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Missed Opportunity - Ep. 65
1k Plays5 months ago
It’s an unfortunate Draw Pod this week as the Seattle Sounders relinquished a last-minute lead in Wednesday evening’s 2-2 result against the mighty San Jose Earthquakes. We break down the defensive lapses that led to the pair of unfortunate concessions in our game review but also celebrate some more red-hot form from Jordan Morris.
Later on in the show we also hit our Agenda Check, take your questions, highlight our Blazing Hot Coach Press Conference of the Week and talk winners and losers from around MLS.
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- This podcast was made possible through the support of Full Pull Wines.
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Transcript
Introduction and Sponsorship
00:00:00
Speaker
This episode of Lobbing Scorchers is sponsored by Full Pole Wines, a Seattle-based seller. Not only are they a local company, but they've been supporting independent Seattle soccer media since 2011 and are run by Sounders fans. They offer the best boutique wines in the world to members of their mailing list with special focus on their home, the Pacific Northwest. Their model is simple. One, they email compelling offers. Two, you request bottles that sound appealing. Three, your wine arrives at their Soto warehouse and is ready for pickup or shipping. Their Soto tasting room is also open to the public.
00:00:30
Speaker
If you're interested in joining their mailing list or learning more about them, visit fullpolewants.com.
Episode Overview and Listener Engagement
00:00:36
Speaker
What's going on, everybody? Welcome to episode 66 of Lobbing Scorchers. This is Ari Lillianwall. I got producer Noah here with me. and Noah, we have a very dumb and stupid pod to record tonight. How are you feeling? Well, a lot of our podcasts are dumb and stupid, but this one might be the dumbest and stupid it is. It's true. It's not really out of the ordinary for us, but that's right folks. We're going to be diving into the Seattle Sounders a home matchup against the San Jose earthquakes. The worst team in MLS at Lumen field last night, unless they're playing the Sounders, unless they're playing the Sounders, in which case apparently um they're like the best team in the league. yeah I guess um Seattle takes a two, two draw.
00:01:14
Speaker
That's right, Jordan Morris scored a brace, but Seattle conceded a goal near the beginning of the game and right at the end of the game, which relinquished a 2-1 lead and forces the Sounders to settle for a point. So we got a draw pod tonight. um Someone on Twitter said we should call it a tide pod. Tide pod? I like that. of Yeah, that's pretty good. But I like draw pod because it kind of rhymes. So anyway, we got a draw pod. We're going to break down the draw in our game review.
00:01:40
Speaker
and We're gonna hit your questions. We got our agenda check as always and we're gonna jump around MLS at the end of the show do some winners and losers um So, you know not the greatest result for for the Seattle Sounders, but I'm still looking forward to the game review and To the whole show, it's going to be a good show. But before we get into all that, I wanted to let you all know that Lobbins' Scorchers is a part of the Sounder at Heart Podcast Network. If you want to get the best independent Seattle soccer coverage, consider supporting us by going to sounderatheart.com slash LS. That's sounderatheart.com slash LS. Scroll down to subscribe and support to get 30 days completely free. Every sign up through our link helps support and grow this show. As always,
00:02:22
Speaker
We'd like to thank all of our paid subs. Noah, would you like to read the list this week? I kind of like it when you read. Yeah. I mean, i you know, I've become the, the list reader. I think you're the list reader now. I also don't have it pulled up. oh Well, you know, not all of us can be as prepared as producer Noah over here, but, uh, someone also said that we were pronouncing their name wrong. So I told them to, if you, if any of you, if any supporters, if we're pronouncing your name, wrong shoot us a message, you can email us at lobbing scorchers at just once media.com.
00:02:53
Speaker
We'll correct it, we'll get it right. We're not the smartest in the bunch, but they also didn't get back to me in time for recording this, so if we are messing it up again, apologies in advance, but let's get into this. Thank you all, subscribers, here we go. Kenneth Wade, Joey Pascanelli, David McCoy, Owen Mason, Daniel Pavato, Samuel Fout, Ian Mitchell, Christopher Smith, Norm Bontye, Thomas Martin, Greg Hoker, Chris Mayley, Andy Hill, Mike Lentini, Nate Bontye, David Rodriguez, CJ and Miles Maranakis. My nephews. Mark Ottinger, Zach Heckman, David Pope, Brian Morton, Claire Berger, Robert Sink, Tyler Nakatsu, Steve Hudson, Choska, Patrick Sexton, John Hamaker, Amana Bach, Justin Walker, Jay Anders, Ryan Shane, Nathan Jones. Damn, that's becoming a pretty long list. I'm not going to lie. Thank you all so much. We really appreciate the support.
Sounders vs Earthquakes Game Analysis
00:03:39
Speaker
um and If you're listening to this and you haven't done so yet, please sub to the Lobbinsqorters YouTube. Noah, the drive to 550 is complete. We're at like 553, I believe, which means the drive to 600 is now alive and well. um So all you have to do is go clip, subscribe. Really, I'm really a thousand is what I want on the Lobbinsqorters YouTube. So we'll get there. But first, before we can talk about that, we got to get to 600 milestones, baby.
00:04:07
Speaker
um Alright, enough of that. Let's get into this this game review, Noah, because as unfortunate as the final result was, I feel like there's still a lot to talk about. For sure. um San Jose Earthquakes, like I said, are, I mean, they're the worst team in MLS, record-wise. um dead I mean, they're about, they're gonna wooden spoon this year. They have won five games all year going into this game. um So with Seattle, right in the thick of the playoff race and fighting for positioning, we talked about this on one of the last shows, but this was a golden opportunity for Seattle to really, I mean, they took care of business against the club of professional wrestling enthusiasts. You have the worst team in the league coming to town midweek for the next game.
00:04:46
Speaker
a dub here, and ah they had they had a chance. they Colorado dropped points last night, LAFC dropped points last night, the Galaxy lost. There was a point where the Sounders were ahead of LAFC on the table. and They were up to third, I believe, at one point when they were ahead, yeah, on the live standing, so anyway.
00:05:04
Speaker
um this was this was a good This was a chance to make a play, to make a play on the table like we've been talking about for a while. And ah needless to say, they were not really able to capitalize on the opportunity. um Two really bad concessions in this game. Let's start with the first one, because um you know when you're the home team playing the worst team in MLS, um ideally you want to be the team scoring inside the first 15 to 20 minutes of the game.
00:05:28
Speaker
And unfortunately, um San Jose turned out to be the team that scored 15 minutes into the game in highly unfortunate, but definitely um undeniably comedic fashion. I'm not going to lie. This was kind of like a Three Stooges type of goal that Seattle conceded here.
00:05:44
Speaker
um Pellegrino not the fizzy water the the San Jose earthquakes winger. I was a bad joke, but i i giggled not but i did i Actually, I didn't plan that one I just thought That was over the cup i was okay those off Not fizzy water the Norwegian winger for the San Jose earthquakes He really really he didn't really do all that much what happened was it's like when you leave it open You know you open your fizzy water and you leave it out like at first it tastes good, and then it gets flat Exactly. Christian Espinosa sends a ball into the box and you know, just, I feel like a lot could have been done differently from Seattle's perspective on this play. When a ball comes into the box like that, your goal is to clear it out of the box and not let them shoot if at all possible.
00:06:32
Speaker
And the Sounders were not able to do that. um I think there the blame was twofold on this play. You can tell me if you see it any differently. But Stephen Fry came off his line, I think, when he didn't need to. He got kind of caught in between coming off his line to try and get the ball. and then um ah paagrino Pellegrino before Stephen Fry could get to it to punch it or catch it, he was able to head it down, straight down, and Steph was just kind of caught in no-man's line. And then I don't really know what Christian was doing. he What he tried to do was the ah the the box-out that maneuver that he did against Timilia. He was doing that maneuver, um but like he drew he really I don't know why he was doing that. He should have just cleared it. Yeah, like he should like he could have it looked to me like he had a chance to just kick it instead of boxing the guy out I think maybe he was trying to be like overly safe with it and Box the guy out before he cleared it then but like he was just box trying to box out pallegrino But he just stuck his leg out and was able to convert it into a like an open net pretty easily um so yeah, just like a ah really bad goal to concede especially that
00:07:42
Speaker
At that point in the game, when you're trying to get on the front foot and assert your dominance as the home team to concede that goal and go behind, it's definitely a pretty terrible start to the game. But honestly, at that point, I wasn't really tripping. Not at all. You have the rest of the game to come back against the San Jose Earthquakes. They are a little like the Chicago Fire in the sense that if they get a lead, they would love nothing more than to give it up. They do. And that's exactly what they did Six minutes later. Mine is 31 GD. Ladies and gentlemen, negative 31 GD and uh, 67 goals against five wins all season. They've conceded 67 goals. Um, so yeah, um, I was never, it was never really that much of a doubt in my mind that Seattle would tie the game eventually, but, uh, they ended up doing it six minutes later. Um, Jordan Morris, if there's, you know, a bright spot from this game, it's that his, uh, good run of form kept right on rolling. Um, but this was another pretty bad goal, honestly. um yeah
00:08:43
Speaker
It started as a lot of Seattle's goals lately have with ah Albert Rusnak free kick into the box that ah deflected out to Obed. Obed sent it back into the mixer and then the quakes guy was trying to clear it and he just smashed it off of De La Vega's face ye and it went off De La Vega's face and right to Jordan and Jordan is able to to ah finish it for the equalizer. ah The thing that I thought was funny about this goal was that De La Vega got an assist for that Yeah, that was that was awesome. Like we were debating in the press box whether he should be credited with one for that. And I said no. I feel like ah like if it's that clear that they were not trying to like he was literally just standing there. Yeah. And the boss hit him in the face with him having no time to react to it. And it just happened to bounce to. He was definitely not right.
00:09:33
Speaker
willfully making that pass um but you know i guess there's something to be said for being in the right place at the right time that's true for me i feel like it's the perfect perfect first sounders assist for him yeah like you know his first goal was a penalty goal and now his first assist is him just getting blasted in the face with a ball like is that not like the no day la vega first assist no you're exactly right because um especially because he's scored a couple of these goals that are just like in technical quality, world-class ability, the exact type of like talent that you expect when you make a signing like this and they keep getting waved off. right And then the first time after those plays that he gets a stat sheet contribution that counts, it's because he was just standing there and a guy smashes the ball off his face. And ah he does get the assist. So Seattle a little fortunate there, but um they were on top of they were really on top of San Jose for
00:10:25
Speaker
ah most of the first half and most of the game really which is why this result is even more frustrating like I definitely didn't come out of this game thinking that the quakes are like in Seattle's weight class quality wise but that's like that's why you can't um can't let a team like that hang around because this is what happens um Seattle takes the lead in the 39th minute. Jordan Morris again. Now this was a lobbing scorcher's goal. You have Paul Rothrock assist. Well they did take it away from them. Unfortunately I hate
Sounders' Challenges and Home Record
00:10:56
Speaker
to report to you Ari. The MLS ruthless goblins have stolen away a Paul Rothrock assist because it went off of a defender. so
00:11:06
Speaker
he canonically has one and it was I guess you could technically count it as a secondary assist but on the stat sheet it will not count I know there are people disappointed because I didn't tweet out a Paul Rothrock lobster for that assist but it was taken off the score sheet so I could not in Good conscience to eat that out the oligarchs have robbed our boy of his assist see this isn't I you know Not to get like two into the rule book, but I have a bone to pick with that That's an assist. Yeah, like it he sent in the ball that it doesn't I don't care that it hit Defender like the end result was it getting to the striker off his delivery. How's that non-assist?
00:11:46
Speaker
that's That's just, I understand that that's the rule, but I think that's a dumb rule. And not just because it robbed a Paul Rothrock assist. I would say that if it was robbing anybody of that assist. I say it simply because it robbed a Paul Rothrock assist. And that's fair. so that's I mean, that's realistically why I'm saying it too, but I do think he should have gotten assist there. Either way, he got the assist in our hearts and he did send in the surface service that resulted in the goal. But this was really, I mean, honestly, this play was all about Jordan.
00:12:11
Speaker
yeah yeah He like set himself up. He basically he controlled the cross after it deflected to him to himself and then but basically set himself up for like a mini volley. Yeah, it was kind of nasty. It was nasty. It was a striker's goal. One of his better finishes of the season. And yeah, I think like more evidence of his adaptation to this number nine role and just um how effective he's been and ah could maybe continue to be in that role and um I think over the offseason we're gonna talk a a lot more about like how to approach the changes that get made to this roster and whether Jordan is the Full-time carry the load number nine in this theoretical setup or if they should make a signing there or whatever um But for right now, I mean
00:12:55
Speaker
I don't know. I'm of the mind that the Jordan at the nine experiment is working quite well. Definitely worked better this year then than I thought it would. I mean, I was a big purveyor of the agenda that it wasn't going to work. And I was definitely proven wrong and took the L on that. um He has a career high career high in MLS goals. Most goals he's scored in MLS since his rookie season when he had 12 goals. Now he's got 13 in MLS play, and I think 16 or 17 across all comps. And he's actually approaching the single season all comps Sounders record, which I believe was Oba at 19. So a great season for Jordan Morris. he's He's been on fire. Yeah. Just to note one more thing on that goal. it i I couldn't help but think back
00:13:41
Speaker
To was it the pumas game that he scored that just worldy or was that against me? So it was in league's cup, you know, he scored that like half volley kind of thing ah It reminded me of this goal. Maybe one of our our listeners can remind us I couldn't remember the game But he scored that really nice goal inside the penalty box where he kind of played it back to himself He's getting so good with his finishing touch. Like I know there were There were some people, let's just say, not gonna name names. There were some people who thought that Jordan Morris should be cut from this roster, granted those people are dumb, but that's a take there were people who were saying he's bad, he should be cut from the roster, and that it's a joke. It's a joke that he should be at the number nine. I'm sorry. That that was a Rui Diaz style goal.
00:14:28
Speaker
It was nice. It was nice. And really, it should have won Seattle the game. um Once you take the lead there, um you're in control of the game. You're playing the worst team in MLS. You're playing at home. like You have to. You have to see the game out from there. And I think um you know there's been a lot of talk about what happened that prevented that from taking place. um I think they kind of they they were trying to coast to close it out a little too early.
00:14:58
Speaker
um Schmetz made the subs earlier than he normally does, I feel like. and um they're just ah They had a lot of good chances at getting the third goal, but maybe not the sense of urgency that they that was necessary in hindsight. I don't know. I mean i think they put in some good service. and i just think like Jordan almost got another one.
00:15:19
Speaker
Uh, that just went a little bit wide. Georgie was cooking. He was playing in some good passes. I mean, I think, I think San Jose were defending not too poorly. And then the, the one, the the one question mark that I had, I guess, why are you subbing new who off in the 86th?
00:15:38
Speaker
um Maybe he was gassed. I don't remember but it's like you he the they would have played ten more minutes. Yeah, and he's Theoretically like the skill set that you want in closing out a game. Yeah It's a fair question just the early ness of the rest of the subs in general too because I felt like the ah The ah first choice 11 that were out there had been playing really well on offense and like you really you want that You need that third goal to make sure something like this doesn't happen, but I don't play this weekend. Yeah Yeah, yeah, yeah, no, all good points. um Paul Marie got the equalizer in the 89th minute, the famously prolific MLS number nine, Paul Marie. who's The San Jose earthquakes, like back up, left back. um It was Jeremy at Bobisty with the low cross who, you know, he's been injured a lot for them this year and his whole quakes tenure hasn't really gone how ah how I think he would have wanted since he went over there from Portland. but
00:16:32
Speaker
I mean, he had a pretty, it was a good run by Paul Murray and a nice pass by a Bobby C. I'll give him that, but it looked like Alex Roldon kind of lost his mark on Paul Murray a little bit, let him get to that near post. And ah he he converts it, and that's a 2-2. Seattle drops two points at home to the San Jose Earthquakes. All right, I got some rapid fire takeaways here. torturer I'm gonna ah rattle these off. You can tell me what you think of these.
00:16:58
Speaker
um I mean, that's just what happens when you concede a really soft goal earlier in the game, early in the game, and then let a team hang around and you don't put them away. thats I had a bad feeling about this. yeah like The longer it stayed to one, the more I was like, they're playing with fire here. like All it takes is one defensive lapse, one moment, and you're dropping these points right here. like You need to get this third goal. And then the longer that they didn't do it, the more I was like, this is... this is what happens and that's exactly what did happen. so um it was just ah they They didn't put this team away and when they had the chance and I think they kind of got what they deserved in that sense. like that's ah That's the fate that you're kind of asking for when you don't put a team away.
00:17:45
Speaker
um I put this on the defense not really the offense. I thought the offense looks pretty good in this game I thought there was some decent carryover from the Sporting Kansas City game, which was a really excellent performance. I thought in attack um but like ah Both of the defensive lapses were not it's like It wasn't like the Quakes did anything super awesome or dynamic or revolutionary. It was really just the first, especially the first goal. The first one was just ugly. That was just an ugly goal. And then the timing of the second one was, ah I mean, it was backbreaking. It cost you to cost you the three point results. so
00:18:22
Speaker
um With that in mind pretty big missed opportunity. I mean ah you got multiple players using that phrase after the game um But yeah, you had the rapids dropping points lefc dropping points. You could have kept pace with rsl after they won ah Like I said made made a play to get up the table here and up towards not just a top four spot but maybe a top two or three spot and you kind of blew that opportunity I guess on the On the positive side, you know those other teams that I mentioned, dropping points means that like Seattle dropping points doesn't hurt them as as bad as it could have. But um that's that's also sort of what makes it a missed op. So ah definitely unfortunate from that standpoint. And then I think that kind of ties into my larger takeaway, which is that um the home forum has not been like what it quite what it needs to be this year again. um It's been OK.
00:19:12
Speaker
um but Seattle's home record is seven two and six they've drawn they've drawn six times at home that's too many and the reason that that's unfortunate is because ah they've actually been a very very good road team this year yeah they have six road wins which that's good for any MLS season I think like five to seven is sort of what I think of as the target for how many road dubs you need to be like comfortably in playoff position and then also you know be able to keep your league points per game ah like where you want it like if you're trying to be up with like the shield teams five to seven road wins so Seattle hit that target and I think they they have at least one or two more chances to add to that
00:19:55
Speaker
ah but like the reason that they're fifth on the table and not Closer to the top of the table is because six draws at home. That's a lot of drop points That's a lot of drop points at home and that's been like too much of a theme in recent years and um and It would just be nice if they could combine that That road form they have with the home form of old. Yeah. um Anyway, those are my takeaways. What do you think? this My biggest takeaway from this was funny enough as the anti-stats guy looking at the possession stats because the earthquakes had more possession than the sounders at home. What are you doing when you're up?
00:20:32
Speaker
To one at home. Why are you not just keeping possession stringing passes together working through and Bleeding the clock but also making those attacking plays like the fact that they seeded so much possession to to the San Jose
Listener Questions and Team Evaluation
00:20:49
Speaker
earthquakes to get these essentially as many chances as possible so that you know if there's a defensive lapse like it goes in granted I mean the Sounders had 10 more shots than the earthquakes so it wasn't like they were making great opportunity with their possession but it doesn't matter because it only takes one opportunity it only takes one opportunity and Brian Brian Spencer said that as well he said that the possession stats were just like
00:21:16
Speaker
<unk>rassing Embarrassing for him and embarrassing for a team where you need to control possession and tempo at home and it seemed like they just weren't able to do that. Yeah, it just it just the game was not well managed after they went up to one. I think you're right. There was too much conceding possession, too much ah not controlling the game state enough for being the home team and for having a lead. Just not exactly what I would call masterclass and how to play with the lead.
00:21:39
Speaker
And Seattle historically, that's been a strong suit for them is is game management and knowing how to play with the lead, killing a game off, keeping possession when you need to. um We talked about this game management stuff I feel like a lot more last year. um And I feel like this year, um for the most part, with some exceptions, that's been more of a strong suit again, but not in this game.
00:22:02
Speaker
Yeah. And my other one was the pro dance just did not look good. They, both of the goals kind of were on them, not completely, but they, they made some defensive lapses and I don't think they had the greatest game together combining.
00:22:19
Speaker
Yeah, I agree with that and I would just add that I think I think the whole defense was yeah no hundred but I mean anytime that you give up ah Last second equalizer to the worst team in the league something has gone wrong defensively. So yeah, that's push-ups for sure. Yeah All right, let's do our our update on the anti rusnak brigade ah Check in with how their pulse after this one. This is actually a pretty hot week for them rusnak He did help set up the first goal. It was his service into the box that kind of led to that opportunity. But it's not on the stat sheet, so... didn't Didn't get on the stat sheet. And also, like I think any time the result doesn't go Seattle's way against an inferior team, um they're gonna they're goingnna be the brigade's going to be hopping. so
00:23:05
Speaker
and yeah i mean That's the update on how they're doing. Yeah. No, i I thought this was a good, a good game for the anti-rest snack because they say, they say, you know, he doesn't show up for big teams. Well, now they can say he doesn't show up exactly for any of the teams. But that said, I don't think he played poorly in this game.
00:23:24
Speaker
Like if you look at the I don't think it was his fault that you know The Sounders lost this game. I think it was again. It was the defense. I thought the attack played Basically flawlessly other than yeah other than they they could have probably finished one or two more chances They scored they scored multiple goals, and then yeah, I think the nitpick critique would be that like you need to get the third goal, so that's what you can fault the offense for. But overall, like that was a good enough attacking performance to win the game. They were a couple minutes from winning the game off that performance, but the defense let them down. so
00:23:58
Speaker
ah But that won't stop the brigade. The brigade, their pitchforks and and torches are getting getting hotter and closer. That's where we're at. All right. ah Let's hit our agenda check. we've got we've got I've got four written down for this week. Noah, you had a couple that yeah you wanted to bring to the table. So and let's go through these, and then we'll hit questions. um I've got two two of the ones that we've been tracking, ah which is Georgie. And De La Vega is the savior. I'll start with Georgie, which is that ah Like good stuff, good stuff again, and fun to watch. But I'm kind of back to thinking that it's a situation where it's like potential and upside without a lot of end products. You're on my side now. I mean, I was saying that, uh, earlier too. yeah but i was just Last week I was pouring cold water on it a little bit. Well, yeah. And like I like I've been doing the Leo Chu comparison correct dating back a while. And that's just like that's really I don't mean that like in a way that it's still fun to watch and like I'm happy to watch and play. But like um there just hasn't been a lot of end product yet. And I feel like that was kind of the ah the theme in this game. Again, some fun moments, definitely some like electrifying traits. Yeah. But nothing that really came to fruition yet. Yeah, I think he has the raw talent to be really talent like to be You know I'm just gonna say talent a million times, but like that's where it's at. It's not refined yet um And funny enough I was talking to Dylan Tevez on the sidelines during this game and he's like dude even knew who hates defending Georgie like he's so fast he's so athletic with the ball and I think that's a perfect example of like
00:25:39
Speaker
he is a menace but that can only get you so far like he's a pain in the ass but he's only a pain in the ass to a certain point he's still not connecting those final passes or finishing his shots or anything like that so if he can work on that and get better in that realm like he could be He could be a nightmare on that side. I think what I appreciate about appreciate about him is that he's entertaining. And I think at times this year when this season has dragged for this team, there just hasn't been enough like juice and swagger and like guys having fun out there. And he kind of brings all that stuff to the table. so He's a fun storyline to watch. Yeah, most definitely. Agenda, where would you put it at?
00:26:19
Speaker
um Slightly diminished, slightly diminished, unchanged. yeah Realistically, that's that's kind of pre boiling. Yeah. Yeah. De La Vega savior agenda. I'm going to call diminished, man. Like I want to start seeing it, you know, I want to start seeing that end product. He gets the he gets the assist, but like he knew nothing about that. I can't I literally I cannot rightfully like tout that as evidence of him like realizing the quality that we thought we thought was arriving here with his signing. But um yeah yeah, honestly, like i'm I'm seeing pretty like a similar theme with him that I am with Georgie, and that's not really what you want, is it? like No. i think and've I think we've been very deferential and ah accommodating of the fact that like his fitness is probably, like is most definitely not like where it needs to be and where it would have to be for him to play at his full capacity. So I get all that.
00:27:18
Speaker
And I'm still willing to acknowledge all that, but he's played a few games now. um It's time. yeah It's time. And I thought this game was, ah again, like ah it looked like Georgie out there, which is not necessarily what he's supposed to be.
00:27:38
Speaker
And not to compare like a Toyota Corolla to a Lamborghini but look at the amount of minutes Paul Rothrock has played and the statistical output that he's done and like been able to provide to this team and then the the same amount of minutes or less minutes I guess that De La Vega has provided and just kind of the lack of end product or anything like Paul Rothrock was healthy, correct, but he was coming from playing on the Defiance, barely playing, maybe playing one game, two game, here or there, but he was immediately able to make an impact. And it's like, I just, that just, oh you know, your million dollar DP 23 year old signing is...
00:28:28
Speaker
blasting shots over the crossbar halfway across the field old and it's like why are you doing that? He did that twice. yes where Where there was like an attacking phase going on where he had runners there was like options of stuff to do and I think he's pressing right now a little bit that's what that indicates to me when you see a guy like like when you're lining up the Rui Diaz fadeaways and stuff like That's those are really low percentage looks and there are better options in those situations And yeah, like it felt like watching that it felt like Okay, he's pressing and trying to do too much. Yeah. No, I agree and like if you look at how he was successful at Leonis like it was that getting into the box the interplay the like being really talented in those small spaces with his feet and he's just
Coaching Strategies and Game Management
00:29:19
Speaker
he's not he's not getting there he's not doing that he's not he's not playing up to that potential and for me the agenda is incredibly diminished if not dead i mean i've been i've been saying that but like man i just i just hope i don't think he's going to be a bust i'll put that out there but i i I don't know. I'm not feeling good about it right now. Yeah, I'm not ready to call it dead just because I do think we are still at a really small sample size, but I think what I'm saying is like you can only lean on that for so long and we are approaching the time where we're not going to be able to lean on that. Is getting hot and we got it. We got to start we got to just start seeing and like you do see good stuff in flashes like I'm definitely not saying that you don't and like even in this game even with like a couple of the Sequences where I thought the decision-making could have been better There was still like a couple plays where he had a guy 1v1 and just mossed him, you know, so that stuff is good to see But like but this I want to start seeing the end products This was his longest match since Austin, which he also played 63 minutes. You played 63 minutes against the worst defensive team in the entire league. And all you have to show for it is you got blasted off the face by a cross and you blasted to way over the crossbar from half field. That's that you got to be better than that as a DP, because if and respectfully, if Rusnak was doing that, the brigade would be correct. I'm just saying, I'm just saying.
00:30:51
Speaker
um All right, you had to you had two agendas that I do pervade that you wanted to bring to the table this week ah So why don't you dish these and I'll just so I'll tell you what I think of yeah, so I pervade both of these on Twitter ah this week um I saw a nice little quote from ah Frank McDonald on Twitter where he was talking about Oh Schmetz won the A League with this really good record or I think it was USL I'm not sure exactly what it was but I I kind of made this comment that Brian Schmetzer should be considered one of, if not the, all-time best American coach. He has won at every level. He has won trophies that no other American coach has ever won. He has been to the Club World Cup. He will go to the Club World Cup. And what I said was he could potentially be considered one of the best coaches in the world if they're able to make a run at the Club World Cup.
00:31:45
Speaker
this is ah This is a hot agenda. i'd like I definitely like the agenda of, or just like the premise that Schmetz doesn't really get the national recognition in the pantheon of great MLS and American coaches that he probably should. And I think i think the reason for that is Because he's like got such hyper local ties and he's been just like affiliated with one team for so long I think from the outside it might seem like he ah I think a lot of people think he's more the product of a successful like organization as a whole then like a really great coach and if you talk to if you talk to people who follow this they'll they'll say you know, he's He's not really a tactician. He's more of a man manager, which is something that like I kind of
00:32:31
Speaker
believe too like I think his strong suit is man managing more than necessarily being this like great tactical mind. But I'm of the belief that man managing like that is the most important part of being a coach. like I put more weight on that ability than I do necessarily on X's and O's.
00:32:47
Speaker
um And I think he's probably underrated ah With X's and O's as well as far as like, you know, he's it's not like he does anything innovative with his formations He's been running a 4-2-3-1 for years and years if it ain't broke don't fix it. but Yeah if it ain't broke don't fix it and ah he's really good at getting buying from his players and I think like the trophy case Kind of speaks for itself in a way, like you said, like no other MLS coach has won champions league. Um, no other MLS coach has been to the club world cup and like, it just doesn't really, uh, he doesn't get talked about. Like, uh, like a lot of these other like revered coaches within MLS and he should more, I think it is just a product of the fact that, uh, he's a local guy that's only ever been affiliated with one team. So there's always going to be this question of like, could he do it somewhere else? Yeah, and one of the things that I someone had had replied to me and been like oh well You know this team is average and you know blah blah blah blah blah and I was like if you took basically They're just being a hater on my agenda And I said if you took this roster and gave it to any other coach in the league I promise you that none of them would have been able to sort out this mess because
00:33:57
Speaker
You have a DP who is upset that he's not playing and is making a shitload of money. And he's and you know who Brian Schmetzer chose to play over him?
00:34:11
Speaker
a random homegrown guy who's played like four matches for you and ends up being that guy. like There's not a lot of coaches, Wilfred Nancy included. we I think he's a brilliant tactical coach, but he's even said it. you know People have their time when they can get signed and brought up. like This roster is not good, and I think Brian Schmetzer should be given a lot more credit for the placement that they're in with the way that he's been able to tactically adjust yeah and and run this roster. roster. It's an interesting point, like I i have been thinking to myself more and more lately, like Schmetz is kind of coaching his ass off this year, like given the ah the situation with Rui Diaz and where the roster's at um and how it's sort of like a time of transition, like you could look at it like that getting this team to 1.5, 1.6 points per game given the sort of like flux that the roster is in right now, yeah is There's an argument to be made, at least, that that's actually a pretty good coaching achievement. It's at least an interesting discussion. Yeah, I agree. That is my first agenda in this next one, Ari. This one this one's i'm probably my hottest take of all time and also a little bit facetious and funny and not super real, but I did want to dish it because content.
00:35:31
Speaker
Jordan Morris is messy agenda. Okay. And Morris currently has the same number of non penalty goals as messy. Um, so he's basically messy. That's what I'm going to say. And if you remember back in 2016 or 17, the sounders posted the photo of Jordan Morris holding up the scarf and messy holding up the scarf in the same spot. And there was hate and all of this stuff, but, uh,
00:35:55
Speaker
Jordan Morris is messy agenda. So they both have 13 non penalty goals. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Uh, yeah, you know, uh, I think you might have a hard time getting this agenda going mainstream, uh, particularly among the U S men's national team fan base. They might not be a fan of that take. Um, but yeah, I'm, I'm cool with, um, I'm cool with it. I'm not gonna, uh, I'm not gonna yuck your yum on that.
00:36:22
Speaker
on ah On a more serious note though, Jordan Morris at the Nine Agenda related, this production has been incredible, would you say? like I think he is fully and 100% cemented his place at the Nine. I don't know, what is your view on that?
00:36:39
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, like I said, that's going to be an interesting storyline to track over the offseason, how exactly they approach that. But I think he's definitely making a case that he's a high level, productive, carry the load, MLS number nine. um And really, there's just kind of been like a different different juice about his game this year, especially in the last like couple of months. Like I was noticing last night, like ah yeah know He he ah he complains to the ref so much more than he used to which is not necessarily a good thing Like I always thought Dempsey did that like to excessively, you know to the point where it's like, all right You're literally just bitching at the ref the entire game. You can probably give it a rest at some point So I don't necessarily but like with Jordan I like like to see it Yeah, cuz he's got he's had this nice guy persona. Yeah, so long and he like ah he has shedded that in the last
00:37:31
Speaker
Month or two I feel like and it's been pretty fun to see and it's also just kind of the sort of like ah Angry Jordan is like a it's like oh, yeah. Okay. All right. It's like this now and it's I think it's making him play better Yeah, like I think it might actually be making him playing with rage. I love it. Angry Jordan Angry angry Jordan agenda Yeah, that's ah that's a that's a good new agenda But uh, I was I was thinking about that again last night just why even after he scored the second goal He was strutting around and yeah, he was like it was like the equivalent of like a bat flip. Yeah, it was pretty sick Yeah Yeah He was he was chirping all the way he ran from one side of the field to the other and then back up But he was still like button up not in his head and stuff I played into the refs pimping his goals talking trash to the other team It's just all stuff that you like never used to see him do know and I think it's sick as hell
00:38:23
Speaker
um All right, I think that'll do it for agenda check. We've got some questions from you, the people. What do we got this week, Noah? Questions from you all lobbed in Ari's mentions after the match. Here we go, starting with Chad. Hot take. De La Vega has a ton of potential to become a special player, but we're not seeing enough of it right now. At this moment, our best 11 has Rothrock and Georgie in the wide positions. I think you hit on it, Chad. We were just sort of talking about it. but um Like whether it's fitness with De La Vega right now or whatever the case may be, I don't think there's any doubt that the best first choice 11 for this team right now has Rothrock in it. um And then, you know, I guess Georgie versus De La Vega, that's kind of a wash for me, but that's sort of the point is that that shouldn't be a wash. yeah Like that should be like De La Vega should be starting there, no question. Like they shouldn't be offering you like this roughly the same idea, man. That's not how it should be.
00:39:22
Speaker
um So the fact that that's even a take that has legs, I think, is not necessarily good. um But I don't know. I don't want to make it seem too much like ah we're writing or I'm writing De La Vega off completely, man. Because then he won't write back. Yeah, exactly. But he I don't I don't know. I think that Chad has it right. That like the best 11 has Rothrock and Georgie out wide. I think there's a lot to that. No, i'm I mean definitely Rothrock, Georgie. I don't know. I don't know where to sit on this. I think I'm in agreeance with the fact that the possibility of this even having legs with your bajillion dollar DP is a little concerning, but we will continue to see what Schmetz rules out there. This next one comes from Sounders Dan.
00:40:10
Speaker
Four games this year, we have dropped two points after the 85th minute. That is way too many and brings into question Schmetzer's late game decisions, both strategically and tactically. We just went on a pro Schmetzer rant, Ari. How are you going to respond to this bad boy? I mean, that's not a good stat. That's not a good stat.
00:40:28
Speaker
but um I mean Like how much of that is coach coaching and how much of that is like execution? I don't think this game was coaching Yeah ah Because like there are teams who do that like member the Chicago fire like this correct the What the Sounders did in this game was the classic Chicago fire correct? They do that every single week um They do that four times in a month not four times in a season frankly four games out of 34, if they say they make it through four games out of 34, where you're leading late and you, uh, and you give up the lead, give up the equalizer. That is too many, but honestly, not radically more than I would expect over the course of a really long season with a ton of games where just a lot of different stuff is going to happen. And, uh, like results are going to flip on you like that at least a couple of times a year. So I agree that four is too many, but I don't see that. I actually don't see that stat as like.
00:41:25
Speaker
hyper-egregious. I think what's egregious in this game is that you did it against the quakes when you were trying to move up the table. yeah more than that's the That's the issue here more than it being like an overarching theme of the season, which um I don't think them blowing leads has been a top issue this year. No, I agree. I think if you want to point to something where Brian was making poor strategic and tactical decisions. It was, uh, was it RBW was on that yellow when he eventually got sent off. I think it might've been against boarding. Uh, the fact that he left him out there knowing that he had, he was, he was just coming back from injury and we all of that. We were critical of that one.
00:42:07
Speaker
But he took responsibility for that in those following weeks. And I think we even noted that his substitutions had completely changed after that moment. And he had made it pretty clear that he was looking inward on that result and took responsibility for that. But I would not say that this result was because of any kind of substitutions or strategy. I think it was players.
00:42:32
Speaker
not putting the game away and just like maybe you could say some some of the sub patterns were wrong which i think is fair but it's like that game should have been put away earlier and uh just some really bad lapses in the defense like letting your man get goal side that's defending 101 like i would teach that to sixth graders you know like that's just bad defending. This next one here comes from Richard Bullock. Should the coach rip into the players for throwing that dub away?
Sounders' League Performance and Strategy
00:43:03
Speaker
I mean, I guarantee you he did at least to an extent. Like I think any coach would, but I mean, cause that, uh,
00:43:10
Speaker
that that That's criminal like to get game away like when you ever anytime you give a lead away like post 80th minute the coach is yeah The vein in his forehead is going to burst um so um I doubt it was all that fun of a post game locker room. I don't know if Schmetz is like a big like, uh, I'm going to rip into you type of, clip board but I, yeah, I don't think he's not really not like sick that type of guy as much as yeah, as much as Ziggy was, but, uh, I guarantee you that he was unhappy with how that game ended. And I guarantee you that he let the squad know about it.
00:43:49
Speaker
Oh yeah, he was definitely clicking his pen rapidly ah in that locker room, but I don't think, I don't think that's his Epico Gs, but also, I don't think any of them got away with it, and I know that most of them are gonna be really disappointed with that result. No one's sitting there like, oh, it's fine.
00:44:06
Speaker
it's fine you know but this last one here comes from dan we keep saying the sounders are good but can you call a team good who doesn't beat the worst team in the league agenda nomination georgie should start over p d l v we're cutting that agenda we already talked about that dan We did come on we did talk about that agenda, but I think for that first part He's referencing the discussion we had on the last show where we true were saying that the Sounders were a pretty good team um And you know Dan saying and Can they be good if they don't beat the worst team in the league which they lost to the quakes early this season? And then they choked the lead away to draw in this one um what I would say is I think we were
00:44:48
Speaker
at least I was looking at it more on the whole body of work this season than one individual game. um what i will What I will tell you all is like this stuff happens in MOS as much as any league. This league, like the worst team in the league can beat the best team in the league on any given day because of like just how much parody there is within the league. So you're definitely like you're not like entitled to any results against any team no matter who you play in this league. That's just how it works to an extent. And there are games where you're playing a team where you might think that you're way better have way more talent. You're playing at home whatever the case may You might have more talent. yeah you like in this In this case, Seattle had way more talent than the Quakes had out there. Quakes had like also, like in addition to being the worst team in the league, they had 13 guys on their injury report going into this game. They're decimated. And they still got a result in this game. um you know like Seattle botched it for sure. And we talked about that. But like it's just ah there there are no guaranteed results in MOS. And that's why I think it's more instructive to,
00:45:56
Speaker
to look at like the overall record, the points per game, um and stuff like that as opposed to you know just looking at a couple results against specifically the quakes and basing your take on the team purely off that. like when i When I look at this team, I see a team that's won 13 games this year and that's played at roughly a 1.5 to 1.6 points per game pace.
00:46:17
Speaker
for most of the year, um which is not up to the standard that we expect from Seattle, but is certainly not like a... I just don't think it's like a terrible team. I see that as like a mid to sometimes pretty good MLS team. That's what yeah that's how I rate them and I stick to that. We're not lying, we're not saying like, this is the MLS cup contending team. We're saying this is a good, not great, not elite team. This is a team that is good. I don't think that losing to the worst team in the league on one given day or drawing a team in the last few minutes because of a really bad defensive error is gonna dictate how you're gonna do in the playoffs or how you're gonna do in a tournament or what the body of work is. Is it concerning?
00:47:03
Speaker
Yes, I think it's equally as concerning as not being able to beat l LAFC because it's like you're two poles of you can't beat the worst team and you can't beat the best team. ah it's It's tough scenes, I won't lie.
00:47:16
Speaker
Yeah, I mean the way I think of it on a base level is like 1.4 to 1.6 points per game. You're mid to pretty good, you know, depending on where you fall on that spectrum. Seattle's at 1.57 right now, so that's exactly where I put them.
00:47:35
Speaker
1.7 and above that's like where the very good two elite teams are like the supporter shield winners are always up towards two and then I think if you're like 1.2 and below that's where you start to get to like bad and ah you know San Jose's at zero point six two. Yeah, that's in half of those point zero six two is from the thing like when people talk about how like how trash the Sounders are like you guys could be quakes fans you could be Chicago fire fans there were quakes fans at this game folks. Yeah, like ah like you could be a a fan of a team that's at way less than a point per game. Like one point five seven is like not that but it's not elite, but it's not that bad. And it's like it's not to say or hand wave away that you aren't entitled to feel frustrated. You absolutely are. Like I think we're both just as frustrated with this match. I mean, the vibe in the press box after this game was like
00:48:34
Speaker
God damn it. But you know, that's not to say like, let's not lose sight of the fact that this isn't just some dumpster of a team. Like with some changes, it could be a contending team easily.
00:48:48
Speaker
um All right, let's move on to Blazing hope Hot Coach Press Conference of the Week, new segment that officially debuted last week, and we've got a pretty topical one this week. Brian Schmetzer of the Seattle Sounders is our Blazing Hot Coach Press Conference of the Week. you know It was funny, I was saying that I couldn't find one this week before we started recording, and Noah was like, I think it's Schmetz, and I was like, you know what, you're absolutely right.
00:49:11
Speaker
um i don't think it was like blazing blazing hot but i think it was the hottest out of the ah coach press conferences that i watched this week and i mean he was pissed he was very upset he was not happy yeah i would not expect him to be he wasn't throwing things that's not him but like he was He was doing it. I mean, yeah. So we've been I mean, we've been playing highlights. Should we slap down the Schmetz audio here and you guys can listen for yourselves if you haven't peeped it
Press Conference and MLS Game Review
00:49:39
Speaker
yet. um Here's Brian Schmetzer post game after the Quakes game last night as this week's blazing hot coach press conference of the week.
00:49:46
Speaker
you know, where is the group leadership at 2-1 to connect a bunch of passes and just kill the game with good possession, make them chase the ball, you know, no extent. They're 55% to 45% possession. That's not good enough. When you're up 2-1, I get it. I get it. The team that's up by a goal, you know, it kind of drops in or, you know, does whatever they can to hold on to lead, but not here at home. We're actually the home team. And I don't care if it's 2-1. We should be controlling tempo and creating the chances that we did. I accept all the responsibility for the substitutions and the starting lineup, for sure. But those two goals were not great goals to give up.
00:50:39
Speaker
Not at all. Not at all. First one, you know, giveaway. Second giveaway. You know, lands to their best guy. You know, the decision for Steph to come out. You know, is he thinking about the last play that he had? You know, just the defending inside the box, life or death. Second one was even worse.
00:51:06
Speaker
You know, we train how to defend against players running into that zone. You know, center back covers it if they can. Midfielders have to chase sometimes. But the responsibility of the two center backs to cover their areas when the ball's coming across, you know, I'm not pinning that all on Alex. This guy came from over his shoulder.
00:51:34
Speaker
you know, that's a team goal that's just poor in a lot of different areas. All right. Yes. I'm not having, not happy. No, no, he was very upset. I was actually in that room for that one. Ari, if if you haven't noticed, I was in person blazing hot coach. I was in personally for this one. So I'll give you a little rundown. He was not happy. I mean, answering questions just like, I mean, if you're watching the the YouTube podcast, he's just, you know,
00:52:03
Speaker
He was bewildered. I feel like he was frustrated. he was you know Someone asked him about his substitution. He's like, I'll take responsibility. I'll take responsibility. I don't care, you know as you just heard. like He was um i think very unhappy. I think both him and the players like realized like what a missed off this was. Yeah. and can't You can't give those up. You can't give up those points if you want to contend. It's bad. ah Two bad points to drop.
00:52:29
Speaker
um Alright, let's hop around the league, do some winners and losers, and then get out of here. Does that sound good now? Let's do it. Alright, there's a bunch of games yeah there were midweek, so a lot to talk about here. um The Philly Union continue to be low-key kind of back. They absolutely obliterated NYCFC at Yankee Stadium, 5-1.
00:52:51
Speaker
Yeah, scar no brim yeah um this guy Ty Buribo their striker Israeli striker he's like been one of the hottest number nines in the league for a while now and he was balling out in League's Cup and it's transferred over and The Philly Union are kind of they're they're kind of back God remember that glorious stretch where they were taking the most insane comic comical else possible every single week and That was weird, but it seems to be over so they went through like the nine plagues. They went through everything they had the raccoon the raccoons the floods the like everything power outages it was insane now now they're back, but like a and what I see you see they're they've been pretty like hot and cold this year, but they're a pretty good team and they're also really hard to beat it yeah you like you pretty much never see them lose like that no stadium because like they have such a home field advantage because of the dimensions and stuff there and Like that was definitely, um you just don't see that very often. Portland Timbers, Portland Timbers, sorry folks, I'm gonna have to do it. They mean they beat the LA Galaxy who are first in the West, four to two, and ah so the national pundits are like all over the Evander for MVP agenda. would be funny
00:54:00
Speaker
Yeah, it would be funny. it's ah Unfortunately, it turns out, like we were calling him a bot earlier in the season, but he's pretty damn good. He was a bot like last season and early this season. And you know, he's still he still does have a little bit of that attribute of playing like a bot and then just coming up with yeah an absolute world out of nowhere. but He's yeah a great character. Yeah, he's a fun little character. and um I think it's fair to say that he's ah quite a bit better than we were giving him credit for earlier this season. um But, you know, ah if the rest of the national pundit class is going to purvey the Evander for MVP agenda, that's only going to fuel our Rusnak for MVP. Correct. ah Even though, you know, Evander's at
00:54:45
Speaker
he's it's He's at like 14 and 18 or something right now. he's having He's having a hell of a year. So he's like low key like he's low key. Probably actually has on on like ah on like on like a team with the world's worst coach ever to yeah, like an actively bad roster.
00:55:02
Speaker
Well, they're, the way I see their roster is it's a really good offense and just kind of a sketchy yeah as hell defense, yeah which I think if there's going to be anything that derails their chances of trophy contending with this team, it would be that. Cause I feel like they can kind of score goals with anybody. Yeah, um Nashville SC they beat the fire 1-0, which isn't all that impressive, but they've just they've kind of j they've kind of turned it around BJ Callahan He's turning around baby room is turning it around and bots favorite. They might be yeah They might be back in the mix as well
00:55:36
Speaker
um All right, and I got the losers here to close it out Seattle Sounders drew the San Jose earthquakes at home famous likes famously That's a good way to get in this section. But I mean in all seriousness we we we already talked about it, but they they were gifted an opportunity to climb up the table and ah Get themselves right back in that top four mix. They're still in the mix for a top four spot and So it's all to play for for this team. But um to be that close to seeing out another dub and climbing up the table towards that that like second or third place spot and then to to blow it like that tough. Yeah. um
00:56:17
Speaker
You know on the positive side for Seattle. I also got LAFC and then this so this kind of Is relevant to what we were talking about earlier? You know ah like can we call Seattle good because They drew the San Jose earthquakes at home I mean can we call LAFC good if they draw Austin FC at home because that's exactly what they did because i mean Yeah, I would still call LAFC pretty good. I mean I know but like like I know it's different because LAFC has been ahead of Seattle all year but like LAFC is two points ahead of Seattle's pace right now. We talk about LAFC like they're the buzzsaw of all buzz saws and they do have a couple games in hand so that is fair to point out but like I'm just saying like
00:57:00
Speaker
the The results like that can happen to anybody. And Austin FC is not good. And they went into L.A.C. and they took a point too. So um they're fighting for playoffs for a playoffs by here. I don't think they'll make it, but they're sure fighting.
00:57:15
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, yeah, I don't think they're going to make it. They're four points off Minnesota United right now. So it's looking like Austin, Dallas, and the club of professional wrestling enthusiasts are all going to miss the playoffs this year. And St. Louis, and San Jose. Let's not forget about our losers. Well, I mean, they've been out of it for a while. True, true. It's not like we're theoretically still in it. Can you imagine having 18 points and half of those coming from the Sounders?
00:57:38
Speaker
Yeah, exactly oh my god. Yeah, if they if the quakes hadn't taken any points off the Sounders this year they would be at They would be at like what 14 points on the year yeah, that's crazy um and then the last one I had was ah Toronto FC they got bammed on to zero by the crew at home and not everyone could beat him folks. Yeah, and I I don't yeah I and haven't heard if the crew had a backup goalkeeper for this
Episode Conclusion and Future Content
00:58:06
Speaker
game. I'm not sure but Maybe maybe not All right, that was all I had for the around the league stuff Did you have any other news items or takes or anything you wanted to hit or nothing right now? Let's wrap around here. All right, that'll do it for episode 66 Thank you all as always so much for tuning in we really appreciate
00:58:25
Speaker
All our listeners and our new viewers from our new audience on YouTube. Appreciate you guys. Everyone sub to the YouTube. Get us to 600 subs. That's the next frontier. Like, comment, rate, subscribe. Rate five stars. Share with the Vander. Share with the Vander. Share with the film level. We're going to call it. Until next time, we out. Peace.