Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Which Western Conference contender helped themselves most during transfer window?
0 Plays2 seconds ago
Friend of the pod Matt Doyle makes his triumphant return to discuss the recently closed transfer window, how it affects the Western Conference race and the Leagues Cup. Believe it or not, he doesn’t think the Sounders’ lack of activity hurts them too much.
You can read Matt Doyle every week at MLSsoccer.com, watch his tactical videos on Bluesky and subscribe his new “Tactics Free Zone” newsletter.
🍷 Full Pull Wines: Love wine but not wine clubs? Check out the boutique wine seller who lets you browse their selections and pick whatever you want. You can join their mailing list here: https://fullpullwines.com/signup.php
***
Nos Audietis is the flagship podcast for Sounder at Heart, which became a reader-supported website on Aug. 21. You can support us by becoming a paid subscriber, learn more here. You can also watch many of their shows on YouTube.
Aside from becoming a Sounder at Heart subscriber, you can also support the show by using this link to purchase MLS Season Pass or checking out our merch table to buy various shirt designs.
“Diversions” audio provided by Sounder at Heart subscriber Lars; find more of their music here.
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and New Roles
00:00:01
Speaker
Hi, I'm Will Bruin, and I was just recognized as a Seattle Sounders legend. Now I get to do voice reads for the Sounder at Heart podcast network. Here we go. Come on. Hey, O'Shaan.
00:00:13
Speaker
Let's go. What a sorry, Bud Fry.
Celebrating MLS Cup Victory
00:00:18
Speaker
The Seattle Sounders have done it. MLS Cup winners. Here comes Rui Diaz through the middle to crowd it for Seattle.
00:00:28
Speaker
The Saunders rule the region! Seattle Saunders is good! This feels fucking awesome. And Portland can't say it's genius! Nice work on your little
00:00:46
Speaker
Ooch of a gooch! All creatures great and small! Villaviga!
00:00:54
Speaker
me
00:00:59
Speaker
you know What was the thought process in terms of who you decided it to use and you didn't? Ever since I wrote a commentary that we didn't take the overcome seriously.
Sponsorship and Community Support
00:01:18
Speaker
This episode of Nos Arietes is sponsored by Full Pull Wines, a Seattle-based wine retailer and proud sponsor of Nos Arietes since 2011. Full Pull was founded in 2009, is based in Seattle, and is owned and operated by longtime Sounder supporters.
00:01:32
Speaker
They offer the best boutique wines of the world to members of their mailing list, with special focus on their home, Pacific Northwest.
Western Conference Soccer Dynamics
00:01:42
Speaker
Welcome back to another episode of No Sarietes on the Sounder at Heart Podcast Network. i am Jeremiah Oshan. Joining me again, very happy to welcome Matt Doyle back to the show, reviving How the West Will Be Won.
00:01:57
Speaker
Welcome back, Matt. It's been a little while. Yeah, it's been a minute. um what was our What was our take last time on How the West Will Be Won? what did we do What did we come down I don't remember. ah Probably that the Sounders were going to run away with it or something.
00:02:10
Speaker
Probably that San Diego was was definitely not going to maintain the pace that they were on. That Minnesota was on the verge of falling apart. ah That the Sounders and LAFC were going to surge to the top of the table.
00:02:24
Speaker
u hu I mean, it wasn't old. I would still take the Sounders and LAFC against the field in the West, though. For sure. I think I would, too.
Vancouver's Challenges and Investments
00:02:35
Speaker
um, Vancouver's legit. The fact that they invested the way they did this summer, the fact that they, yeah they held on in spite of having that, um, absolutely ridiculous schedule and losing their best player to an injury and then losing their best defender to an injury and, so you know, selling their second best chance creator. Like the fact that they're still there, I think now atop the West on points per game.
00:03:00
Speaker
And then obviously went out and signed Thomas Muller as well. Um, Man, i'm I'm just happy for them. And I'm happy that like it confirms my priors about the right way to play soccer because they've been a beautiful team to watch all year.
00:03:13
Speaker
ah So they're like they're very clearly in that top group in the Western Conference. Yeah, I mean, I think that you can argue that there are at least five teams in the West who look all perfectly competent. And if any one of them came out of the West, they would probably be.
00:03:32
Speaker
fine like in and and it's i don't know it's to me maybe I'm a homer here but I look at the I realize that there's a point discrepancy between the top teams in the east and the top we're not the top teams but like the top half of the east and the top half of the west like I think it the sounders would be in seventh place or something like that in the eastern conference I guess I could just pull up a table and look at that yeah but ah that would be too easy ah since I'm okay. Yes. Seventh, no eighth sounds would be eighth in the West.
00:04:02
Speaker
If in the East, I mean, in the East, but I just don't, I don't know if I buy that. The East is actually better than the the West. Like I think there, I understand there's depth there, but like,
00:04:16
Speaker
Give me Columbus crew and LAFC on a neutral field. And I don't know that there's a lot of daylight there.
00:04:26
Speaker
Yeah, I guess. I mean, the East is 10 deep with playoff teams. Yeah, that
Sounders' Transfer Window Strategy
00:04:34
Speaker
is. That's fair. That that is a blender, you know, and then like what? is is.
00:04:40
Speaker
is um New England. And I actually liked that roster. Like that's a roster that's held. You like the roster. You keep saying that it seems to apply something else about the team.
00:04:50
Speaker
What is it that you're trying to say, man? You know, Carly field said the other day that um changes needed to be made. And if you look at it, they've changed the front office and they've changed the players. And what what else could they change?
00:05:02
Speaker
What else, what else is left to change in the last two years? Huh? I think that in the West, outside of the top five, it's really bad. I really do. And now maybe, you know, Portland, i give them credit for being super aggressive and bringing in like Felipe Caballo is not really a DP, but
Talent Development at Sounders Academy
00:05:22
Speaker
like he'll help.
00:05:23
Speaker
And ah you know, Matty Rojas, I think it's a pretty good player in this league. He'll help. And then they went out and they, they bought that DP wingers. Like, that's not a bad team, but like that's a team that's scrapping in the Eastern conference.
00:05:36
Speaker
they are at best scrapping with the Red Bulls and Chicago for the ninth spot. I'll ble i'll i buy that. i guess I guess that's maybe more what I'm saying. is The top five in the West, to me, compare with the top five of the East pretty favorably. But you're right.
00:05:53
Speaker
Yeah, but the top five in the East extends to eight or nine. That's fair. Fair enough. I guess that's fair point. Yeah. fair enough that's that's i guess that's that's a it's a fair point ah This is a show that we talk mostly about the Western Conference. So we're just going to focus on this. And we may as well start here with the transfer window because it is the biggest. It's still the biggest news item, I think, from ah for ah right now that's going on.
00:06:19
Speaker
And everyone, everyone in the league really was pretty active. The Sounders were not the Sounders. as like I'm going to give them credit. They did sign Snyder Brunel technically in the summer transfer window.
00:06:32
Speaker
I don't think he really counts ah in a large sense, but I'm going to count him anyway. But he also has had two goals. He's been more productive than a lot.
00:06:43
Speaker
If they went out and they signed some Dutch kid for $3.5 million dollars and he played this well in his first handful of a first team of games, so yeah all of Sounders fandom would be like, this is the biggest heist ever. We have the greatest front office in the world. And somehow it's like a black mark on the on the ambition of the team that instead they're developing players like this from within.
00:07:06
Speaker
like i think people need to get their priorities. um a little bit more in line. and they They need to understand that the business, the best business to do in the game is to build these guys in your academy and in your reserve team. And the Sounders are doing that as well as, if not better than anybody in MLS, anybody in North America right now, other than maybe Pachuca.
00:07:29
Speaker
Yeah, you know, so I had a little bit of fun today and I was putting together, i want I wanted to see if I could put together a lineup of players the Sounders had just produced or had, uh, had had brought through defiance specifically as and and what kind of lineup you'd end up with.
00:07:45
Speaker
Here's what I ended up with. Andrew Thomas and goal, even though he was drafted, most of his development happened at defiance. I was putting Alex rolled on it right back, but then I got into a discussion with Dave Clark and he pointed out that he really, his, even though he played a fair amount for defiance, he was, it was sort of like going back and forth between the sounders. He only trained with the center. So we'll ignore him.
00:08:04
Speaker
But you could either put Kalani Kosarienzi or Reed Baker Whiting at right back. You could put Jackson, Reagan, and I guess Stu Hawkins. You maybe lose a little there. But then you would have Nuhu at left back.
00:08:16
Speaker
You could have Obed and ah Snyder Brunel as your double pivot. You could put Danny Leyva as your number 10, Georgie Manungu and Paul Rothrock as your wingers, and Osaze De Rosario as your forward. And I'm not saying that team's going to barnstorm into the playoffs, but I think that might be a playoff team.
00:08:35
Speaker
Yeah.
Hopes for U.S. Soccer and World Cup Aspirations
00:08:36
Speaker
Well, in the West, which is only five deep as we established. Exactly. In the West.
00:08:42
Speaker
But I do think it illustrates sort of the Sounders are using Defiant and that's not even giving them credit for like a Jordan Morris who came through their academy and we can kind of debate how much he really played in the academy or whatever. But it's point being like they they are developing players in their second team in a way that really no one else is doing right now.
00:09:03
Speaker
Well, I mean, Columbus did a lot of it a couple of years ago. If you look at that team, guys like Patrick Schulte, Sean Zawadski, and a few others, um you know, Jason Russell Rowe got a ton of minutes with crew too. And like Nancy made that a priority of his. Taha Habrun's another one who's a true homegrown for them. And I think there'll be more coming into the team next year.
00:09:26
Speaker
um And it's probably not... a coincidence that those are two teams that I write about somewhat glowingly throughout the course of the season. I think it's the right way to run um ah soccer team for one.
00:09:41
Speaker
And for two, look, man, I'm still a U S national team fan. I still, hold out hope that someday in my life that is now more than half over, ah I'd like to see us win a world cup. but And the only way we do that is if we consistently develop players from the ground up in our own academies in the way that Argentina has done and the way that France has done and the way that Spain has done and the way that Germany has done and so on and so forth back through the dawn of time.
00:10:17
Speaker
um So I am naturally going to be more appreciative of the teams ah that are doing that. And like we said, like Snyder Brunel is yet more proof that the Sounders are doing it well. And oh, yeah, you're going to win a bunch of games if you do that, too. And oh, yeah, you're probably going to be able to sell a guy like Obed Vargas for $10 million dollars in the offseason, which helps your business overall and then helps you invest more in youth development with facilities and coaching and outreach and everything on down the line. It becomes this really virtuous cycle.
00:10:54
Speaker
um And I like to see that that our teams are are kind of on it in a real way. Yeah, I mean, and it's that that has been one of the the nice stories around the Sounders. And I do think that sometimes we get caught up a little bit.
00:11:07
Speaker
Like I had a ah pretty lengthy conversation with some Sounders personnel yesterday about this. And there's sort of, i think even within the organization, there's some genuine debate about whether or not it was...
Sounders' Transfer Market Approach
00:11:25
Speaker
who I guess where the blame should go, or even if there's blame to be given for them, not signing anyone. And I think, where I come down on this is that there is some level of failure that happens when you don't, the Sounders clearly had budget. They had time, they had everything. They had the roster space to make a signing this summer and they tried to do it.
00:11:45
Speaker
And they talked to a lot of interesting prospects. They got pretty far down the road on a few of them. Apparently ah essentially came down to whether or not guys were ready to come to the United States and and sort of leave Europe or not.
00:11:58
Speaker
And I guess the the one criticism I would have is that they were maybe too focused on finding European players who the bar to convincing to come to MLS is going to be higher than maybe shopping in South America.
00:12:09
Speaker
But... I do have to give them credit for sort of sitting, standing by their principles of saying, look, if these guys aren't going to help us now, and if we don't really believe they are, you know, if we can't find a forward prospect who we think has a higher ceiling than Osase De Rosario, if we don't feel like we can find a ah central midfielder who we think is,
00:12:28
Speaker
an improvement over Danny Leyva or Snyder Brunel, then what are we doing? Why are we spending money? Let's, let's hold out and spend money on the guy we really want. And so I guess there's a balance there, right? Like you can be frustrated that they didn't sign anyone, but I think you sort of do like, there is something to be said about not buying someone just to satisfy people like me or people like fans in general.
00:12:53
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, Look, they should have spent $7 million dollars to give Sounder at Heart all the clicks. You know, that is right that is the number one priority. That's what. Exactly. what.
00:13:04
Speaker
Like, you got to have a talk with Craig Weibel. um i know. I know. know.
00:13:09
Speaker
like If you have a developmental track record and developmental pathway that's proved to be as good as as what Seattle has, um and at the same time, you know that Albert Rusnak is 31, Steph Fry approaching 40, Yemar Gomez-Andrade is not getting any younger, neither are Jordan Morris or Christian Roldan.
00:13:32
Speaker
um right And you don't have Arthur Blank with his pocketbook as your owner. i think you... owe it to yourself to be choosy about what you're spending out and where you're spending.
00:13:45
Speaker
ah And I think that's what they did. And I understand why um some of the fans would be upset with that because ah spending on players isn't just building a roster. It's also marketing.
00:13:58
Speaker
um Like you, yeah we've all seen it. Like we've, you and I, have we've been in this business for a while. We know what happens when a club spends $7 million dollars on a player. casuals tune back in, you get coverage that matters. It builds excitement and the Sounders haven't done that for a while now. And I, so I understand the frustration, but like, I look at this team and if you tell me they win the leagues cup and you tell me they finished second in the Western conference and, you know, then go win MLS cup, I wouldn't be shocked at all.
00:14:26
Speaker
And I don't think that, $4 million dollars on Nolan, Ohio or whatever the hell his name was, is would have changed my perception right of what you know, like, like the only knock I have is what happened. Like there is no backup for Christian Roldan.
00:14:46
Speaker
They're like, absolutely. He's out. It's road tree. It's, it's, it's man's city without road tree, you know, like that's, that is what I think happens to the Sounders. And I like, could they have maybe be gone and been a little bit more aggressive in finding some insurance for that?
00:15:03
Speaker
ah That's, I think the, Yeah, I think that to me is probably a little bit more of the frustration. And to your point, you know, that's not that wasn't going to move the needle from an entertainment perspective. And frankly, neither was Noah Ohio. Like they could have signed Noah Ohio for two or three million dollars or whatever it was going to cost to get him.
00:15:21
Speaker
And I don't know that the casual fan would care. It would satisfy some need that we have to say, just spend some money. Please remind please show us that you can spend some money. Something they really have not wanted to do recently.
00:15:35
Speaker
But on the other hand, if you are limited to one $3 million, let's call it $3 million roll of the dice, you got to make sure
Comparative Analysis of Conference Teams
00:15:42
Speaker
that you are really happy with what you're getting. And I don't know if Noah Ohio was maybe not the guy.
00:15:49
Speaker
There were some other guys that I was really excited about that ah they apparently recruited and and came reasonably close to signing. But in any case, do you, more relevant to the the the chase, the the Western Conference race, you,
00:16:03
Speaker
Do you feel like the Sounders inactivity does anything and and the other team's activity does anything to sort of but like change the the power structure in terms of who you think yeah are the favorites going into this stretch run?
00:16:18
Speaker
I think San Diego may have harmed themselves. um I think that Vancouver and LASC obviously really helped themselves. Minnesota, I think is better positioned for the long run than they are for the short run because, you um you know, Tony's a big loss and they're doing the right thing by selling him because I, I, you know, they did it. They did a great job to, like, they have to sit down at the table of the global transfer market and start playing some hands. And I think they're doing that here.
00:16:48
Speaker
Um, but like that to me makes them less likely to win the thing. The Sounders, um, are in the same position that they were in at the start of the year, which is, i think they're a really good team.
00:17:02
Speaker
They're maybe the most solid team in the league. And as we've seen with their goal scoring over the past three months, they can also be spectacular. are they going to have the guys who can do that in the biggest moments in the biggest games?
00:17:13
Speaker
And we won't know if the answer is yes until um they make the answer yes. And they got a chance to do it ah on Wednesday on the road um and in a game that would, if they win it, they're they're back in Concordia championship.
00:17:29
Speaker
And then if they win that, then they have a chance to actually win a trophy. And that's something you guys haven't done and since 2022. so Right. No, absolutely. And it's a shame that Danny Mussofsky, we are calling ah both Musifer and the Musiah.
00:17:46
Speaker
ah will not be there to to participate in this one. But i I will say, if you're going to get a red card and get yourself suspended for the rest of League's Cup, I suppose the least you can do is go out and score a hat trick. And what, frankly, i mean, it was kind of a must-win game in terms of their Western Conference hopes.
00:18:04
Speaker
i get not that They're not going to win the Western Conference. But just even to stay in the top four, like this was an absolute a game where they absolutely had to win it. And Mussofsky came up massive. I mean, he scores the penalty, but then the two headers were great.
00:18:18
Speaker
Yeah. No, I mean, they they were pure, you know, center forward goals, getting inside on the, on your defender and shielding them off and um one time finishes. And it was, it was the, the perfect way to bounce back from a really a dipshit of her red card. my God. Like that. Yeah. Like he, I know from the, the, the quotes that Schmetzer is still kind of pissed and I think he's right. Yeah. No, you know, I,
00:18:53
Speaker
i
00:18:56
Speaker
It's just, it's just impressive. Like the, the way that the team continues to function, um, throughout all the injuries, all the absences, all the suspensions now, um, it's just really, really impressive. Um, and it's part of why, like, i like it because it's, it's all confirmed by priors.
00:19:15
Speaker
That is nice. It's always nice when a team just comes out and says, actually, Matt, you were right. right we got you. And then on the other side of the coin, we have Minnesota United, who is continuing to troll you on Blue Sky and I imagine Twitter ah with these Dune references, which at first I really was confused. as Like I'd seen the movie, but i just I didn't quite get it. Like it required so much reading and so much like – understanding of the lore that I was just, it was over my head the first time they posted this, but then I got it this time. It was a little bit more synced and a little bit more like to the point I was like, Oh, I get it. I get it now.
00:19:52
Speaker
And it's, it's good stuff. It's like, uh, Like almost like this is about as good as blue sky gets when it comes to banter. Right. Like this is really good.
00:20:03
Speaker
Oh, yeah. Yeah. the The Minnesota United men is doing really good work with that, especially because I'm a, you know, I'm a sci-fi dork. ah right Of course. No, that's part of what makes it so good. but Yeah. I love it.
00:20:15
Speaker
You probably get it better than they get it. Yeah, delighted by it every time it happens. Are you kidding? um But no, for the listeners who aren't aware of it, like ah Minnesota United have dropped, I think, 13 points from leading positions.
00:20:30
Speaker
They have, when they're are ahead, their possession percentage is down below 30%, is their field tilt. They actually have a negative expected goal differential when they're ahead, which is something of an outlier among the ah among ah ah playoff teams I personally do not think you can win something substantial by anytime you have a lead, just dropping 16 dudes into your goalkeeper's lap and defending cross after cross after cross.
00:21:03
Speaker
I think that will come back to bite them in the biggest games. And my criticism, late in like, they're a good team. They are absolutely excellent at what they do, the long throws, the set pieces, of the counterattacks.
00:21:15
Speaker
They should have more to that. If they had just a little bit more, i'm not saying they need to play like the Columbus crew, right? I'm saying, like, that there needs to be just a little bit more ability to get on the ball and take the sting out of the game so that they're not spending the final 15-20 minutes defending all of those crosses and you know being camped in their own box if they had that I would consider them among the favorites in you know to win MLS Cup but so far they just haven't developed it and it might be because the coach is English I don't know
00:21:48
Speaker
It could be. ah He also says things like football pitch, which to me is just like, what are we doing here? What are we doing here? You cannot say the word football pitch. First of all, it's unnecessary. And second of all, that's you sound like such a dork when you say that in the United States. Anyway, I don't want to get too in on ah Eric Ramsey's choice of language, but I do think it's interesting that he's been shown as this sort of like savant character And i I don't know, I guess there's a savantness to what they're doing and that they are sort of breaking the wheel, for lack of a better term.
00:22:25
Speaker
But is this really like, is this, I guess ah if you if you're looking for a championship team that is going to like punch above its weight, maybe that's really ah that kind of coaching is really attractive. But is this actual like...
00:22:40
Speaker
is Is this really, is there and is something really genius about what if we're good at set pieces and just defend really well?
00:22:50
Speaker
Thank you for listening to the Sounder at Heart podcast network, which now includes No Saniettes, Lobbing Scorchers, and The Cooler Guild. We've been independent since August of 2023. but need your support to make sure it continues.
00:23:03
Speaker
Although this podcast is free, it's only made possible by your continued support. Memberships start as low as $25 a year, which not only helps make podcasts like this one happen, but also gets you access to everything we produce.
00:23:16
Speaker
If you're able to support us at higher levels, starting at $75 a year, you gain access to a host of other perks, Most notably, entry into our members-only Discord where the smartest, funniest, and most engaged commenters share their thoughts and ideas.
00:23:31
Speaker
To find out more, just visit sounderatheart.com and click the subscribe button in the top right corner. Thanks for listening. Nos Adietes, admittedly, is not exactly known for our spicy takes, but that doesn't mean we want our food to be mild.
00:23:46
Speaker
Spice up your life with Hacks and Ferments. Handcrafted in Georgetown and made it with the best local ingredients from across the Pacific Northwest, they specialize in unique small batch fermented hot sauces and vinegars.
00:23:58
Speaker
Paxson Ferments brings bold flavors and natural fermentation together for something truly special. Whether you're a heat seeker or just looking to elevate your cooking, you'll find something you love at haxanferments.com.
00:24:11
Speaker
That's H-A-X-A-N-F-E-R-M-E-N-T-S dot com. And right now, if you use the code SOUNDRATHEART, that's all one word, at checkout, you will get a free hot sauce with your order.
00:24:26
Speaker
Again, go to hacks and ferments.com. Use the code sounder at heart at checkout for a free hot sauce with your order. Hacks and ferments is a proud sponsor of that sounder at heart podcast network.
00:24:40
Speaker
I mean, no, no but there is like the ball really far into the box. They are. They are extraordinarily good on restarts and they are extraordinarily good on those long throws. I think they have like a eight or nine goals off those long throws this year. And like, that's, they, they identified an inefficiency and they have exploited it and they have the personnel to exploit it. Cause Michael Boxall has a good long throw and they have ah a lot of big fellows. They, you know, send up there every single time. And like, there are,
00:25:17
Speaker
Like there's real competence in all of that. ah yeah I hesitate to call it genius, but like there's, they're not where they are by accident. Like this is is good team. they They are really, really good at what they do.
00:25:31
Speaker
I just think the scope of what they do is too limited. And I think that if you are playing in a big game and you're inviting the Sounders or LAFC or Vancouver or San Diego, um,
00:25:45
Speaker
to just come into your box a million times over the course of 2025 minutes. Um, poor Dane St. Clair is going to be picking the ball out of his net. It's like, you can get away with it a little bit in the regular season. I don't think you really can in the playoffs.
00:26:00
Speaker
Well, you know, I look at that game that Sounders played against them and and I realized there was sort of this, at least among Sounders fans, there was sort of this narrative is like, well, sure, we did some good things, but this is exactly the game Minnesota wanted to play. And I don't know if I quite buy that. Sounders had probably four really good looks that on most days you would expect them to convert.
00:26:21
Speaker
And they didn't convert any of them. And then Minnesota got a goal off. Like, let's be real. It was a fluky goal, whether or not it was a set piece. Yes, but it was, let's just throw a cross into the box and see what happens. And, you know, ah chaos happened and and they get a goal.
00:26:38
Speaker
I don't think that's a model that they're like, even less so than their normal games. That to me is not how they, how that's not how they want to win games. Like broadly speaking, set piece, don't give up a goal.
00:26:49
Speaker
Sure. But like the way it actually happened, that's not, that is really not a recipe for like success. I, I agree with you. I think that if, great great yeah if if play if this game plays out um like this on balance, I think the Sounders would be pretty happy with it. um Yeah. I'm looking at this. I'm looking at the stats now and um they had,
00:27:16
Speaker
three or four chances around 0.2 to 0.35 XG, which is like not, oh, you can't miss it. But like if you're generating four of those a game.
00:27:29
Speaker
Right, exactly. you're you're probably in in in good shape. so Yeah.
San Diego's MLS Debut
00:27:35
Speaker
I mean, and and I guess to sort of ah move on to another team, I look at the way the Sounders matched up against Minnesota, even though they lost both those games. And I feel like if they met in the playoffs, I wouldn't be super stressed about it. I mean, whatever. Minnesota is a good team, but I'm not i'm not like freaking out.
00:27:51
Speaker
Whereas the Sounders went one and one against San Diego. And frankly, San Diego was... the better team both times. And this is ah like, I think they are what San Diego is doing is so impressive to me, not just because they're an expansion team, not just because they have the ball all the time, but they just, they really do seem to have bought into a really expansive form of playing and they're pulling it off as well as anyone has really ever pulled it off in MLS.
00:28:23
Speaker
And I don't know if it's, i don't I'm not going to sit here and say they're going to be the favorites to win the West, but even if they bomb out, I think that this an undeniably impressive performance, and they've built themselves a really wonderful foundation to build off of.
00:28:39
Speaker
Yeah, they have ah they have an ethos about the the types of players that they want to recruit and develop and how they want to play. And, you know, Tyler Heaps and and Mikey Varis said it to me and Weeby. We were down there in Kaelin Carr. We were down there um in December last year for the expansion draft.
00:28:58
Speaker
And they were like, we want to be brave. We want to have the ball. We, you know, we're going to play the kids. And I was like, uh-huh. Sure you do. Because like every coach, every GM we've ever talked to has said the same thing and like very few follow through on it. But these guys have followed through on it more than um literally, i think, anybody in league history.
00:29:17
Speaker
And it's working. um The thing i I like about it most is... like they want to use the ball to bring opponents upfield.
00:29:29
Speaker
Um, and then they want to play through those opponents, um, in order to get out on the break. And it works. They actually spend more time in transition than any other team in MLS. Um, and that, like that's like, I got that from John Mueller had an article in the guardian a couple of weeks ago.
00:29:48
Speaker
Um, and I, you know, it matches the eye test, right? Because like, if you watch them play, Anders Dreyer and Chucky Lozano are somehow always out on the break. And it's like, how are they always doing this when they have 60% possession?
00:30:02
Speaker
Those two things really don't get together, but they hit so many passes in their own defensive third and their own middle third. And they will literally watch them, their goalkeeper, their center backs, they'll put their foot on the ball and wait until the opponent comes to press them. And then they'll start playing because they want that engagement because they just have this rock solid belief that they can play through anything.
00:30:27
Speaker
um And they mostly have all year long. um i will say they have seven points from their last three games. They have not played particularly well in those three. They've actually looked a little bit vulnerable.
00:30:40
Speaker
That makes some sense. When you look at their back line, they're missing some big pieces. ah you know, the back line, Combined age, I think in a a couple games in a row was 80. you think about that, four players. It's probably the youngest back line in and MLS history. um They made a really bold call in parting ways with Milan Ilosky in the middle of July when he had scored like 10 goals in 500 minutes with them.
00:31:09
Speaker
I understand that they didn't want to overpay. um i I don't know, man. Milan Oloski looks really good in San Diego and he already looks really good in Philly again. So I think they, um it might've been a little bit too much of a heat check to say, no, we can't give you a penny over whatever it was they were offering.
00:31:33
Speaker
ahead. I have a ah weird take on this and I, and I, I don't know. I may, this is maybe my blogger brain a little bit, but I've always sort of felt like there is a degree of success that can almost be counterproductive for an expansion team where you raise the expectations so high that you fail, that you, you can't help, but like fail to achieve it. And I think,
00:32:01
Speaker
that I'm not saying that they are sandbagging, but I do think there's something to be said about, like look, we don't want to overpay. even if Even if overpaying, in our mind, keeps Oloski around, and it makes us better right now, and it gives us a better chance of going far in the playoffs.
00:32:17
Speaker
If the cost of doing that undermines our ability to build for the future, it's more important that we you know we've already set a really high standard, and it's going to be a lot to overshoot what they've already done.
00:32:31
Speaker
But like, i think they would be doing themselves somewhat of a disservice by sort of going all in on year one. And they're better off sort of leaving something to be achieved. Now, that doesn't mean they shouldn't try to win everything. But I'm just saying that the they have to be careful about what they sacrifice is, is I guess, the point I'm trying to make.
00:32:49
Speaker
i I get what you're saying. And I would have felt the same way if it was like a DP. but Right, okay. And if they had already spent all of their... gam but they haven't like they they have like a smog sized pile of gam that they're sitting on they were really parsimonious about how they spent they didn't use all of their premium roster slots like we're talking about a guy who is a lossy that we think i mean we'll we'll find out in a couple of weeks when we get the the pa um numbers but like i would be surprised if he even had a full you know a full cap hit
00:33:23
Speaker
So it, yeah, fair enough. We'll we'll see.
Vancouver's Strategic Signings
00:33:26
Speaker
I would feel a lot more comfortable about picking San Diego to go far in the playoffs. Um, if they, if they had retained him, but we'll see.
00:33:37
Speaker
Sure. They've, they've, yeah they've spun silk out of ship multiple times already this season. um Yeah, no, it's that's ah it's a fair point. So ah moving into the other team that I think was had one of the more interesting or there's two other teams, two other teams in the West had really interesting transfer markets, and that's Vancouver and LAFC.
00:33:58
Speaker
ah we'll close with LAFC because that would be fun. They're your favorite team. yeah yeah Yeah, exactly. They're my favorite team, but Vancouver, you know, they, they, they got rid of Pedro Vitae with, I guess ah you could say is a pretty good piece of business to what did they collect for V day?
00:34:17
Speaker
I've heard as low as 3 million. I've seen reported as high as six. Okay. I tend to think it's the former. I think it's probably closer to three. Right. That would make – still, it's ah ah decent little you know a decent little ah bit of business there.
00:34:33
Speaker
But more importantly, they get Thomas Muller and they get a couple defenders who I thought you were right – I think it was you who pointed out that ah Belgian and and German defenders do not have a great track record necessarily coming into MLS.
00:34:46
Speaker
But they were – they got very – That's because they were all signed by Lutz Fannenspiel. Right.
00:34:56
Speaker
chicken kicking dirt on the grave of the great Luke Vaughn and Steel, who was just, ah in case people don't know, he was fired today, ah which closes the story of a a pretty fun little run.
00:35:10
Speaker
ah I thought it was very big of Manuel Veth to come out and say, i was wrong on this one ah when it came to ah the ah the assertion that He could give give him a team from two Bundesliga and he would ah run the table or whatever his silly saying was. Anyway, Vancouver Whitecaps, are they better? Are they undeniably? Are they better now than they were at the start of the window? Or do you think they basically just stood pat? I mean, I know they also had some injuries.
00:35:40
Speaker
It also looks like Brian White may have gotten hurt in the last game. Yeah. um I think they're better most obviously because it looks like Thomas Mueller has something left in the tank and he's a match winner. He he is you know, he gives them a guy who in the biggest moments, you, you know, he's not going to be afraid to take 114th minute, you know, so penalty kick without looking at the ball.
00:36:09
Speaker
Did not look down. He was staring down Roman Berkey the whole time. It was awesome. That was amazing. Then roofed it. i you know, Veselinovich is one of the best defenders in the league and having to replace him on the fly.
00:36:26
Speaker
like there might be no way around that. This just might be a worse team because of that injury. And then you, you add in Vitae going out and maybe white being injured as well. And it's not a, it's not a cinch that they are a better team than they were in, you know six weeks ago.
00:36:45
Speaker
ah But I, I just respect the hell out of the fact that they really went for it because when they, you know, The Vancouver Whitecaps do not have a history of really going for it. They sure do not.
00:36:57
Speaker
And when they were, when they were put up for sale at the start of this year, and even that has changed a little bit because now Jeff Mallett and one of the other owners are saying like, well, it's not really a full sale because we're still going to be here. We'd like to have partner. We're looking for Yeah.
00:37:12
Speaker
We all thought it was going to go in the other direction. Instead, they've been... um I just like everything that they did. You know, they were, they've been forced into bad situations all year long and they've kept finding ah the right answers. And um you know, yes, for Sorensen has been as impressive as any coach in the league, including Mikey Varis at getting these, the team to buy into the way they play and then developing the players that they have, like getting the best versions of those players on the field, whether that's a 29 year old, like Brian White or a younger guy, like, like,
00:37:44
Speaker
ah Tate Johnson, the the draft pick they got, who's played huge minutes for them at left back. And it's just like across the board. It's what you want to see from a team that really has embraced its identity and and knows how it wants to play and how it wants to be perceived.
00:38:01
Speaker
Yeah, ah the i got to say, though, the the penalty in the game. the the one at the end that's bullshit right that there's no way that's not a that should not be how we're using var am i being too prescriptive here that i don't care to me ah i don't care you don't you don't care or you don't think it was a i don't care the call the call is the call i'm sick of people talking about reps and complaining about officiating if you want to have that discussion i'll give you weeby's number can get him on the show
00:38:33
Speaker
Fair enough. Fair enough. ah I mean, that's you're right. You're not wrong. I just can't. Every time I see that play, I'm just losing. I just don't understand it. like Whether it's a penalty or not. You're just sick of of giant market clubs like Vancouver getting all the calls. Exactly.
LAFC's Major Signings
00:38:49
Speaker
and Exactly. That's exactly ah but LA so LAFC though is sort of was maybe the sleeping giant in the West. They have games in hand. They had, you know, we, we knew that they would make some kind of move in the summer.
00:39:03
Speaker
And one of the things I think that they illustrated them and sort of, Cincinnati, this window, both sort of illustrated is that there are two types of teams in MLS. I feel like there are teams who use their salary cap position as an excuse.
00:39:21
Speaker
And then there are teams that go out and actually do stuff. And they, and if they, yeah that sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn't, but they are able to,
00:39:32
Speaker
make moves. If they want to make moves, they will make moves. ah Cincinnati figured out somehow how to unload DeAndre Yedlin and went from having like literally zero cap space to signing Brenner on alone and bringing, you know, a couple, a couple other sort of like notable moves. i don't know if they're really better, but they wanted to make moves and they did.
00:39:53
Speaker
LAFC came into this window, not with a ton of salary cap space. They lose Aaron long for the season. they feel they're, they have a good roster, but they feel like they can make it better. And they go out and they sign arguably the second biggest, make the second biggest signing in MLS history.
00:40:09
Speaker
And, and then add in a couple other pieces just for good measure. They seem to me to be, i don't know. They, they have, they have to be the favorites in the West right now. Right.
00:40:19
Speaker
Like to win, not necessarily the regular season, but to come out of the West.
00:40:25
Speaker
ah Yeah, probably Um, um I don't know. Like, I like them. I'm not sure that the the pieces fit perfectly.
00:40:36
Speaker
i will say that the the underlying numbers, um they are the best team in the Western Conference.
00:40:43
Speaker
But... um you know, there's no guarantee that the center backs are going to like, but that's not going to be like, there's no guarantee that's going to be a position of strength.
00:40:54
Speaker
Uh, Hugo Lloris has not been particularly great at in goal this year. Um, they have a history of getting huge goals from Ryan Howling said, who's in his mid thirties now.
00:41:05
Speaker
So there, there's, you know, and they don't have other than midfield, they don't really have the depth. I think that some of the other teams that we've talked about have, um, Gun to head. Giving me hope. yeah Giving me hope. I would, I couldn't ahead. I would probably pick LAFC, but it's like, it's, it's nose and nose with them and the Sounders and Vancouver. Not, not really that far behind.
00:41:33
Speaker
um Like this doesn't feel like 2022, right? 2022, right like twenty twenty two we i think everybody knew that there was really only one team that was going to come out of the western conference this feels uh much tighter but um you know if if if sun and and bonga start developing more chemistry and i've been encouraged by what i've seen from those guys and their brief run and this new irish kid that they got um can actually hit line-breaking passes out of central midfield, um then that maybe changes the complexion of things a little bit.
00:42:10
Speaker
Because one thing that they haven't had is that sort of creative line-breaking... um you know, progressive passing. And if you give that to Bawanga and you give that to son, um, there's no defense in the league. That's going to stop them.
00:42:25
Speaker
So we're stacking ifs, right? Like if this, if that, if this, if that, um, if those ifs stack correctly, then yes, no, and like nobody in the West is is going to stop that.
00:42:38
Speaker
Um, but it's, we We haven't seen it happen on the field yet. And so I think it's right to be a little bit skeptical and keep some of that powder dry. And did did Eddie Seguro get how do we know how serious his injury was?
00:42:52
Speaker
um haven't seen yet. because that would that would seemingly be another problem for them to have to solve, which. And that's a team that doesn't have the the pipeline.
00:43:03
Speaker
You know, they, they don't have, they haven't done a particularly good job of developing players from within. And I suspect that that's one of the things. Southern California is notoriously bad place for talent.
00:43:18
Speaker
Right. So you really can't blame them or the galaxy from not just churning out talent from, from there because. You get it. It's no anchorage. It's no anchorage. It's exactly, it's no Bellevue.
00:43:32
Speaker
all Right.
League's Cup Semifinal Predictions
00:43:35
Speaker
ah So I want to before we before we close out, though, I did want to get a little bit of your League's Cup thoughts. ah It's kind of remarkable that here we are in August. The Galaxy are probably going to end up being by far the worst defending champion in MLS Cup history or MLS history.
00:43:56
Speaker
And they might just fuck around and qualify for Champions Cup. cup even if they don't beat the Sounders, they're going to get two shots at this thing to get into Champions Cup. ah How serious? I guess start here. how serious like how.
00:44:13
Speaker
When you're handicapping the the semifinal between these two semifinals, who do you have in the final and and how do you see this thing playing out? I think it'll be um Seattle versus Miami.
00:44:25
Speaker
And if Messi is healthy, I'm picking Miami. If he's not, I'm picking Seattle. Okay. Yeah. ah i I could i could get get down with that. ah It would be pretty funny if the Sounders end up hosting Messi in the League's Cup final.
00:44:41
Speaker
ah That would be quite the... And a year where they had the Club World Cup where they played the defending CONCACAF Champions Cup winners. They played the reigning South American winners. They played the the reigning...
00:44:56
Speaker
uh, UEFA champions league winners that they would also play Miami, who is like, I somehow the champions of the world. I don't know if that really makes sense, but somehow it fits into that paradigm.
00:45:08
Speaker
it would be pretty, pretty amazing run of games they've hosted in the last few months. Yeah.
00:45:16
Speaker
It would. i think it would be nice for them if they, you know, won this one. Well, well i guess they beat Cruz Azul. But yeah, if they play the way they did against Cruz Azul.
00:45:29
Speaker
Yeah, against Cruz Azul. If they play the way they did against Botafogo, if they play the way they did against Atletico Madrid, um they'll like their chances whether Messi's playing or not.
00:45:40
Speaker
um But you gotta go down to Carson and right It's tough to be the team as great as the LA galaxy twice in a row, you know? Yeah. So I, I, does that help? I don't know. It probably does. I guess it's irrelevant that they beat them four zero in their previous meeting in Carson just a few weeks ago. And then they're going to play him again.
00:45:57
Speaker
ah like very soon. Uh, I think in two weeks, they're going to play at in, in Seattle. Uh, what do you make of galaxy turning in one of their best performances of the season with a fully rotated lineup against Colorado this week? Is that like, does that, does that mean, does there anything to take away from this team? Are they totally unpredictable?
00:46:19
Speaker
What, like, how do we, how do you approach this game? They're not as bad as the record. They're obviously not going to play a rotated lineup. Greg Vanny has never been like that.
00:46:29
Speaker
Like this is just a blimp, right? Like he, he's never been ah coach who says, Oh, this young player really put in a good shift. you know, he's, we're going to start seeing him in the 11 more and more. It's like, no, that's not who he's ever been. If you look at their first choice guy, like the guys who work their way into his lineups are like 34 year olds that they got from Denmark. oh So I don't, I don't think it, I don't think it really means anything.
00:47:01
Speaker
um I also don't think the galaxy are anywhere near as bad as their record. um they're not particularly good but that first half of the season um first of all the mls cup hangover is real second of all they had the most incredibly bad luck i've ever seen ah team i mean they lost a game in which they didn't give up a shot they sure did they sure did so it's you know it's not a 16 point team or whatever they're on it's not a 16 point team that the sounders are facing and it's not ah
00:47:34
Speaker
It's not a a four nil layover, you know, rollover and die team that they're facing. And I think they, they know that, you know, they're big boys in in both locker rooms and I expect it to actually be kind of an awesome game.
00:47:48
Speaker
You know, like this is this is it's knockout do or die. And people are are are cynical about the League's Cup. And I completely understand why. But it's produced a lot of good soccer and a lot of teams going out there and throwing everything they have um at winning the thing. And, so you know, when you understand that the the prize purse is gigantic, kind of makes a lot of sense.
00:48:11
Speaker
Yeah, feel like it's a bigger prize purse than even winning MLS Cup for the players, if I if i remember correctly. But I believe that's correct. Yeah. ah Yeah, i mean, it's kind of an interesting group of teams here. ah One of my pet theories has been that teams who score and score and generate the most expected goals from open play have sort of like an inherent advantage in in these kinds of tournaments. And Orlando and the Sounders both have done that very well this year.
00:48:40
Speaker
ah But I don't know. That's probably a totally cockamamie theory that has no basis in anything other than hope. I mean, teams that score and create the most chances from open play tend to be teams that are good at playing soccer.
00:48:57
Speaker
Right. And so I think those teams have an advantage when it comes to winning soccer games. Okay. I like that. I like the way you wrote that down. You heard it here first, folks. Yeah.
00:49:09
Speaker
I like that. Well, we go way inside the numbers. Exactly. We got weight really, really deep in there. Well, Matt, thank you again. ah as always, i love your...
00:49:21
Speaker
your newsletter. I'm going to keep trying to talk you into getting off sub stack at some point, but I will allow it as long as you're giving it away for free. ah There's no real harm and you continuing to be on sub stack, but where can people subscribe to you?
00:49:35
Speaker
If I, yeah, if I ever monetize, I will not be on sub stack. I promise you that um you could subscribe to the newsletter. It's tactics, free zone dot sub stack.com. And of course you could follow me on blue sky.
00:49:47
Speaker
ah And still writing for MLSsoccer.com. can see me there too. You You are still doing that. And of course, you're showing up on on places like SoccerWise and ah reliving the extra time days, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I just wanted to share that you and Weeby going on SoccerWise to do a... You seemed unplanned. You seemed to just show up because you were hanging out in comments and they're like, why don't we have Matt come on the show?
00:50:13
Speaker
Which I loved. I thought it was a very organic... like ah early 2010s vibe of this is what the internet used to be like. People would just... It a little bit like that. Yeah, it felt a little bit like that. I've been um trying to live my life like it's 15 years ago before the dark times.
00:50:31
Speaker
for the dark times very very apt good place to end this matt uh but thank you for for joining us on ah how the west will be won i am jeremiah shan this is nos audietes part of the sounder at heart podcast network and we'll catch you next time
00:51:18
Speaker
Let's go and Sounders.