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Was the 2025 MLS Cup playoffs first round ousting the biggest choke in Sounders history?
2 Playsin 1 hour
Well that turned out to be a whimper. Aaron and Jeremiah unpack the loss in the first round of the playoffs to Minnesota. Painful as the quick exit was, they discussed whether or not this defeat was the biggest choke in Sounders history. The guys dive into the roster and look at the various contracts about to expire to get an idea of what they think the front office will do with those players ahead of the offseason.
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Transcript
Sounder at Heart Podcast Introduction
00:00:01
Speaker
Hi, I'm Will Bruin, and I was just recognized as a Seattle Sounders legend. Now I get to do voice reads for the Sounder at Heart Podcast Network. Here we go. Come on. Hey, O'Shaan.
00:00:14
Speaker
Let's
Seattle Sounders' MLS Cup Victory
00:00:15
Speaker
go. The Seattle Sounders have done it. MLS Cup winners. Here comes Ruiz Diaz through the middle to crown it for Seattle.
00:00:25
Speaker
The Sounders rule the region. of
00:00:59
Speaker
you know what was the thought process in terms of who you decided to use and who you didn't? Ever since I wrote a commentary that we didn't take the outcome seriously.
Episode Sponsorship and Hosts
00:01:18
Speaker
This episode of Nos Arietes is sponsored by Full Pull Wines, a Seattle-based wine retailer and proud sponsor of Nos Arietes since 2011. Full Pull was founded in 2009, is based in Seattle, and is owned and operated by longtime Sounder supporters.
00:01:32
Speaker
They offer the best boutique wines of the world to members of their mailing list, with special focus on their home, Pacific Northwest.
00:01:41
Speaker
Welcome to another episode of Nos Adientes, part of the Sounder at Heart podcast network, sponsored by Full Pool Wines, Hex and Ferments, and our subscribers. We're recording on Tuesday, November 11th. I am your host, Jeremiah Oshan.
00:01:54
Speaker
Today, I'm joined by Campo and engineer, Lickett.
Debate: Sounders vs Minnesota United
00:01:59
Speaker
After taking a 2-0 lead, going up a man with 2-1 lead and facing a team with almost no history of comebacks, the Sounders seemed all but destined to win Game 3 and advance past Minnesota United.
00:02:13
Speaker
We all know what happened next. They blew that lead, gave up another goal, and needed a late equalizer just to force penalties. Andrew Thomas nearly led them to a win in the shootout, only for the Sounders to miss not one, but two spot kicks with a chance to win before Thomas put his own shot off the crossbar to seal the result.
00:02:31
Speaker
b Brian Spencer called it the quote toughest loss he's experienced in his career. And even a few days later, I'm inclined to agree. That was brutal, Aaron. I don't know or even know where we we go from here.
00:02:44
Speaker
Yeah. um I it's been a long time since I've been that upset after a Sounders loss, um like a very, very, very long time, like back to a different version of me as a person. Long time. Yeah.
00:02:59
Speaker
Yeah. And it's just the frustration, I think, for me is just knowing for sure that this team is better than that and is better than I think what we saw at times this season.
00:03:13
Speaker
You know, after after last season, after the loss of the Galaxy, um it was disappointing and it hurt because I felt like they had a real chance to to win an MLS Cup if they got to it.
00:03:25
Speaker
but I couldn't be that upset because the galaxy were a very good team.
Sounders' Inconsistent Season and Playoff Format
00:03:29
Speaker
um the sounders were better on the day too. Like, I don't, I don't think there was really any question that the galaxy as close as that game was, we're better on the day, but I don't want to interrupt. Go ahead.
00:03:41
Speaker
No, I mean, yeah yeah it's it's a great point. and And I think too, like there was a feeling that we'd kind of been getting away with it a little bit, you know, um, And and so ah it it felt, you know, the season had been such a up and down, such a such a roller coaster.
00:03:59
Speaker
But it ended on a positive note. um Finally, beating L.A. FC and L.A. was was almost felt, you know, was like 80 percent to an MLS Cup already. This season, man, this team was so much better than that team.
00:04:14
Speaker
Um, they were mostly healthy for, for the first time. um and I just, you know, the, the, the draw was probably felt like as good as it could have gone.
00:04:25
Speaker
um considering where they were in the table, how they performed in the regular season. and I just, you know, I felt like LAFC was a better team, but I thought with some breaks, this team, ah there wasn't another team in the league that I would take, you know, over them and in a, in a,
00:04:41
Speaker
a knockout game, you know, or at least that I wouldn't give them a great chance with. And they should have, they should have the series. They dominated the whole series. They were the better team the first game. They blew Minnesota off the pitch in the second game. I know Minnesota got the two goals and and that was yeah but disappointing to see, but it was very lopsided and there's there's just no excuse to,
00:05:06
Speaker
lose a game like this. It's just it's it's crazy. And I'm sure we will get into the format. I have problems with the format. I want to get into a discussion about the format. But the reality is the format is the format.
00:05:18
Speaker
Right. And the Sounders had a two one lead up a man. Minnesota looked like they were totally falling apart. And It's just yeah it's unfathomable to me how they lost control of the game, how they allowed Minnesota so many chances on set pieces and and just how bad this team's bread
Sounders Strategies and Improvement
00:05:39
Speaker
and butter last year was set pieces scoring them and defending them. They were great defensively on set pieces. They were great scoring set pieces.
00:05:47
Speaker
And then the season, not great scoring set pieces and just total garbage defending them. and And that was that was their Achilles heel in the end. And, you know, the shootout, yeah, it's frustrating frustrating to miss those two chances where where you have a shot at a win. It's extremely frustrating.
00:06:05
Speaker
and But I just can't get that mad at anything that happens in a shootout, right? It's just... Shit's going to happen in a shootout. Lionel Messi has missed a critical penalty kick in his career.
00:06:17
Speaker
You know, it's it's just it's that's the nature of the game. It never should have gotten there. Never, ever, ever in a million years should have gotten to a shootout. and And I'm still just completely flabbergasted as to how they let it get there.
00:06:32
Speaker
I would agree with everything you said. i will just sort of put a little twist, at least on the shootout. I think the shootout has sort of haunted me ah for the last few days, ah sure more maybe more than than you, in part because it was there it was it seemed like one of these things where they they had a get out of jail free card just ready to be played, and they they couldn't play it.
00:06:57
Speaker
Yeah. You know, if you, had you know, ah five minutes before the end of the game or 85th minute, let's just say.
00:07:07
Speaker
it was feeling pretty despondent. What's going to you know, I cannot believe they blew this game. Morris scores that goal in the 88th minute. At the same time, Andrew Thomas puts on his gloves and goes into the field. And it was like all of a sudden it was like you could see it playing out.
00:07:26
Speaker
yeah You know, all of a sudden, like as much of a disadvantage as it seemed like the Sounders would be going into a shootout, it all of a sudden felt like Andrew Thomas gave them that hope. Like just seeing him get on the field was this real inspirational moment for me. it was kind of a like it was so cool to see Brian Schmetzer just go for it In my column, I called it one of the boldest moves of his career. And I and i know some people have quibbled with that because it's like, well, he's just doing what everyone said he should do.
00:07:51
Speaker
I, you know, I think we have have been a reason for Brian Spencer to do something. Exactly. And so, you know, he, I don't, I think he sort of went against his, his gut instincts and he just, you know, he went for it. And I think he used, and I, I always hope that he would have this epiphany where it was, you don't want to question whether or not you sort of empty the chamber.
00:08:17
Speaker
I think we even talked about this on the, on the last show. And it was just good to see him do it. And honestly, it worked out about as well as he could have hoped. ah and it And it had this storybook element where Thomas comes in off the bench and He makes a diving attempt on the first one and he dislocates his pinky.
00:08:38
Speaker
He dislocates his pinky on the first attempt, forcing it wide. And and if for a moment there, we see Alex rolled on getting getting instructions. And maybe yeah Alex is going to come into the game as a goalkeeper.
00:08:51
Speaker
And he's like, no, no. He tapes it, just tapes, tapes, tapes, puts it in, slams his finger back in. And then he almost saves the next kick. And then he does save two others, both...
00:09:05
Speaker
saves set up a chance for the Sounders to win it on the next kick. The first one, Obed Vargas, which I don't, you know, I know a lot of people were annoyed by the the whole stutter steps thing. It, for me, it worked. You know, he, he, this is how he always takes them.
00:09:19
Speaker
He got St. Clair to go the wrong way. And then he just clanks it off the post. Absolutely brutal. And then on the next, he saves, then Thomas saves the next one.
Set Pieces and Missed Opportunities
00:09:29
Speaker
And I love this moment.
00:09:30
Speaker
You know, this was a great moment. Uh, Dane St. Clair is clearly sort of in panic mode. He's chattering, chattering, chattering. The ref says, you got to go back to your line. He's chattering, chattering, chattering.
00:09:42
Speaker
Ref shows him the yellow. he He looks totally shaken. Osase De Rosario has this sort of like grin on his face like, I got this guy. And then he just like clunks.
00:09:54
Speaker
He absolutely clunks the... the attempt and it gets saved and, uh, you know, it's kind of, kind all. And then the next kick St. Clair is the next, I think St. Clair, the next one up.
00:10:05
Speaker
I don't remember. It doesn't matter. Uh, they win. And it just felt like it was all there. Like they, they had the whole, it was this epic kind of story.
00:10:17
Speaker
And, and I, I am really, and and i think really what though ultimately annoys me is that it's, in It's impossible. I'm sorry. It's impossible for me to look at that series and feel like the Sounders lost to a better team.
00:10:29
Speaker
They were the better team in first game. They were, like you said, they were the, by far the better team in the second game. They're the better game team in this one. And I know it's one of the things that I've, one of the commentaries I've heard is that the Sounders took their foot off the pedal.
00:10:43
Speaker
I don't think that's entirely fair to what they did. Because and after they went up 2-1, they were still pressing for a third goal. They had two or three great chances at it. The one that is obviously going to haunt everyone is the Roosnack chance where Christian Roldan does this Perfect cutback pass to Rusnak, who's just sitting on the penalty spot.
00:11:05
Speaker
He has St. Clair fully going the wrong way. By the way, he has Alex Roldan off to his right if he wants it. He doesn't need it, but he I think that's part of why St. Clair committed so hard to the other side.
00:11:16
Speaker
And he just has a wide open net, and he puts it off the post. Rusnak himself said it might be the easiest chance that he's had all year. it that of night. It was that kind of night.
00:11:29
Speaker
that kind night It was. Yeah, it really was. And I think that. um peak Yeah, i I hate this trope a lot of the time, but I think it's true here. Like, I think that ultimately the Sounders just kind of beat themselves, you know?
00:11:43
Speaker
oh yeah. Missing the easy chances. giving up the set pieces against the team, you know, that's how they score goals. That is how Minnesota scores goals, long throws and set pieces. Not only do you know that's how they score goals, they are a man down.
00:11:57
Speaker
Both times they get a yeah runner free at the back post. How does that happen? Yeah. They have one less player on the field. Yeah, it's crazy. It's crazy. It's not... It's just if this team had a history of being bad at defending set pieces, like it's not like there was that much turnover since last year when they were one of the best teams in the league at defending set pieces.
00:12:19
Speaker
ah It's just it's it it really defies explanation. And. um Yeah, it's, you know, credit to Minnesota, I guess. I don't know. i I guess to really dislike this team over the course of the series.
00:12:34
Speaker
um But they took their chances, right? They took the chances they had. Yeah. But the Sounders gifted them those chances. there's There's just there's no reason that you should be.
00:12:45
Speaker
Yes, ultimately, the goals came off of set pieces, but they got the set pieces because they were consistently putting pressure on the Sounders.
Season Review and Future Considerations
00:12:53
Speaker
despite being down a man, you know, and despite being a team that is generally not good at putting pressure on the opposition. Oh man.
00:13:00
Speaker
And playing from underneath. It's yeah. So I did a little research into this. Yeah, I know. i I did some research into this because I couldn't help myself. Yeah.
00:13:11
Speaker
But the last time Minnesota had overcome a two zero deficit was in 2020.
00:13:19
Speaker
They had never come back. or I'm sorry. Under Eric Ramsey, they had been 2-14-1, I believe, when they were trailing just at halftime. They scored more goals down a man, which was two.
00:13:34
Speaker
the Two of those goals came when they were down a man. They scored more goals in that game than they had in their entire 10-year MLS history. ah they had only scored once before down a man in their entire history.
00:13:48
Speaker
This is not a team that was built for comebacks. This is not a team accustomed to coming back. They were not, you know, there is no reason at all that this this is not like, you know, Miami does this to you and you go, man what are you going to do It's Miami. Sometimes they just kind of go on a heater.
00:14:07
Speaker
This was not that. This was the Sounders just absolutely – I hate to say it, choking it away. You know, i heard heard someone say that, I think it was Matt Doyle said that on SoccerWise this week.
00:14:21
Speaker
And it had not really dawned i had not really considered that possibility that the Sounders had choked this result away. And i I think they did. i i hate to say it, but I i think this is a clutch team, and yet they were anti-clutch in this game. Yeah.
00:14:45
Speaker
Yeah, it was just so uncharacteristic. And yeah, I think that that's the thing. I mean, in a way it wasn't right. Like a lot of the points they dropped this year. This was the first time the Sounders had lost the game that they had been leading this year in any competition. No, not. tech They technically did not lose. like That's important to say they never went. They they they ended the game tied. So it wasn't like they and I feel like that's diminishing their comeback there to take it away.
00:15:12
Speaker
But I understand what you're saying. but This had been sort of a hallmark of that. They had given up a lot of leads this year. That is yeah absolutely eight. times This was the eighth time this year that they had dropped, essentially dropped points in a game that they had led.
00:15:28
Speaker
But which puts it puts them. That's that's towards the upper middle of the pack and MLS. Now, to be fair, they do. lead a lot more games than than some other teams but yeah they had more opportunities to do that but uh but yeah they i mean it's it's just uh this is the way that they have done it a lot just giving up these goals where yeah it didn't even really feel like the opposition had to try that hard the going back all the way to the the opener against charlotte right um a game that they had completely in hand and they ended up dropping points because
00:16:01
Speaker
They just gave up a goal kind of out of nowhere that they they had no business giving up. And, you know, it's it's just kind of been a continuation. But they have been a big game team that came up in big moments this year. And and they did in this game as well. You know, getting two big goals early, getting Jordan, getting the the one late to tie it up to send its penalties.
00:16:24
Speaker
But it just never should have gotten to that again. I hate to keep banging that drum, but it's the truth. Yeah, ah it you know, and I think it it to your point, though, it it did sort of illustrate two of the big weaknesses of the Sounders this year. And I i think Brian Schmetzer, we asked Brian Schmetzer about this throughout the year. You know, the the whole set piece defense thing, the whole blowing leads thing or topics that we had talked about a lot.
00:16:55
Speaker
And I think Schmetzer's understandable response was sort of it like these are veteran players. I kind of trust them to do the basic stuff. Right. And I know we've done this a lot, but they'll figure this out.
00:17:10
Speaker
You know, I think there was this sense that we aren't this bad defensively on set pieces and we're going to, it'll just work itself out. This is like a bad run of, of poor results, but this is not who we are.
00:17:21
Speaker
And I, and it seemed like he sort of took the same attitude with the blown leads where you could sort of look at them all as sort of isolated incidents. They happened in different ways. But here we are, the season ending on these two things converging the way that they did. And it's it's hard not to feel like we saw
Roster Changes and Offseason Strategies
00:17:41
Speaker
this coming. We just didn't know what it was, you know? Yeah.
00:17:46
Speaker
And, you know, I don't have a good... You know, in some ways, i feel like at the end of almost every year we look at the team and we look at the roster and we OK, well, we knew we were kind of short here.
00:18:02
Speaker
And this is what has to be done to improve it. The last couple years, it was they got to be a more effective, you know, offensive team. And. yeah And a funny little thing, you know, the centers only scored three goals on their way to the conference finals last year.
00:18:21
Speaker
right They scored seven goals in this three-game series. aye you know the You go back to 2023, and I think they only scored
00:18:32
Speaker
yeah only four or five goals ah in 2023. Again, they scored seven goals. and No, I think they only scored three goals, actually, because they got shut out to LAFC in the conference semifinals. this would you know this the They figured it out, and I know one of the common...
00:18:52
Speaker
one of the sort of like rebuttals to that is, okay, so they fixed the offense, but it costs them their defensive solidity. The numbers don't really bear that out because from open play, the Sounders actually allowed fewer goals this year than they did last year. If you don't count, so that's not counting own goals, not counting set pieces, and it's not counting penalties, which I don't think you can, any of those things, I don't think you can really put on the defensive side you know, like the what you're giving up by attacking more.
00:19:26
Speaker
They were, they were much better offensively from open play. i I'm not really seeing the connection and they essentially had the same defensive players on the field for those set pieces.
00:19:40
Speaker
I don't think it's as easily explained as well. They just started throwing numbers forward and that's what caused them trouble. I think it's a fair point. I hear what you're saying. I will push back a little bit and say that I think that teams that push forward a lot are going to give up more set pieces.
00:19:59
Speaker
They're going to get themselves in more situations where they're giving penalties. They give up set pieces. They gave up the same number of shots on set pieces that they did last year. That's fair then. Penalties, I think though, that is something that you would see in creating. Maybe, yeah. Yeah.
00:20:14
Speaker
I do think that the Sounders were unlucky in terms of like an under underlying numbers perspective. That is true. they They did underperform their expected goals against, I think, pretty by a pretty decent margin.
00:20:27
Speaker
Yeah, they they gave up just to give put some numbers to that. They gave up about four more XG on set pieces this year than they did last year. But they gave up nine more goal or 12 more goals, I think.
00:20:39
Speaker
and that's the thing is I think that even if there's not a causal relationship between their goal scoring and their defensive numbers going up, um, like you can live with giving up four more goals than you did last year if you're scoring, right.
00:20:54
Speaker
You know, 20 more however many it was. Um, so yeah, I don't know. I mean, that's, that's an interesting point. I, I still think there's probably some kind of connection there, but it's probably overblown to some degree.
00:21:06
Speaker
Um, but they've got to figure it out. Like you just can't be that vulnerable on set pieces. Um, and, uh, you know, it's, it's, uh, it hurt them in, in the biggest moments.
00:21:21
Speaker
But, uh, I, I do think that now that we have established how disappointed that we are and how I think we've, we've heaped plenty of blame on the sounders. So nobody can accuse us of, uh,
00:21:35
Speaker
of, you know, making excuses or anything like that. i' not true Yeah, the format is the format. The Sounders took five of nine points in the series and they outscored Minnesota ah seven to five in the series.
00:21:52
Speaker
And Minnesota went through. And I think that that sucks. I think that like, this has been the thing that people have been pointing out as a hypothetical major problem with this playoff format. And this is the first time i'm raising my hand right now. Yeah, yeah you are.
00:22:06
Speaker
You are. And you should be. um Because you did, you called it it, you know, the year they introduced this format like this. Somebody could advance without winning a single game. And that's that's what happened. And.
00:22:19
Speaker
ah You know, I think that that's worth
Critique of Playoff Format
00:22:21
Speaker
examining. And I think that I understand that they want more games for Apple. And that's why we've got the three game series to start with.
00:22:29
Speaker
i Putting aside how much I think that that sucks, that that is a consideration or as big of a consideration as it is. Yeah. If you want to have the three game series, just do first to five or first to four or whatever, you know, whatever it is. Right.
00:22:42
Speaker
Yeah. um So, well, let's let's dig into that a little bit. ah We may as well. Right. Yeah. So there's two all along. There's been two.
00:22:52
Speaker
I think we can call them obvious solutions to the if you like this is like accepting the three game series as a reality like there's like we we can talk about whether it's better than two we can talk about it but there is the single game we don't need to get into the subjective nature of how many games let's accept the three game series as a reality there are easy fixes in this either you do first to four where you cannot where there's no shootouts in the first two games and so if you tie the first one
00:23:30
Speaker
and you win the second one, you advance, or you or you each tie the first two games, and you go to a third, and it ends in a tie again, then you can have a shootout.
00:23:42
Speaker
like so So essentially, first-to-four format would only allow for a shootout in the third game. yeah Or you could do a first to five where you have shootouts in the first two games. And if you win the shootout, you get two points. If you lose the shootout, you get one point.
00:23:59
Speaker
And then that way, if you, if there's a winner in game two and it's not the winner from, if you win the shootout in game one and you lose, or if you lose the shootout in game one and you win game two, you still don't advance. You still got to play game three.
00:24:17
Speaker
But you you don't need a shootout necessarily. The only reason you need a shootout in game ah three is if you're still equal on points. Yeah. I just sort of devalues the importance of of shootouts, essentially. i think I think there's a third option, and it's actually my preferred, which is you do first to five, but you don't do shootouts until the third game.
00:24:38
Speaker
So if you win the first two games, you're through. If you win one game and you draw two games, you're through. If each team draws a game and or each team wins a game and there's draw, you do shootouts, right?
00:24:50
Speaker
in Three draws, you do a shootout. That's my preferred, ah that's my preferred system because I think, If you are really the better team and you really deserve to not have to play that third game because that does give you a pretty big advantage, I think, over your next opponent, win the first two games. Right.
00:25:08
Speaker
um If if you, you know, have ah ah if you're Minnesota, right, let's let's play devil's advocate. If you're Minnesota and you get and you work out a zero zero draw in the first game and you lose the second game, I feel like you should have a chance to win your third game.
00:25:25
Speaker
Right. um I think my thing is that I want to avoid penalties as much as possible because they're the best tiebreaker we have. I can't really think of a plausible one that that's any better, but we should be doing as much as we can to never, ever use them because they are fundamentally such a coin flip.
00:25:43
Speaker
But I think any of those three options is infinitely better than... than this one. It's the only thing I can think of is that they think penalties make for good TV. And so they want to have as many shootouts as they can.
00:25:58
Speaker
Yeah. Uh, I think you're right about that. I think that's probably uh, That's probably why they do it. And I don't like it. I am with you. I think we should be devaluing the shootout in the playoffs because it's not, it's not
Rivalry with Minnesota United
00:26:14
Speaker
soccer. I that's, that's the reality.
00:26:16
Speaker
It is the equivalent of settling a tie game in, in ah in basketball with a three point contest or in baseball with a home run contest.
00:26:29
Speaker
These are not things that happen. I understand that soccer is the the nature of soccer is that it's hard to score goals, but I mean, I would much rather, i have even one other easy solution in game three play overtime.
00:26:46
Speaker
Why can't we have, and and why not make it golden goal over time? If we want to get crazy, you know, yeah yeah like I don't see why we don't have a like I understand why we don't have overtime in the first two games because it would just get to be a little bit much sure but there should be there's no good reason there's no overtime although there's a there's a week between every game is it really exactly right I just know nothing about this format makes sense No, it's extremely annoying.
00:27:17
Speaker
I don't like the format. I didn't like the format when it was announced. I think the potential flaws were for were immediate. I'm a little bummed out that they never addressed those flaws.
00:27:31
Speaker
Someone in the competition committee really likes the idea of lots of shootouts, which, hey, i and I will say this. I will say this. As frustrating as this game was for me, I think for neutrals, it was a lot of fun.
00:27:46
Speaker
Sure. Allowing overtime wouldn't have diminished the fun. was still a crazy game. Yeah, it would have made it, I think, a lot better. And I just I don't buy the idea that people like penalties.
00:27:59
Speaker
Nobody invested in the game. And that is 80 to 90 percent of the people watching any given MLS game. Nobody likes them. Right. Maybe if you know you're getting away with something by getting the penalties, you're happy, but you're still not going to enjoy watching them.
00:28:14
Speaker
And it's a neutral. I hate watching penalties. It's stressful. Even if I don't care who wins, it's stressful. And I think it feels just like a imperfect way to decide a winner. So I just yeah I don't I don't know, man.
00:28:28
Speaker
I really hope that I am wrong. and That is not the reason because it. Oh, I think that's the reason. I don't know what else the reason there could be. Yeah. And that's just. To decide your champion, you know, it's just such a It's just gross. It's just indicative of so many things about the world that I truly cannot stand.
00:28:49
Speaker
ah So another thing that come out of this series, which, again, ah maybe this is credit to MLS, right? the the The other thing I think, like one of the other reasons that the three game series I think the organizers like about the three game series is that it allows for an opportunity to have some real animosity between teams, which is good television, right?
00:29:14
Speaker
Uh, there's storylines to follow. And i think that, to the degree that there was a rivalry between the Sounders and Minnesota before this game, it was very much the Mad Men meme, right?
00:29:29
Speaker
Yeah, for sure. Where Minnesota says they hate us and we respond, we don't think about you ever. And that's true. Like, I don't, I did not, I don't, and I don't know that I, i don't know if I still think about Minnesota United a lot.
00:29:47
Speaker
I don't think I would consider them like a genuine rival. But this does something. yeah like This gets something going. like i I think I hate Dane St. Clair. Yeah, absolutely.
00:29:59
Speaker
Absolutely. I think I dislike Eric Ramsey. But I always kind of disliked Eric Ramsey. The time he said football pitch, oh, I wanted to stop him in a locker.
00:30:13
Speaker
Yeah, he's he's pretty awful.
Playoff Loss Analysis and Future Outlook
00:30:15
Speaker
And, you know, like I said last week, I that I don't begrudge any team doing what they need to do win games. And I don't. But but fuck them.
00:30:24
Speaker
I don't. I watched Minnesota United play attacking soccer enough during the series to draw the conclusion that they actually don't need to be doing this shit to win games.
00:30:36
Speaker
They could like they're never going to be Ticketaka team. possession, oh but they could play soccer and win games. And and so soccer players for sure.
00:30:47
Speaker
They do. Yeah, they do. Um, but, uh, yeah, i mean it was, I think that now that, uh, we have been on the other end of a comeback in the playoffs.
00:30:59
Speaker
I understand the animosity from Minnesota, animosity from Minnesota's side a little bit better than I did before, i guess. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You know, the in it and it was sort of a re in it was almost a replay of, of 2020, game that I don't know, and because no one was there. I don't know that the game lives in the level of lore that it deserves, but yeah in case you need a reminder in 2020, the Sounders were down two zero points.
00:31:24
Speaker
like in the 80th minute at home against Minnesota United in the Western Conference final, I believe. yeah And they got three goals to win that game in the last 10 minutes.
00:31:36
Speaker
ah the the I think the last two of which came in stoppage time. And the Sounders, unfortunately, no one was at this game because it was a closed-door game during COVID.
00:31:48
Speaker
But the Sounders rode that into MLS Cup where they were considered pretty significant favorites, I think, over Columbus Crew. Not because they were necessarily more talented than the Crew, but because the Crew were missing.
00:31:59
Speaker
The Crew got hit by COVID really hard and were missing a bunch of players from that game. And then, of course, the Crew won one three zero which is, I believe, the biggest blowout in MLS Cup history.
00:32:13
Speaker
and Not that ah the Crew fans like to talk about that or anything. ah And I and you know, you and I were I mentioned the whole choke thing earlier in the show.
00:32:24
Speaker
And in my mind, that was maybe the other game that was in contention for biggest choke in Sanders history, because it felt like the centers really had that one lined up.
00:32:35
Speaker
And they they just didn't even come out to play like they just they were blown out and were never really competitive in that game. And the thing that made me, I think, originally not even consider this a choke was be the centers played well for a lot of it. Like they obviously jumped out to the 2-0 lead.
00:32:54
Speaker
All three of their – well, two of the goals were well taken. It wasn't like they were falling apart. They just sort of collapsed in very at very inopportune times within the game.
00:33:06
Speaker
But they were on the front foot. They were pressing Minnesota throughout the game. they were ah you know They generated plenty of scoring chances. And it wasn't like they just capitulated.
00:33:18
Speaker
And so that was sort of my... my reluctance to use that phrase. But you, when I told you that I was reluctant to hear it, you were shocked. You thought it was obvious.
00:33:30
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, i I said, I think after the game that that was maybe the most embarrassing result in the history of of the centers and MLS play, at least it's certainly up there. And yeah, I just I don't know how else you would characterize it. And and it's a loaded term that I know people are reticent to use because it implies something I think about.
00:33:49
Speaker
it It can be used to imply something about the character of the team. And I don't I don't view it that way. I just think like they were up to nil and they were up to one a man up and they.
00:34:03
Speaker
you know, they, they lost the game and that's, I don't know how else you would characterize that. And then yeah again, against the team in Minnesota United who have the shortcomings and in, in the coming back space that we've discussed, you know? um Yeah.
00:34:18
Speaker
So yeah, it's, it sucks to, to view it that way, but I just don't know how else you would describe it. I don't either. I think you're, you're ultimately right. And I think the thing that really sements it is,
00:34:30
Speaker
the penalty shootout where they had this thing, they had it, you know? ah And again, i don't want to call any particular player a choker. Cause I don't, I don't necessarily think it was, it was not one player. It was a collective effort. You could go back and look at, you know, it's like almost everyone who ultimately came up short in this game Also came up big.
00:34:55
Speaker
You know, they, you know, Andrew Thomas makes two saves and then is the the guy who misses his penalty to seal it. Jordan Morris scores the late equalizer, which is an undeniably clutch moment and then misses his penalty.
00:35:10
Speaker
ah Albert Rusnak is, ah you know, scores an amazing goal to get the center started and then misses an absolute gimme to go make him go up three one. You know, you can just kind of go down the list and find elements of, you know, Obed Vargas also misses his penalty without his two goals in the first game or in the in game two.
00:35:32
Speaker
they aren't in this position. So yeah, you can, know you know, uh, Osase de Rosario misses his penalty. It's his goal in league's cup final that, that paves the way for the Sounders to win that one.
00:35:45
Speaker
You go down the list and it's, ah it's not, it's, there's not easy targets of your individual ire. This is a collective failure. And I think as a collective,
00:35:56
Speaker
It's ah just an utterly disappointing and you know almost mind-melting type of result because this is the exact kind of situation this team was built to excel in.
00:36:08
Speaker
These guys had been here. They had had success. They were a cohesive unit. They were not supposed to fall apart the way that they did in these moments.
00:36:20
Speaker
No, I mean, it's it's a veteran team. you know All these guys have been there before, and they have gutted it out. And we talked, I think, going into the playoffs about how much better we felt about their ability to not have games like this um than we maybe would have earlier in the season, and because they had been pretty consistently good defensively and kind of locked things down a little bit. So again, I think it just comes back to, for me, the disappointment is so much that I felt like they were leaving a lot of money on the table.
00:36:51
Speaker
And, and that's, that's the worst way to feel at the end of the season. Like whether or not you feel like the whole season was a success overall, holistically, whatever, when you feel like there was more that they could have accomplished and, and they flamed out like this, it's just hard to, you know, it's, it's hard to accept.
Offseason Strategies and Roster Management
00:37:10
Speaker
I think it's a little easier also when you can look at the team and say, well, they just didn't have big game performers or they just weren't good enough offensively or they they need they clearly need ah improvement at this position.
00:37:27
Speaker
yeah And I think what's tough is that in a series like this, there's not obvious fixes. It's sort of like, well, just convert your stupid penalties.
00:37:38
Speaker
How about holding a two zero lead? That's not, there's no solve for that. That's just, you go up to zero in a playoff game. You should win that game. That's not that complicated.
00:37:51
Speaker
No, not, not controversial. I don't think. No, uh, it's yeah, exactly. So I don't know. ah It's going to be a ah very interesting offseason, as it always is. ah You know, i think we should probably, though, take a break. We'll come back and try to figure out where we go from here and what we think this offseason is going to look like, because i think that's, you know, I don't know when the next time we're going to go to talk about this, but this seems like a good place to sort of set the table and figure out where where things might be going.
00:38:23
Speaker
You're listening to No Sarietas, part of the Sounder Heart Podcast Network, and we will be right back.
00:38:29
Speaker
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00:38:41
Speaker
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00:39:18
Speaker
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00:39:44
Speaker
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00:40:03
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00:40:16
Speaker
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00:40:32
Speaker
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00:40:46
Speaker
Welcome back to Nos Adiates, part of the Sounder Heart podcast network. We are going to look ahead to this off season. It's still obviously very early. I don't think the player the Sounders even met with all the players yet to tell them what they're going to do. So we don't know exactly what is going to happen.
00:41:06
Speaker
ah do have a bunch of guys who are either out of contract or going into an option year. i We may as well start with the roster. Aaron, is there anyone that... you know and let's just start right at the top.
00:41:23
Speaker
Stephen Fry... is going to be out of, is out of contract. He has said that he would like to play one more year. He's also made some comments about wanting to not, he's he hasn't indicated that he's ready to just be a backup. Like he wants at least an opportunity to still be a starter. Now, whether he was talking about, you know, this was about two months ago that he made those comments.
00:41:48
Speaker
It's possible he was just talking about this year, but I think that's the biggest question mark probably that, that the, what's going to happen where, you know, where it's, what, what do you hope? What are you hoping? What do you, what would you like to see happen with Stefan Fry?
00:42:05
Speaker
My biggest hope is, uh, either that he retires because that's truly what he wants to do. Um, and that he's, he's happy to hang him up or he understands that he's,
00:42:18
Speaker
Andrew Thomas needs to be the starter next year. They need to figure out what they have in him sooner than later. And he's going to need to be given every opportunity to keep the job um and accept that and be okay with playing, you know, in, in leagues cup or whatever other, you know, maybe there'll be open cup next year. I don't know. um And get, you know, I'm sure occasional starts during league play. um And he's truly okay with that.
00:42:46
Speaker
And Brian Schmetzer is also, committed to that. Right. Because one of the things I do kind of worry about is, you know, in 2014 stuff's first year, he had some pretty significant struggles earlier in the year.
00:42:59
Speaker
Um, he, he hadn't started for a couple of years. He was coming off an injury. um I think there was a lot of pressure moving from Toronto FC that to that point had never done squat to, you know, a team that expected to be competing for trophies.
00:43:13
Speaker
Um, and he had some high profile mistakes. Uh, he gave some goals he shouldn't have, And, you know, Ziggy stuck with him and he turned into the Stephen Fry we know and love. Right.
00:43:25
Speaker
and i And I hope that Andrew Thomas would get that same opportunity if he struggles. I worry that it's a lot harder to not look at your bench and think about making a move when Stephen Fry is sitting there.
00:43:37
Speaker
um And Brian has shown a propensity to stick with veterans maybe a little longer than people would like. Um, so that's a concern I have, but if everybody's on board with Andrew Thomas is the starter and he's going to have to really lose the job for that to change, uh, and Steph is okay with that, you know, that's the best possible outcome.
00:44:04
Speaker
Yeah. i I would say it's a realistic outcome. I, I would like that to be the outcome as well. I would think the big part of it will be Steph, hopefully willing to take probably,
00:44:16
Speaker
half of what he's making now. I think he's on, he's on 600,000 right now. I, I think he's a perfectly good backup at, you know, 300,000. If that's something that he's happy with, I hope that's what happens. Yeah.
00:44:30
Speaker
And I do think, to Brian's credit, I think he's shown he's shown a good track record of once he's sort of made a decision about moving on from a veteran that he's stuck to it. You know, Ladero was here.
00:44:43
Speaker
You know, maybe he was starting longer than we would have liked. But once he was no longer the starter, he wasn't, you know, getting back into the starting lineup even when, you know, Rusnak wasn't necessarily killing it.
00:44:56
Speaker
Although, I mean, Rusnak didn't exactly give him a huge opening for it. but Right. I think there's... I mean, Rui Diaz is kind of the same deal where, you know, once he was... It took longer to get him to the bench, but once he was on the bench, he kind of stayed there and he was he was more of a backup.
00:45:14
Speaker
So I would like to think that if that's what happens with Fry, i i will say that i'm I'm very ready for the Andrew Thomas era to begin. was okay with Steph being the starter.
00:45:25
Speaker
I appreciate that... that I guess Steph...
Podcast Conclusion and Sponsor Mentions
00:45:30
Speaker
was open to the idea of Thomas coming in as the as the shootout specialist.
00:45:37
Speaker
That's kind of a bummer if that ends up being the last thing that Steph does to as a sounder. I hope that's not the case. But you know I do think it shows his leadership and his self-awareness that he was willing to take a step aside.
00:45:53
Speaker
He has not been great in penalties. I think he recognizes that. and And the reality is that Thomas gave the Sounders a wonderful chance to win that shootout. And it's hard for me to imagine that Steph would have performed quite as ably.
00:46:08
Speaker
and And I'm glad that that Thomas got that opportunity. so Hopefully that's what happens. um But yeah. ah So and the next player who I think has ah big question about them. So just you know, the other players that are out of contract are John Bell and Paul Rothrock.
00:46:32
Speaker
I believe that's it. um We still, you know, we actually, someone asked Paul if he was coming back next year and he was, as you would expect, very noncommittal, basically said he'd like to come back, but it's not really entirely up to him.
00:46:50
Speaker
I don't know that there's much to be said. I think we probably would both like to see him back, but whether or not that happens is sort of out of the Sounders control. ah I would love to see John Bell back as well. I just don't think that's going to happen.
00:47:03
Speaker
feel like someone's going be willing to pay him more than what the Sounders are.
00:47:09
Speaker
And he probably deserves a play. He deserves a little bit more of a clear path to potentially starting. Like he, i don't even think he was a foster for the, for the last game.
00:47:22
Speaker
ah And he certainly he didn't play either way. And it's not really hard to question that he was the at best third or fourth center back on the team right now. So ah but anyway, that's those are the big ones there. And then as far as options go, there's a lot more options.
00:47:40
Speaker
Yemar Gomez and Drade has an option coming up. I would think the Sounders will pick that up. No question. Although it's worth talking about, is it worth exploring a a trade for Yamar if the Sounders can can do that?
00:47:55
Speaker
i think it's I think it's definitely worth exploring. um It's definitely one of those things where you would always rather move a player too early than too late, I think.
00:48:07
Speaker
But the big question for me is, who are you going to replace him right um right Because i think that... This team needs... i love Jackson Reagan. I think he's a great player. i think he needs a Yamar-type center back parallel would agree that.
00:48:22
Speaker
And so those don't come cheap, right? If you want to go get Yamar 2, you know, a guy who was a little bit younger but the same caliber of player as Yamar was when he got here, you're going to have to spend some money. And I think that that becomes a lot easier if Obed Vargas moves, which I'm sure we'll get to.
00:48:40
Speaker
um But they have to... they're going to have to free up some cap space most likely because you're probably going to have a transfer fee hitting the cap unless you can find a free agent somehow, um, or swing a trade for a very high profile center back. I mean, you you know, Chad Marshall did not require transfer fee. So maybe you can find a way to, to get a player of that caliber within league, but I don't see an era of MLS, but yeah, I absolutely. Yeah.
00:49:07
Speaker
understand. I just, I don't see a way that you, um, are able to adequately replace the AMR without other things happening elsewhere on the roster.
00:49:18
Speaker
But right. And his um the reality is he's a bar. He's still a bargain. He's like he's less than $900,000 this year. Even if he goes up to like nine 50, that's still an absolute bargain. When we were talking about, uh, you know, center backs getting designated player contracts, there's, you know, there's multiple, uh,
00:49:40
Speaker
there it's I would think on the open market, Yamar is probably $1.4, $1.5 million. dollars He's a TAM player, a high ta player on the open market and i I would not quite – I mean, if the Sounders – I can understand why the Sounders would keep them even if there's a temptation to trade them. It's just upgrading at his price point unless you have you know other money that you can spend, new allocation money that you can spend. I i think that makes sense.
00:50:12
Speaker
ah So the next player on an option, Ryan Kent. I have to assume the centers are going to decline this option. Almost certainly. He's probably on over a million dollars for his option.
00:50:26
Speaker
Yeah. And, and I think that's, i mean, that's, that feels like a no brainer. Um, but it doesn't necessarily mean he won't be back. I suppose yeah they can get them on a lower number, but they would have to be like half.
00:50:39
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, i don't know, man. uh, I don't blame Ryan Kent for this necessarily because he just had some really shit luck, but he just didn't show me a whole lot this season.
00:50:52
Speaker
um He's a very tantalizing player, but I am not fully convinced that he offers you that much more than Georgie does, frankly. um And they have kind of similar skill sets.
00:51:04
Speaker
That's a fair point. You're going to have Paul Ariello coming back. Now, obviously a player coming back from ACL injury, you can't expect them to be exactly the same as they were right away.
00:51:15
Speaker
um But you got to figure he's going to contribute, you know, a little, a little bit more than he did this year, obviously. um So I don't know. I just like, even at $500,000, which I think is unlikely, like I feel like he could probably get more money elsewhere.
00:51:33
Speaker
Yeah. Even with an MLS, right? Like if there's a team who is willing to give him a starting job and pay him, you know, 850 whatever, I think that that makes all the sense in the world for him to to take that kind of deal.
00:51:44
Speaker
And there are teams for which I think that that as a gamble makes sense because maybe with consistent playing time, he finds his form and can be a really effective player. But for where the Sounders are at, for the congestion they kind of have at the winger spot, I'm just not sure it makes sense unless it's a huge, huge ah discount.
00:52:02
Speaker
Yeah. ah All right. Next up, we got Nuhu. He has an option for next year. A couple months ago, I would have said absolutely decline it.
00:52:17
Speaker
don't know. I'm not like I feel like Reed is probably ready to step in But does that mean I wouldn't like having Nuhu around? I don't know. Right.
00:52:29
Speaker
But it's the same. It's the same discussion as we had with Stefan Pry, but probably yeah more urgent. I would agree. Because I think yeah because I think Brian really likes Ngu. Right. and I think he does, too. Yeah.
00:52:41
Speaker
Probably the biggest difference between me and Brian Schmetzer is how we feel about Ngu as a left back. But um I, you know, he's not a bad guy to have around, certainly. But I would almost I mean,
00:52:55
Speaker
I know that they have explored moving him in the past and it doesn't sound like there's a huge market for him. So that makes the pick up his option and see if you can move them strategy a little bit riskier. i don't think it would shock anybody to hear that. I would prefer they decline the option. I've kind of made my piece with the idea that they will be picking up the option.
00:53:15
Speaker
And, yeah you know, I just, I hope that Reed Baker waiting gets a, it's a real honest crack at that starting spot. Yeah. ah Next one, Danny Masofsky has an option.
00:53:28
Speaker
That's a no-brainer to pick up, but the question is, what do you do with it? you Do the Sounders roll with him Osaze as you know backups or even pairing at times with Jordan Morris, or do you strike while the iron is hot and move Danny somewhere where maybe he can get a big extension?
00:53:49
Speaker
I think that Danny Musavsky is 31, right? um And he just put up twice as much XG per 90 as he has ever put up in his career.
00:54:03
Speaker
That's, yeah. And I, now, I'm sure some of that is down to Sounders' style of play. And I do think that he is legitimately a very good poacher and he's very good at at finding spots in the box.
00:54:16
Speaker
You know, i think that He would be a very effective striker, starting striker for plenty of teams in this league who would probably be happy to spend some money on him. So that's what I would do.
00:54:28
Speaker
um There's there's a downside risk there, right? Like I like Osaze as a player. I think he's the real deal. I think he can be ah a good MLS forward, but he hasn't shown that consistently. But before, last you know, before the season, neither had dan Danny Musovsky, right? He had always been a guy who put up good underlying numbers and didn't actually put the ball on the net.
00:54:49
Speaker
Darrow has put the ball in the net a few times so that he's got that going for him. um I do think though, if you move on from Musovsky, you probably need to go find another forward somewhere, whether it be a U22 or. Yeah, I think you could maybe go a little bit more project. Do you, but yeah.
00:55:05
Speaker
Yeah. um Like I, you know, I don't think Jordan Morris is injury prone the same way a lot of people do, but he's, you know, he's 31 years old. um He did have a couple of injuries this year.
00:55:18
Speaker
we saw how like before Moose found his scoring form, the Sounders were putrid after Jordan got hurt. And so you don't want to be in a situation like that again.
00:55:29
Speaker
um i do think that Jesus can play striker more effectively than he did this year. So you do have that, you know, break glass in case of emergency option, but I do think you've got to find you know, somewhere else to shore up that depth. But yeah, I'd be looking to move him. It's possible the market's not there, but after the season, you add, you've got to think. I think if you can get $500,000 in gam for Masovsky, I almost feel like you have to move him. And I think he probably would want to go somewhere. That's going to give him a longer extension.
00:56:01
Speaker
The sounders would be crazy in my opinion, to give him a big extension and keep them around. But right. Right. That's the thing, right, is like he's he's got one contract left that's going to give him like a life changing amount of money, potentially.
00:56:17
Speaker
um And he's not going to get that here. And the risk to him is that he just regresses back to his his prior form. And when he actually hits full on free agency, he's making less money than he is now. So.
00:56:34
Speaker
Right. um So then the next step is Kim Kihee. He's only, he's on the veteran minimum right now. I don't know what his option is for, but let's assume his option is close to what he's making now. do you, do you want to bring him back?
00:56:52
Speaker
Um, I mean, I think if bell is leaving, you kind of almost have to, um, yeah, I would hope that Stuart Hawkins is able to play more next year.
00:57:03
Speaker
um And I think if Bell leaving makes that, you know, more of a possibility, ah I kind of expect them to go find another center back somewhere for depth, though.
00:57:18
Speaker
So I don't know. i I certainly don't mind it if he if he comes back. i I guess it depends on whether or not he wants to come back also. Yeah. But if his option is much more than the veteran minimum, I probably wouldn't pick that up.
00:57:32
Speaker
Right. ah ah so So Obed is technically still on an option. I think we know he's already, his options already been exercised. I don't know if we need to, we could do a whole show on, on Obed.
00:57:46
Speaker
I think we would both like to see him.
00:57:50
Speaker
i don't know. I would like to, I guess I'd like to, I'd either like to see him move for a lot of money or back. Like those are, uh, ah I do think he's probably moving on though.
00:58:02
Speaker
um And then the the rest of the players who are on options are, are younger players. We can kind of go. I assume both of us, obviously Kalani is an easy pickup.
00:58:13
Speaker
Osaza is an easy pickup. ah And then you've got Jacob Castro. i I kind of feel like the Jacob Castro thing is done. I was really disappointed in the way he played at the defiance this year.
00:58:30
Speaker
Yeah. That's bummer. But, I mean, it's, you know. Yeah. Although, they might not have another third. Like, it's possible that there's not a ah third goalkeeper that they're ready to bring up to the first team right now. True.
00:58:47
Speaker
But yeah, I mean, I guess. But like, I just feel like if if he's on a pro contract, I'm sure you can find somebody else that. Right. Could take that, but you know, that minimum contract and fill that spot. And then gets a chance to go somewhere else.
00:59:05
Speaker
And then. Travion Sousa, he is currently on loan with FC Tulsa, though who's in the USL Western Conference final. ah he's He's starting for for them.
00:59:19
Speaker
He is a left-footed left back. That is something that is not always easy to find. i He did not play at all for the first team this year, though. i i wouldn't be totally shocked either way.
00:59:32
Speaker
i i honestly don't know what will happen there. Yeah, I think when when guys hit like their mid-20s and they have a decent track record in MLS Next Pro, um there are exceptions, obviously. ah There's a very prominent one who is a free agent going into next season, but I just kind of feel like the best thing to do for them is to let them go find a home and at the USL level um and you know potentially play their way back into Yeah.
01:00:03
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. i I tend to agree with you there. ah And then the last one is Leo Bernie. I assume he'll be back. I don't see any reason why he he wouldn't be, frankly.
01:00:16
Speaker
Yeah. um
01:00:19
Speaker
And that's... Yeah, that's that's probably... i mean, that's that kind of lays the groundwork. Is there ah one thing you'd like to see them add, though? I guess that's a ah good place to end this.
01:00:31
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I think that the... I feel pretty good about the attack. I think that maybe they could improve that marginally or change, you know, change things up there marginally, bring in a depth strike whatever it is.
01:00:44
Speaker
Um, you 22, maybe, maybe this will be the window. Um, and I think obviously if they move on from the AMR, they have to go make a big signing, et cetera, back, but assuming they don't make any of those big moves, right. Yammer is back next year.
01:01:00
Speaker
um they don't find a home for him. um I think that that they need another midfielder. I think regardless of anything else they do, they need another midfielder.
01:01:11
Speaker
And I ideally it is a midfielder in the big and nasty vein, because I do think that that's one of the things that we're missing this year in their toolbox. Um, just a guy to come in and close out games that could, you know, be physical, um,
01:01:26
Speaker
be a ball winner, provide some height on set pieces when needed. Hassani Dotson, I think, is a great example of the kind of player I'd like to see them target. Although that i think he's probably...
01:01:37
Speaker
a little above where they would want to be, you know, from a salary perspective. Now, if Obed Vargas moves and you want to wait until the more advantageous window to find his replacement at central midfield, he's a guy I think you could roll with until then, um because he's he's shown that he's a starting caliber midfielder in this league, you know, previously.
01:01:58
Speaker
But, you know, a player in that mold is who I'd like to see them bring in, um because I think they could just use a little bit more, know, aggression sometimes and in central midfield. But other than that, man, the roster is good. Like, I do think this is a really good team.
01:02:14
Speaker
Like we talked about in the first segment. It doesn't need an overall what I'm hearing you say. Yeah. Like part of the reason the way it ended was so frustrating is I think that they're, you know, if not in the S tier with LAFC in Miami, they are right below there and they should be making a deeper run. So they they don't need major surgery by any stretch.
01:02:33
Speaker
So, ah yeah But i do think that the I do think that the summer window could be pretty interesting if Obed moves because I think that's probably where they'd wait to to reinvest some of that money. And how they managed to do that with all three d DP spots spoken for could be interesting to see.
01:02:51
Speaker
Yeah. ah One player I forgot to mention, Joe Paolo, does have an option for next year. i have to assume the centers are going to decline that option because it's you know he he came back on a big discount from last year.
01:03:05
Speaker
it would be tough to bring him back on it. He's on 600,000 or so yeah right now. I don't think they could bring him back on that, but i I've heard that he might be interested in coaching. I would love to keep him involved, but I think they'd probably need to pick up someone who's, you know, not, he, he struggled with the injury this year.
01:03:28
Speaker
he you know, he, when he played, he looked okay. It would be a pretty big roll of the dice, though, I think, to bring him back as sort of your yourre only backup six.
01:03:42
Speaker
Yeah, I think so. I mean, and he he looked OK in ah few games. he had a you know He had a couple of appearances where he looked like his old self, and he looked pretty bad in a couple games, too.
01:03:55
Speaker
i I can't disagree with you there. and All right. Well, this is probably a good place to to call it ah for now. We're going to think we're going to do another mailbag episode before we sort of go into offseason mode.
01:04:09
Speaker
Yeah, there is going to be stuff to talk about. There's this whole thing with the center sale. We didn't talk about that today, ah but we'll probably talk about it a bit more as the weeks come. I'll also be doing a show with Nico on Friday. So we'll we'll have some more stuff to discuss later.
01:04:25
Speaker
um But if there's anything, look for the mailbag. Again, if you want to submit questions for the mailbag, you got to do it through our Discord. If you want to get on our Discord, you got to be a member at the supporter level or above. That's $75 a year. But we'd love to have you. The offseason is honestly always a lot of fun, especially in Discord.
01:04:45
Speaker
It's been actually some of the more interesting, kind of more fun conversations we've had because we're not just fighting about why we blew that game. We're talking about all kinds of stuff ah going forward. So I urge you to to sign up for that and so honestly support everything that we're doing because this is ah that's honestly how we how we keep doing this.
01:05:04
Speaker
But anyway, Aaron, it's been great. ah Again, we'll do another episode before we go into off-season mode, I'm sure. But... ah That said, I'm Jeremiah Shan signing off for Aaron Campbell and Lickett.
01:05:16
Speaker
I should also say thank you to our sponsor, Full Pool Wines and Hacks and Ferments, as well as our subscribers. This is No Sadi At Dis, part of the Sounder Heart Podcast Network. And remember, you'll never get alone.
01:05:58
Speaker
Let's go at Sounders. um