Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Is Yeimar better than Chad Marshall?! - Ep. 8
51 Plays2 years ago
Ari and Noah break down the Seattle Sounders FC draw with Orlando City SC over the past weekend then answer your burning questions about the Sounders and MLS.
- Support the show by subscribing to Sounder at Heart and get 1 FREE month!
- This podcast was made possible through the support of Full Pull Wines.
---
Follow Lobbing Scorchers on Social Media:
Follow Ari Liljenwall
Follow Noah Riffe
Instagram
YouTube
TikTok
---
Visit Sounder at Heart:
Website
Twitter
Instagram
YouTube
Lobbing Scorchers is a production of Just Once Media.
Recommended
Transcript
Episode Introduction and Preview
00:00:10
Speaker
What's going on, everybody? Welcome in to episode eight of Lobbing Scorchers. This is Ari Lillianwall. I've got producer Noah here with me. Noah, say what's up to the people. Man, what's up?
00:00:26
Speaker
I don't know. This is going to be an exciting episode. I'm actually always going to be my probably my favorite episode. We're going to be laying down some heat today. We're going to be talking about some Seattle Sounders and we've gotten enthralling one for you today.
Seattle Sounders vs Orlando City SC: Match Analysis
00:00:39
Speaker
This this one was a barn burner zero zero zero zero zero zero zero at Loom & Field against Orlando City SC 90 minutes two periods of stoppage time.
00:00:54
Speaker
zero goals zero settle unfortunately this is the second zero zero draw we've had to break down here and it's never ideal when that happens ideally you want at least one goal to break down you know i don't even care whether it's for seattle or against seattle i would just take any goal to talk about
00:01:12
Speaker
But unfortunately, no goals were scored. And as such, we've got to break down another 0-0. So unfortunate, but it is what it is. We don't shy away from whatever the result was. We tackle it head on, even if it was 0-0.
00:01:28
Speaker
There's a common misconception, I think, among non-soccer fans about a 0-0 draw, which is that if a game ends 0-0, that automatically means it was a boring game or a bad game just because no one scored. Not necessarily true. Sometimes 0-0 can be wildly entertaining. I've seen a lot of 0-0s where it's nonstop action and it's just as enthralling as a 4-3. I would not categorize this as one of those occasions.
00:01:56
Speaker
This wasn't a terribly boring 00. There was a little bit of XG flying around. Not a lot, but a little bit. But there's some. It wasn't a gouge your eyes out type bad 00.
Tactical Adjustments and Challenges for Sounders
00:02:10
Speaker
But what we're going to do is I'm just going to lay down my opening reaction monologue, initial takeaways.
00:02:18
Speaker
And then we're gonna hit some questions from you all the people Put out a tweet today asking if anybody had questions or concerns they wanted me to talk about regarding this team and several of you submitted so I'll hit those questions. I'll get to as many of those as I can Thank you to everyone who submitted. I appreciate that and We'll shout you out when we get to your question. Thank you
00:02:45
Speaker
Seattle lined up this game with the exact starting 11 they did on Wednesday at LAFC with one change, which was a bear for Raul Roo ideas. Other than that, it was the same 11 Albert Rusnak at the 10 Nico Ledero at right mid, but really more of as a dual 10 Leo Chiu on the other wing JP and Obed as the CDMs and then Cody Baker Jackson Reagan Yemar knew who at the back.
00:03:15
Speaker
So the thing I was looking for from this lineup compared to the LA FC game was Can they score a goal with this? That's the main thing I was looking at LA FC was the first time they ran this in a game and they didn't score a goal, but
00:03:33
Speaker
When you're trying out new tactics, the first time you try it in a game can be pretty rough. You can grind it in training all you want, but once it's game day, it's different. And it's to be expected to an extent that there will be an acclimation period and some growing pains when you have players playing out of position and you rotate and line up. So I was looking to see if there was growth from the last game is basically what I'm saying.
00:03:57
Speaker
And the answer to that question turned out to be no, they did not score a goal with this lineup. And I don't really know how much there is to break down about this 0-0. This game was defined in two moments. There was two clear-cut, no doubt about it, chances in this game, one for each team.
00:04:15
Speaker
Seattle's came early. It was just a few minutes after kickoff. Nico Ledero had a rip inside the box absolutely blasted the crossbar smoke that he smoked that thing and The way the rest of this game turned out Seattle just neat. They needed that to go in They've been in a poor run of form down on their luck
00:04:35
Speaker
missing a lot of players. If that goes in, that could have been a vibe salvager. You know, early goal, you get on top at home. Seattle was playing well after a kick, I thought. They started on the front foot, but unfortunately, it clangs woodwork. And Seattle didn't really come all that close to scoring the rest of the game. They actually did have one before the Nico chance when Russ Snack put A-Bear through. He's running onto it from a tough angle, puts it wide.
00:05:04
Speaker
They might have had some half chances here and there after that, but there was nothing like the Nico chance. Orlando's came near the end of the second half and really Seattle was lucky to not lose this game because Mauricio Pereira had an open netter off rebound really late in the game and my guys sent it into orbit. That thing is still innocent actually. That ball is in a galaxy that mankind will never have the technology to discover.
00:05:34
Speaker
And that really should have been a goal. So Seattle dodged a bullet there for sure. But I think ultimately it's not like Orlando can feel that hard done because the one that Lidero put off the post, that's a goal a lot of the time too. They got lucky on that one. So this could have been a 1-1, but ultimately a draw was a
Impact of Missing Key Players on Sounders
00:05:53
Speaker
fair result. There was not really that much differentiating these two teams in this game. And a point of peace was more than fair. That's what they both deserved. You could say it was a mid off.
00:06:04
Speaker
Mid off a mid off like both mid I see a mid off yeah yeah no I think that's actually a fair way to put it now that I know what you're talking about yeah we got to come up with the zoomer humor you know the question Seattle is dealing with right now is a question that a lot of MLS clubs have to face and they're facing it right now which is you know when you're down some guys which they are right now
00:06:32
Speaker
How do we get a rotated lineup functioning on offense? The absences in this game are just tough. I know I sound like a broken record, but when you're talking about Raul Rui-Diaz, Christian Roldan, Jordan Morris, and Alex Roldan, that's four of the most important players on the entire team to how Seattle plays, you can argue. And with that in mind, I can see the logic with this lineup that they've been running out.
00:07:00
Speaker
The Albert Rusnak at the 10th thing is now three games in. I thought that was a temporary thing, but as it stands right now, that seems to be what they're rolling with. And I think that's a good idea. That's necessary. You need to assess whether Rusnak is the long-term answer at that position. We talked about it on the last show, but he's shown those attributes in his career in MLS. Anyone who wants to say that Albert Rusnak is just a categorically bad player,
00:07:30
Speaker
Just go look at his numbers and his highlights from when he played at RSL. He has not been playing that position on this team. They dropped him back a line, which is not his natural position. But I think what's happening is people are just looking at the stat sheet without taking into account that he's been playing out of position. So I think it's good to see him play his natural position. I want to see that over a legitimate sample.
00:07:54
Speaker
And then I'll assess my take on that. But for now, I think that's the right move by Schmetz. You got nothing to lose and you need to see if he's the answer there. So I think that's fine. Good, actually.
00:08:09
Speaker
As for Lidero at right mid, you know, it hasn't been working, but I also see the logic. All it is is just getting all your best players on the field kind of regardless of position. I think our friend Mark Kastner said that on the last show, but that's what it is. It's a tough spot with personnel right now, just is.
00:08:32
Speaker
There's not a lot of options. I got a lot of questions about the roster build that I think are fair, but the reality is some of this is just life in MOS, salary cap league. Everyone would love to be two and three deep at every position, and some teams are able to pull that off. You can go through history and find instances of teams that have that type of crazy depth, but those are the exceptions, not the rule.
00:09:01
Speaker
Situations like this are common. Seattle's not unique in this. You've seen actually teams all over MLS in over these last few weeks, whether it be injuries or national team duty that you there's just been some wonky lineups.
00:09:16
Speaker
There's a lot of different stuff going on. The reality of this situation is that when you get guys injured or they go on international duty, you're going to see lineups like this because the roster rules just don't really lend themselves to being two to three deep at every spot.
00:09:36
Speaker
That being said, these lineups Seattle has been putting out are not that outlandish, you know, compared to some of the situations I've seen in the past. A-Bear was a guy who was brought in as a proven MLS goal scorer. Nico's not a right mid by trade, but he drifts around all the time anyway, even when he's lined up central. So there's an element of it where they should be creating more in attack than this, even with this personnel. It's not the most outlandish 11 I've ever seen, far from it.
00:10:05
Speaker
Either way, they've run this lineup twice now, haven't scored a goal yet. So I don't really know what to say about the attack at this point other than we'll just have to see if they grind it more in training. Guys get more used to it and comfortable in their roles and figure out what type of stuff works after watching the film and see if they can get this personnel to a point where they're generating more on offense.
Upcoming Matches and Player Absences
00:10:27
Speaker
But I'm not gonna lie to you all, this might be like pulling teeth for a little while.
00:10:32
Speaker
Christian and Jordan are gonna be gone for a bit Alex is also at the gold cup with El Salvador You know, he might be back sooner, but he's gonna be gone for a bit Bravo was dealing with stuff that takes super obvious priority over the game right now. So For this Houston game coming up next weekend. For example, we'll preview that in depth on the next show, but I'll be honest like
00:10:57
Speaker
I don't know if I see a scenario where they're scoring multiple goals. The scenario would be if they have a breakthrough in training and from watching the film and figure something out that allows them to be more multifaceted in attack, where it's not just Leo Chu bombing down the left and firing in crosses, and they manage to snap out of this funk.
00:11:18
Speaker
that could happen. But really, I think all it is right now is just putting out the best lineup that you have, which I think is which meant is doing to be fair, like,
00:11:30
Speaker
When I saw the Nico at right mid thing, that wasn't what I predicted. But after I saw that that's what they were running, I think that is how they should be lining it up. And you just have to hope it improves from there and attack. I don't know if there's a magic recipe or change you can make to the starting 11 or formation tweak.
Defensive Strength of Seattle Sounders
00:11:55
Speaker
You know, if there was something like that, if I knew what the recipe was, I would tell you all, but I honestly don't know. The defense was good in this game. 10 clean sheets on the season in 20 games. I thought New Who had a monster game. This was one of the better New Who games. He was locking it down. I think everyone could see who was watching the game that New Who was bawling out. Yamar and Jackson Reagan in the middle were good. Cody Baker continues to look good. I'm still impressed with him.
00:12:25
Speaker
So no real down marks defensively. Orlando had the one chance, but that was pretty much it. I didn't think they looked like Real Madrid out there or anything. Keeping clean sheets is absolutely pivotal for this team right now with the offense producing. They got to keep it to zero. So that's good.
00:12:49
Speaker
But no, unless you have anything that you think I missed, I think we can move on to these questions. This is another zero-zero, so I just don't really know how much there is, to be honest. I don't think there's a lot to dissect here. I think there's a lot of people that are frustrated with the way that things played out. I think that that's fair, considering the run of form.
00:13:18
Speaker
but I'm gonna be honest, I was there, I was at the game, I watched it, I left, I was disappointed, I'm not gonna lie, had in my hands on that light rail home, but I rewatched the game, and that Niko chance is just unlucky, that's a beautiful ball.
00:13:35
Speaker
There were some great opportunities where Rusnak and Abare were having really good play together. And I mean, yeah, like it's another game where no one's scoring and it's the continued problems.
00:13:51
Speaker
I just think it's hard because they don't even look like a bad team. Maybe I'm crazy. Well, no, I think it's kind of a similar thing to what happened after CCL last year, which is that the results weren't good.
Listener Questions and Player Usage
00:14:04
Speaker
But it's not like they were ever getting blown out or getting boat raced off the field in any of those games. They were competitive. They were playing every game straight up. They just weren't getting results. And it does feel similar. But I mean, you mentioned that Nico Chance. I thought for the first
00:14:21
Speaker
I don't know if it was fully 10 minutes but right after kick I was thinking actually like okay like they they look like they're gonna score like he rings that off the post there was the one from Rusnak to Abare like
00:14:36
Speaker
I was pretty sure they were going to get a goal in the game even after Nico put it off the post. And then as the game got more into it, uh, it faded, I would say. Yeah, I could tell that there was some mental mental fragility. If you could, I don't know if that's a good word to use either, but it just seemed like as the game drug on, it was just like back in your own head again, a bear with his hands in his, his head in his hands again.
00:15:06
Speaker
Was gonna say like I it's in their heads. Yeah, it's in their heads because even in the sequences where they are Having good attacking movements and they do look like they're gonna score on offense They're they're not putting the goals away and I think it's it's for sure in their head and I think
00:15:27
Speaker
you know i think i think multiple players and schmetz have even mentioned this it's like you got guys like trying to do too much yeah i think nico you know he wants so bad for the team to succeed and to be scoring goals that
00:15:44
Speaker
And he's playing a little out of position. He's trying to do too much. He's trying to do too much. And it's not just him. I think there's multiple guys that you could say that about. So yeah, I think that's a good point. Do you want to jump into these questions now? Address the people?
00:16:04
Speaker
First question, Ari, and this one's a big one from me personally. Where's the lineup? Why is it not out yet? Yeah, I'm glad you worked that one in there. You can always get that one in in the live sounders mentions if you want. That's a time honored bit.
00:16:23
Speaker
Sprung that one on me sprung that one on you, but but for real here I saw a couple of people and I'm just I'm not thinking I don't have their ads here But this is one that I remembered was is Smetzer on the hot seat at all Is there any kind of fire under his ass? Yeah? No, I saw a couple of those it made me giggle
00:16:40
Speaker
No, he's not. He's not on the hot seat. The only the only way Schmetz would be on the hot seat is if they had the full team together healthy and all the first choice guys were here and playing and then the run of results still look like this. But like you really you can't put your coach
00:17:02
Speaker
on the hot seat in MOS every single time your team has a bad run of form when you have a bunch of absences. Because if you did that, then you would be just churning through coaches like a madman like you have to take into account the context of it with that.
00:17:19
Speaker
So, and I, you know, personally, I don't really see I see the issues more as person personnel over coaching. So, no, though, like I said, the only scenario would be if you had Christian here, Jordan here, Raoul here, Alex here.
00:17:39
Speaker
everyone in the lineup and they still weren't scoring goals like this and then that would have to happen over a sustained sample size for that to be a question in my mind.
00:17:52
Speaker
All right, we'll talk more about coaching here in a second with our first question, which comes from at two from the 360. First one goes off. I'm just going to read these all rapid fire succession. So get your notes up already, Ari. One, where is Josh attention brackets from the starting 11?
00:18:11
Speaker
Two, when is the right time to relegate Nico to a super sub? And why is it not done to start the season? Three, how soon can we bring back Gonzalo Pineda? Four, is Nasi Alonso looking for a coaching job? And five, why is Sam Adena Ron not a sounder? Sam Adena Ron scored two goals last weekend.
00:18:33
Speaker
He did. Yeah, that's a great point. A brace for St. Louis City SC. So that was kind of insult to injury, I think, for Seattle people to see that. But yeah, thank you for the questions at two from the 360. I like that you submitted five. That's great. We like the enthusiasm.
00:18:52
Speaker
Josh Atencio, that's a good question. Josh Atencio was playing really well before he got injured. He scored a banger against St. Louis. It's not like anyone else on the team has been scoring lately. Not that that's his job, really. But as of now, it seems like Obed has has him topped on the depth chart. And in that situation, that's usually based on what's happening in training and what the coaches see and who they think should be starting.
00:19:19
Speaker
I kind of view Josh and Obed at a roughly similar spot in their development and what they bring. I don't know how much of a difference there you get between one or the other. They're slightly different, but development wise and where they're at in their careers and what they bring. I see it as pretty similar, but the team keeps struggling like this. You know, I wouldn't mind seeing a tense. You get a run. I think he earned that based on how he was playing earlier in the season.
00:19:48
Speaker
Do you think that if he doesn't get a run, we're going to see him loaned out or, or moved around, or do you think he's sticking with the team? Thank you for listening to the sound art podcast network, which now includes no sunny at this lobbing scorchers and the cooler yield.
Roster Building and MLS Salary Cap Challenges
00:20:11
Speaker
We've been independent since August of 2023.
00:20:14
Speaker
but need your support to make sure it continues. Although this podcast is free, it's only made possible by your continued support. Memberships start as low as $25 a year, which not only helps make podcasts like this one happen, but also gets you access to everything we produce.
00:20:30
Speaker
If you're able to support us at higher levels, starting at $75 a year, you gain access to a host of other perks, most notably entry into our Members Only Discord, where the smartest, funniest, and most engaged commenters share their thoughts and ideas. To find out more, just visit soundrathart.com and click the subscribe button in the top right corner. Thanks for listening.
00:21:00
Speaker
I mean it's possible like if it gets to the offseason and he's still not getting minutes you know he might he might want to go to somewhere where he's he's getting a bigger role so that that's an interesting question for the offseason that they're gonna have to tackle as for Nico being a super sub and why was it not done to start the quest start the season
00:21:22
Speaker
That's a question people have been asking a lot too, but I mean I can tell you the time is just not right now because you don't have the personnel. Like when you have all the guys that are gone back, then that actually becomes an actual good debate. Like is Nico in a first choice 11 when you have Jordan and Christian back and depending on how Rusnak looks at the 10 going forward here, maybe you have to keep him up there and Nico is a super sub.
00:21:49
Speaker
But right now you can't do that because they just don't have the bodies. So that's kind of how I see that. Bringing back Gonzo Pineda, you know, maybe soon Atlanta United down bad down, but just lost four out of the Red Bulls. And they're having a pretty erratic and bizarre year in general. I don't know if this is still the case, but it was at least in the last couple of weeks that they were leading the league in both goals scored and goals conceded.
00:22:20
Speaker
But their form overall has been erratic and so I don't know if he's on the hot seat I'm not as plugged into what's going on down there, but he might be so bring him home. Hey bring on so home someone did a chart that showed after the departure of Gonzo and who's Jimmy Jimmy Troy? Yeah, Troy or a that the just overall wins losses ties is we're down we're in the mud
Offensive Improvement and Player Performance
00:22:43
Speaker
Yeah, no, I mean, I don't I don't know how much of a real correlation that is, but I saw that same stat. Ozzy Alonzo looking for a coaching job. I mean, he's still playing for Atlanta United, but he might someday so I could see it and. Same at dinner on, I mean.
00:22:59
Speaker
Look two goals for St. Louis City SCU last night. I mean that's as many goals as Haber's got this season. So he never had a two goal game. I'll tell you that much if if Sam a dinner on actually develops into a consistent MLS goal scorer for St. Louis City like he's just banging goals in every week. The takes are going to be flying my already ready to be flying. I already were flying after everyone saw that he scored two goals. He was oh God he
00:23:27
Speaker
he had like a really good header like just just a beastly striker header and then I think they had him taking a penalty yeah yeah they have him taking their pikas like slamming on the up he's him bro they should have him should have kept him I agree next next question this one comes from Orin Levine three main issues for me you ready Ari yeah here's the three the playmaking ten position
00:23:54
Speaker
Two, goalkeeper. Three, backup wingers and strikers. Our starters at 10 and goalkeeper were elite. League got better and they got older. I would like thoughts focused on 2024, 2025, not changes.
00:24:09
Speaker
Okay, yeah, I'll talk about goalkeeper first because there's been More talk than I expected about a Stephen Fry. That's surprising me, too Yeah, you know I might agree that there's been a few goals this year that have been shipped that maybe he should have saved or in past years Maybe he gets to it. I just don't see goalkeeping as the prevailing issue with this team It's not really the defense in general the defense has ten clean sheets fry had a good game last night
00:24:39
Speaker
I don't know to my I see him performing at pretty much the same level that he always does
00:24:47
Speaker
2024 and 2025, I mean, yeah, these are the questions that are coming up. You're gonna have to talk about guys like Lidero and Rui Diaz and Abert. Anyone who's in their 30s, there's gonna come a point where this roster, that turnover is gonna have to happen at some point. But I mean, you can't blow it up and start over mid-season. So for right now, there's nothing they can really do but roll with what they've got and hope that this personnel can turn it around.
00:25:15
Speaker
And regarding number 10, I think we're about to find out a lot about that.
00:25:21
Speaker
Russ Naxman getting his run. If he comes into his own and starts putting up numbers, you can ride that. If he plays up there with the full complement of players and the offense still isn't producing, then you have to base how you approach it on that. It's just stuff that is TBD. I will also note Seattle Sounders, 10 clean sheets, the most in MLS. I know it's a defensive role altogether, but like last night,
00:25:49
Speaker
for I had some insane say he had some good save the defense has been I think the defense has been fine you can point to two outlier games Portland away and Charlotte away where it got away from him and they started shipping goals and they've also shipped they did this last year to they've also they've shipped really poorly timed and just kind of like
00:26:10
Speaker
back-breaking goals at extremely inopportune moments. But if you're just looking at the peer volume of goals that they've conceded, it's not been a bad defense.
00:26:22
Speaker
Yeah, and I think you have a lot of players coming into their own as well where I mean Jackson Reagan's looking good. Yeah, Cody Baker dude. I love Cody Baker. This is a Cody Baker pod. It kind of is man. It's starting to become that he's like the he's like the ray of light right now. Yeah, which there you go. If you want thoughts focused on 2024 2025. I mean we have players like Cody Baker coming up through the pipeline that
00:26:47
Speaker
Listen, I don't know nothing about nothing, but if I put money on something it would be that Cody Baker will be a very good player so
00:26:56
Speaker
With that, let's jump into our next question from Dave W. Montgomery. How would you fix our stale attack, especially when mixing guys like Raul, Jordan and Christian? Should sounders be on the lookout for younger forward as a second or third option? A-Bear seems unlucky. Montero is looking a little old and guys like Adena Ron and AOC are long gone.
00:27:19
Speaker
Slam and Sam is like the main character. Slam and Sam baby and we got an AOC reference AOC old man Montero and unlucky a bear. I mean I don't I don't know how to fix this Dale attack. I really don't. That's the number one question with this team right now is I don't think Brian even know I mean that's what they're trying to figure out with the absences they they've had. They haven't been able to figure that out.
00:27:44
Speaker
But if I had to boil it down to two things, I think it would be getting Russnak cooking at the 10 and A-Bear needs to start scoring. Like if you get those two things going, that solves a lot of problems. A-Bear has been unlucky. I know people don't want to hear it. I honestly feel bad for the guy. Like he's not a bad player. He's been a productive goal scorer in MLS. He's just having a rough go right now, but
00:28:12
Speaker
I do think that there's a scenario where he gets in that NYC FC form. He's shown in his career that he can do it, so I don't think it's just completely out of the question. I don't know if he will, but I don't think it's impossible. Brady is a role player on this team, and it's not like you can realistically expect him to be carrying a big load.
00:28:33
Speaker
But he shows up every once in a while, like in the Austin game. So that was the only goal they scored in that game. But yes, slamming Sam and AOC are gone. AOC hasn't been getting a first team run with Austin yet to my knowledge, but seeing slamming Sam get two goals last night, that's one to keep an eye on. It was salt in the wounds. If he's good, people are going to be asking questions. They already are. So
00:28:57
Speaker
a bear with another big chance missed last night adding his total 12 big chances missed as the most unlucky player in MLS. Do you have where that ranks league wide?
00:29:12
Speaker
Yeah, it's top number one number one number one under him so is ten. I mean and then under that eight So he is far out ahead. I'm sorry, but like for anyone who is like Doubting that he's been unlucky that proves that he's been but to be fair, but Ari
00:29:29
Speaker
He only has a 4.7 conversion rate. So if we extrapolate out, we do a little math here. Oh, now you're into the extrapolating stats here. We look at his XG item, just kidding. Keep going. Fire your tank. No, I mean, I'm just saying, the only thing to take away from that is that
00:29:47
Speaker
Theoretically with law of averages if he keeps getting big chances at that rate like Statistically some of them are going to start to go in like that's usually just how it works. Yeah, so It's it doesn't really Fix or solve anything right now. It shouldn't really make anybody feel any better, but to me 12 big chances miss I look at that and
00:30:11
Speaker
I think it's like it would kind of boggle my mind if that doesn't even out to some extent. It's just law of averages at a certain point. Right. So I don't think he scores the rest of the season personally.
Nico Lodeiro's Role: Super Sub?
00:30:21
Speaker
See, I you could be right. But that would surprise me. That was especially because there's track record that you can look at. Like he he's been a good goal scorer in MLS. Strikers have runs a form where they're not finishing. It's not like he's not the first striker to go through it. Yeah. But I don't know what we're going to wait.
00:30:41
Speaker
We'll see if we'll see whose scorcher is terrible, which it's most likely mine, but we know how that goes Next up another one. That's that's Nico related from Buck Russ one is Nico past expiration date Yeah, I'm not ready to fully say that just yet. There's still a lot of games left So narratives like this can always fluctuate
00:31:02
Speaker
And another thing I would think about with this is that if you think back to the start of the season when the team actually looked amazingly good for the first like five, six, seven games, whatever that was, I thought Nico was cooking.
00:31:18
Speaker
I thought he looked pretty much like his old self. The guy's still a freak in terms of his fitness and just all the running he does. It doesn't look to me like he's lost much in terms of that fitness or physical ability, but at the same time he doesn't have a primary assist since April.
00:31:39
Speaker
One thing that's concerning is that with where they're at with personnel right now they kind of needed vintage 2016 level Nico to be carrying a lot of the offense and at 34 These last few weeks It hasn't panned out like that. So I understand the question. It's going to continue to be a question But he's getting old though
00:32:03
Speaker
I mean yeah like the timbers the portland timbers went through this with Diego Larry where he was staying productive into his mid thirties and then they had to they had to make that decision and he became a super sub and took like a backseat role until he ended up retiring so.
00:32:23
Speaker
That day's gonna come, that's another one where, I feel like I've said this a few times, but that's another one where we're just gonna find out in the weeks to come. Because right now with Nico, there's two sides of it. There was the beginning of the season where he looked good and the offense looked great. And then there's been these last few weeks where he hasn't been getting on the stat sheet and the offense hasn't looked good, so.
00:32:47
Speaker
I do want to loop back real quick to Orin's question here, where he talks about focused on 2024, focused on 2025, our in-house statistician, Colton Bittersnail, did let me know. Steph is going to be, he is 37. He's going to be 38. 2024, 2025. I mean, that's for sure.
00:33:15
Speaker
He is that old yeah, there's there's precedent for Goalkeepers playing into their late 30s and even like you see like 40 year old goalkeepers sometimes sir I don't know do you want that yeah like I don't know if I would bank on that But I also I don't think it's out of the question that you could ride Steph for another year or two assuming He keeps playing at a high level
00:33:38
Speaker
It'll be interesting to see if they bring him back next year because, you know, you're right. He's going to be 38 next year. That being said, like everything I've seen from Stephen Cleveland in the run that he's gotten, he looks like a good MLS goalkeeper to me. So if it came to it and, you know, maybe you want to bring Steph back, but he can't play every single game.
00:34:04
Speaker
Steph Cleveland seems like a good goalkeeper or you know, maybe maybe you do have to make a change at that position It's an off-season question Joseph Tanner has a question here Actually a few of them. We'll start with all three of them. Let's go number one roast next numbers are supposed to be great But he doesn't seem to pass the quote I test as a game-changing DP. Why is that?
00:34:27
Speaker
So I'm assuming that you're not talking about stat sheet numbers and you're talking about underlying numbers. I know his passing accuracy and his grades are all really high.
00:34:43
Speaker
I think a lot of what it is, is what I was saying, which is that playing him backline, his role isn't really to be stuff in the stat sheet. When you're playing CDM like that, it's more stuff like, you know, ball retention, progressive passes, unleash encounters.
00:34:59
Speaker
He's good at that and they won CCL with him doing that Okay, but that's not his best role and it's not the role that he thrived at at RSL So I think in terms of him having that game-changing DP impact I think the answer is playing him higher up the field Which is what they've done these last few games and there's been mixed results the offense scored three goals in Charlotte with him playing there and
00:35:22
Speaker
and didn't score the next two but in the charlotte game christian and raul were playing so i really want to see him playing that advanced role with the full lineup that's what i want to see and i think in that scenario we might see that he actually does have that type of ability
Player Valuation and Market Opportunities
00:35:37
Speaker
I think he's got to go up further. Yeah, I'm going to go for it was time. It was time needs. Got it. I don't. I don't remember them saying that when they signed him, it was as a CDM like that. That's not like it seemed like they just needed someone there and they slaughtered him in and that's kind of it was a sign. It was a signing with an eye at CCO and and they want it like you can't hate on it from that standpoint. That's kind of the trump card with the rest neck signing like
00:36:17
Speaker
I mean, not till next season at the earliest, you can't do it this season. There was zero cap. There's not a lot of roster flexibility right now. Like any move you might want to see in season in terms of like a big name signing or big edition, like they can't really do that right now. So it's a really, I mean, I know I've said it already, but this is a role with what you got situation.
00:36:28
Speaker
They won CCL with it, so it worked in that sense.
00:36:44
Speaker
I saw on Twitter, I don't know if this is, this is something that's possible, but taking Javi and putting him on the season ending injury list to free up some. Oh yeah. I saw, I saw that, that tweet too. Um, I I'd have to look into that. I'm not, I'm not actually sure if you can do that. But hypothetically, let's say it does. If that is possible, I think that's, I think that's a pretty sick idea. I mean, you know, depending on the,
00:37:10
Speaker
extent of his injury I guess because like Havi is the third CB on this team and it's not like you can play Jackson Reagan and Yemar every single game like it's important to have a third CB so if it's just like a little muscle strain that he's gonna be back in a couple weeks
00:37:30
Speaker
I probably wouldn't do that because he's still got value as a rotational piece, but if it's a long-term injury where he's out for the season and you're allowed to do that, it's not a bad idea. Sweet, we'll have to see. Number three, will the club cash in on Newhoo or let his moment pass? I got an answer for that one, but I'll let you go first. I mean, Newhoo's had hype around a potential sale for a long time, for years.
00:38:00
Speaker
For whatever reason, nothing ever popped. It seems like his value to Seattle is higher to the Sounders than it is on the open market. So maybe they'll still move him at some point. Like he's playing at a high enough level where maybe that interest is still there. I don't really know. But it kind of feels like if it hasn't happened yet, like I don't know if it's going to happen. That's kind of how I see it. Do you see that differently?
00:38:24
Speaker
No, we talked about it before, just shooting the shit, and if it hasn't happened now, it's not probably gonna happen. Does he fit the system? No, it really makes no sense to have a wingback like New Who firing in crosses that will ultimately end up 17 yards from where he's trying to play them in shots that are 1,000 feet over the crossbar. But he is so good at one-on-one defending,
00:38:50
Speaker
It's like you you who are you gonna replace him with last night really like new is more is New who's a guy who's who's taken a fair amount of heat this year, but I thought why the the Orlando game That like that's like new who at his best and that's a demonstration of the value he he brings you know like
00:39:13
Speaker
He's he's a very very good 1v1 defender very very good. So There's a ton of value in that even if he doesn't bring What you wish he did an attack for like the Sounders like their full backs to get forward and attack and that's not really his game But he brings a lot on defense. He's still yes, there's no flipping him at this point I think if I think his moment has came in past the World Cup happened him pocketing Mo Salah happened
00:39:43
Speaker
Yeah, that was this value was at an all-time high then I don't really see them getting rid of him unless it's to another MLS team But I could be wrong
MLS Highlights and Surprises
00:39:54
Speaker
Last question here comes from Kenny Sloth 253. Yeymar leads the league in interceptions and shutouts. Why isn't he also leading the defensive player of the year conversation? With his clear emphasis on improved passing, he's become a more dynamic piece. And I want to say better than Chad ever was in any more difficult league.
00:40:16
Speaker
Skorchers that is hot. I like this one because that has some real heat to it better than Chad I don't know if I can get get on board with that Chad's the best CB I've ever seen in MLS he Do you want to do a little just Chad reminiscing right?
00:40:33
Speaker
Chad never made a mistake. It was wild. He's the one CB I've ever watched and I watched a lot of them I watched every game that he played for the Sounders But you would have to rack his career film to find him fucking up one time He just never did
00:40:50
Speaker
You know, Yamer Yamer is a great CB and he's having a really good year But like you could go through his film and you could find plenty plenty of hiccups that like you just never saw from Chad as for Yamer for
00:41:06
Speaker
Defensive player of the year. He might get some love for that. He's having a good year I don't know if he's having like a hugely dominant year that's getting widespread national notoriety But this defense has been really good and he's been the anchor of it But you know, I might mess with the Jackson Reagan for defender of the year take more than that though That's one that might get me going but
00:41:26
Speaker
I love that question, though, because it gave an opportunity to reminisce on Chad, which that his his era of defensive dominance on this team was just this unparalleled. He's like one of the rare CBs where it's like fun to watch him. It's actively fun to watch him play defense because of just how perfectly executed every single thing he does was.
00:41:52
Speaker
Yeah, and you know what? You said that the league is more difficult now. That's true. I think you could still stick Chad in his prime in this current league, and he would be just as good as he was when he was playing. I mean, he was just that good of a player.
00:42:07
Speaker
The other thing is too is Chad was really really dominant on set pieces and like in the air and he scored a lot of goals which Yamer has a few goals Jackson Reagan hasn't scored one yet that that was like
00:42:23
Speaker
Whole new element though for Chad's value. It's like yeah, you're telling me this guy is the best defender that's ever played in this league by a long shot and he's just a Beast in the air and bangs in like five goals a year like that's crazy. Yeah, dude dude literally he He was him. Yeah, he was him That's all the questions we got this week. Are you okay? Nice well
00:42:51
Speaker
Thank you so much to everyone who replied to the tweet and submitted them. I know I didn't get to every single one of them, but we only had so much time. A couple of you out there also got a little, there was a full on dispute going on in my mentions today. People were getting a little rowdy and toxic with it, which I realize that's gonna happen in my mentions from time to time.
CONCACAF Suspension Rulings: A Humorous Take
00:43:14
Speaker
They're just love and scorchers at each other, right? Yeah, which is fair.
00:43:19
Speaker
Yeah, you don't have to be super toxic in my mentions I guess is all I'm saying you know you could scale it back a little bit the girls fight come on That's fine. I think we can just about call it there, but I do have a couple quick hitters Noah Close it out. I'm excited for this first one. Okay. Oh boy. Are you ready for the stupidest thing that you've ever heard? Yeah in your life. I'm so ready okay, so
00:43:43
Speaker
CONCACAF came out with the their disciplinary rulings for the fracas that yes the multiple I'm sorry it's it's fracas sorry sorry sorry yeah for the fracas is that took place in the US versus Mexico game that we talked about famously did a whole episode on it correct and so they've issued multiple suspensions so this is the first stupid thing
00:44:12
Speaker
Weston McKinney and Sergino Dest were both suspended on top of their red card suspension for their roles in the frockess. I think Dest got two games and Weston McKinney got three games. So they have to serve that on top of the one game that they already served in the final. All right. Before we get into the really stupid part, I just want to say,
00:44:41
Speaker
Weston's red card was such bullshit to begin with because Yes, like his hands that it's hands to the face and that's supposed to be an auto red, but you can't do that supposedly but I could I could point to Countless countless instances I've seen in cog a calf matches where that happens in
00:45:01
Speaker
And they don't call it a red card. And I know this because every time I'm watching, I go, yo, that's a red card. That is a red card. The hands were to the face. You have a rule on that. That guy should be out of the game based on the standard you set. And they call it.
00:45:17
Speaker
not even half the time they just don't call it uh... and i could also name at least two situations where that happened to weston they put they put it the hands to his face and there's no red card so like there's just no consistency with how they enforce that and all of a sudden when weston does it now they're like okay that's for that's for sure red card that time so that's annoying to begin with and then dashed i don't really see what he did that was
00:45:46
Speaker
Agree just more than a normal red card Maybe they're just trying to put the hammer down because they don't want games getting out of control like that Which I get but like so that's not even the stupid part. No, that's not even stupid. That's not it. This is a stupid part so Weston and Sergino deaths aren't on the roster for the gold cup. They weren't gonna be on the team anyway. Yeah
00:46:08
Speaker
But they're allowed to serve the suspension like for those gold cup games those those Counts for like the suspension so they weren't playing them in them anyway fire. So they're like suspended
00:46:22
Speaker
fire, but they're not on the team. Yeah, so like that's not a suspension. Yeah, that's yeah, that seems about right for conga calf like what are the most conga calf. I mean I know that were that works out for me because I didn't want them to be missing any games where they were on the roster, but it's like that's not putting your foot down because they're not they weren't going to be playing in these games anyway.
00:46:50
Speaker
I mean, I don't know that's some elite finger-wagging from conga cap right there It's cocky calves just killing me sometimes with this stuff man like why why the extra suspension to begin with and then How are you gonna whatever? It's it's fine the good the two Mexico guys that were involved got extra suspensions, too So yeah, I think they should have suspended them all longer person. Well, okay That's my other point is that if Weston gets three games for that the guy who?
00:47:17
Speaker
kicked fuller and balligan in the leg to set that whole thing off. He should get like 20 games. That's actually a dangerous play. That's my take on that. Take those heaters out. No, I just want them all to be suspended like 20 games just to be just so everyone in US men's national team Twitter can have their brains melt.
00:47:36
Speaker
Suspend them all. Suspend them all. Who cares? Suspend me to. All right. Suspend this episode, Ari. I had main characters of the week real quick. Oh, let's go. No, don't, unsuspend the episode. Let's go. Main characters of the week. I got, so I got one in a good way, one in a bad way.
00:47:55
Speaker
The main character in a good way, DC United 3-0 over FC Cincinnati. FC Cincinnati has been on a record breaking pace. They're on pace to break the points record. They'd only lost once all year. DCU boat raced him. FC Cincinnati, they were in kind of a similar situation to Seattle. They had a bunch of starters out.
00:48:17
Speaker
But they're still considered the best team in the league right now, at least points wise. So even with the absences that they had, I was surprised to see them get boat race like that. They looked like 2018 FC Cincinnati, just shipping goals. Remember that? Remember when they shipped like 74 in one season? I do. I do. The wooden spoons back to back were incredible. Back to back to back. I have a lot of friends in Cincinnati.
00:48:48
Speaker
I'm happy that they're doing well now. Oh, I agree because they're a likable team. They're likable team and It was tough because when they came into MLS they had such great fan support Yeah, it looks like the environment. I haven't been yet. It's a stadium I need to go to but the scene that they have at TQL looks like unreal and it was just it was tough to see like
00:49:14
Speaker
30,000 people packed in there bringing all this energy and then they lose 5-0 you're like oh gee like you're gonna like lose this interest if you can't turn it around they very much turned it around so they kind of became the main character of this discussion even though DC United is the one that beat them but um main character in a bad way
00:49:33
Speaker
Atlanta United I'm 4-0 against the Red Bulls so I saw that and I assumed they must have been in a situation like Cincy or like Seattle where they were in rotation mode and I looked at the lineups and it was pretty much all their guys like there there might have been one or two changes in the back line but like as far like Tiago Amado was out there Georgios their their striker he was out there
00:50:05
Speaker
So like I don't I don't know what's going on. Yeah, I mean like we talked about them already. They're having a weird season, but I was surprised to see that when they struggle on the road a lot, but damn I don't know for zero.
00:50:21
Speaker
That's tough. You know as tough as things have been for Seattle and as kind of meh as that Orlando game was it's like you know they're not the main character. No one no one's really talking about Seattle this week except for people in Seattle. But I think it's hard. There's a lot of fans who understandably see the rest of the league and see where teams are at. But frankly Ari
00:50:47
Speaker
We don't abide by the standards of average. We are the Seattle fucking sounders. Yeah, buddy. Okay. We demand excellence. That's, that's a fair point, but I'm talking more like national perception. So yeah.
Conclusion and Listener Engagement
00:51:05
Speaker
Atlanta 4-0 over Red Bulls or to the Red Bulls. That caught my eye. All right. I think we can call it right there. Thank you everyone as always for tuning in. I'm going to try and change the speech up a little bit this week because Noah said I've been saying the same thing every time.
00:51:23
Speaker
I'm ready. This is a new one. I mean not really just thank you all so much for tuning in We're are we close? We're closing in on on a thousand downloads overall, right? Yeah, and we get like something for that So we're hoping that we crack that milestone. I get the love and affection of my parents finally finally
00:51:43
Speaker
A thousand downloads would be huge. We're closing right in. I think we're going to get it this episode. Keep subscribing. Tell your friends. Tell your parents. Rate five stars. Write us an Apple podcast review. Tell your bartender. Just tell everyone you know. Until next time, we out. Peace.