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Episode 344: They don't get much bigger than tonight's game
65 Plays3 years ago
Hopefully you listen to this before Wednesday's game. And barring that, we sure hope the Sounders advance because most of what we discuss is predicated on that possibility. We think the semi against NYCFC is one of the biggest non-finals in team history and that's only become bigger now that we know the Sounders will host the second leg of the final if they advance. Get pumped y'all.
This week's music: Perry Como - "Seattle", "RVIVR - "Ocean Song", Woody Guthrie - "Roll On Columbia", "Your Journey Begins" - OurMusicBox (Jay Man) (CC BY 4.0)
Thanks to James Woollard, Sounders Public Address Announcer, for doing our sponsor reads. You can follow him on Twitter at @BritVoxUS - if you’re looking for a British Voice to advertise your business or non-profit, please reach out to him.
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Transcript
Introduction and Sponsorship
00:00:00
Speaker
This episode of No Sadietes is sponsored by Full Pool Wines, a Seattle-based wine seller who recently released their first book, 36 Bottles of Wine. The ethos of the book, a highly curated look at wine categories that provide exceptional value right now, should be familiar to full pool readers. But there's loads of fresh content, and since it's not trying to sell any wine through the book, there's a bit more of a sass factor.
00:00:21
Speaker
And there's food. Lots of it. Fulpel's unique writing style is applied to recipes like leftover Thanksgiving turkey, schmaltz-a-ball soup, and pregnancy nachos. This book can be purchased through Sasquatch Books.
Player Introductions and Soccer Highlights
00:00:32
Speaker
Hey, this is Christian Roldan. And Jordan Morris from the Seattle Sounders Football Club. And you're listening to... There's no study at this. What? Hey, Ocean! Let's go! Jordan Morris getting in behind Florian Youngford. Jordan Morris! Scores!
00:00:50
Speaker
And how's this for a save from Steph and Fry? Here comes Roy Deers from the middle to crowd it to Seattle. What do the Tigers dream of? They take a little Tigers in. It's the Sounders and an S-Com. I feel a lot better than Bob.
00:01:34
Speaker
I didn't know what it was. Is that what you young people call twerking?
00:01:42
Speaker
I have no idea. I don't know.
Episode Introduction
00:01:45
Speaker
Welcome back to another edition of NOS Adietta, sponsored by Full Pool Wines and our newest sponsor, Watson's Counter. This is episode 344. I'm recording on Tuesday, April 12th, 2022. I'm your host, Jeremiah O'Shan. Joining me as usual is my co-host, Aaron Campo and our engineer, Lickit P.
CONCACAF Champions League Overview
00:02:03
Speaker
So as we sit here on Tuesday evening, we've just watched
00:02:08
Speaker
Pumas Thai Cruisesool, which means they have punched their ticket to the final of the CONCACAF Champions League. More importantly, perhaps, it means that no matter who advances out of the MLS side of this bracket, they will be hosting the second leg. Competitively, I don't know if that really makes much of a difference, although there are some stats out there that illustrate that
00:02:35
Speaker
MLS teams have a much, much, much harder time. It's about 50% harder for them to advance or to win series against Mexican opponents when they play the second leg on the road. But put that stuff aside, really what this is about, at least for me, is it sets up the potential for a trophy lift at home. And it's not just the act of
00:02:58
Speaker
lifting that trophy in front of your fans, it's the ability to sort of sell that game as a championship game. It is effectively, you know, in some ways it's not unlike MLS Cup. Assuming the result is not a disaster on the road leg, you'll come home and you'll know exactly what
00:03:19
Speaker
what you'll need to do to win that trophy. That sets up all sorts of potential. I think it's a much easier game to market. It's a much more exciting game to be participating in as a fan. And there's a very good chance it's going to be the Sounders. Now, the Sounders have plenty of work to do. I don't want to overlook that. But they come into the second leg of their series with New York City FC, which is, you'll probably be listening to that tonight.
00:03:44
Speaker
they are leading 3-1 on aggregate. That's a strong but not insurmountable lead, I think is fair to say. They have given up an away goal, which is a problem. But if the Sounders win, tie, or lose by one goal,
00:04:00
Speaker
no matter the score, they will advance. Now, there's all sorts of scenarios where a two goal loss could put them out. If they lose 2-0, they would go out. But then there's all sorts of permutations of two goal losses that they could advance in if they lose by more than two goals. Hell, they didn't deserve to advance anyway. I don't know that we would want to be talking about them advancing after losing the second leg by more than two goals. That all said, Aaron.
00:04:27
Speaker
What, what are you like, how, how are you?
Significance of Sounders' CCL Match
00:04:31
Speaker
How are you processing this? Is this an exciting thing? Has this added to the pressure? Do you feel like, like this to me, all of a sudden is one of the biggest games in sounders history. It's not an MLS cup final. I don't think it's even quite an open cup final, but it's like below the finals. It's right there.
00:04:51
Speaker
Yeah, it's, it's uncharted territory as well. I mean, the Sounders have been this deep in CCL before, but never, they were never one into the second leg in this kind of a position. Um, it's exciting in a, in a, you know, in a different way. Um, it's, it's fun to have something with these high stakes. That's really in the season. Uh, that's, that's always kind of a trip, isn't it?
00:05:13
Speaker
Um, yeah, it's pretty crazy. And, and, uh, you know, and I think too, like the timing of it, just in terms of the, the world in general, um, is, is good because I, you know, obviously the pandemic is not over, but it's.
00:05:29
Speaker
is probably as over as it's going to be for the next few years and you know people are going to games again I think in greater numbers and just things are getting back to whatever normal is going to be for for the next little while and so that kind of adds to the excitement too it's not like a
00:05:44
Speaker
I feel like a lot of last season and you know all of the year before we're just sort of like pandemic side shows and something to pay attention to and now this is feels like a normal season again so so that I think is exciting as well.
00:06:00
Speaker
And, you know, I, I said in the off season that I thought this was the year that an MLS team was going to win CCL for the first time. Um, and I, I still kind of feel that way. And the fact that it looks like the sounders are going to be the MLS team in the final, um, knock on wood is pretty exciting. Um, cause I look like a genius if that, if that comes true. Unfortunately, I delete all of my tweets after a week, so I don't have any proof that I did. I definitely did.
00:06:24
Speaker
Um, so you don't download them for future, uh, use in case you want to go back and find them. No, I don't. I should have got to back them up offline, dude. I've got, I've got some good ones. I've had some, some bangers in there over the years, but, uh, yeah, it's so, yeah, I mean, it's, it's extremely exciting. Um, with that excitement comes the potential kick in the gut. I think not advancing would be.
00:06:50
Speaker
really upsetting considering the position the Sounders are in. Yeah, it would. But they would have to really choke it away with that lead, with NYCFC being without two of their best players. They would take a pretty serious choke job of the sort we have not really seen from this team over the last few years.
00:07:09
Speaker
No, they, they have not had, like they've not won games and I suppose you could, maybe you could talk yourself into believing that two of the 20 final against Columbus was a choke job. I didn't necessarily see that as a choke job. I saw them just got played out of there. They just got outplayed. They got out coached, they got outplayed and you know, it was theirs to win, I suppose, but it was, it was a bad, bad performance. But I don't know why I'm spending,
00:07:36
Speaker
moments of my life thinking about, in some ways, the game I got over
Sounders' Current Form and Confidence
00:07:42
Speaker
fast. As far as big losses in Sanders history go, I don't know that I could have gotten over that one any faster than I did. What's remarkable about this run, this team has
00:07:57
Speaker
stepped up in ways that, you know, like, and I guess maybe you could talk yourself into last year's lost RSL being somewhat similar. Again, I think the context of that was totally different. That was a team that was clearly running on fumes. This is a team that is playing as well as we've seen them play at, you know, it's a small sample, but the last two games,
00:08:17
Speaker
have been extraordinary. And I think if you expand your window out to include the first leg against Leon, if you include the second leg against Montagua, those are two of the huge games that they play. Those are the two effectively must-win games that they have played this year, and they won them easily. They won them in like dominant fashion.
00:08:44
Speaker
And I suppose you could say that the last game was another must-win game. This game coming up is not a literal must-win game, but they have shown an ability to get results when they need them in this young season. And I'm, you know, famous last words, right? But I feel very confident about this team. And I guess the way I end up feeling is you can't
00:09:08
Speaker
spend your sporting life worrying about losses in big games. Like you can't, like that doesn't, like this is supposed to be fun, right? If you can't get excited about a game like this coming up, if you can't get over the dread of like, well now we might, if we don't win, it's a disaster. Like what are we doing here? Like you gotta be able to, you gotta be able to enjoy this ride, right? Or else why are you taking it?
00:09:33
Speaker
For sure. And I think, too, the other benefit of a huge game like this being in the middle of the season is that you've got a chance to wash that taste out of your mouth. Yeah, a lot. A lot of time to watch this bad taste if they fall here. You know, so it's and I think.
00:09:50
Speaker
You know what you said about the way the Sounders have played so far in this tournament in the past when MLS teams have gone deep into the tournament and looked like they might have a chance. They were always kind of doing it by the skin of their teeth. You know, they were sneaking by the big Mexican teams or they got favorable draws and.
00:10:05
Speaker
I feel like the Sounders have looked like the better team against everyone they've played. Granted, they got a little bit lucky in the round of 16. I think they were just clearly a much, much better team than Metagawa. But Leon is an honest to God legit team that put out an honest to God legit lineup. And the Sounders were comfortably better than them. They were comfortably better than NYCFC.
00:10:30
Speaker
uh and so it just feels to me at least it feels different like it it it doesn't feel like they've gone in any game in this tournament so far this year um hoping for a wing and a prayer you know they've they've they seem to be up to the level of the competition in a way that they haven't in years past and so it just you know there's always nerves associated with a big game uh and especially one where
00:10:54
Speaker
You'd really have to blow it to nerves are understandable. Yeah. No, don't get me wrong. Nerves are understandable. I'm just saying like, yeah, no, you're totally right. You gotta like embrace it though. You gotta, this is why we are fans. This is why we have been like, I don't know. I think about this often. And I realize this is.
00:11:15
Speaker
Uh, this is convenient to look at it this way, but I really do at the time. I felt
Historical Significance of CCL Victory
00:11:22
Speaker
it was, there was some value in the sounders having to wait seven years to get their first MLS cup that it didn't come easy, that there were some failures along the way, because I felt like by the time.
00:11:33
Speaker
We won that championship. It felt like we had achieved something that we had actually been working for. Now seven years is not a particularly long time and grand scheme of things, right? But it felt at the time like we waited. We felt like we had put in our dues. And then when they got that second champion, like when they finally hosted after, I guess it was almost,
00:11:53
Speaker
year 10, I guess that was year 10 where they they hosted the final. It also felt like we had we had built up to deserve this that we had put in the work that we had, you know, gotten to this point and we and we finally and we deserve to like celebrate that championship.
00:12:09
Speaker
at home and to have that party and it to be a big event. Like it was similarly, like if they can get to the final and I don't want to, again, I'm not trying to look past what the centers have to do tomorrow, but if they can get to this final, if they can set themselves up, they can put themselves in a position where, you know, hopefully a win at home, something straight forward, like that's my hope is a straight forward result gets them that championship.
Debate: CCL vs Domestic Titles
00:12:34
Speaker
Like in some ways, I think, oh, a one-one tie.
00:12:39
Speaker
at in Mexico would be an ideal result in a lot of ways because it just sets up a perfectly straightforward situation where if they win, they win. If they lose, they lose. Like there's no, we don't need to mess around with like away goals and all this kind of other silliness, right? Like I think that's in some ways a perfect scenario. Anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself.
00:13:00
Speaker
Point being, like, I feel like we have put in, we understand what Champions League at this point. This is the eighth time the Sounders have played in CONCACAP Champions League. Our fan base should know what this is. They should appreciate the enormity of the situation I saw.
00:13:16
Speaker
someone we know both on Twitter say something about how, oh, Champions League is just an excuse to like fly somewhere for the Club World Cup. I cannot agree more, disagree more. Like this is, this is like, I don't care about the Club World Cup at all. Like I'll be like, it's a nice little thing. I have zero expectations for the Club World Cup. I'm not looking at it. I'm not even looking at it as it's, it's a neat little
00:13:40
Speaker
Uh, detail that comes with like to be the first MLS team to play on the club world cup. That would be cool. Don't get me wrong, but it's not what this is about. This is not about club. This is about getting to lift the champions league trophy and being the first MLS team to do that. And I feel like that in and of itself, even if there's nothing, cause we don't actually even know if there's going to be a club world cup this year.
00:14:02
Speaker
That by itself is a huge, huge deal.
Impact of CCL Success on MLS
00:14:05
Speaker
And it is a bigger deal than winning a third MLS Cup. It's a bigger deal than winning a fifth US Open Cup. It's a bigger deal than winning a second supporter shield. To me, this is the prize for the year. And if they don't win, it's going to be a huge disappointment. But like you said, you can redeem yourself in other ways. Yeah, I think, too, the other thing about CCL is that it's going to be hugely disappointing if they don't win.
00:14:31
Speaker
but it's also like, if nobody else has ever done it, like how deflating can it be? You know what I mean? Yeah. That's true. So it's like, it's all upside. And I think too, man, it's like, if you want soccer to be a big deal in this part of the world and you want MLS to improve, you want the quality of play to improve,
00:14:56
Speaker
you want it like if you want it to mean something more than it does now the way you do that is you beat the best teams in the in the confederation and you continuously do that year over year over year so instead of mexican teams getting invited to copolyb and less teams are getting invited and then maybe there becomes like an even bigger like full america's tournament that you're a part of that's more prestigious but like you have to show you can
00:15:24
Speaker
That, that, you know, Champions League is not just another domestic tournament for League MX like you have to show that you are ready to compete at that level for it to matter more.
00:15:35
Speaker
Like, yeah, no, it's not the UEFA Champions League, but it's the biggest competition that Sounders have a chance to play in. And that includes the club World Cup, because the club World Cup is frankly an exhibition. It's cool. I will, you know, it would be, it would be fun to watch it, but it's not. That's right. That's a good way of putting it. It's an exhibition. This is the big trophy. This is the one that you, that you want to win.
00:15:57
Speaker
You know, I, I don't, I've gone up and down on CCL in the past. Yeah, I feel like I was gonna bring I feel like at some point in the last few years we said, after they changed the format we were like, that's not that big of a deal anymore. Like forget I'm gonna act like I never said that. Yeah, I mean I think, like,
00:16:18
Speaker
I think in my case, I was just kind of misunderstanding the ways in which the tournament had changed. Like it felt, and I definitely miss the group stage, but ultimately, I mean, I think it's reasonable for the League MX and MLS teams to not have to play in the group stage. And I think it makes the competition better because those teams are at more full strength and there's just less rust on them and less,
00:16:45
Speaker
And it makes it more of a straightforward tournament. If I'm being honest, I think one of the disconnects with the Champions League, the original Champions League format was that the group stage was played in one half of the year and the knockout stage is played on the other half of the year. And for MLS teams, that meant that you had an off season between those two and that created all sorts of problems.
00:17:09
Speaker
And so I actually have come to appreciate the current format. I think there's also some value in an MLS team winning this under the current format because we're about to undergo another big change to the format where it's going to get dramatically expanded and it's going to be easier to get in and it's a much more convoluted tournament and
Sounders' Path to CCL Final
00:17:31
Speaker
like being able to win it during this period I think has some value too but it's like and again and I suppose it's worth
00:17:41
Speaker
I don't know, you might not even be listening. Like we might already know the result. Like some of you will be listening to this invariably. We already know what happened to the Sounders New York City FC game, but I, I do think that the path that the Sounders have had to navigate is worthwhile, is, is notable. They had to be a very good team out of Honduras. They had to be a very good team out of the Gammackies. They had to beat the defending. They would have had to beat the defending.
00:18:11
Speaker
MLS champions. And then they're going to have to play one of the cuatro gondes from Mexico City. Pumas in the final. Like that is, that's how you, like, that's, that's how you, you do it. Like that's there's no one can take anything away. If the sounders are able to get through this gauntlet, it will have been absolutely deserved. And I'm super pumped to see what happens tomorrow because I really do believe like this team has what it's like.
00:18:39
Speaker
I think that they're going to get a result tomorrow, like winter draw. That's my feeling about this, and that's part of why I feel so comfortable talking about what's next because that's my ex. I'm not talking it up out of BS. I'm not looking past New York City. I just think that the sounders are going to get a result. Yeah, they've given you every reason to expect that. I think that that's a reasonable expectation to make. I think
00:19:07
Speaker
To put it in context, I remember us recording right after the Sounders beat Monterey and Monterey and the group stage. And was it, was that 2011? That was in 2011. Geez. So the fact that we had a show then is kind of wild, but okay. Yeah, that was a long time ago.
00:19:22
Speaker
So over 10 years ago, and we were losing our minds about a game in which the Sounders in the group stage was ultimately not super important. I think both teams ended up advancing out of the group stage. The Sounders got an early, pretty fluky, pretty lucky goal and then played in a shell for 90 minutes. And it was the greatest thing that ever happened.
00:19:43
Speaker
Yeah. And it was still great. I'm not taking anything away from that moment, but you look now at the path they've taken in the CCL, beating a lay on team. I think that relative to the competition was better than that Monterey team. Over two legs, pretty solidly. Both teams playing much closer to full strength, you know, and then having a chance to go to the final and play another League Mx team. Like if you're one of the people that insists MLS has not gotten better,
00:20:13
Speaker
and it's not closed the gap, I think that that right there is proof enough that the gap has been closed. And it's exciting, man. I'm excited about it. And I think if you're not, I'm not going to say you're crazy, but we don't engage with this stuff on the same level.
00:20:33
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, this is why I think I got into this tournament to see the Sounders tested against like they're standing toe to toe with these teams. I think that's what's so fun about it. It's not like they're going in there and smashing, grabbing.
00:20:50
Speaker
You know, like you go back to that 2011 game and, and I don't know what the stats were, but I'm sure they were, I would shot like 22 to five or something crazy. And, uh, you know, like they were thrilled just to get a result. Now granted, that was like not their first team that got that result. Amazingly.
00:21:07
Speaker
But it was out of the blue.
Sounders' Team Strategy and Potential
00:21:11
Speaker
They lost to Monterey at home later in that tournament, later in that group stage, which I think is sort of like underscored. I think they lost 2-0 actually at home to Monterey later in that. And they didn't even advance out of the group stage, I don't think. If I remember correctly, they got knocked out of the group stage, I believe, in that tournament.
00:21:35
Speaker
They did get through the group stage. Oh, okay. They did. Yeah, they did get through the group stage because that was the first year they got out of the group. Okay. Okay. Yeah. But yeah, it was, I don't know. I just, this is a, this is a fun, this has been a fun ride so far. I'm looking forward to see where it goes. Uh, I'm also just like loving this team. I really, I really liked the way it's constructed. I like the pieces that they have. I like the depth.
00:22:00
Speaker
I like it. This is going to be an absolute master stroke. I think if Albert Rusnak can like, if, if this is his position, if he's, if the centers can make this front six work where it's Albert Rusnak and Joe Paolo sitting beneath, uh, Morris Ledero and roll Don.
00:22:23
Speaker
Like that's, that's, that's scary. And, and I think what we've seen from Rusnak is that his highest upside might be at this kind of position. Like it, like, like, yes, he's a, he's a good number 10 and he might be able to score some goals from you if he's flip flops with Christian rolled on. But if he can be an effective number eight, the way that he is now, or like sitting in a double pivot like this.
00:22:50
Speaker
That, I mean, that's, that offers you some real potential to be like, not just a good team, but like a legitimately great team. Yeah. He's, he's doing things as an eight that you don't normally see eight stewing in this league while not being like, not making the defense vulnerable. Like he's doing all the things you need from an eight and also just like the creative abilities that he brings to that position are not easy to find at this level. Um,
00:23:18
Speaker
I kind of hoped that that's where he would end up once Nico is back and I think it's worked out really, really well so far. I think it's going to be the thing that allows him to, because I think there had to have been part of him who
00:23:32
Speaker
knew Nico Ledera was coming back and was maybe trying to do a little bit too much to sort of justify his spot or I don't know, it just seemed like he was pressing at times and he just looked so much more comfortable over the last few games and now that he has a role that he's settled into. And yeah, I think if that free agent signing wins you a CCL, that's
00:23:54
Speaker
You know, that's, that's all the justification in the world you need for it. Yeah. Yeah. And, and I think what is so exciting about him as this position is this is the kind of player, like this, like the broad, the broad, um,
00:24:15
Speaker
archetype of player that Jow Paulo and Albert Rusnak are. That's the type of player now that are on high level teams. Like the teams, the best teams in the world are not deploying all tackle number sixes.
00:24:33
Speaker
They're certainly not deploying two of them in a double pivot. They have players that can attack from those positions that are sound defensively but are not there just to defend. And I think that that's what's so exciting about this is that the Sounders are going for it like it takes some guts and who knows, maybe over the course of a long season maybe Albert Rusnak gets
00:24:54
Speaker
you know, maybe the the Sounders just prove themselves not stout defensively and they they just don't have what it takes in the center of the midfield. But I don't think that's going to happen because this defense is actually like the players behind them are also pretty good. Whether it's Ariaga and Yemar or even Jackson Reagan is looking like he's
00:25:15
Speaker
Like a very good player. I keep hearing people in the organization insisting, no, no, he might be our best defender. He might be our best defender. And I'll tell you after like the, like he makes mistakes. All these guys make mistakes, but he does a lot really well. And, and he, he doesn't make that many mistakes and his, and you can actually see his upside and the mistakes he makes are usually not mental. They're physical mistakes. And those are ones that are, I feel like a little easier to clean up sometimes.
00:25:44
Speaker
Yeah, and I think, I think too that he's under more of a microscope because he's the new guy he's the young guy he's the rookie, we know what we've got in the rest of the defenders and so they make mistakes and you say well that's not going to happen that often and kind of move on but because he is young and he is new to the team and sort of unproven I think people.
00:26:03
Speaker
are a little more focused on the mistakes he does make. But you're right that they're not frequent. And you're also right that they appear to be not mental.
Evolution in Sounders' Tactics
00:26:12
Speaker
He seems to read the game really well, understand where he needs to be positionally, which is tricky because the sounders' defensive approach and defensive shape are different than a lot of teams this level because they aren't playing with a true destroyer as number six.
00:26:29
Speaker
So the defenders have to be positionally sound. They have to be tactically sound. And he's done, I think, a great job of that. And I think the other thing, too, that the defenders have shown that it's possible to do when you have this kind of quality in their midfield is the way you possess the ball, the way you attack the opponent, the opposition, the way you press, that can also kind of serve as your shield of the defense. So you can get away with not having
00:26:57
Speaker
a guy like Ozzy Alonzo, for example, not to take any way thing away from Ozzy, but he was like a much more traditional number six than I think. And for all of his, oh, like he had some ability, but he was a much more limited player too. Like he just was, you know, like, and I think you could argue that he was a better defensive player and that maybe he was, he did some things, you know, like he covered ground, he covered more ground, I think, than Jau Paulo. He was sort of a free safety in a lot of ways that Jau Paulo is not necessarily that kind of player.
00:27:27
Speaker
I think gel pal once he's in the tackle is just as good. He seems to understand cutting out passing lanes just
Sounders' Offensive Play and Player Impact
00:27:34
Speaker
as well. A lot of that stuff, but he doesn't cover the same kind of ground. He doesn't have the same volume of defensive actions. I don't think at least not at his prime, but he's way better going forward like off the charts better going forward and it's not just the goals. It's his vision. It's you know the play that I loved so much from.
00:27:53
Speaker
from Jaupalo was the penalty that he drew against Leon that essentially sealed that one. It wasn't just the penalty that he drew, it was the pass that he made that set himself up for the penalty.
00:28:07
Speaker
where he finds Kellen Rowe on the wing and then he gets it back and he cuts around one defender and draws the foul. It was great. I mean, that's the kind of stuff that no one else in this league is doing, I don't think. Right. No, you're totally right. And I think you can be successful with more traditional sixes like Ozzie Alonzo, but you can't be successful playing the way the Sounders are playing.
00:28:27
Speaker
You have to have a different tactical approach and I think that this is the way the sounders want to play. This is the level that they're looking to have. They want to push the envelope of playing good soccer, playing attractive soccer, playing attacking soccer.
00:28:45
Speaker
the personnel they have is allowing them to do at a level that they haven't been able to do before, and it's, it's pretty exciting and I think that that's a lot of why when they're playing a team like Leon, or, you know, hopefully Pumas and a couple weeks, why they look like they belong because they're, they're not just trying to absorb pressure and
00:29:04
Speaker
and defend and hope to get lucky on the break. They're playing at a level higher than a lot of teams have played at in the past. And it's extremely exciting to see. And I think I'm happier and happier with through snack signing. I think that there were a lot of people jumping to conclusions pretty early on in the season that I think were wildly inappropriate even then, but I think look really bad now.
00:29:31
Speaker
Yeah. No, I would say that's, that's for sure. True. I'll give you another example of a play though, that, that has me excited about the way this team plays. And it's, and then I'm not going to say you're gonna say like they're playing total football where all 11 guys are equally good at doing everything. Right. Like that's not what's happening here. The guys have roles.
00:29:48
Speaker
for the most part, but I do think there was a good example of, you know, like, Raul Rui Diaz is mostly a classic number nine in a lot of ways, right? But he reminded us that he can do other stuff, like in this game against the first leg against City, he peeled out to the left wing, and he put in an absolutely perfect
00:30:09
Speaker
pass to Christian Roldan that Roldan for some reason decided to volley with the outside of his boot instead of like hitting a diving header or like a more like inside of his foot kind of finish that either one seemingly would have been a lot easier and said he sort of tried this weird chipping of the keeper but the pass was spectacular and it's there's not a lot of number nines in this league capable of moving into that space and then delivering that sort of pass
00:30:39
Speaker
And again, these are the kinds of plays that elite teams are pulling off. Uh, you know, I'm not sitting here and say that sounders are Liverpool or man city or whatever, but like for this continent, for this Federation, this, like, this is the level that the sounders are at right now at their best. You know, who knows they can't, they might not be at their best every day, but.
00:31:03
Speaker
I thought Rusneck today had a great quote about how, yeah, we're really proud of ourselves for these last few games, but that's the standard we want to hold ourselves to. And I like just saying that stuff gets me excited about the potential of this team because like they, if they're holding themselves to that standard, that's great. Like that's what they should be doing. They shouldn't be going into New York city thinking like, as long as we don't lose by two goals, we're okay.
00:31:26
Speaker
Like don't get into the goal counting game, win the fucking game, you know, at least tie this thing, go in there with that mentality at the very least and see where it goes. Yeah, absolutely. And I think that that sort of expectation setting from the very top of the organization is just, you know, I hate to like sit here and feel like we're
00:31:51
Speaker
constantly patting ourselves on the back or, you know, pat ourselves in the back more though. Yeah. I mean, like, well, especially. Yeah. Yeah. But yeah, I mean, it's just like that, you know, Garth came in and talked a big game right away about, you know, the expectations that the organization has. Brian Spencer talks about it all the time. Adrian talks about it.
00:32:14
Speaker
And, you know, it's I think that that is part of the reason that the sounders are every year, they're in competition, you know, they're a legitimate MLS cup contender. You can't say about about any other MLS team. I don't I don't think that sometimes I don't think and I include myself in the sounder chance to realize how lucky they are to have this be the level that it's at.
00:32:40
Speaker
year in and year out. You know, one of the things I said to someone in the organization recently, the centers don't always hire the best people. I think you can look around the organization and you can find fault in individual hires that they've made. And they're like, is that really the best guy that they could find?
00:32:59
Speaker
And I think the best person they could find, and I think like there are definitely some people who are probably best in the business types, but what I think they've done a better job of anyone else is finding the right people for the job.
00:33:11
Speaker
people that understand the job, that understand the culture, that understand how to balance expectations. And I think maybe like Garth might even be someone like that too. Like I don't necessarily think Garth is destined to be successful everywhere he goes, but he definitely was the right person to lead this organization.
00:33:37
Speaker
Yeah. And, and he like finds that like he does that thing every year where he manages to
00:33:46
Speaker
raise the expectation but like give himself an out for like falling short like he you know he'll take the slings and arrows of saying like you know i don't know maybe we don't have any room to sign someone and then they sign brad smith and you're like actually if they were gonna not sign anyway i'd way rather have brad smith than no one uh like i'm i think he's done that twice literally with brad smith but uh
00:34:12
Speaker
He loves doing it with fullbacks because he did it with weirdum too. Yeah, exactly. Like, so he, I don't know, like it's a funny little trick and even when we're calling him on it, like we still, like it still works. Yeah.
00:34:27
Speaker
And I think there's something very, it takes a certain nuance of understanding to be able to pull that off time and time again. And it's been a fun ride. Hopefully they don't make us look like idiots tomorrow and people are listening to this laughing their heads off at how silly we sounded.
00:34:47
Speaker
I'm, I am honestly, uh, excited about tomorrow. I'm looking forward to it. I'll be watching nervously. I'm sure like the Leon game, I'll be watching it in 15 minute cuts going like, okay. They got through another sixth of the game. They got to do it five more times. Uh, but.
00:35:05
Speaker
I mean, I feel like we should be confident going into that. The players give us that confidence. The coaching staff should give us that confidence. So fingers crossed. But all right. Well, I think we'll take a break. You'll hear from our sponsors and we'll be back answering a few of your questions.
00:35:28
Speaker
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Speaker
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Speaker
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Speaker
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00:36:47
Speaker
Welcome back to No Study at This. So we're going to start this segment with a question I posed to you in our chat. And I think it's just a fun thought exercise. But the question I asked, and it's admittedly sort of a hella greedy type of question. It's the kind of question that
00:37:08
Speaker
Sounders, people that aren't Sounders fans will roll their eyes at. It's the kind of question that Sounders fans of a certain ilk will get annoyed at us even talking about, but that's what the show's about. And I'll just spit it out. If you had to choose between winning the Champions League double with the open cup,
00:37:32
Speaker
or the MLS double with the MLS cup and supporter shield, which one would you take?
00:37:40
Speaker
So it's kind of funny to say this after we spent all of the last segment talking about how important CCL is, but I think I would take the MLS Cup supporter shield double. And I'm going to say right off the bat that it's not a strong preference. Like I would be extremely happy with either of those outcomes. Yeah, this is a rich person's dilemma. For sure. But I think my thinking is that
00:38:06
Speaker
as nice as it would be for the Sounders to be the first MLS team to win the CCO, they've still got some ground to make up domestically, you know, to get in the realm of like LA Galaxy and DC United in terms of like domestic hardware. So that's, you know, that's a factor. And the other thing too is that, and I've kind of talked about this before, I think on the show, but ultimately,
00:38:34
Speaker
The enjoyment that I get out of the sounders is it's a hobby, right? I'm following soccer as a hobby.
00:38:42
Speaker
I want to enjoy as much of a season as I can. And so the Sounders could win the CCL open cup double and totally shit the bed in MLS. They probably would not do that, right? Like they'd probably still make the playoffs, but it's possible for that to happen. Whereas if they win the shield and they win the MLS cup, we're going to be good all regular season and through the playoffs. Like that's going to be, so that's a lot of enjoyment.
00:39:10
Speaker
But the obvious counter to that, and maybe this is a segue into your take on it, is that there can only be one first and last team to win it. And that's so much more interesting historically than, you know, plenty of teams have won a domestic double. And it's cool. It's a great accomplishment. But
00:39:29
Speaker
I would argue pop probably harder at this point than CCL with the unbalanced schedule and everything like that. Um, but you know, I don't, when's the last team that did it? Was it Atlanta? No, it's no, no, it was like LA in 2011. Yeah. So it's been a while long time. It's been quite a while. Um, maybe that's an argument against it honestly, because the, the supporter shield is less of a.
00:39:54
Speaker
accomplishment maybe than it used to be or less of a, I don't want to say, I think it's a huge accomplishment. It's just, it's, it's more of a, it's less of a measure. Yeah. It's less of a success. It's almost like he led the league in left-handed home runs kind of thing. Like, yeah, I mean, that's a big deal. Like there's value in like homering off lefties is tough. So doing it is, is, is notable, but like,
00:40:21
Speaker
Does it mean you're the best hitter in the league? No, I don't know why I went there. I just had to follow that analogy. No, I think I don't think you're wrong now. I'm probably talking myself out of it, but for the sake of good radio, I'm going to stick with my answer. Yeah. You can't say that for good radio. You got to stick. You got to like put your flag in the ground. Okay. Well, I, I'm putting my flag. I piss on, I piss on the CCL. I wouldn't wipe my ass with the CCL.
00:40:47
Speaker
Well, yeah, you, you kind of stole my thunder a little bit. I think the, I would take the champions league open cup final or the open cup, a double because a no one's done it. No one's won champions league by itself. And I feel like the open cup would like give you a little bit more of that, like season long enjoyment that you're looking for, which I do think is like, I think there's like real sporting
00:41:16
Speaker
real entertainment value in the shield, even if it's not inherently a huge achievement. But I think that it's like from an energy, like I think that's in a lot of ways, like what's the most valuable thing about it is that it's like an indication that you were entertained throughout the whole year. No one wins the supporter shield through suffering really, you know, like it's a fun trophy to win. And I think that denigrating it after you've won it is
00:41:45
Speaker
to no one's benefits. I don't know why Bruce wanted to do that last year, but it was a weird choice, especially after his team. I, like, I had this team falling flat on their face and that, and, and well, Scott, but the shield by itself is almost like that, that achievement by itself is not particularly valuable. I don't think you got to combine it with something to make it feel really, really valuable. Uh, that's it. I'm.
00:42:11
Speaker
I just think winning the first Champions League is such a huge deal. This is obviously getting way ahead of myself, but today I noticed I did. I'm sure people have known this forever, but I just happened to notice it today that Chelsea gets to wear a patch on their chest. I guess that says they were the.
00:42:28
Speaker
reigning champions. I don't know if they wear that. Did they wear that in the rate and during premier league or is that only in champions league that they wear the champions patch? I think it's only in champions league. Oh, well, I want that to happen next year. Like the, the sounders should be able to, if the sounders win this, they should be able to like wear some sort of symbol on their Jersey throughout the year that says they want it. Like that's my, that's gonna be my next big campaign. But
00:42:54
Speaker
Yeah, I like I guess that was more my excuse to say like, I think going after Champions League is the most valuable thing for me right now. I think maybe it's because I'm a prisoner of the moment.
00:43:07
Speaker
I also think maybe I won't feel that way. I don't know. I also think the fact that the Sounders are nine points out of the supporter shield already is probably a good reason to go all in on the, on the, I didn't even know that to be honest with you. I didn't either. I'm just looking at the standings right now. God, Philadelphia is, but they play like two more games, right? One more game.
00:43:28
Speaker
Really? Yeah. The, the sounders are not doing very well in MLS. Well, I don't two, two, and one. They're not bad, but you're right. It's not great. They're like in ninth place or something, right? In the West. They're, they're in 11th in the West. 11th. Ooh. That doesn't sound great. Seven points from five games. Not great, but that's fine.
00:43:47
Speaker
Yeah, I'm not, I'm definitely not stressing about that one yet. Especially since they, they're coming off to three straight results. So yeah, I'm not, I'm not worried about that one yet. Uh, anyway, but go ahead. Let's get to the real questions. Yeah. So the first one is from Bill Jones, TRPT Bill Jones trumpet. Besides new who for a row, should we expect any other lineup changes in New Jersey?
00:44:09
Speaker
I don't think so. Jaymar was someone that I think people were holding out some hope would be miraculously ready, but I was out at training on Monday and he wasn't even outside, which is usually an indication that they are pretty far away. He jogged a little bit last week.
00:44:30
Speaker
But everything I'm hearing is he is weeks away. Best case scenario. I think if he were to even be ready for the second leg of the final, that would be considered kind of a, a win. I don't, and I don't know that the sounders are not trying to rush him back either. Like they say they, if they needed you, they could sort of tape them up and roll them out there. Cause it's kind of a pain tolerance thing, but his mobility would probably be limited and
00:45:00
Speaker
And I don't, I think they're happy. They're really happy, I think with how Ariaga and Reagan are playing. So like, unless there's another injury, I don't, I don't know that they would really push it, but yeah, it's same lineup is what my expectation is. It's nice that Reagan and Jamar kind of like for like in terms of how they, how they play, um, because it makes it a little like if, if they were having to play, if somebody who played a little bit more like Ariaga, that would be.
00:45:29
Speaker
maybe not as easy of a transition to make, but it's worked out well. All right, so this one is from DS Rawlin. Thoughts on how the offseason coaching turnover has manifested on the pitch so far this year? I can only assume that they mean, they're talking about,
00:45:55
Speaker
mid-season, I guess like the mid-season. Yeah, the Traore. Yeah. Yeah. I, you know, I feel pretty good about the way the team has played so far this year. I don't think that it's felt
00:46:11
Speaker
like super different tactically. I know that Pinedo was kind of the tactics guy and he made a lot of those decisions. I know there was some concern about Traore leaving and the defense deteriorating. I haven't really seen any evidence of that. I feel like
00:46:28
Speaker
The Sounders play pretty similarly to how they played last year. I don't obviously don't have a lot of visibility to training but it to me it doesn't felt like it's hurt anything too much. Obviously I think both of those guys are good coaches and it was hard to lose them. Gonzo I think especially because I think he is going to be a really good coach in this league. He's got Atlanta.
00:46:51
Speaker
playing better than they were last year. So I don't want to diminish their abilities by saying that I personally haven't felt like they've lost anything. And I feel like they still have a pretty solid tactical identity. They still seem well drilled.
00:47:11
Speaker
they the way they play hasn't changed too much except to maybe to better suit you know some personnel changes so yeah I mean I think I think it's gone better than I think it was probably reasonable to be worried that it would go because I think there was some real concern that it was going to be a
00:47:30
Speaker
a tough loss to swallow and especially in Pineda's case. And a lot of people really, you know, there was a lot of people that wanted to chalk up last year's decline to their loss. I was always a little reluctant to do that in part because the center started so well, right? Like their best stretch of the season came in like the two months after they left. So it was a little,
00:47:55
Speaker
inconsistent for me to say like oh they're struggling because they left even though they're like like you're telling me they had like a two month like shadow that helped the sounders but then it faded i don't know if i bought that uh you know i don't want to take anything away like you said like i think pinata and and triori are great coaches no reason to think otherwise
00:48:18
Speaker
But I don't, it feels like that has been hand, like they've managed pretty well. I think Juarez, I can't tell you exactly what Juarez does. I can't tell you exactly what Andy Rose does, but I can always tell you exactly what all the coaches, like they sort of do a lot of job sharing and.
00:48:36
Speaker
it seems like they have a pretty like, I don't hear complaints from the players about coaches not knowing what's going on. So like, I feel like that's a big win. And, and the thing is, the staff is a lot bigger than just the assistant coaches, they've got video assistants and
00:48:52
Speaker
you know, to act, you know, like data analysts and all sorts of people that are feeding information in there. So it's, it's a little bit more of a modern setup than I think we sometimes imagine in our minds when it was like Siggy and Ezra and a couple other guys and they just sort of, you know, it's in Brian and Tommy, but anyway. I was just got Chicago plan pretty well too, huh?
00:49:20
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. Ezra, that's been, yeah. He's got them playing their best soccer in like 10 years. So good for him. And that's not a super high bar to clear, but you know, if they're playing, they've got more points than the Sounders do in the same number of games. So next one's from, once again, Bill Jones, TRPT. How close are the Sounders to their ceiling? Last week seemed like a new best performance and there's still clearly room to get better.
00:49:51
Speaker
Yeah, it's tough to say. I think that they are like, I don't know, I'm, I'm, I'm reluctant to say they've hit their ceiling because it's so early in the season.
00:50:05
Speaker
I was sort of thinking about this is that traditionally, this is seen as like the Champions League schedule is seen as a negative for MLS teams. And I think that's true, especially in the early rounds. But once you get past those early rounds, like the Sounders now are effectively they played 10 games.
00:50:25
Speaker
Yeah, they've played 10 competitive games. They're not quite mid-season form, but that's a lot. I mean, they've got a few, quite a few games under their belt and they're kind of like getting close to their peak performance. Like, you know, you got to figure mid-season is 17 games. They're going to be playing, you know, if they get to the final, they'll be playing like their 13th and 14th game.
00:50:51
Speaker
Like pretty close, like I think they'll be going to be pretty close to their peak. Once the finals come around, um, in terms of like the combination of fitness and, and, uh, and like for like form fitness or whatever. So like getting close, getting close.
00:51:09
Speaker
Yeah, I definitely, I think that the one thing you haven't seen is like all of the attacking players hitting on all cylinders at the same time. If that ever happens, that's a nightmare for whoever they're, whoever they're playing. I don't even know if it's reasonable to expect that to happen, but you know, I think you're right that their practical ceiling is, is still, uh, still to come.
00:51:34
Speaker
So this is from M. Gamini. I believe this is the first time Seattle has played in the New York area in three years. I believe he's right. Thoughts on the unbalanced schedule. Do you think it's ever going to change? Probably not. I mean, I think if anything, it will become more unbalanced. And I think I've always struggled with this because I think ultimately the most fair way to determine
00:52:01
Speaker
a champion and playoff seeding and blah, blah, blah, as every team plays, every other team once at home and once, once away and everything else being equal. That might be true, but I just don't, it's just not practical to do that in MLS and whether or not you think they should have stopped expanding at 20 teams or whatever, or they should Institute pro rel so that there's only 20 teams so they can have that double run Robin.
00:52:27
Speaker
The fact of the matter is that that's not going to happen. And so they've got too many teams to have that work. And so I think that the best way to do it is to just have it heavily unbalanced. And that diminishes the supporter shield for sure, which is kind of a bummer, I guess. But ultimately, I don't know of a better way to do it without killing the players. And I think we should try to avoid killing the players at all costs.
00:52:54
Speaker
Yeah, I'll, I'll, I'll take a slightly different tack there. I actually am okay with it being unbalanced as long as we have playoffs because to me, like the playoffs are if the playoffs are the league championships.
00:53:09
Speaker
playing the double round robin, just sort of obscure, like, why are you doing play? If you're doing a double round robin, why are we doing playoffs? Right. Like, let's pick one or the other. Uh, and I, like, I'd be told, like I have no problem at all with doing, like playing your conference in conference twice and then the other conference, whatever's left over. And.
00:53:31
Speaker
Like that's like, and I feel like that, that provides some value to the regular season, but it, it really emphasizes that the championship is the playoffs and that's the way it should be. All right. As long as we have the playoffs, that's what it should be. Like, I don't think there should be an obfuscation about like, which, well, who's really the rightful champion? Like let's have a champion. Let's, let's, let's do this. Now, if we want to get rid of the playoffs and do a double round Robin, I'd be, I'd be fine with that. I'm not gonna.
00:53:59
Speaker
Like I think there's a world in which that could work. But that's not the world we're in. That's not the world that we're heading towards. So like, yeah, I'm okay with not playing in New York every other year. Yeah.
00:54:14
Speaker
I think if you ever get to 40 teams or even 36 teams or whatever, that you could maybe consider doing a double round robin in each conference and just not playing. And then having maybe a smaller playoff where you only play like four teams from each conference and you have like almost a separate thing.
00:54:34
Speaker
they're never going to do that because they I mean it doesn't make financial sense but that would be like I think that's my ideal MLS is there's the east and the west you only play your own conference and the final is the shield winner in the east and the shield winner in the west.
00:54:52
Speaker
And I think that, and that you still get an MLS cup, you know, I like the old, the old world series. Yeah, exactly. It was the best system that we've ever had in American sports. Yeah. Back in like the forties or whatever. Yeah. It was like the only thing that was better than, and now, well, that's actually playoffs messed up everything. Yeah, it's true. All right. Next one is from game. Coug is it time for Christian rolled on to be our full-time captain.
00:55:21
Speaker
I think I understand the desire to do this. I can understand why it seems like he is effectively the captain. But I don't know. I don't know if there's any need to strip that away. I assume Niko is probably the de facto captain whenever he's healthy and when he's not. I actually don't know how often Christian is.
00:55:50
Speaker
But I'm okay with the current setup. I don't think we need to... As long as Niko seems like he's a contributing member of the team, he's been the most important player. There's no rush. I'm okay with the current setup.
00:56:09
Speaker
Yeah, I think too that like, not to, this is going to sound like I'm disparaging him and that's not what I, my intent at all, but like Nico's kind of, Nico has shown some signs in the past that he, I don't want to say is like sensitive necessarily, but like he's taken offense to some things that have happened and
00:56:31
Speaker
ultimately like if it's important to him to be the captain and he's gonna take offense to being stripped of it because he's getting older and can't play every game it's just not a it's not worth battle worth yeah yeah for sure also like as long as he like in as long as he's banging in penalties he gets to take him yeah that's right like maybe on maybe there's an argument to be made that he's not the best guy to take him automatically but like until he
00:57:00
Speaker
This is like, it's not a discussion to me. Like just let the guy keep taking penalties. 100%. All right. So take us home, Aaron. Uh, this is from Jim Seachem, not looking too far ahead, but would you just be happy if we made it to the club world cup or would you want to at least reach the semi as a face like the European or South American champion?
00:57:24
Speaker
I mean, I guess I'm of the, if you're going to go, you might as well go as far as you can mindset, but I don't care. They could win the club World Cup and I don't think I would be.
00:57:37
Speaker
I think I would feel a lot about the Club World Cup as I did the 2020 MLS Cup, which is that this isn't a real thing. So I can only care so much. And I know that that doesn't make sense in the context of what we were talking about with CCL earlier, where if you want it to matter more, you've got to win it. But there's no question in the world, in anybody's mind, that the UEFA Champions League is the best
00:58:06
Speaker
club soccer competition in the world. It's just not a debate. And so if you've won that, I feel like you've proven that you're maybe not proven that you're the best team, but you have the right to say, hey, we won the biggest competition that you can play in. And so those teams are just never going to care that much about the Club World Cup.
00:58:29
Speaker
And, you know, I mean, honestly coming home earlier from that is maybe not the worst thing in the world. So, you know, I mean, sure, if they go in and they beat whoever wins the Champions League this year. Uh, great. Like that's a fun little feather to have in the cap, but the only time any European fans or, or teams have cared about the Champions League was the year that it got Rafa Benitez fired from Chelsea. Cause they wanted him fired so bad anyway, that
00:58:59
Speaker
So yeah, I just... So here's an interesting thing that I didn't realize. Did you know that since 2017, the Club World Cup has been hosted in either Qatar or UAE every year? I did know that. I did not know that. The last non-Arab state to host was Japan way back in 2016. And so as a result of the... The reason I was curious is
00:59:30
Speaker
It's because I was wondering when the tournament's usually played. And I guess even back in those days, it's almost always in winter. This tournament's in December or February. And so I don't know. I bring this up because I was curious if it would be a distraction for the Sounders to go far in this tournament. And I was trying to figure out if maybe it doesn't behoove them to like,
00:59:59
Speaker
play extra games in it. But I got to say, if this thing is played, if it's played in December, we don't know. I should say, Fran, we don't actually know what's going on with 22 FIFA World Cup. It was supposed to expand in 2021. And under that expansion, there would actually be three teams from CONCACAF. So theoretically, the Sounders might have already qualified. We don't quite know how that's going to work.
01:00:28
Speaker
or they might have to win it, or there might not be a World Club World Cup this year. They have not announced any details at all for the Club World Cup. I would imagine it would probably be in Qatar this year. It seems like the the Petro states of the Middle East are very interested in hosting these and they have a few
01:00:47
Speaker
they have some facilities they apparently want to use so and they have money they're willing to spend on this thing and i don't think a lot of places are fighting over the right to host the club world cup so i do actually think china has the next one oh are they supposed to have they were they were supposed to have the one in 2021 and it was going to be played in like a bunch of different cities oh interesting but well but then they played it last year and it wasn't it was in katar
01:01:16
Speaker
Yeah, well, so they were supposed to start in 2020, 2021. Right. But then they, with the new format. And I think that they said you can have the first edition of whatever the new, yeah. Okay. Well, in any case, depending on when, I guess my point of this is like, depending on when it is, I like, if this were to be right after MLS cup, I don't, I think I would be okay with the sounders like tanking it. Cause like, I don't think I will actually,
01:01:44
Speaker
want them spending a lot of energy right after the tournament. Now, if it was played effectively as a preseason tournament, that might be kind of fun, I guess.
01:01:56
Speaker
Of course, like it would be like that would also overlap with Champions League, with CONCACAF Champions League, potentially. And I'd like to think the Sounders are going to be in that again next year. So I don't know. I guess what I my point is, I really don't care, frankly, how like, I mean, I guess it would be like it would be a bummer to
01:02:19
Speaker
Like, because I think it's a, theoretically you can play one game and then you're done, right? Like, I think so. Although I think the multiple games, I think the new format, let's have a group stage.
01:02:33
Speaker
Um, and you know, like it would be, it would be kind of cool for the Sounders to like play a competitive match against a team from Japan or for like Australia or, um, like one of the big Egyptian clubs or that would be cool. It would be cool. I don't want to like say it wouldn't be cool, but like, I have a hard time imagining being emotionally invested.
01:02:55
Speaker
Yes, until like the final and even then like you win. So let's just say the Sounders were to win the club World Cup. That would be a really cool thing to say. But like, do we really think we're the best team in the world? I guess we can run around saying that. And I guess there's some like, I absolutely would. Yeah, right. There's like comedic value in that. But like what sporting is that a sporting achievement or is that just like a bragging rights achievement?
01:03:32
Speaker
in a way, like if you get to the club world cup final and you're playing against a South American team or a team from like West Asia or Japan, then it feels like a bigger deal because you have like, you're probably going to get their best, right? If you're playing Real Madrid, who cares? Like,
01:03:51
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I think it's okay for it to be both, but it's, yeah, I think like, I do think it's,
01:04:01
Speaker
I mean I don't know. And I realize that's the way we've kind of sold Champions League for a long time is like wouldn't you like a chance to play Barcelona and Liverpool and Chelsea?
01:04:13
Speaker
I've never sold it that way. I know, but that's like the way that it's been sold, I feel like. And it's like, no, actually, I don't care. Nothing can happen in that game that's going to convince me that we're competitive with them.
01:04:31
Speaker
No. And it's almost... If anything, it proves how silly Trump is. It's patronizing. Exactly. To even think so. But, you know, they should make Club World Cup for everybody but UEFA. I know. That would be a fun tournament. It kind of would be. I would much rather play
01:04:54
Speaker
the best team from South America, like the winner of the Copa Libertadores. I think that would be a much more interesting tournament or competition. The winner of CONCACAF playing Copa Libertadores every year. That'd be cool. I'd be into that. Yeah.
01:05:17
Speaker
Yeah, I would be way into that, way more into it. Yeah, or even just like, that would be great. And then, you know, like AFCON or AFC, like playing those teams would be cool. Yeah. I just don't, I don't care. Like I've seen the Sounders play Chelsea. I've seen the Sounders play Manchester United. Not like either of those two are going to be anywhere near the club or cup, but you know what I mean? Like it's, there's nothing to learn from it.
01:05:45
Speaker
There's just not, and you know. But like you said, if it's in February or something, might be worth paying some passing attention to, I guess, I don't know. I'm trying to remember the last, so the last one was in February, and it was Monterey was in it, but I just don't remember.
01:06:12
Speaker
I don't remember anybody talking about it really. Well, they kind of, Chelsea won and there was kind of like a big deal that people made a big deal out of Christian Pulisic, I think became the first American to win it. And so it was kind of a, and he may even played well in that.
01:06:30
Speaker
I don't know. That would be a change. Yeah, I just like, I think it's gonna be odds that it negatively impacts the season are higher than I would like them to be, but yeah. Like I would hate, like I would be, like I could live with getting off to a bad start in MLS play because you're going after Champions League. I would feel less, like I would, I would feel less enthusiastic about
01:07:00
Speaker
tanking the early part of the MLS season in order to compete at a higher level in the club world cup. Like, well, we lost our first three games because we were just beat from going toe to toe with these teams and a bunch of 17 year olds from right. Like Chelsea's youth team or whatever. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Yeah.
01:07:27
Speaker
But hey, you know what, if that's like what you're into, I'm not trying to, I think that's a totally reasonable thing to want to see. I just couldn't be me, you know? Yeah. Yeah. I will. One of my little hobby horses is like, like Garth was on.
01:07:43
Speaker
Q 13 and he was like explaining why Champions League is a big deal. And invariably, whenever someone's in a position to be explaining why Champions League is a big deal, it's like, well, it's a qualifying tournament for the club World Cup. And it's like, no, like let's stop.
01:07:58
Speaker
looking at it that way. Yeah. It's the thing to win. It's the thing. It's the thing. It's like, you know how in Europe they play champions? Like this is the same fucking thing except for us. Right. And I just, if you haven't come to terms with the fact that club soccer has different tiers and the sounders are not in the highest one,
01:08:22
Speaker
Like, I don't know what to tell you, you know, like that's not, that's not why soccer is cool. You know, like, and we might be like, you might, you might be able to convince me that MLS is in that tier right below the big four leagues in Europe or whatever. Like I'm not saying they are, but like you could, like they're in that tier, like however many teams are in that tier or leagues are in that tier.
01:08:45
Speaker
But they like, no one is going to sit here and say like MLS with their $15 million budgets are as good as these teams in England with a hundred million dollar budgets. Yeah. Yeah. Or teams in Spain with $500 million budgets or whatever. It's just not the same. It's not the same thing. And, and if you can't, like the thing that's so weird to me is how a country where college sports are as big a deal as they are. I know.
01:09:15
Speaker
people and I and I against my better impulses love college football. And, but like, I know it's not as good as the NFL, like it's not hard to, but it's fun like on its own right by its own rights.
01:09:32
Speaker
And maybe in 50 years, well, this will be our attitude about MLS. We'll like be over it because it's like all the history that people are into about, because I do think that's a lot of what people love about college sports is that they have like a communal community involvement aspect, kind of like lower leagues in Europe where it's like, you're not, you know, that you're not watching the best soccer when you go out to see Sunderland.
01:10:00
Speaker
You really know you're not watching the soccer when you're watching Sunderland, but it's more than that. It's your club. Maybe that's just time. Maybe that's what we need here. I think it is. And I think Americans are probably going to become more and more accustomed to not being the best at everything as time goes on.
01:10:21
Speaker
Sure seems that way. So, you know, maybe it'll feel a little more natural to have MLS not be at the very top. But yeah, I am. I'm with you, man. I don't need to see the sounders play Braille Madrid or, you know, whoever. I don't even know who's good in Europe right now. So.
01:10:39
Speaker
Yeah, I was convinced that the games today were the semi-finals, but they're the quarter-finals. And I was like, well, who else could be playing? These are like the biggest teams that are left, I thought. And then it's like, oh, City and Liverpool and Atletico and I don't know who the other team was. The only way I could be invested in the Club World Cup would be if the Sounders played Manchester City.
01:11:07
Speaker
that would become the most important game in the world to me. And if they beat them, I would be just completely insufferable about it. But hey, we got a chance to do the next best thing tomorrow, right? Yeah, exactly. All right. Well, that's a good place to call it. Thanks to our sponsors, Fullpool Wines and Watson's Counter.
01:11:29
Speaker
I really can't recommend either one of them enough. Wonderful, wonderful products that they are putting out into the world. I don't know, products, food, wine, those kind of things. Anyway, hopefully we'll be recording on a more regular basis, our plan.
01:11:51
Speaker
in case you're curious, is to do that. Get on a regular schedule and record and plan out episodes and hell, we might even put together a newsletter one of these days. We talk a big game. I'm still assuming that Yacht-Con is going to happen this summer.
01:12:12
Speaker
in June, most likely. So, you know, get your mind ready for that. Hopefully, we feel comfortable with the way the world is at that point. But anyway, until next time, I'm Jeremiah Shan, signing off for Aaron Campo and our Likit. This is No Study Yetis. Remember, you'll never yet alone.
01:12:37
Speaker
Green Douglas spur where the water's cut through. Down to wild mountains and tangents you flew. Canadian Northwest to the ocean so blue. It's Roll On, Columbia Roll On. Roll On, Columbia Roll On. Roll On, Columbia Roll On. Your power is turning our darkness to dawn. Roll On, Columbia Roll On.
01:13:14
Speaker
We love you. Let's win another one!