watch it like last night or some of the other games where you're like, oh man, this does, we had a show earlier this season that was called like same old Seattle Sounders because of that.
01:26:54
Speaker
ah But I try to give them credit for the uptick that we've seen as well. Like Moose popping off like this is great. ah Ryan Kent,
01:27:05
Speaker
ah before last night was looking phenomenal. So we just, I think, you know, two thirds of the season left to go. Let's see what narratives they're able to, ah to create.
01:27:16
Speaker
They just played so many games in one week and all on the road, all on the road. And I was in the locker room with Noah last night when we talked to Ryan Kent, dude was exhausted. Yeah. You could hear it in his voice. You could see it in his body language. I mean, he's not used to this, right?
01:27:31
Speaker
When you're traveling, know, in one week to three different cities across the united states scottish premiership you're driving 26 miles yeah yeah exactly yeah yeah your longest ah you know road game is to aberdeen from glasgow yeah right uh some spl knowledge for you sickos out there um and so i think even though he was very exhausted he gave away the ball a lot yeah he wasn't quite on top of his game last night That was probably the closest I've watched Ryan Kent since he came to the team, and I could even see he's he's got the juice. He's nasty with it. He's nasty with it. He's got the juice. Last night, he was exhausted. I don't really know if he should have started, in all honesty.
01:28:11
Speaker
That's kind of how I felt, too. because But also, if you want to put kind of your best foot forward on the road, maybe you need to start him in that kind of game against Portland. um And he was he was just exhausted. and And, you know, it's one of those things where on Tuesday, if you say they tie one one in Portland on Saturday, I'm like, oh, yeah, OK, right. That's fine.
01:28:31
Speaker
um And then on Thursday, it becomes a very different story. If you say the same thing, and you're like, that's kind of disappointing because they just got absolutely blame-oed by LAFC. Exactly. um But it is still a long season. They have played a lot of games so far.
01:28:43
Speaker
in all these different competitions. um So I'm, I'm willing to give them some grace. They have a lot to come. They're going to play in the club world cup. And that is exciting.
01:28:54
Speaker
And I'm not stoked for it, I guess, but it's it's exciting for the club. It's a huge moment for the club. They're going to play PSG and Atletico Madrid at Lumen field. Yeah. That's nuts. That's a,
01:29:06
Speaker
i've ah I've always been curious as to how something like that would go. So if nothing else, we're actually going to get to see it. what Where are you at ah just generally on the Club World Cup outside of just the novelty of getting to play teams like this?
01:29:19
Speaker
talking to me? Yeah. ah The last time I saw the Sounders play European competition at Lumen Field, it was Borussia Dortmund in 2018. yeah. Does that sound right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. 2019, maybe? Something like that. ah Can you tell me who scored the Sounders goal that day?
01:29:33
Speaker
It's one of my favorite fun facts about this team. Who is who is Jonathan Campbell. Johnny Football. yeah. The pride of Chapel Hill, North Carolina. i should have pulled that. Excellent. Scored against Borussia Dortmund. Excellent name drop.
01:29:44
Speaker
um But no, I mean, I'm excited for it. um It's a huge deal for the club. They're going to get money. which is good. Um, they're going to showcase themselves on an international stage in a way that they haven't before, right? The last club world cup felt a little wonky.
01:29:59
Speaker
It almost felt kind of rushed. It was over like that, but now they're going to get what three group games at least. Um, It is a much better format, especially for, you know, ah the format probably doesn't benefit your Atletico Madrid's and your PSG's and your Borussia Dortmund and all these, you know, ah massive clubs from around the world that are coming to the U.S. But the format probably does benefit the MLS teams that are in it.
01:30:21
Speaker
And it probably does benefit some of the the smaller teams that are in because they're going to get more exposure, right? And so it's one of those things where I've kind of poo-pooed the Club World Cup and I haven't bought tickets yet, even though I'll probably end up going to one or two of the games.
01:30:34
Speaker
But the closer we get to it, I think I'm able to appreciate... how big of a moment it is for the club. And think that's cool. And it's just going to be, ah I'm going to be interested to see like what they can do, how they can, how they can play, how the, how the games go. It's definitely, there's, there's a lot of novelty in the, in the situation to appreciate.
01:30:55
Speaker
I just, ah like i i'm just not looking forward to the discourse like they could compete it's gonna be awful it's gonna be awful no matter what they they could be competitive against psg and lose and we're gonna have to do three and a half weeks about how uh they're the biggest disgrace to the sport of all time because they lost the psg those takes are gonna be out there and uh we're gonna be in the heat of the discourse so
Anticipation for Club World Cup
01:31:20
Speaker
That's not going to be fun, but I'm going to try and not let that tamp down my my interest in just how the how the Sounders are going to look playing against a team like that.
01:31:32
Speaker
I think I woke up this morning and even last night and felt like a renewed sense of pride to be a Seattle Sounders fan. I always feel that when I come to Portland because... um it's a really fun experience when you play the Portland Timbers. It's even more fun in Portland because we tend to do better here for some reason. um And I just, I feel so proud to be a Sounders supporter um and I feel proud of the club.
01:31:56
Speaker
And when we would talk about the Club World Cup, I just kind of had this thought. It's insane that in 16 years, 17 years, whatever you want to say it, the Sounders went from playing Manchester United and Tottenham and Barcelona at home ah in a preseason game for them and ah and like a mid-season friendly for us.
01:32:13
Speaker
And just knowing you're going to get bammed on by like five or six goals by the reserve side of all these teams. And now they're going to play these teams in competitive matches at home. That's insane.
01:32:25
Speaker
Yeah, right. I mean, that's insane. And that's really cool. And that's something to be proud of because there's not a lot of teams that can say that in MLS. ah Charlotte is not in this competition. If Nashville had a team, they wouldn't be in this competition. um But I just think that's cool. you know And so I think I'm more excited for Club World Cup now just because it's it's a big moment for the club. I was thinking about...
01:32:49
Speaker
you know, the LAFC versus Club America charity match. That's another thing. match The Sounders earned the right to be in this game. So, yeah, that you got the charity match, and you've got Inter-Miami getting the charity spot. ye And isn't it kind of cool to be, like, the team that's, like – we didn't need charity we didn't need charity to get we want it like we got here like fully on the merit you can say that it's a contrived spot like off the 22 title whatever like that's uh that's getting in on uh on the merit of it and not uh getting a charity spot because another team dropped out so now you have to duel for it i will say i do think the duel is kind of sick it's It's going to awesome. That game is going be chaos. Let them fight for it. And then we can just sit back and watch and be like, already in it. Already in
01:33:34
Speaker
Don't give a shit about how this goes. yeah Already in it. So there there's that aspect of it that feels kind of good, yeah I would say. I'm sure we need to wrap this up because Noah is furiously packing up this hotel room. But i do i I do, before I see the mic back to Noah, I want to say one last thing. And this is MLS...
01:33:51
Speaker
as a whole. This isn't Sounders content. So if you're just here for that, don't turn it off, but you can mute me for this point. This is MLS as a whole. um I want to say publicly live on the internet, shame on the Columbus crew for not winning that game yesterday.
01:34:07
Speaker
Oh, hell is real? Yeah, shame on the Columbus crew for not winning that game yesterday. When they brought in Archie Griffin, the only two-time Heisman Trophy winner in the history of college football, to do their weird breakthrough styrofoam bricks and do a weird controlled demolition thing.
01:34:23
Speaker
How do you not win that game with Archie Griffin in the building? you explain why about Archie Griffin? Just have some respect for the Ohio State University and for one of the greatest college football players of all time.
01:34:35
Speaker
How do you not win that game? That's good take. i didn't I didn't know they did that with yeah with the Archman. Arch Griff came in. Statue of him outside of the horseshoe. Go Bucs. What are you doing? 1-1 with Cincinnati.
01:34:46
Speaker
You know how many two-time Heisman Trophy winners were Cincinnati Bearcats? Zero. Yeah, you know, actually, that's a... ah um I'm glad you dished that take. You're welcome. it's ah It's a good segment. This where to come from for all your Seattle Sounders, MLS, and Ohio State Buckeyes takes. Penn State, we are. State, are. Penn State, we are.
01:35:05
Speaker
it's ah It's a good segue, actually, into something else that I was thinking about, which is, like, you know, if you look at how rivalry what rivalry week went. Hard to say. Along around the league.
01:35:17
Speaker
ah You know, Columbus Crew and FC Cincinnati, two of the best teams in the league right now. ah therere They're ahead of where Seattle and Portland are on the table. But similar idea, like hard-fought.
01:35:29
Speaker
one one draw uh i don't think anyone in either of those fan bases are uh crashing out over it i i mean maybe but like uh a game like that i don't i don't think it really it's all that instructive to look at the quality of either of either team in a rivalry game like that like i still think that uh Columbus crew, even though that was or was that ah that it was in Columbus, that's what you're saying, right? Yeah, it was in Columbus. That's not a super awesome result for them.
01:36:02
Speaker
but i mean, if you if you look at this rivalry week or if you look at, I mean, obviously it's impossible to look at MLS through this same lens that Alex Ferguson taught me to look at soccer through this lens for most of my childhood and my life.
01:36:17
Speaker
The goal every season is to draw on the road and win at home. Right. And these instances where you play teams on, you know, obviously the Premier League and MLS have very different scheduling formats. But. In that vacuum, the Sounders did a good thing yesterday.
01:36:31
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. Like, uh. uh uh one one and one road trip where you take the draw at portland is not terrible in my opinion it's just uh i think i just think that lafc game has everyone it's really having and it's a little like because it's bad one thing one thing i've always appreciated about this team is how infrequently we have to deal with stuff like that like getting on a post game live after you got four owed a lot of teams fan bases like do that a lot man and we just really haven't but we've had like just in general but there has been two of those this year like there was the san diego one and the lafc one and it's just like if you're going like in mls you are going to take l's in those situations with the scheduling like that sometimes for me it's more just about like uh
01:37:18
Speaker
competing and keeping it in a situation where getting a result is attainable and not letting it go off the rails like that so i think it's fair to be disappointed that there's been two instances now where they've had a road game where they've had to rotate but they put out an 11 that you think should be able to be competitive and then they get boat raced uh if they're able to make it through the rest of this season without that type of stuff happening uh i'll be happy about that but i i uh i understand why coming off an l that emphatic and then ah having to eke out a draw in the next game feels a little unfulfilling even if again uh the final result of it is is not a terrible haul from the road trip but uh kind of related to what we're talking about like uh
01:38:06
Speaker
looking at the other results from ah around the league, I always, uh, I always find myself thinking, God, like even if the Sounders result wasn't amazing, it could be so much worse, man. It could be so much worse. And my, my, uh,
01:38:19
Speaker
my case study in that right now is uh atlanta united like but which you know number one atlanta united hater i i consume more atlanta united content than atlanta united fans at this point like i think a lot of them are starting to ah check out the crowd at their game yesterday wasn't super great but uh like i was listening to uh their five stripe final pod uh after the game and like the uh the narratives down there man are like dark you know like they're talking about how everything that made ah their team special early on in their mls days is just gone like they have what was the big change that happened in the last couple years to atlanta united uh yeah yeah we're talking we're talking garth loggerway we're talking chris he old friends yeah old friends so like
01:39:12
Speaker
maybe Maybe it's Cope, but whenever Seattle takes a result that's ah not super great, I look around the league and I'm like, that could be worse. Like, like their their whole club is in flux, you know?
01:39:24
Speaker
We're talking about one bad L at LAFC.
01:39:29
Speaker
Well, like, in in terms of just this road trip. Oh, not us, I'm sorry.
01:39:35
Speaker
It's fine. It's okay. It's like ah there's one bad LAFC and then a so-so draw at Portland. Their entire club is in like the abyss right now, man. So that's, it could be worse. It could be worse. I want to get off a ah
Seattle Sounders' Success and Challenges
01:39:51
Speaker
take here real quick. um We are very spoiled.
01:39:55
Speaker
as sounders fans that we consistently have the expectation of greatness. That's why it feels like that's why the results when they don't go well sting because it's like, we don't usually we don't, it's because we don't see them that often.
01:40:08
Speaker
Right. And we, you know, when you, when you go to LA and you play LAFC, you automatically remember the 2019 Western conference final. And you say, well, this is a team that did that. We should be able to handle Wednesday playoffs last at the,
01:40:21
Speaker
What is it? bank It's not Bank of BEMO. Oh, yeah. It's BEMO field. Yeah, which is crazy because there was the other BEMO field. That's a tangent. um But we are we are blessed and and cursed with expectation.
01:40:34
Speaker
And in MLS, there's not a whole lot of other teams that have that blessing or curse. Yeah. The l LA Galaxy might be the only other one that I think you can make the case has had as consistent of expectation as the Seattle Sounders. You know what's funny? The Sounders came into the league. You know what's funny is ah I was guys is more schadenfreude.
01:40:53
Speaker
I was watching the Greg Vanney presser after they so the LA Galaxy are they extended. we yeah The LA Galaxy are famously 010 and three off to the worst start in MLS history to the point where when we were here on our stream the other night,
01:41:06
Speaker
we were debating like how much longer they can justify keeping Greg Vanney as the coach, even though he just won MLS cup, just because of how far it's fallen this year. And we were talking about the ways that they could have prevented that. And then literally the next day they put out a press release.
01:41:23
Speaker
We have signed Greg Vanney to a multi-year contract. contract extension this man is going to be the la galaxy coach uh for as long forever he's got a lifetime appointment i mean it's like a three-year extension but i just thought that was such a funny situation for them to be in where they're like uh because they so what happened this is what happened They won MLS Cup last year.
01:41:44
Speaker
And after that happened, they were like, all right, we're going to Greg Vandy's contract is up after next year. We're going to extend him. He won. He built this up. He won us the ship. ah He's going to be. This is our guy. And so they've been negotiating, I think, throughout the offseason, probably. Maybe it's stalled a little bit. And then this season they've been negotiating.
01:42:03
Speaker
But then the the season has been going so disastrously to the point where, you the The national conversation around it was like, should they even do this? And my opinion on it was like, if I was in that negotiation and he was asking to be the highest paid coach in MLS in this negotiation, reportedly, if I'm the owner in that situation, i would be like, you know what?
01:42:24
Speaker
I don't think I want to do this right now. Like, I know that we just won the ship and you did a great job building that team and assembling the team that was... fantastic last year and won MLS cup, but like, this is bad.
01:42:37
Speaker
Like, i don't feel like I can rightfully extend a coach when it's gone this far off the rails at least that's how i would have been thinking of it anyway they signed the extension but ah greg vanney and will coontz had to give press conferences of like yay we signed the extension while they're 0-10-3 it's almost like was a they were trying to give people any good news that they could but see it's like they were just trying to be like this is this is something here's something else to talk about But I feel like if anything, that would tilt the fan base because it's like, dude, we are 0-10-3. Yeah, they didn't read the room correctly. Yeah, you read the room. You're yeah you're announcing the coach extension like at this point.
01:43:19
Speaker
But so Greg Vanney was ah giving his presser. And to be fair, he mentioned at one point, he said he actually said, like, I feel kind of guilty about having a like positive story around me right now with how results are going, blah, blah. blah He did ah he did say that.
01:43:35
Speaker
ah But I thought though the whole ah the whole dynamic of it with him and Wilcoons talking about it was just kind of weird. But one thing that Greg Vanney did say at one point was, ah you know, he was leaning on the history of the Galaxy and like this has been ah the most successful club in the league. And the quote was, though, he did. He literally said,
01:43:55
Speaker
ah outside of us and Seattle, no one is happy no one can argue like ah with the overall success that we've had as a club. So I thought it was kind of cool that he had to say that.
01:44:09
Speaker
yeah like He couldn't say l a Galaxy are far and away the most successful club in the history of MLS. He had to caveat it. He had to say, well, it's us and Seattle. it's very much so But I think that speaks to ah like however ah the results might not be what they were in the last year or so compared to the previous five years.
01:44:30
Speaker
ah The overall body of work is still inarguable with. So that's something. It's very much the scene in Breaking Bad, which I just watched for the first time, if you can't tell, where he's like, say my name.
01:44:45
Speaker
You know who I am. yeah Say my name. Exactly. I want to read some comments real quick, I'm to Noah hop back on because I think there is a caller waiting. um One, we haven't been to a final since May 2022. Correct. Ugh.
01:44:58
Speaker
Woe is us. See, isn't that insane? We haven't to a final in May 2022, and we're crashing out. Yeah. And there's a good chance we can play in at least one final this year. I'm not going to put it past him to play in the Club World Cup final at MetLife Stadium on July 13th.
01:45:10
Speaker
That would be funny. Well, and also, like, ah i I think i watched a different season than some people last year. Last season ah started off poorly and then ended pretty well.
01:45:25
Speaker
They ended up top four in the West, won 16 games, and made it to the West final. You can poke holes in the path. if you want but the final result was they they were minutes away from a final which uh we were talking about this last night too but ah ultimately it's like about bites at the apple right like you're you're not going to win every single trophy you're not going to win and mls cup every year that you make the playoffs but it's just about consistently putting yourself in those situations where you can uh where you can do that and last year they did
01:45:57
Speaker
do that to be fair like they were right there to go to another um mls cup and i i think the frustrating thing about it is if if they win that galaxy game they probably do win mls cup because ah the red bulls going cross country was always going to be tough for them no matter who they had so let's
01:46:15
Speaker
final Yeah, no. So Noah's saying that the Western Conference final is technically the Reset the clock. We're back, baby. Reset the clock. now I think you can even, whatever you think of that, ah my point is just that like they had they had the bite.
01:46:33
Speaker
They had the bite at the apple. They were right there for it. yeah
01:46:39
Speaker
Yeah, the team this year is much better than the team last year. I agree. Last comment that I want to read before I leave because it's very on-brand for me. We play next to the Seattle Mariners. We know how bad it could really get.
01:46:49
Speaker
And luckily, we don't have enough time for me to talk about that comment, but I just wanted to read it because... Damn if it ain't true. It's a good point. It could get so much worse. It's a good point. so ah Thanks for having me, everyone.
01:47:02
Speaker
Follow me on Blue Sky at Bitter Snail. um That's really all I can plug. I don't do much else. When we drop this vlog that we're making off this trip, uh photog credits colton filmed most of it so we need dude we need to get colton on more and we definitely need to um get some more uh trips going and more mariners content exactly Well, Ari, I know we have a caller in the queue, but ah we do have to check out of this hotel room very shortly. So it's up to you.
01:47:36
Speaker
um But we've got about we've got about 10 minutes. So, Caleb, if you can cook for 10 minutes, we're happy to have you on. Is that give us can you give us the thumbs up? Beautiful. All right. All right. Welcome to the stage. The one and only Caleb. How are we doing?
01:47:52
Speaker
Oh, he's decked out. What's up, Caleb? Good evening, Lobbing Scorchers. Always good to see you, man. It's good to see you guys. I'm just just here just prepping up for ester one of the other biggest derbies that's about to be upcoming where I'm going to be making a grand appearance, which I really hope to maybe see you guys and have a cordial conversation.
01:48:17
Speaker
about like, you know, certain, you know, footballing appearances because I will make my appearance um like, you know, June 6th when the great Ballard FC takes on the stupid Portland bangers and I will be a very beautiful, special, you know, little something here.
01:48:40
Speaker
i don't know if you could see that. What date is this? Wait, I'm putting this on my calendar, Caleb. I mean, I don't know if you can see like the the grand success of this this this contraption.
01:48:52
Speaker
and Dude, that's but that's beautiful. We soloed you there, too. That's incredible. Well, with see-through, too, dude, I know nothing about drums, but I know that that looks sick as hell.
01:49:04
Speaker
Well, the the story about this is, there's a little story about this, like, you know, Like when the first, the the because the sounder success is really the reason why that you see this, you see that, you see that, that see that be a beloved beast.
01:49:20
Speaker
um It's because the the first one is because the first, the first how I got it is from the place that I'm staying at. When we won our first star back in 2016, I already, I got my place here that you say, went from being homeless.
01:49:37
Speaker
And then the second star is that you see that we have on our crest is that is when I actually got this beloved baby, when we got our, when we won our second championship.
01:49:48
Speaker
So when I say that this club means a successful story, this means a very magical, deeper successful story that again, most other MLS,
01:49:59
Speaker
but franchises, they would literally sell an arm and a soul in order to have somebody like me in there. It's passion. You're a real one. You're a real one. but ah but but okay But I digress from that. I just wanted to say this game was...
01:50:17
Speaker
This game was shit. um I'm not going to lie. This was a, this wasn't, I keep saying it like to everybody and I'm still going to keep repeating it. We are not the Seattle Sounders.
01:50:32
Speaker
Like we will continue but until until all of us. Like, admit that we are RSL 2.0. Like, this was this was strictly this was strictly an RSL 2.0 game.
01:50:47
Speaker
um um um I'm sorry, but, like, i went to the i went to the game against Portland versus RSL. I was there, but, like, shout out to Salt City United. Shout out to their firm. They got me in. Like, I was ah i was up in the riot section.
01:51:02
Speaker
i was front and center, which I actually made no context MLS if you actually check it out on Instagram. well guys i because Because I was there making sure to like you know be the ultimate like you know hate watch for Portland and also doing my Anderson scouting.
01:51:17
Speaker
which um But like I was watching that game and just to see them drag themselves just around to just stay in the game against ah RSL.
01:51:29
Speaker
that that kind of that kind of was That was warning signs, which I told everybody, like, we have to watch that game, the Portland RSL game. If if if you're not going to watch that game, you're not going to understand how, like, you know, this game on Saturday is going to be for them.
01:51:44
Speaker
They, they like, even the port scum, like, you know, piece, piece of piece shit team. They didn't even acknowledge their fans from that draw. They just went straight and dipped straight into the locker room.
01:51:55
Speaker
And they went, cause they were so like, you know, just amped up for Saturday. Cause they knew that they had nothing. And also I'm sorry to say this, but Albert, Albert ain't it. um i mean, like, you know, when, when it, but just because he scored, like he still hasn't beaten. What's he supposed to do?
01:52:13
Speaker
Okay. and mean I mean, listen, you know, but snack the snack, you know, he scored. That's, that's like, that's what else is supposed to do. Yeah. like he scored but like at the same time like you know you're supposed to be a dp you're supposed to ass ram the fucking team if you're getting paid dp that means you're supposed to be an ass rammer you're supposed to be those sexiest slash big ass rammer slash disruptor slash devil slash demon slash like you know you're supposed to be this danger
01:52:45
Speaker
thing that people are supposed to fear. Port Scum doesn't fear them because at the same time, Port Scum has had so much of a time having like, you know, to deal with that album with that, with that fricking mega mind back at ah RSL, which again, do call out you and Ari to one day, I hope maybe take the trip to come to the old stomping grounds of Garth here in Salt Lake.
01:53:12
Speaker
That's all I'm asking. gameling That would be fun. the state The stadium, I've never been to it, but it looks ah very scenic. I would love to come out there. I've also heard, Caleb, can you confirm? I've heard multiple players say that Real Salt Lake fans are the rowdiest hecklers of of any road trip that they go on.
01:53:30
Speaker
Yes, they are. they ah Yes, they are. and like i can i can i can definitely attest in front and and confirm and affirm to that. that which that is why i keep telling people that if you want to understand where Mr. Fat Fuck, AKA Mr. Garth Lagerwey wants to know where he came from,
01:53:48
Speaker
That stadium that you see America First Field, that is the land that and that is the house that he actually built. Because especially with the grand part partners of Deloitte Hanson and many other great ah ownerships that they had it back in the past that Garth snaked and just basically took a advantage and of.
01:54:09
Speaker
That is what, like, you know, it it comes down to that, which like I keep saying this, if you want to understand how like, you know, this RSL 2.0 and how Mr. Craig Weibel like, you know, works, you have to look at the five years of the body work, especially what he did to against the teams of Cascadia.
01:54:31
Speaker
You have to dig do your research and dig deep into that, which I would love to have a good set you guys and and and explain those things. but at the same time we don't have a signing which i would say i know this is a little controversial but we have 10 days bring back nico ladero god damn it like you know like i'm i at this point um we we we need we need something we need like because we can i know we can get nico ladero for cheap because ah you yeah because that's that's because he has ambition but then at the same time if you're paying albert like you know this
01:55:06
Speaker
like if If you're paying Albert this big as
01:55:12
Speaker
ass... If Albert doesn't want to take a pay cut, then he seriously has no ambition to be here. I'm just going to say that. Because there are so many big-time players throughout the years that has...
01:55:25
Speaker
could
01:55:27
Speaker
Caleb, I got to get your take. I know you're... i mean That's the way how I see it. that's the way how i see it if if if If you're not going to really sacrifice and get a pay cut, then ah like that that really shows like to to the fans and it shows to the organization. They're like, yo, no, yes, like you know you're supposed to pay me this big money, but if you're not, there like none of our DPs are doing anything. like ah None of our RSL staff is doing anything.
01:55:53
Speaker
None of our like and like none like our owners aren't doing shit. So, I mean, hey, let's let's since let's just be, let's just but let's call it a spade for spade. Well, all right, Caleb, thank you for lobbing that. I'm going to give you one more question before we go, because we do actually have to check out of this hotel room.
01:56:10
Speaker
ah I want to know, okay, you're you're the biggest Garth hater in the world. I just want to how great has the Atlanta United shot and for it been for you? Like to watch and another club that he is, well, a club that he's in charge of fully with a blank check fall into just absolute monotony and and just like a terrible, terrible team.
01:56:33
Speaker
well it's it Well, I would say this, just because he's sucking now, a it still can be the so-called MLS, can he can still have that MLS comeback bullshit story. We've already fattened up his fucking stock already with like you know with the Sounders stock that, again, when you come to us, we always have a better stock in our and our value that will never be replaced and it can never be overshadowed. But
01:57:04
Speaker
Like yeah I'm calling it a spade for spade. Like it's like like with Garth, like failing, I don't, I want, I want more failure. I trust me. I really hope I want to, I want to, drink I want to drink a whole bottle of Martinelli's apple cider. Like, you know, of the brewing every year, but there's always that one thing that Garth can pull out of his ass with you, which you and I are being a Garth log away, like, you know, a admirer or watcher like, you know, that there's something that he can pull out of his ass.
01:57:34
Speaker
And I don't like, I just want to make sure that all those stops are stopped and making sure that being like, look, you can't do it without Chris Henderson. You can't do it without the Crested Cascadia and you can't definitely can't do it without the goddamn Seattle Sounders. So,
01:57:48
Speaker
I mean, all you Atlanta fans be pissed. I don't care. Like, you know, choke on a robot, like, you know, like eat, like, you know, like, yeah, like whatever. Like, yeah. Well, Caleb, thank you so much for closing us out with a bang. We really appreciate you calling in and we will come out to Salt Lake at some point. I'm actually really down for that road trip. That sounds like a, sounds like a great time, but I appreciate you calling in and we'll see you soon, man.
Closing Remarks and Respect Reminder
01:58:14
Speaker
Up the bridges. Fuck West Seattle. and Do you want to get that? What is that? ah All right. Yeah, we're going to start winding it up here because as ah Noah mentioned, we do have to check out of here. Thank you, as always, everyone for tuning in Please like the video, sub to the channel and all that.
01:58:36
Speaker
I do want to say Ryan brought up a ah good point in in chat. when we When we do call-ins, I think... ah like like let's not get personal with it like uh comments about people's weight and stuff we don't we don't need to do we don't condone so i think you know we're we're learning how to manage these call-in shows on the fly uh but i think like if uh if in the future if anyone's getting like below the belt as such we'll probably cut you off yeah but uh like i said we are uh we're we're making our ground rules on the fly and uh
01:59:10
Speaker
it's a good point ryan like we'll uh we should be more we should be mindful of that yeah we are uh we love soccer and we love banter but uh these are still real you just you can you can dish hot takes without doing that yeah exactly well ari and everyone thank you so much for enjoying this two-hour stream we marathoned it and we marathoned it so much that we're not gonna be able to pod in the hotel room we're gonna have to find a new spot to do that which is totally fine but uh These post-match lives are super fun. Please hit the like button. Please hit the subscribe button. We will have that new doc out. But in the meantime, if you haven't watched the US Open Cup documentary, please come watch it. it's
01:59:46
Speaker
now it's It's doing well, but we want it to do even better. So ah that's that. Ari, do you have anything in closing? Uh, no, that was it. Uh, excited for the vlog for this one to come out and, uh, we'll be back at it next week. Draw pod will be dropping. Uh, Nico and I will be, uh, on for kickoff 8 AM m tomorrow. Don't miss out. And, uh, the marathon continues. I think it's FC Dallas at home next weekend. Correct? Yeah, it is. All right. Well, uh, yeah, with that, we're going to get out of here and, uh, see you all back in Seattle.
02:00:18
Speaker
Peace out everyone.