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The praises of winning ugly away at St Louis, Lumen Field World Cup grass information with Tim Booth, and a CCL Whitecaps preview
0 Playsin 3 hours
Aaron and Jeremiah talk about the win again St. Louis and dig into the Sounders current center back situation: it’s a bit dicey at the moment. Tim Booth joins Jeremiah to dig a bit into what he reported on the grass going into Lumen Field ahead of this summer’s World Cup. To wrap the episode up Aaron rejoins Jeremiah and they preview the upcoming series against the Whitecaps for Concacaf Champions Cup.
Follow Tim Booth on BlueSky and the Seattle Times.
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Transcript
Will Bruin's New Role with Sounder at Heart
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.
00:00:11
Speaker
Come
Seattle Sounders Crowned MLS Cup Winners
00:00:12
Speaker
on. Hey, O'Shaughness. Let's The Seattle Sounders have done it. MLS Cup winners. The Sounders rule the region.
00:00:43
Speaker
Ooch of a gooch! All creatures, great and small! Rothrock gonna collect it, he does just about, runs into the advertising order. Low to our left, ball goes in! Oh, what a goal! Where's my copy? got bunch of them How many do you cost them? 50 bucks.
00:01:08
Speaker
I'll deadline you.
Episode Sponsorship by Full Pull Wines
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.
00:01:42
Speaker
Welcome to another episode of No Sarrientes, part of the Sound of Heart Podcast Network and sponsored by Full Pool Wines as well as our subscribers.
Sounders' 1-0 Win Against St. Louis City
00:01:49
Speaker
We're recording on Monday, March 9th, 2026. I am your host, Jeremiah O'Shan. Today, i am joined by my co-host, Aaron Campo, and our engineer, Lickett. Later in the show...
00:02:00
Speaker
Tim Booth of the Seattle Times will be talking to me about the grass that is currently being installed at Lumen Field. But before we get to that, let's talk about this Sounders game.
00:02:12
Speaker
They beat St. Louis City one zero It wasn't exactly a scintillating win, but it was... you know, a professional road win in which the Sounders were already shorthanded and then they lost Yamar to a hamstring injury, which we can talk about a little little bit later.
00:02:31
Speaker
ah In the first half, it's the third time this year the Sounders have had to use a first half substitute due to injury. But in the end, you know, a professional 1-0 win, Aaron.
00:02:43
Speaker
Yeah, no complaints with that one. I think anytime you you can get points on the road in MLS, you got to be pretty happy about it. And i think especially considering the the absences the Sounders have, they've got a short turnaround time. So they they did a little bit of rotation, it felt like. And yeah, you know, it wasn't super exciting, but it didn't need to be. As soon as the Sounders got the goal, I think they realized that if we set our minds to making sure St. Louis doesn't score, St. Louis isn't going to score.
00:03:10
Speaker
That's the way it went. Yeah. You know, I would I have liked a little bit more excitement, maybe some more fireworks. Sure. But I'll take the three points at the end of the day. And I think if you can play a game like that without really getting out of second gear and go home with with a win, you've got to feel pretty good about it, even though it's it's not like they came out of it unscathed.
00:03:31
Speaker
Right. They didn't come out of it unscathed, but I think it was a good reminder that this team is still capable of playing good defense. And I realize St. Louis City is not an offensive juggernaut. They haven't been an off offensive juggernaut. I think they look more capable this year than they have in years past. But this is not a team that's going to put up, you know, 50 plus goals, I don't think.
Sounders' Strategic and Tactical Analysis
00:03:50
Speaker
But Anytime you can get a shutout on the road, I don't think you can overlook that. And I know watching, i did i only watched the first 60 minutes, 55, 60 minutes live. i had ah an event to go to on Saturday, so I didn't watch the whole game live. But then I did watch the last 30-odd minutes or so after I got home.
00:04:12
Speaker
And it was funny watching it, knowing the result. I was like, yeah, this was a pretty comfortable finish. they They didn't dominate the last 30 minutes, but they had the two best chances of the last 30 minutes.
00:04:27
Speaker
They didn't give up really any good looks. There was the best chance that St. Louis had was probably that Marcel Hartle shot from outside the box that that looked like Thomas may not have had a good view of, but he made a save, kind of a tough save. And other than that, they they just did not cause a lot of trouble.
00:04:47
Speaker
But live, I get the sense that there was a lot more con consternation.
00:04:55
Speaker
Sorry, you caught me right when I was taking a swig of my seltzer there. My bad. Yeah, i I didn't know the result watching the last 20, 30 minutes of the game, but I also felt very comfortable. ah St. Louis just was not capable of breaking down that bunker.
00:05:09
Speaker
And I think that sometimes there's a difference between, ah I feel comfortable as a fan with a vested interest in this game, watching this and the team feels comfortable with what they're doing. You know, I saw a lot of criticism over the Sounders inability to maintain possession.
00:05:26
Speaker
ah you know, a lot of, uh, just sort of blind clearances, um taking safe passes uh, i you know, not trying to dribble out of trouble, really just not trying to press the issue very much. They had a couple of nice counterattacks, but they were very wide open, very safe counterattacks to make.
00:05:46
Speaker
And I think that was all by design. I think that if you watch the last, you know, half hour of the game in the mindset of the tactical plan, the approach here was to take what they give you in the attack and otherwise not really press the issue.
00:06:02
Speaker
You're comfortable defensively. St. Louis has not been able to create any danger, not even all game, all season, all of their existence, more or less, aside from that first year.
00:06:12
Speaker
ah And, you know, just just let them continue bashing their heads against the wall, trying to create goal ah trying to create opportunities. Just let them have at it. Really, the only danger they had was from set pieces.
00:06:26
Speaker
They weren't going to be getting a lot of dangerous set pieces in those situations. They had some corners, but the Sounders looked pretty comfortable in the corners. So, yeah, I think it was the right decision to to play that way.
00:06:36
Speaker
It saves your legs. You know, I think it's a lot easier to defend that way than it is to try to stretch the game or or try to keep a lot of attacking movement going to to keep possession and things like that. So, yeah.
00:06:48
Speaker
um Not a lot of fun to watch. and i And I certainly understand how it's maybe more comfortable to to see, you know, your team just dominating the ball and in a game like that. But on the road, that's just not going to happen that much. And it it really doesn't make a whole lot of sense to get to let the game open up and give St. Louis's opportunities to catch something on the break or, you know, have a little more space to create.
00:07:13
Speaker
I will say i did note that the Sounders had line of confrontation that it was about 20
Koserianzi's Goal: Skill and Opportunity
00:07:20
Speaker
yards deeper than either of their previous two games. You know, 38% possession, pretty low.
00:07:27
Speaker
You can sort of illustrate the... relative bunkerness, bunkeriness of the Sounders in a lot of different statistical areas. And in that way, it was atypical of the Sounders. This is not normally how they play. They've certainly not played this way over the last couple of years.
00:07:44
Speaker
But I also wonder if this might be a little bit of a philosophy change for Brian Spencer that, you know, we don't have to go out and entertain the road fans. You know, we can, if we're up late, it's totally acceptable you you know, be conservative. And that said, like, ah like I said at the beginning, the two best chances that were created over the last 10, 20, 30 minutes of the game were Sounders chances. They were probably a little unlucky not to get a goal.
00:08:12
Speaker
ah Snyder Brunel had his, had a shot blocked. That was a pretty open shot. And then Danny Masofsky found himself with another glorious chance. That's two and two games.
00:08:26
Speaker
And he wasn't able to finish that one. And that's, you know, i'm I'm willing to take those trade-offs. You know, if if we aren't going to have a lot of the ball, but we're going to create good scoring opportunities, I don't know. I'm not i'm not too too upset about that.
Upcoming Matches and Challenges for Sounders
00:08:43
Speaker
Yeah, I think the thing is is that this team is a really good team in the high press and counter-pressing and getting opportunities on the break that way. But they're still pretty effective countering from a bunker as well. And so you're not it's not like you're just saying, we're just not going to even try to score.
00:09:00
Speaker
You're just going to be a lot more selective and you're going to... have a much deeper line of confrontation in a situation like that. And having that, that countering threat is, is really useful because you could really tell, I think after, after the Mussovsky chance where he wasn't able to convert, but I thought did a really good job of even getting a real chance out of that one. There were, I saw some people were confused as to why he didn't try to put the rebound back, but he was at that point offside, I think so.
00:09:33
Speaker
But I think the initial chance he did a really great job on that one. um But yeah, there's there's just not really any reason to push forward or as you said, to to entertain the road fans.
00:09:44
Speaker
and And I think that that was a lot of what burned the Sounders last year is that they had this sort of like almost ideological commitment to play in a certain way. and And I appreciate that. And I think a lot of people appreciate that. Like they like a team that has an identity and they they like a team that's going to play attacking soccer.
00:10:02
Speaker
I think based on how they looked at home, how they looked against RSL, how they looked even early in this one, they're committed to doing that as plan a But when plan A is effective and it works and you kind of you have the result you need in hand, if you can just hold a clean sheet.
00:10:17
Speaker
there's really no reason not to to drop into plan B and and just be a little less proactive and ah do what I think you're you're really capable of doing and see out games like that.
00:10:29
Speaker
And if that can improve what was a pretty middling road record last year, like if they can pick up an extra, I don't know, six points on the road over what they did last year, that instantly puts them into shield contention if they can keep the the home ah form up as well.
Sounders' Squad Depth Concerns
00:10:45
Speaker
We had identified this one as, again, not a must win, but as of the remaining road games to start this this season,
00:10:59
Speaker
it was the most winnable one on paper. And so just getting those three points was really job was the the main job and how you did it does not matter. You know, there are no style points as we are fond of saying, and i don't know. I just don't, I don't really have a problem with this one. I liked, you know, and, and as a result, we also got to see Cody Baker for the first time this year.
00:11:23
Speaker
i thought he looked good. you know he He looked like he was perfectly capable of of slotting in and and doing a job. I thought it was interesting that Brian Schmetzer made a point of of identifying that the Sounders did not switch into a three-back formation or a five-back formation when Cody came on, that he was asked to just basically play as a right-back? Was he playing right-back?
00:11:46
Speaker
Did he... ah No, I think that closer Enzi stayed at right back and he sort of played as like a Oh, yeah, I guess he played more as a winger, didn't he? Yeah, as much as the Sounders were using ah a player you could call a winger and while he was on the pitch. Yeah, I mean, he he made he made a couple of good. He replaced. Yeah, he replaced. Yeah, cornne yeah he made he made a couple of good runs. So with the ball to just kind of kill some time.
00:12:11
Speaker
Yeah, ah exactly. it so it wasn't the most aggressive sub, but he was still playing as ah as a right mid, I guess, is the the point there. ah But speaking of Kosa Rienzi, a great goal, a really, really great goal. And I thought it was, you know, I thought one of the things I wrote about today in my column was how it was not a perfect execution of a play.
00:12:35
Speaker
But it came out almost perfectly. And in fact, the imperfections of it allowed it to sort of happen in the first place. Because if he, you know, the the way it starts is Nuhu and Ferreira are pressuring Weilam in the and the corner there.
00:12:52
Speaker
Weilam, I guess, doesn't really seem to recognize where Ferreira is. And he leaves his pass very short. Ferreira smartly jumps on it. Sees Costa Rienzi on the ah opposite top of the penalty box.
00:13:05
Speaker
puts in a a pass that is not a bad pass, but maybe a little hot. And Costa Rienzi tries to control it with his right foot with the idea of just switching it to his left and taking a quick shot. But the his first touch is not great.
00:13:20
Speaker
It comes up on him, almost kind of comes off of his chest. And as a result of him not controlling it well, Daniel Edelman... sort of over commits.
00:13:31
Speaker
And as a result, opens up a great chance for him to settle it, take it, actually take another touch with his left foot before he hits it left footed inside the, the near post. It was a great shot. Not an, and it didn't seem like one that Roman Berkey was really totally ready for.
00:13:49
Speaker
So it worked out great. And I just kind of love that Costa Rienzi is capable of these kinds of plays. You know, this is a guy who does not have a whole lot of playing time. He is playing almost exclusively as a right back and sometimes maybe as a right wing back.
00:14:05
Speaker
But he seems to pop up in spots where you don't always expect. And he is, you know, he's pretty good around goal. I don't think he's like, I'm not sitting here saying that I want him starting over Alex Roldan. I, at this point, think Alex Roldan might be one of the best right backs in the league, but man, it's great to have an option like that, especially when the situation in a situation like this, where the Sounders need to slide Alex Roldan into center, into center back and, and then really lose much.
00:14:35
Speaker
Yeah, I thought i thought Costa Ranzi was really good, really effective as a right back. um You know, he had his hands full defensively, and I thought he handled things pretty well. um and And I just, I really like the way he plays right back. He's a very modern style of right back where he is going to be involved in in being goal dangerous. I mean, he's scored quite a few goals as a right back.
00:14:58
Speaker
um Obviously, he's scored quite a few goals as an attacking type sub, too, playing on the wing, but He's a threat from anywhere. He gets into good positions. I thought that whole goal was a great example of guys doing the right thing and committing and being in the right place.
00:15:15
Speaker
sort of making up for not the greatest execution, right? Like you said, it wasn't the greatest pass from Ferreira, but his pressure, his defensive effort, his awareness and his awareness both to spot the loose pass, jump on it right away and spot Koserianzi, who was in a great spot at the top of the box. And like you said, the bad touch maybe helped him out a little bit, but he was able to adjust really quickly.
00:15:40
Speaker
see the opportunity was still there to get the shot away and get away a perfectly placed shot through a crowded box. And yeah, I mean, it's like that. It really is like the the preparation a lot of the time and like being in the right place at the right time is is nine tenths of it. And execution is important. You would obviously love that to be a lot smoother. And, you know, Ferreira puts it at the perfect height to volley and, and cluster in puts it in the upper 90, but you know, the, the end result is the same.
00:16:12
Speaker
No, it's usually not soccer. And especially, you know, it outside of the very, very top level and the end results is the same, right? It's a goal. Yeah. And it's it ultimately ends up winning the game. But it it does make the loss of Yemar, which I'm sure we'll get to here in a second, but it does make it easier to stomach because because of the center back depth, Alex is going to have to slide over to center back.
00:16:36
Speaker
And if you've got a replacement level right back that's going to have to step in, that's a pretty big blow, right? Soccer is is a weak link sport. And, you know, losing one of the best guys, one of the best center backs in the league and having to replace him with one of the best right backs in the league. And so going down, you know, a rung at center back and then going down several rungs at right back, that's a huge problem.
00:16:59
Speaker
Fortunately, that's not the case because Costa
Defensive Lineup Options Amidst Injuries
00:17:01
Speaker
Renz, I think, is... is I would probably put him as like an average league average right back at this point, but with a skill set that I think works really well with with what the the Sounders are trying to do. And obviously ah a higher ceiling than that at this point.
00:17:15
Speaker
Yeah, I also just love his sort of whole his whole vibe. I'm i'm sure I've mentioned that. many times at this point, but he has this sort of, you know, approach of being a self-aware, but not getting in his own head and, and sort of just allowing the game to come to him and not getting too wrapped up in, in how things are going. And, you know, when he's not playing, he doesn't get his head down. And when he's playing well, he's not getting overly excited about it.
00:17:47
Speaker
And I think this is like the kind of player the Sounders have really, excelled in in developing because he wasn't someone who played elite youth soccer.
00:17:57
Speaker
He went to UW. he I don't know how many teams were really looking at drafting him. And the Sounders just saw someone who they thought had a good work ethic, who had the athleticism to succeed, and would sort of just...
00:18:12
Speaker
do what he had to do. And that's, and that's exactly what he's done. I'm sure we're going to get to see him a lot more in the coming weeks, ah which we may as well talk about now. ah Yamar is, you know, we haven't gotten an official diagnosis.
00:18:27
Speaker
And so I don't want to get overly dramatic about it, but from what I'm hearing, it's not good. It's probably a, it's certainly a multi-week recovery. And it's coming at a time when the Sounders schedule is about to get really, really crowded.
00:18:43
Speaker
And it's going to get tough. They have, you know, they have a match against the Vancouver Whitecaps on Thursday. and then they have a game at San Jose, which San Jose right now is one of the top teams in the whole league.
00:18:55
Speaker
They're three and oh, I haven't given up on a goal yet. And then they have another game against Vancouver in Spokane. And then they have Houston and then Minnesota.
00:19:08
Speaker
ah Or, yeah, I guess is the Minnesota game after the I guess the Minnesota game is after the break. But this is Minnesota game is a 20 seconds. The Houston game is after the break.
00:19:19
Speaker
Oh, OK. OK, there you go. ah so yeah, I mean, that's a that's going to be a tough, a tough road. It is. Yeah. And not to, we were moving on from the St. Louis game, but ah ah it's why getting three points out of that game was so important, right? Cause it's, they're going to be tough to come tough to come by the rest of the way.
00:19:40
Speaker
And ah home, you know, home field advantage looks extremely real so far in MLS this year. I'm sure that will shake out to some degree over the course rest of the It's starting shake out last week. That's true. That is true. um But still, I mean, it's it's a big deal playing in San Jose on short, short rest is is going to be tough.
00:19:59
Speaker
ah And yes, San Jose has not played the greatest competition so far, but you you play who you play. You know, you you can only beat the teams that are in front of you.
00:20:10
Speaker
And they have beaten the teams that are in front of them pretty handily. um Haven't given up a goal, like you said, averaged a couple of goals a game. So that's going to be a tough one. Minnesota is always a tough one. Houston is is always a tough one, despite the Sounders having a pretty good record there.
00:20:26
Speaker
over the years, although do have a lot of... There just aren't a lot of easy road games in MLS. There just aren't. Even the places the Sounders tend to play well.
00:20:38
Speaker
Houston, they've you know like you said, they've had some success there. Colorado's another place they've had some success. no I guess St. Louis, they've technically had a fair amount of success there. Austin, they've had some success. like We can go down the list of places they've actually got a pretty good record.
00:20:54
Speaker
I don't know that there's anywhere in MLS where you take a win for granted because that's just not how and MLS is. The home field advantage in MLS is such that every game on the road is you hope for it to be competitive.
00:21:13
Speaker
Like, yeah, I don't think there's anywhere that the centers are going to go where you're going to just be like, oh, yeah, that's an automatic three points. Yeah, ah if they were the Eastern Conference, you know, they would have they would have some of that that luxury with DC United and and Minnesota and maybe Montreal at this point. Or yeah, Montreal, sorry. Maybe Atlanta at this point. um But yeah, in the Western Conference, you know, they they really don't. Like Kansas City was god awful last year and they won four home games.
00:21:41
Speaker
um St. Louis won four home games last year. they were One of them gets the sounders was the Sounders, right. So you really can't. The Galaxy were... horrible last year and they won seven games at home so you know it's it's it's very tough to do especially when you're on the road five games in a row and uh yeah so you just you got to be happy with the points and if they don't get another win the rest of this road trip but they can can somehow come back with three more points i you know it's not exactly what i would have hoped for but i'll feel okay about it i think
00:22:17
Speaker
Well, let's ah before we move on from this, I do want to talk a little bit ah about the not so much Yamar's injury, but more how we want the Sounders to handle it.
Debate: Starting Danny Masovsky or Osase de Rosario?
00:22:29
Speaker
I assume for this game, we're going to get Alex Roldan and Jackson Reagan again. i assume Kalani will be playing right back again. But what other options are you hoping to be able to see? I mean, I i guess Kim Kihee is supposed to be back in training this week, so i guess I would imagine he will be potentially in the mix at some point.
00:22:52
Speaker
But they don't have a lot of great options at center back. Yeah, I mean, if if Kim Kihee is back in training this week, and how I mean, how long until he's fit enough to start?
00:23:05
Speaker
Right. another three or four weeks probably i would guess considering how i mean to start that might be yeah that's that's probably like he didn't really have a have a preseason right i mean that's a good point like if if he starts before the international break i have to admit i'd be a little surprised yeah um ryan sailor don't know ryan sailor is not going to be playing anytime soon that's for sure no and uh Yeah, how about how about that guy, huh?
00:23:32
Speaker
Yeah. I think some interesting for you this weekend. Yeah, in case people... We're not going to do this whole thing, but I just want to say did get passive...
00:23:44
Speaker
a passive call out from both Alexi Lawless and Clay Travis this week. Clay Travis is as you may or may not know, is a kind of a right wing sports provocateur. I guess maybe we can say i don't know if that's the right. He's he's Jason Rance's final form, I think. Right. But with, but yeah, in sports and he, he accused me of interrogating branchment, sir.
00:24:10
Speaker
Right. Which I thought was funny. Very funny. Very funny. But anyway. Anyway, yeah. So he's an option. Stu Hawkins would be the other player who potentially could get healthy and play. But I think he's only recently started training as well, right? Exactly. like i No one is... Best I can tell, unless the Sounders go out and sign someone, which could happen.
00:24:34
Speaker
Sure. But unless they go out and sign someone, they are really putting a lot of eggs in the Jackson-Reagan-Alex-Ruldon basket right now. Because beyond that right now, right, let's just put aside the guys who are working their way back and could be available soon.
00:24:52
Speaker
Let's say. i don't want to say it, but let's say something happens and one of the two of Jackson has to come out against Vancouver. i mean, you're with it's Cody Baker, right? Cody Baker is your next. I assume they will call up Tino Lopez, maybe who is not on a first team contract.
00:25:11
Speaker
Maybe Snyder Brunel could play there. i Maybe. Maybe Hassani Johnson can play there? like Yeah. I mean, once you get back and yeah once you get beyond Alex or or Cody Baker, who is not a natural center back, who has never, as far as I know, has not played in a two center back system.
00:25:33
Speaker
Yeah. I guess knew who like, yeah I guess you could drop new who back to play center back. If you had to put Baker on the left or right. There's just not, we we, there are not a lot options. It is a problem.
00:25:47
Speaker
And, you know, fingers crossed Alex or Don and Jackson Reagan can stay healthy for, you know, the next few weeks, maybe ideally for ever.
00:25:59
Speaker
I think for me, because you have three center backs under contract who will be back at some point this year, um and you know in the not super distant future, right like Kim Keehee, Stu Hawkins should probably be available and and ready to to start within a month. right I don't think you can go out and just sign a guy to sign sign a guy. right right You got to be kind of careful with that.
00:26:28
Speaker
For sure. But what you could potentially do is if you were planning on replacing Yamar, you know, signing Yamar as eventual replacement at some point in the near future, i guess you could bump that up a little bit um depending on how long Yamar is going to be out. Like if he's going to be out a month, you probably don't want to do that. If he's going to be out two months, if he's going to be out, you know, 10 weeks,
00:26:56
Speaker
maybe you do pull the trigger a little sooner, right especially if, and especially if it's somebody that you had planned on being able to, ah you know, not be a ah starter this year, right? Like, so like if you were going to sign a I don't think they're going to or would do that. But if they were going to sign a U22 center back or they were just going to sign a younger center back who they feel like Yehmark and Groom,
00:27:20
Speaker
well, maybe you bring him in and and and he's playing a little more than you would have liked a little sooner. But then it's a situation where once he is back and fit, he can slide back into that starting spot. It's not it's not a big problem.
00:27:34
Speaker
But ah yeah, it's it's a bad situation, man. it's ah You just got to hope that Alex and and Jackson can stay healthy until at least one more guy is is ready to go.
00:27:45
Speaker
I think more realistically than any of those, it's like finding someone like a Daniel Starris who is sort of just available right now. And that's sort of the level that you are most likely talking about, i think, is, you know, someone who...
00:28:05
Speaker
is you know not your first choice, but is can can eat some minutes. you know ah Sort of like ah a middle reliever who comes in in a seven, so you're down seven, so you just need someone to eat up some minutes and not blow destroy your bullpen.
00:28:23
Speaker
But like don we don't have to get too much into this because it's not none of it's happened yet. what and One other thing, though. can can they Does MLS allow like a short-term, like we're going to sign after six weeks?
00:28:35
Speaker
Yeah. ah Yeah, I think you can. i think you can. I think there are ways to. I think there is like an emergency. Maybe that's only for goalkeepers, but I there there might be something like that.
00:28:47
Speaker
that Because if that's a possibility, I'm sure there's somebody that's had a contract right now that can come in and at least be a breaking case of glass kind of guy, you know? Yeah.
00:28:59
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. You'd like to think in case of good good Lord break glass in case of emergency. You can tell it's the day after spring forward because we're both. Oh, my God.
00:29:09
Speaker
oh my God. Yeah, no kidding. ah So the other bit from this game that I wanted to to discuss a little bit was the Danny Masovsky-Osase de Rosario battle, for lack of a ah a better term.
Upcoming Episode Preview: Tim Booth Interview
00:29:26
Speaker
I think we're at the point now where I really like Osase de Rosario. I think he has a lot of potential. I don't see what, though, we're... gaining by continuing to roll him out there, especially when Danny Masofsky looks fine. Like he looks good. he He's getting into spots. I, and i suspect that we will see him start against Vancouver at the very least, but I'm just, you know, I'm ready to let him get some more minutes. I, I like we, we've discussed that his not starting seems as much a product of him just not playing a ton in preseason while he was sort of like regaining full fitness.
00:30:06
Speaker
But i I think I'm ready to see Danny get some starts again. Yeah, I am as well. um i I like you. I like De Rosario's game. He has a skill set that the Sounders haven't had in a while um of just like a guy who can win physical battles and ah be a really threatening presence in the air and and is really has really great hold-up play.
00:30:30
Speaker
I like his game a lot, and and I think he'll score plenty of goals, but I think he's a backup forward. at at this point in his career. I think he's, ah he hasn't just, hasn't looked gold dangerous to me at all. He's, he's done some really good work. He's, he's been involved in the buildup and the creation of a couple of goals.
00:30:47
Speaker
And he's, he's been important, I think to the Sounders success when they've had it this year, but ultimately, you need your striker to be gold dangerous, and he he just really hasn't yet.
00:30:58
Speaker
and And part of that is not really his fault. I mean, the Sounders are missing players. They're missing some creators. They haven't gotten a lot of service. Yeah, they haven't gotten them a lot of service.
00:31:09
Speaker
Danny Mazovsky is just elite at figuring out where to be to make that service easy. that That's a skill. And i and i I don't think that it's always appreciated as much as a skill as it should be.
00:31:23
Speaker
he just pops up in places where it's pretty easy to find him. And we've seen that, you know, and in his limited minutes so far, uh, he, he had the great chance in this game.
00:31:35
Speaker
ah he had the, the one he scored, you know, that that was called back for offside, uh, and against so RSL he's, he's just been in the mix. And i think, uh, the, the stat you pulled today showed that he's like amongst the leaders. Yeah. yeah tech best andhi leader its cheaper ninety yeah Yeah, and he's been, he was, he just racked up crazy XG numbers last year.
00:31:58
Speaker
um he He's always been a guy who was racking up XG. It's a consistent thing with him. We know he's going to be a guy that that gets chances and has, you know, generally finished them at a pretty average rate.
00:32:12
Speaker
And, That's valuable. I mean, you're you're missing two of your designated players, both of them attacking players, one of them your all-time leading scorer, who I think the the team was kind of expecting the offense to be built around for at least the first chunk of the season while Pedro de la Vega is out.
00:32:29
Speaker
And, you know, that's that's a problem. You need to get goals from your number nine. And I think Danny Mazovsky is just a lot more likely to provide them. um With the fixture congestion, you know, Asazi is going to get plenty of minutes, whether or not he's the starter or not.
00:32:43
Speaker
i think what it comes down to for me is that, and we've we've talked about this a little bit, but I think there's this belief that Osaze won the starting job in preseason and that Musovsky needs to win the job back. And I don't really think that's the case. I think that the job was always Musovsky's, but he was hurt. He maybe wasn't 90 minutes fit. They wanted to take it easy with him, let him ease his way back in I think he's the starter now.
00:33:09
Speaker
with all things being equal and Osazi had a chance to to pull a Wally pip and he just didn't really take advantage of it in a way that I think he would need to, to be, to beat out a guy who scored 18 goals last year.
00:33:22
Speaker
Right. I would agree with that. Like he he deserved a shot after balling out in preseason. Absolutely. Yeah. he He got a shot and you know, it's like, he's not been a disaster, yeah,
00:33:37
Speaker
You know, Danny Masofsky is waiting right there. I'm totally good with but um letting him rip. See how he does. Absolutely. no But all right, well, let's call that a segment.
Tim Booth on Lumen Field's Grass Installation
00:33:53
Speaker
I think we can go to we're going to take a break. We'll come back, talk to Tim Booth about the grass that's being installed at Lewin Field. We have a little bit more information about how they're doing it and how many games are going to be playing on it.
00:34:07
Speaker
And then we'll close out, give a little bit of a preview for the Vancouver Whitecaps series. You're listening to Nos Adietes and we'll be right back.
00:34:22
Speaker
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Speaker
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00:36:13
Speaker
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00:36:21
Speaker
Welcome back to Nos Adietes on the Sounder at Heart Podcast Network. So we are joined by a special guest, Tim Booth of the Seattle Times. First time Tim has been on the show. Welcome, Tim.
00:36:33
Speaker
Thank you. Thank you for inviting me to be on today. Yeah. So we're going to talk. I just read your story in the in the Seattle Times about the grass surface that has been so of so much interest, especially to Sounders fans.
00:36:45
Speaker
I know you've been pursuing this story for a while. Just real quick before we get into the details, walk me through the reporting of this story. Yeah. It's been a process. um I learned, i don't know, I learned about a yeah ah year ago, kind of who the, who was going to be putting in the grass eventually at, at Lumen for the world cup. And that kind of started a process with working with,
00:37:11
Speaker
you know the local organizing committee, talking to their officials, eventually talking to FIFA about kind of what the process was goingnna was going to be like. A couple of weeks ago, they had a big turf grass workshop seminar at the University of Tennessee where they where a FIFA brought in all of their essentially their groundskeepers that are going to be keeping the grass healthy and alive at all the venues um for the for the World Cup.
00:37:39
Speaker
And during that, they had a very small kind of briefing made available to um a handful of of reporters to talk about kind of the the process that Individual cities are going through, but then collectively FIFA is going through for a tournament where you do have eight stadiums that have, you know, field turf or artificial turf as their primary surface that are having to need or needing to have grass installed for for the tournament. So it was kind of based off that. Finally started to get some answers as to kind of how this process was going to work.
00:38:14
Speaker
um in Seattle, how it's different than what they did last year for the Club World Cup. And, you know, finally got some idea of, you know, it's it's currently going in right now.
00:38:25
Speaker
um it They have every intention for it to be used for the next, you know, three months, essentially, by the time the Sounders and the Reign come back and start playing games there um next month. this is This is intended to be a three-month field. It's not a, you know, a one-shot sort of thing. This is going to be there for a while. So, Kind of a lot of back and forth, a lot of phone calls, a lot of conversations with people, but finally got finally saw something that came to the light of day on on this topic.
00:38:53
Speaker
Yeah. So the two big revelations, at least from what I could tell, were the actual implication of the, or the installation of the grass, which is a foot, essentially what they're doing is they're putting like, what, 12 to 14 inches of sand and base layer on top of the existing field and then putting grass on top of that And the idea is that that's going to be more, not just ah not just behave like grass when it's in, but also have some durability to withstand least, it sounds like, 17 matches between the Reign, Sounders, and World Cup.
00:39:31
Speaker
yeah so that was that was one of the big things was that because it had always been sort of left um a little uncertain whether the field turf was going to be ripped out right they were going to put in all the all the pieces all the foundation under you know on this essentially a blank canvas at the stadium um but then in the reporting of this it became clear that they were actually building it on top of the field turf and there is a little bit of um infrastructure that is that has gone in, like some cooling systems, some some irrigation kind of stuff that just helps with the with the grow process. But essentially, it is, like you said, a foot of sand and dirt and materials that is creating the base for
00:40:13
Speaker
the grass and the sod that, that is getting laid down and, and will become the, um you know, the field that that's, that's used. And yes, that the idea was that if you put in something that's more, that has more depth and has more sort of, i don't know, girth to it, more lack a better way say it, but like more structure to it, that it has a much better chance of getting,
00:40:39
Speaker
playing like a traditional grass field that you would install in, you know, your finest, your your nicest park or your nicest stadium that, that traditionally has, um, grass as its primary surface. So that was, that was the reasoning behind it.
00:40:53
Speaker
Um, it's different than what they did last year for the club world cup. Cause last year, obviously time was a, was a much more significant element to, um, gain and installed and everything last year they used ah what's kind of become it's called a shallow pitch profile it's kind of become this um trendy thing within the turf grass community and it's something that is going to be used at other venues for the world cup but in seattle because they had this nice window where they could kick the sounders out they could have the rain start on the road they could play the ccc matches or ccl matches um
00:41:29
Speaker
you know, outside of Seattle over and over in Spokane, because they had this really nice window available to them, they felt like they didn't need to go with that route. And they could go with a more traditional field that that in their mind is going to be able to stand up and and play better over the course of the three months in the 17 matches that will be played there.
00:41:50
Speaker
Yeah, and and so last year, i I know everyone from the Sounders that I talked to seemed really happy with the grass installation. Now, the European teams that came in who are used to sort of these perfect pitches and have you know standards that are frankly probably above what maybe even what any MLS team is playing on, did not seem nearly as impressed with the grass. In some cases, they thought... I remember ah Luis Enrique, I believe it was, from PSG, was actually had some complaints about the grass.
00:42:21
Speaker
But if that's the, I guess what I'm saying is like, if that's the standard, certainly from the Sounders perspective for these next few months, once they get out there, they play their first game there, presumably on April 12th, I guess it seems like there's a possibility of them right. P one that same week, a little earlier, if the Sounders were to advance in CCC, but ah either way,
00:42:41
Speaker
it seems like for the sound from the sounders perspective, this should be pretty close to like an ideal scenario. Yeah. And it's, you're right. And it should be at the very worst.
00:42:54
Speaker
It plays initially like it did last year for the, for the club world cup. right yeah that's That's sort of your worst case scenario of the kind of field that they're getting an opportunity to play on when they come back and start to start to compete games at Lumen in April. And the thought is that as time passes, as they figure out the watering patterns, as they figure out the amount of sunlight it's getting, what the temperatures are like, that field will get just stronger and stronger, better as we progress through
00:43:26
Speaker
through the rest of April and into May. And then ultimately when the, you know, when the world cup actually starts in June, that should be a field that starts out, you know, like I said, the the worst case scenario, like what you played on last year and just gets better over that, over that course of time that they're getting an opportunity to play matches, um, in the stadium with, with grass down. So it should be, um,
00:43:51
Speaker
it should be a much more enjoyable experience for them than playing, than playing on the field turf, obviously. And to your, to your point about the, um, about Luis Enrique and his comments last year, there were several of those kinds of comments that came up, um, During the Club World Cup, but by and large, the feedback that FIFA says that they received was overwhelmingly positive for how well those fields ended up playing, especially in the short notice of, you know, getting that tournament organized and getting it settled, who was playing where and when and getting these fields
00:44:28
Speaker
um installed to the point where they could actually play games um on them they i think i think that they said you know 90 90 of the feedback was great and it was five to ten percent that was kind of um complacent some of that even had to do with the types of grass that were being used in various venues so the type of grass that will be used at lumen um it's ah It's likely to be a Kentucky bluegrass blend, but that'll be a different grass than what they use in Miami or what they're installing in Atlanta. They try and be a little bit more regionalized as to what is the best type of um you know grass surface to put in to to yield the best results based on climate, temperature, all those kinds of things.
00:45:14
Speaker
and they ah i know at one point they were talking about putting in like a hybrid grass where it would have some artificial fibers in it. Is that still the plan or did they abandon that? Yes. No, the the grass that will go in has um has some artificial fibers kind of sewn in. I think they i think they said it's like 92% 95% of the grass is grass and then they have these sort of artificial fibers kind of more or less sewed into it. It's not exactly sewed into it, but it's kind of grown into it. It kind of firms it up or something like that. Exactly. It just makes it more, more durable, especially when you have long periods of time where it's going to be you know, used and installed in this case, obviously three months of, of use here in Seattle. It just, it's a, it's sort of a new technology. And frankly, one of the biggest leaders in that technology is a, is a company out of Moses Lake.
00:46:06
Speaker
but It's called Desert Turf. They're the ones who are doing the grass here. They did the grass last year. They did the grass at SoFi stadium last year for uh, CONCACAF nations league.
00:46:17
Speaker
Um, so they've kind of become one of the leaders. And one of their things is, is figuring out a way to grow this, this sod with these artificial fibers mixed into it, just to strengthen it and make it last longer.
00:46:28
Speaker
And I guess that brings up another issue that people may or may not realize, but this is not, obviously there's the stadium is basically going through this conversion right now. It's going to take essentially six weeks. I want to say to do the conversion.
00:46:44
Speaker
they aren't planting the grass. They are bringing in fully like ready, yeah matured grass and just basically, I guess, rolling it out. Right. That's exactly what it is It's the same method that they use at...
00:47:01
Speaker
T-Mobile park when they put in a new plane service surface last year for the Mariners, it gets cut on a truck and put on a truck and Moses Lake gets driven over the pass and they try and install it within a day of when it gets, of when it gets cut.
00:47:15
Speaker
Um, Harry Bushnell, I think he was working for, or Henry Bushnell, I think he was working for Yahoo at the time, did a really good story last year about how, you know, you have this company in Moses Lake, who's then transporting sod all the way down to Southern California. And how does that work? Well, you have to get refrigerated trucks and you have to climate control the whole thing. And to be able to transport it, you know, was it 1200 miles or whatever it is down down to l LA from here. Um,
00:47:41
Speaker
But yeah, that's the idea is that it'll roll in on a, come in on a truck, they'll roll it out and then they'll sort of kind of wedge it together, piece it together. And then over time, as they use the various tools of grow lights and, and mowing and all those kinds of things, all those sod pieces will grow together into one, you know, tapestry of a, of what they hope is a really strong and sturdy field.
00:48:07
Speaker
So it will invariably rain during the time that this is being used? oh Yeah. I know. It's a little... has Was there much discussion of how they... What their expectation is, is how how this will handle, you know, wet conditions? I think that there wasn't that...
00:48:25
Speaker
part of the conversation, but it's I think it's one of the good questions. I think it's also why they gave such a long lead time between when the installation process started and when an actual game will be played on it is you kind of get, you know, in theory, March and into early April is sort of our wettest period. And then maybe as we get to the first week of April or second week of April, it starts to turn and get a little bit nicer um around here.
00:48:55
Speaker
And I think that just gives the idea of the longer lead time that they have to get the sod put down and everything installed, the longer it has an opportunity to get really strong to be able to stand up to, you know, our inevitable downpours that we're going to get that are just going to put more water on it than they probably want or need,
Maintaining Natural Grass at Lumen Field Challenges
00:49:17
Speaker
frankly. um But just having that amount of grow time just gives it more strength in the roots to be able to hopefully hold up to whatever moisture might um might come down on it.
00:49:28
Speaker
So the other, I guess I kind of buried this. The other big revelation from your story was that there had been some question, it seemed, whether or not the grass would be ripped up immediately after the last game was played on July 6th. And your story seems to confirm that both the Reign and the Sounders will play at least one game after the installation of the turf. the The rain are scheduled to play the thorns on July 12th, and the centers are scheduled to play the timbers on July 16th.
00:49:59
Speaker
And then I guess after that, though, it's it's almost certainly being ripped up. Yeah, the indications that I got, I had no one explicitly tell me that, yes, those two games are being played on the field. But the indication or the implication that was given to me was,
00:50:15
Speaker
it would be really tough to rip out a field and get all the materials out and get the field turf back to a point that would be playable within five days. um yeah yeah Yeah. So, so every indication I've gotten is those two games will be played. And then I believe it's about a two week break before they have any other event at Lumen, whether it's, I don't remember if it's concert or if it's another, um another soccer match, but yeah,
00:50:44
Speaker
That will be um that'll likely be the window where everything is getting um getting ripped out and and it's going back to its previous state.
00:50:55
Speaker
Yeah, well, ah I mean, it seems like everyone I know was hoping that this would cause the Seahawks to have second thoughts and think, yes, this is finally going to get permanent grass at Lumen Field. And, you know, maybe there was this report card that came out from the Players Association that rated the the turf, I think, the worst in the NFL, right? or tied for the worst. one of One of the worst, yes. One of the worst. So, i don't know. I'm assuming you're not hearing any movement on that front.
00:51:24
Speaker
No, um but i do think yeah no but ah I do think this technology and where they're at with these you know these new fields and being able to install them fairly quickly and you know these shallow pitch fields, I think we're getting closer to the idea that...
00:51:45
Speaker
in traditional field turf or aster or artificial turf fields that you could have some type of grass in there someday. Now, The teams obviously have to be able to make the – or make and want to make the investment on what that would cost to be able to do that.
00:52:04
Speaker
But I do think the technology is getting there. We're not talking technology like what Real Madrid has. Right, right, right. With like their their system underneath, you know, digging down 200 feet under the under the earth to be able to create that. But just a system where – In theory, in the future, you could have a field that you know kind of slides in and slides out without having to completely dig up something and create a system like what they have in in Vegas or they have in Phoenix with with their kind of NFL stadiums and being able to slide fields right um in and out. so I think eventually we might get there, but right now that would still require a lot of investment from right you know NFL teams. and
00:52:47
Speaker
If they don't have to do it, they're not going to do it. Maybe when ah the next billionaire owner buys the the whole shebang, right? Exactly. Well, tempt that might happen sooner than later, but right you're right. I mean, you're right. And it just it's just going to take investment by somebody. and You know, you you are getting to the point, as great as Lumen is as just a stadium in general, you are getting to the point where it's 22, 23, 24 years old.
00:53:15
Speaker
Right. Like, at at some point, you're going need to probably do a fairly significant update to that. And could that be... putting in a, ah you know, a different kind of field system. I, who knows, that's just pure speculation, but it eventually there's going to be conversations about what the next life of Lumen is. And that probably will go to wherever the new owner of the Seahawks is. But um I, it'll be curious to see if, if the future of the field is any part of those conversations whenever they finally happen.
00:53:47
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, it's, it's, Yeah, I mean, you're right. At this point, already Lumen Field is older than the Kingdom was, right? Kingdom opened in 76, and it was blown up in 2000. 99.
00:54:00
Speaker
two thousand 99 or 2000, I can't remember. So, yeah, I mean, yes. About this age. Yes, they're roughly the same age, yeah, right now. Well, a boy can dream, I suppose. Maybe I see a future where the Sounders and Seahawks are sharing Lumen Field on a natural grass field a natural gas pitch. It sounds amazing to me.
00:54:25
Speaker
ah Hopefully, you know. we all get what we want. I don't know. Maybe someday, maybe someday, maybe someday. All right. Well, Tim, thank you so much for, for coming on the show. Uh, great job on this story.
00:54:37
Speaker
ah of course, uh, read in the Seattle times, get a subscription if you, if you have to get it. And, uh, if you don't already have one, I should say, but, uh, yeah, thank you for coming on, Tim.
00:54:48
Speaker
Thanks very much. Appreciate it. All right.
Preview: Sounders vs. Vancouver Whitecaps
00:54:50
Speaker
You're listening to no audio at this on the center of podcast network, and we'll be right back.
00:55:01
Speaker
Welcome back to Nos Adietes, part of the Sounder Heart Podcast Network. All right. ah Sounders play the Vancouver Whitecaps in the first of a two-legged CONCACAF Champions Cup round of 16 series.
00:55:15
Speaker
The first leg is on Thursday in Vancouver. They will then come back for the second leg on the following Wednesday, I believe. is that right?
00:55:28
Speaker
think that's right. And they will play in Spokane, which is going to be a lot of fun. I'm hoping to go to both games. I'm going to just go up for the day both times. But this Whitecaps team looks like they're basically picked up right where they left off last year. They are...
00:55:44
Speaker
ah going to be a handful. I think that the Sounders are probably the underdogs in this series. i don't necessarily feel like they are massive underdogs, but this is a good team. They are coming off a four, one win on the road against the Timbers.
00:56:00
Speaker
That is the third straight time. They have put four, at least four goals up on the Timbers in Providence park, which is kind of a wild stat, but this is, this is a team that's good. They're really good.
00:56:13
Speaker
Yeah, they are. I think that much like San Jose, they can only beat who they you know they play. Unlike San Jose, they were really good last year They made a a run at the shield. Right.
00:56:26
Speaker
they They knocked Inter-Miami out of the a Champions Cup, right? um If I recall correctly. Yes, it's correct. Got to the got to the final. um Don't need to talk about what happened in the final, but you know they they're they're a very good team.
00:56:41
Speaker
ah I understand their reflex to dismiss them because the Whitecaps have had... pretty good teams in the past for short periods of time. And it was never, you know, super long lived, but this is a legitimately very good white caps team.
00:56:56
Speaker
And i mean, if I were being forced to put money on it, I i would probably put it on the white caps at this point. um And soon that probably will be something that you have to do. You have to use poly market or whatever is like a legal requirement, but for now it's just a hypothetical. um And I, you know, I hate saying that. I mean, the, the champions cup is, you know,
00:57:18
Speaker
I think the the most important competition the Sounders play in, um it's the happiest moment of my Sounders fandom life was was ah watching them win the the Champions League. and you know, I would love to to do that again. I'd love to see them lift that trophy again. But when I look at the realities of where the team is at right now, um the the road they would have to to the final, it's just...
00:57:43
Speaker
it seems tough. And this series seems tough with the, with the injuries they have with the, the mess that they have at center back right now, especially, uh, you know, I, think Alex and and Jackson are a very good combo. I'll be interested to see if they go to three, the three center backs and bring new who into that mix as well.
00:58:01
Speaker
could be interesting. and I can see that given the white cap some trouble. I think the first leg is going to be tough. Uh, think if people didn't like the last half hour of the St. Louis game, um, they're probably not going to like most of this game. I think it's going to be a lot of the same, but, uh,
00:58:16
Speaker
you know Hopefully they they can defend as well. I think if you get out of Vancouver, even in a one goal deficit, you know maybe maybe that's not the worst situation in the world. Going back to, was going to say home, but going to Spokane, which is so probably a more favorable environment than playing in Vancouver.
00:58:34
Speaker
Yeah, ah you would think so. the you know i think this is a good opportunity. Maybe we get to see Paul Areola a bit. Yeah. i would I would not mind seeing an extended Paul Ariel run out. I actually thought he looked really good against St. Louis. We didn't talk about that much in the first segment, but he came in as a sub around the 67th minute. And honestly, that's I don't know how much I would credit that directly to him, but I thought he was a significant part of of helping Louis.
00:59:03
Speaker
Turn that like get the game under control, maybe not turn the tide, but get it under control and make it feel like there was some sense of order out there. And, you know, he's looked i've I've liked him when I saw him in preseason. He looks healthy. He looks fit.
00:59:19
Speaker
And, you know, if the Sounders can get a real contribution out of Ariel, I would think that has to be considered a pretty that has to be a significant development, you know. ah Yeah.
00:59:34
Speaker
I think Georgie Manungu will probably get some time, maybe not to start this one, but I could see him playing a role off the bench for sure. And then maybe getting some starts in in later dates.
00:59:46
Speaker
ah It'll be interesting to just see how they rotate these lineups because I think they're going have to do some rotation. Yeah, I think they they almost have to. And ah i I don't know how many minutes Ariel is capable of playing right now.
01:00:03
Speaker
i mean, I don't think maybe 60 is probably the high end. Seems like a safe bet. But if you can get an hour out of him and then bring in Georgie into hopefully a close game, that's a that's a guy that teams don't like to see coming, you know, late in the game. No.
01:00:18
Speaker
that'd be a good outcome, I think. And yeah, they don't really have a lot of options in defense to to do too much rotation, unfortunately. but no no, they do not. I wouldn't mind seeing Snyder Brunel in central midfield. I thought that... I don't want to say I liked what I saw from him as a right midfielder against St. Louis, but if I picture him doing a lot of the same things as a central midfielder against Vancouver, I think that that would be...
01:00:48
Speaker
pretty good. And if you want to play really defensively in this game, he wouldn't be, I guess, the the worst candidate at Redenfield. So yeah, it'll it'll be interesting. um I'm hoping that we see Jesus and Rusnak starting because I think that if Moose is starting and those two are starting,
01:01:04
Speaker
they've got a pretty good chance of maybe getting an early goal, which would be certainly be nice because Vancouver's is probably going to score. um That's they're, they're pretty good at doing that. So it'll be an interesting game. I really hope they can keep it close um and have, you know, feel like they have a pretty good shot going into the second leg, but I will say, and, and I don't blame anybody for not sharing this opinion. If they're going to get knocked out of the champions cup, I would rather it happened now than in the semifinals or, you know, down the line. um these These multi-game weeks are tough on any squad. They're really tough. I think when you're short, they're really, really tough when you're playing on the road a whole bunch. So um hope they win.
01:01:48
Speaker
If they don't, I'm probably going to be a little less upset than i normally would be. You know, i I only support this line of thinking because I feel like it mirrors our line of thinking going into League's Cup last year where we said the, you know, like the third best outcome aside from winning or maybe getting to the final was like going out early. Yeah, for sure. Yeah. And so I guess in that sense, I'm i'm optimistic that if we go in with that mental approach, then that means we'll win.
01:02:22
Speaker
Right. And if we win, that's the best possible outcome. That is the best possible outcome. Undeniably the best And unlike Leagues Cup, I'm not asking them to throw the, you know, throw the early. You're not actually asking them to throw the early rounds. You just don't. You're just saying you don't.
01:02:37
Speaker
you're not as emotionally invested in yeah in them if they go out early.
Speculation on Strategies for Vancouver Match
01:02:43
Speaker
Yeah, it's going to be disappointing, but in some ways it would be a relief um to not have to worry about midweek games, playing it going and playing an altitude in Mexico at some point.
01:02:55
Speaker
Those games are always feel like injury risks to me. So, you know, I would love to have the opportunity to do that, but... there's also some benefits to not having the, the mental strain of it looking in the face.
01:03:09
Speaker
And there is the reality that they are still going to be shorthanded in most likely if they get to the quarterfinals. I, I will say, I, I think, I don't know this for sure, but I think they would be able to play their home leg at home if they, if they advance. So that's,
01:03:34
Speaker
you know, that that's one reason to maybe be a little bit more optimistic. Yeah. I mean, that, that certainly helps. Like it would be nice to be able to go to a champions cup game this year. Um, I would, I would enjoy that. I think.
01:03:49
Speaker
Yeah. So if this, if if, and then if they, if they win, they would face the winner of Tigris Cincinnati. So not exactly a, Exactly. ah ah Enticing matchup following up, but.
01:04:07
Speaker
No, I'll take my chances, I suppose, with either one of those. Yeah.
01:04:12
Speaker
But all right. Well, I think that's that's about what we got, Aaron. It's been it's been wonderful. I am already fading. I got hit hard by the daylight savings bug, so hopefully You know, people are are not too underwhelmed by us today.
01:04:33
Speaker
It's funny, man, because my like getting my sleep under control has been a big goal for me this year. And I've been doing a really great job of it. I've been going to bed much earlier than getting up at my, you know, the time I want to get up every morning and and feeling like I got enough sleep.
01:04:48
Speaker
Last night, I went to bed at what would be an even earlier time than usual without the time change. Mm hmm. got what should have been plenty of sleep and have just felt like crap all day it just felt totally run down all day and I it's not like it's just a win for trying or whatever you really yes you really can't really can't and it's not like a you know i'm not like I don't think I'm getting sick or anything. I just think my body is like, look, you got plenty of sleep, but it's still not the time it's supposed to be.
01:05:15
Speaker
and Right, I don't like this. Yeah, this is messed up. like <unk> You're getting up at 6 a.m. I don't care what the clock says. It's 6 a.m. right now, and that's just not something you do. like That wasn't part of the deal. so Well, without boring people with sleep talk, I fell asleep at a normal time last night.
01:05:34
Speaker
And then woke up at like 2.30 and couldn't fall back to sleep until 4. The worst. Absolute worst. Yeah. And then I hit snooze on my alarm like five times until my daughter said, Dad, I'm going to be late.
01:05:52
Speaker
And then I got out of bed. yeah And she was still late. So jokes on Yeah, you could have just kept sleeping. Exactly. Yeah. Exactly. Should have. What's she going to miss? Algebra? Algebra?
01:06:04
Speaker
Well, I'll tell you the thing she missed apparently was the new class assignment. So they had these like job assignments and she missed out apparently on getting the job assignment that she wanted. So got it i got to carry that around like a yoke.
01:06:18
Speaker
Yeah, you're going to have to. <unk>t I don't know what kids her age like. I was going to say like buy her a toy, but that's probably she's probably not. to More screen time is what she wants. Yeah, well, you're going to have to give it up.
01:06:33
Speaker
All right, well, that's a good note to end on. i did want to say that I had a very a nice meeting with Lickett today. we have officially decided that an issue two of four magazine is going to be coming out most likely in early June.
01:06:51
Speaker
and it's going to be a preview of the World Cup, even though the World Cup is fraught and all kinds of things. And maybe we'll talk about some of that in this magazine. But if you are interested in that,
01:07:02
Speaker
We'll probably put it up for presale relatively soon. And I will send another reminder. If you still haven't received it, the first issue that is, and you ordered it, reach out to me, send us an email to support at sounderatheart.com.
01:07:17
Speaker
And i will get you a replacement because if it's not there yet, it is probably not going to show up. So it was sent out a long time ago. Yeah.
01:07:28
Speaker
And it's really good. You should, you should want it, you know, yeah it's worth having. And we have plenty of copies to give away. I don't, I'm not going sit here and say, I'm thrilled to be sending out copies for free to anyone, but if you didn't get it, you deserve.
Conclusion and Thank Yous
01:07:41
Speaker
Absolutely. Yeah. All right. All right. Well, let's get out of here. I am Jeremiah Shan signing off for Aaron Capo and lick it. This is no Saudi at it. Or I should also say thank you to our sponsor, full pool wines and our sponsors in general, which are you, our listeners.
01:07:58
Speaker
Anyway, yeah, that's it. ah This is Nozariyatis, part of the Sounder at Heart Podcast Network. And remember, you'll never yet alone.
01:08:35
Speaker
Let's go at Sounders.