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Sounders frustrating results are starting to become a problem and a San Jose preview
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Aaron and Jeremiah discuss their frustrations about the home tie against San Diego. Aaron definitely was more annoyed than Jeremiah but that they both agree that it’s a missed opportunity. In the second segment the guys preview the Earthquakes and have to admit that they are a good team. The match up the second time around might prove to be tougher than the first result.
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Transcript
Introduction and Special Guest Announcement
00:00:01
Speaker
Hi, I'm Will Bruin, and I was just recognized as a Seattle Sounders legend. Now I get to do voice reads for the Sounder at Heart podcast network. Here we go.
00:00:11
Speaker
Come on. Hey, O'Shaughness.
Seattle Sounders' Recent Achievements
00:00:14
Speaker
Let's The Seattle Sounders have done it. MLS Cup winners. The Sounders rule the region.
Key Play Highlights and Sponsorships
00:00:43
Speaker
Ooch of a gooch! All creatures, great and small! Rothrock gonna collect it, he does about, runs into the advertising order. Low to our left, ball goes in! Oh, what a goal! Where's my copy? got bunch of them How many do you cost them? 50 bucks.
00:01:08
Speaker
I'll deadline you.
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.
Podcast Details and Content Partnerships
00:01:43
Speaker
Welcome back to another episode of Nos Adiates, part of the Sound Our Heart podcast network, sponsored by Full Pool Wines and our subscribers. Today we're recording on Monday, May 11th, 2026. I'm your host, Jeremiah O'Shan. Today I am joined by Aaron Campo and our engineer, Lickett.
00:01:58
Speaker
And I also want to share that these some of these videos are going to be going up on not the Sounder at Heart YouTube page, but actually on the Lobbing Scorchers YouTube page. We're doing sort of a yeah ah new partnership with them. So if you want to see our beautiful mugs, you can go check us out there.
Match Performances and Tactical Analysis
00:02:17
Speaker
But as far as the Sounders go, coming off a frustrating 1-1 draw with Sporting Kansas City. And then they let another struggling team off the hook, this time settling for a 1-1 draw with San Diego.
00:02:31
Speaker
To be fair, I think this was a little bit different. Sanders had to come from behind, and I thought they did a better job of creating chances, even if it was a still very furtish frustrating outcome. Aaron, what did you make of this one? Is this a ah mean more glass half full or more glass half empty on this tie?
00:02:49
Speaker
I think that if you want to look at it from the standpoint of, is this team okay? ah You can probably go glass half full. For me, i never had any doubts that this team was okay. I think it's a very good team. And so I'm more on the glass half empty side because I think that if you want to compete for the supporter shield, you've got to win games like this.
00:03:08
Speaker
And i i think one of the things I'm really frustrated about you after the sporting KC game, and especially after this one, is like the... expected goals are a great statistic.
00:03:23
Speaker
And in the aggregate, they're very useful, right? um But when I watch that game, I see... chances that the Sounders have to put away, right? Yeah.
00:03:36
Speaker
And so I don't see the two and a half expected goals and the six big chances and think everything's hunky-dory because they're creating chances or putting things away. That's great. And in in the long term, in the long run, that's a reason to feel positive.
00:03:50
Speaker
They're not getting away with anything. They were unlucky, if you want to call it that in this game. So I'm not worried about the health of this team in the long term. But you've got guys on the scene that are paid to put those chances away and they're not doing it. And that's really, really frustrating. And it's the second game in a row where they've kind of had a situation like that. And I think that it's OK say, look, the team's playing well. The luck will even out over the course of the year.
00:04:13
Speaker
But I also think sometimes we veer a little far into the like pretending like once, you know, once the chance has been created, it's entirely in God's hands. Yeah, that's just not true, right? Like these guys have to put the chances away.
00:04:26
Speaker
And they haven't done it, you know, and in two straight games that they absolutely should've win should
League Standings and Missed Opportunities
00:04:31
Speaker
have won. I think that these games shouldn't have been close, right? Like, if this was a game where they're playing, if they're playing, if they had have this exact same result, exact same amount outcome against San Jose, I'm going to feel a lot better about it because they're playing a very good team.
00:04:45
Speaker
it's a Very good team. Same thing with, you know, Vancouver the next time they play them. But against the San Diego's of the world, against the Sporting Kansas City's of the world, you shouldn't be hoping that your luck evens out and you put away your chances. You should be putting up big numbers against these teams because they're bad teams. You should be doing to them what you did to St. Louis a few weeks ago.
00:05:07
Speaker
And so, yeah, I'm pretty frustrated with it. um They've gotten, you know, fortunate with the results elsewhere in the league. So they they haven't really lost a ton of ground at the supporter shield. They lost any ground. Yeah. so So that's, you know, that's great. That's that's a good thing.
00:05:22
Speaker
But man, it would have been nice if they could have gained some ground, right? If they could have moved ahead and in terms of the points per game, because they've got a couple games in hand on um San Jose and I think one on Vancouver as well.
00:05:34
Speaker
ah So, yeah, I mean, it's and I think also if this wasn't coming in the wake of that sporting Kansas City game, which was much more frustrating, I think a worse performance overall and I think a worse result overall, frankly, I i probably wouldn't be as upset about it. But yeah, these two back to back has been pretty tough to handle, I think.
00:05:53
Speaker
I don't know if i disagree with anything you said there. i guess the one thing I will offer is on some level, I think we knew that the.
00:06:03
Speaker
the results were going to have to even out on some level. Like there, something had to give, they were way over performing their expected points. And at some point you figured they, there's going to have to be some regression to the mean and not just because that's how it always works, but like they were so far over performing that it just couldn't probably continue forever. and And we were bound to get some results like this, but you're right.
00:06:27
Speaker
These, that doesn't make it really the, the result itself isn't any less frustrating because they should be beating San Diego. They should be certainly be beating sporting Kansas city. And I suppose if they had won the sporting Kansas city game, it would be a lot easier to sort of shrug your shoulders at the San Diego game, but because they didn't win it, they like, they can't keep doing this. They can't just keep,
00:06:51
Speaker
putting together decent performances and then not getting full points out of it. Because at some point you're going to give away all the the ground you made up at the start of the season. And it should be noted that they, in these last two games, they've given up ground. You know, they beat sporting Kansas city last year on the road.
00:07:06
Speaker
They beat San Diego. at home last year. And so that's four point. That's a four point gap that they now have that they've given back. So they were, they had, they were seven points up on last year's results. They're now only three points up on last year's results. It's early.
00:07:21
Speaker
Lots of things can happen, but you know, you, it all adds up. And if you want to compete for the supporter shield, these are points you got a to win. And if they had just won one of these two games, they would be back in controlling essentially their own destiny.
00:07:35
Speaker
And again, we're, you know, we're not even a third of the way through the season. So I don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves, but if they, if they had won one of these two games, they would be in a position where if they won their two games in hand, they'd be tied for first place. And that's, that's not nothing.
00:07:49
Speaker
And so in all those ways, I agree with you, but, I am encouraged by
Player Performances and Scoring Challenges
00:07:56
Speaker
the play. You know, this is now four games in a row where they've put up at least two XG to four league games in a row where they put up at least two XG.
00:08:05
Speaker
And so they're creating chances. They're playing reasonably well. You know, they got to start finishing some of them, though. And and i will tell you the weirdest stat that I have seen right now is that they're now 10 games into the season and their starting striker ah has not scored in any game yet, which is just very strange. ah Danny Masofsky has three goals.
00:08:30
Speaker
All of them have come when he's off the bench. Osazi De Rosario has one goal. It came when he was coming off the bench and Jordan Morris has one goal, but it came when he started on the right wing.
00:08:41
Speaker
So like, yeah, they, they need someone to sort of step up and take this number one striker spot. They do. Yeah. And I thought Jordan looked good again. um He did put the ball in the back of the net, but.
00:08:52
Speaker
course, it was outside. um But he had some great chances that he didn't do a lot with. And and that's frustrating. And I mean, couple of misaddened headers. Yeah, I think everybody knows I'm as big of a Jordan Morris fan as there is. Biggest Jordan Morris supporter as there is.
00:09:06
Speaker
But, you know, he's he's got to put the ball in the net. And Danny Masofsky, for all of his ah limitations, I guess you would say. and I don't know.
00:09:16
Speaker
um He's putting the ball in the net. more than anybody else's right now, which is he's still not, you know, setting the world on fire with this, with this clip, but I think he's actually ahead of last year's scoring clip where he was at this time last year. So certainly ahead of where he was last year at this time, because he didn't really pick it up until mid season or so.
00:09:35
Speaker
So, yeah, but I mean, it's, it's very good because one of the things we, you know, have talked about but the season is Danny Mzovsky is not bringing you much if he's not putting the ball in the net, but he's been doing it a little more consistently, you know, with three goals now, um, had some great chances in this game.
00:09:52
Speaker
Would have loved to see him have to frankly, cause he, he had the looks for it, but, uh, you know, some good goalkeeping, good defending from San Diego to give him credit, but, um there there definitely are things to be encouraged about i think um i was not encouraged by the defensive display in this game um san diego is not a not a bad attacking team to be fair i mean they um they're probably better than the record would indicate um and they've scored at a decent clip they've certainly scored more than the sounders have this year um and so you know there there is that to to take into consideration but i mean the sounders were
00:10:29
Speaker
fortunate that they ended up getting a point out of this game. San Diego had some really good chances, especially late on. They had that one play where they had a couple of chances that were were both really high, you know, high leverage chances. So ah but in the attacking phase, yeah, I was i was quite encouraged enough that the Sounders were able to create transition chances in this game, which is something haven't been able to do very much at home, which was really nice to see.
Offside Controversies and VAR Discussions
00:10:52
Speaker
um And yeah, I think overall, I do think this team is going to be fine. This is I think in past years, having this discussion at this time, we've been trying to talk ourselves into thinking this team was better than their results were looking.
00:11:07
Speaker
Right. I'm frustrated at a a team that I know is a very good team. I'm convinced he is a very good team ah not executing as well as they, I think that they should in the final third.
00:11:17
Speaker
But I think if you come away from this game being encouraged about what they're creating, but how the attack looks, the way they're going about their game plan, I think that's you know entirely reasonable.
00:11:29
Speaker
Yeah, and I guess I should correct ourselves. I guess this was actually the time of year where Danny had started catching on fire. he had okay yeah so like the he He had scored in his on May 10th.
00:11:44
Speaker
he had That was the fifth straight game that he had scored in. So he actually had six he had six goals big essentially at this time of year last year. well Still, it's not like he's...
00:11:55
Speaker
i mean he's got three goals right now and he's, and he doesn't have a whole ton of minutes. He's got three goals in about 500 minutes. He's, you know, as much as anyone, he is, you know, he's, he's doing what he's being asked to do. He's getting chances.
00:12:09
Speaker
ah You know, I, you mentioned Jordan Morris being offside. I went back and I've, we'd watched that play a lot and, I'm like 95% sure he's onside.
00:12:21
Speaker
ah The left back there seems to me that he's keeping him on. I'm a little like, and this is sort of one of my frustrations with the way VAR is in MLS and, and I don't mind it, but it just seems like, look, we have the technology to draw lines on the field.
00:12:36
Speaker
Can we just do that? Right. If we're not going to have semi-automated. Yeah. Right. I'm not asking for semi-automated offside. I just want to actually be sure that these, like if we're going to do this, like let's, let's actually do it.
00:12:51
Speaker
um But at the same time, as if, if Jordan was on side with that goal, Danny Masofsky was 100% offside on the lead up to the, on the play that led to the corner kick that the Sounders eventually scored on.
00:13:07
Speaker
I don't take any real great joy in sharing this, but he was offside. And so the Sounders probably, it all comes out in the wash, I guess, in that sense.
00:13:19
Speaker
Uh, And I should also say that Jordan had a couple pretty good passes in this one. You know, he, he set up Moose for a really nice chance in front of goal with a back heel. And he had one other that, ah that Mussovsky put off the post.
00:13:34
Speaker
That was also a pass for Morris. You know, Morris is, I know people are frustrated for some perpetually frustrated with Jordan Morris. Yeah. Like I saw someone like, we got to stop starting him at the nine. It's like, this was his first start at the nine and league play. Like, what are we like? Let's take a deep breath here. he is not, you know, and it's in, I think Jordan's played reasonably well. He could be better. Like you said, he had a couple of chances in this one.
00:14:01
Speaker
He's got to start putting more of those on frame. But he also, you know, if the goal scored if the goal stands that he scored, I think there's a little bit of a different narrative around his performance. I still think he's probably the Sounders' best option, but...
00:14:16
Speaker
I have to admit that the Sounders looked a lot more dangerous. they play The last 20 minutes of this game was probably the best that they've looked at any point this season. And Masofsky was playing as the nine. Morris was on the right.
00:14:27
Speaker
And maybe most notably, Albert Rusnak had dropped back and was playing next to Christian Roldan. Now, I don't know if that's really a viable 90-minute setup, but it certainly was an interesting look that seemed to work really well for what the Sounders were trying to do.
Team Strategy and Transfer Window Plans
00:14:44
Speaker
Yeah, I think that at this point, I am open to whatever we feel like gets the the best players on the field, especially when you're chasing goals like this. um i'm I'm a big Jordan Morris as a nine guy, but if he's not producing at that position, you got to be open to try and order other things. If Danny Masofsky is scoring goals when he's in there, you know, that's, hey, like you've got to do what's working.
00:15:06
Speaker
and And frankly, I mean, I think that if Jordan cannot start storing consistently. And again, this was his first start at striker since, since the Colorado game, right? He did start a striker in that game. did he Oh no.
00:15:19
Speaker
No, he didn't. yeah. i a tricker that game so yeah ah First I had the same original thought. to trains with Yeah. yeah first First game at the nine. So it's let's, let's not get carried away. But I mean, I think that,
00:15:30
Speaker
If he doesn't start scoring, if you're still in a position where you don't really know what your best option is, that's probably something they should think about in the transfer window with that big pile of game is maybe getting somebody who, you know, can take that position and ship Jordan out to the wing and, you know, see what that gets you. But I'm not too worried about it. I think that he'll come good eventually. But, you know, it is, i think, at a time like this when nobody is really firing in all cylinders and, you know, in front of goal,
00:15:58
Speaker
um it's just going to be like reasonable frustration until somebody starts putting him in. and And I think that that's just part of the pressure of playing in that position. I would agree with that. ah You know, the other thing that happened that sort of seemed to change this game a little bit was when Antino Lopez came in for Nuhu at left back.
00:16:18
Speaker
And it seemed that the Sounders, I guess, switched into more of like a 3-5-2 formation. But Tino Lopez... continues every single time he gets on the field, he just looks comfortable. And he, you know, he had a left footed shot that he was a little unlucky not to score on.
00:16:35
Speaker
ah You know, the Sounders had quite a few, Shots get blocked. This was another one of those. But I liked Tito Lopez basically everywhere we're seeing him.
00:16:47
Speaker
And if Nuhu is in fact hurt and he did seem to come off with some injury, I i would not be at all surprised if he didn't play against San Jose.
00:16:59
Speaker
I feel totally fine with Tina Lopez being in there. And, and i I do wonder if he gives the Sounders another option at, at, you know, not necessarily at left back, but as a left center back in a, in a three back set.
00:17:12
Speaker
Yeah, I, I'm defensively. i think things have been working pretty well so far this season, but, knew who at left back at home has not been working super well.
00:17:25
Speaker
I thought the sounders were much more dangerous after he came out. And, and I'm open for a little bit of competition at that position, especially at home. Who has been great defensively in this game. I um feel pretty comfortable saying it was his mistake. That was largely responsible for San Diego's goal.
00:17:42
Speaker
And Tino has looked great. Like he's not, I don't think he has the ceiling or of ah that Nuhu has. like I don't think he's ever going to be like a borderline ah best defender in the league, for example. But ah he's not put a foot wrong.
00:17:57
Speaker
he He tends to stay within himself and do what he's asked to do, do you know what the team needs him to do. um And yeah, so I think if if they want to give that a try, i'm certainly I'm certainly willing to see it. I think that there's a lot to like about this team with the three center back set up.
00:18:13
Speaker
Um, and I think, you know, if you want to have one look on the road, one at home or go you know, depending on who the opposition is, I think this team is flexible enough, professional enough to, to have a lot of different books. And that's one of them I certainly would be open to seeing, especially if new who is going to be out for some period of time.
00:18:30
Speaker
Yeah.
Defensive Setups and Player Roles
00:18:31
Speaker
You know, the other thing i I wanted to ask you about, I saw you made a mention of this, but or maybe it wasn't you. I guess it maybe it wasn't you. I guess was Tim. Now that i know that I'm thinking about it, but what have you made of Alex Roldan at right center back as opposed to playing right back? Is this a, an experiment that you feel like is working or are you less inclined to see this through?
00:18:56
Speaker
I think that he has done ah a great job at w right center back. And I think they're in a situation where they haven't had a game are obviously they want maybe a little more veteran in presence than, than Tino's provides. Maybe they think that Alex and and Jackson is a better pairing, but I think all things being equal, I would much rather Alex play a right back. I think that he is, he's done a great job at center back.
00:19:20
Speaker
I don't want to discount that. I think that he's one of the better right backs in the league. I don't think he's one of the better center backs in the league. um I think that what it gives you at right back is, is makes the team much better. i like close for Renzi a lot. I think he's a really good player.
00:19:38
Speaker
um Certainly a great bargain, you know, on the contract number he's on, he's a, he's young kid. He's got a lot of room to grow. I'd put him as like an average and MLS average right back right now, which is absolutely nothing to sneeze at. Like if you've got an average right back that you can plug in there,
00:19:52
Speaker
coming off the bench as your second option, that's a lot better than a lot of teams are doing, especially, again, at that cap number. But I would really like Yamar to come back, get healthy, and Alex slide back to right back.
00:20:04
Speaker
I think it's made sense to keep him there, um you know, in this situation, missing Yamar. I don't really know that i was dying to see Tino Lopez move back to the bench. I thought he played really well.
00:20:20
Speaker
um So I, you know, I'm not sure why there was the decision was made to to try Alex there instead. But ah yeah, i I think that the talk of Alex as the eventual Yamar replacement is a little.
00:20:34
Speaker
ah a little much she returned personally. um Yeah, I do. Again, I think he's done a great job, but. Yemar at his best, one of the best centerbacks his team has ever had. and And hopefully he can come back at that level.
00:20:48
Speaker
If not, i mean, you know, then you've got to have the conversation all over again, I think. But I think Alex is a serviceable centerback and an elite right back in the lesson. And that's kind of where I'd like to see him land eventually.
Substitute Impact and Player Comparisons
00:21:00
Speaker
You know, the the other change that happened that seemed to have some positive impact was Peter Kingston coming in for Kalani. And it's continues to be sort of a remarkable reality that Peter Kingston is continuing to get be one of the first guys off the bench yeah and continues to sort of provide little sparks here and there.
00:21:28
Speaker
And, you know, he had one really nice look at what would have been camera if was, but it would have been an equalizer or the go ahead goal, but he keeps getting himself into dangerous positions. He seems to play with a lot of confidence for a player who doesn't have much experience, at least at the MLS level.
00:21:49
Speaker
And I continue to be really pleased every time I see him playing. i don't think he's a better option than Kalani, but I continue to really like him as a bench option, especially.
00:22:02
Speaker
i I have, I am really, really digging this. Yeah, I thought he looked great in this game. i think that the thing that I, whenever he plays that I noticed, and I think this is true of most of the kids that end up breaking through and and getting consistent playing time, is that there have been a lot of prospects, a lot of, you know, academy graduates, draft picks, et cetera, in this team's history that came in and didn't look out of place from a skill ah perspective or, you know, a skill standpoint necessarily, but yeah,
00:22:32
Speaker
look timid, look unsure of what to do. yeah Weren't decisive. We're very slow on the ball, very conservative with their decision making. And Kingston is just, he goes at it. Like he's, he, he knows what he wants to do with the ball.
00:22:46
Speaker
He knows where to be in the attack. He gets forward. He's decisive. He moves quickly. He's, he's, he's brave. Right. And that's, I think a a quality that's, a lot of the kids that come through the academy um and break into the team or, you know, get drafted and then sort of develop with the team.
00:23:03
Speaker
That's what's expected of them. And I think that it's kind of known that you have to have that quality if you're going to have a chance to get consistent playing time in this team. And I think it, it shows, especially in a game like that, where San Diego is on the ropes, um you've got pretty good control of the game.
00:23:18
Speaker
you really want to get the second goal and you don't want to have somebody come in and slow things down and take the safe option. You want to have somebody that's going to just try to ram the ball down the other team's throat. And and he brought that in that energy, I think was really, was really helpful.
00:23:34
Speaker
yeah Yeah, that is, I think you nailed it. That's sort of what it is, is that he, he looks like a player who doesn't have time to waste. Like he knows that he got a little bit of a late start on this whole thing, right? And he's not here to,
00:23:48
Speaker
just fit in. Like he, he knows that he needs to make an impression that he has to show. He belongs that he he's not going to get a lot of second chances just by being good enough. He needs to be, you know,
00:24:02
Speaker
a younger player I think can afford to just don't make mistakes. And I don't think that doesn't seem to be on one of his problems. He's not worried. Like he might make some, some mistakes, but he's not out there to not fuck up. He's out there to do, to do, to make some, make stuff happen, you know?
00:24:18
Speaker
And I appreciate that about him. And it's, I don't know. There's a quality about his play that just is, is different that in that I like a lot. And he's a really easy person to root for as well.
00:24:30
Speaker
And, you know, it's a lot. And I guess in some ways, almost like kind of Paul Rothrock to where he just as soon as he got out there, he was he was out there to to make the game happen. And he continues to play that way.
00:24:42
Speaker
ah Now, could the Sounders use someone who is maybe a little bit more clinical? Everywhere. Yeah. Like at some point we need some, we need some clinicians too.
Critical Matches and Season Outlook
00:24:53
Speaker
And that's, that's sort of where I think Jesus Ferreira and, and Albert Rusnak and ah you know, guys like that probably need to step up a little bit and be a little bit, you know, a little bit more sharp with their, with their finishes because they, they're making, the centers are doing a good job. Like I said, of creating circumstances where someone can succeed.
00:25:17
Speaker
it's just that they aren't always there to capitalize. And, ah you know, the San Jose game suddenly feels a ah lot bigger than I would prefer it to feel, but yeah you know, that's, uh, we'll take that, you know, if they can, if they can win this game, I believe they would then control, they would be sort of back in controlling their own destiny.
00:25:40
Speaker
And look again, I don't think there's any question that this is to be a playoff team. I feel pretty good about them finishing top four right now, but they got it. You know, home home points or they got to go out and get them.
00:25:55
Speaker
And they don't really have, you know, they can't afford to just throw away points against bad teams. That's the kind of the thing. yeah Yeah, I mean, it's like it's tempting to say, well, if they can beat this really good San Jose team, then, you know, who cares? Right. All is forgiven. But again, it's just the missed opportunity. Right. Like you.
00:26:13
Speaker
I don't I don't love the narrative that the Sounders tend to play up to the level of the competition or down to level of the competition, because I don't necessarily think that's true. I don't I don't think it's that simple. Every team every year has a couple of results that are less than ideal. Right. Even the great teams. But you.
00:26:30
Speaker
you you you're going to look back on those games. If you don't end up where you want to end up in the table, you're going to look back on games like this one, games like this word in Casey one and say, from only we could have gotten that result that we were good enough to get that we should have expected to get.
00:26:46
Speaker
We'd be in a better situation right now. So, but if they beat San Jose, it's not an all is for all is forgiven situation, but it certainly does make it helps feel better. It helps. It helps. Right. It helps.
00:26:58
Speaker
Well, ah why don't we transition that? We'll come back. We'll take a break right now. We'll come. ah When we come back, we'll talk about the San Jose game, which is on Wednesday, you know, right away.
00:27:10
Speaker
ah You're listening to Nos Adientes on the Sounder Heart podcast network.
New Magazine Launch and Sponsorships
00:27:18
Speaker
Sounder at Heart has been around in one form or another since 2009. In 2026, though, we make a pretty significant evolution when we go analog. Yes, that's right. In the year of our Lord, 2026, we are publishing a real life magazine. We're calling this thing 4, as in Sounder at Heart 4.0. But we're stylizing it as IV because we absolutely love Roman numeral. And if you want to refer to it as IV, that's cool too. The first issue has a comic book style cover that was hand drawn by local artist Kevin Newbern. Features by Tim Foss, Susie Rance, and Charlie Bohm. A statistical deep dive by Kat Bush. A Q&A with b Brian Schmetzer. A column by G. Willow Wilson. And photographs by Noah Reif, Max Aquino, Mike Russell, and Jane Gershowitz. I could not possibly be more proud of the work everyone put into making this and I think you're gonna absolutely love it. If you'd like to get your hands on one of these limited edition copies, we're currently selling them for $15 on our website. Get yours now. Nos Adietes admittedly is not exactly known for our spicy takes, but that doesn't mean we want our food to be mild.
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00:28:45
Speaker
That's
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00:29:09
Speaker
Hacks and Ferments is a proud sponsor of the Sounder at Heart podcast network.
00:29:17
Speaker
Welcome back to Nos Adiates on the Sounder Heart Podcast Network. ah Before we get into the Sounder at Heart Podcast I do want to give a plug for the new issue of 4, the Sounder at Heart Magazine. It is focusing the Sounder Heart The Seattle portion of the World Cup we have, we are in the final stages of getting this out to the printer as we speak. I am literally looking at proofs right now.
00:29:44
Speaker
I think people are going really happy with this. There's a bunch of stuff about, ah you know, kind of some stuff that looks back. There's an article about how that 2013 qualifier against Panama sort of helped change the supporter culture around the U.S. national team.
00:29:59
Speaker
ah There's a story about the ninety the failed 94 World Cup bid for Seattle. ah Frank McDonald does a really good job of of explaining how close it came and why it didn't happen.
00:30:10
Speaker
We have a story about the Iranian diaspora and sort of how exciting this is for them to be having games out on the West Coast. we have a a first person essay from Garth Loggerway. Yes. The Garth Loggerway, uh, who was recently spotted at the Aston Villa game.
00:30:28
Speaker
I don't so decided on i I did. That's exciting. Yeah. He was, I guess, meeting with the Burnley owner. So i don't know. Wow. That's what you will think of that, what you will.
00:30:39
Speaker
Uh, but then, Leander, Shullerkins? ah Gosh, I should figure that one out. But he also has an essay. We have an excerpt from the upcoming Paul Tenorio book, The Messy Effect, which I think people will ah really enjoy. And then we have profiles of all eight seven teams. Uh, there is a big feature on Ballard FC.
00:31:03
Speaker
ah there's also a big feature on the, uh, rave foundation and their, ah quest to build 52 pitches, which will soon be completed. So anyway, lots of good stuff in there. I think people will really enjoy it. It's, it's clocking in at 60 pages. ah which is 12 more than the first issue, which means this is going be a kind of a fad issue.
00:31:25
Speaker
so you're going to get your money's worth. And I hope people
Upcoming Match Previews and Opponent Analysis
00:31:28
Speaker
want to buy that. And if you do, just go to Sounder at Heart and you'll find links on there. But enough plugging, Aaron.
00:31:35
Speaker
We got a game coming up on Wednesday, a midweek game against San Jose. San Jose is ah Coming off a couple, you know, like the Sounders, they are coming off a couple one one ties.
00:31:48
Speaker
i think you could maybe argue they were. i don't know. Maybe they're don't know if they're maybe they're not anymore acceptable. They tied Toronto FC on the road and then they tied the Vancouver Whitecaps. that's as That's a better result. I think that's a better result. Yeah. Yeah. ah But this last, and then to make, to improve the quality of the result, I suppose they were missing two pretty key components in the Vancouver game. I am not sure. Well, I guess we know that Nico Securus is not going to be available for this game.
00:32:18
Speaker
Timo Werner, I believe is more questionable. We're not sure what's going to go on there, but they didn't play in the Vancouver game and they still managed to get a one, one tie. But Sal Zay, I think, has probably almost certainly been the most surprising team this year.
00:32:33
Speaker
I don't know that anyone really pegged them. I don't know if a anyone would have been shocked if they were a playoff contender, but I mean, they've been zooming along at the top of the supporter shield race and all the underlying numbers say this is this is a team that's for real.
00:32:49
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, they have been impressive, I think, in every phase of the game. They um they score a lot. They don't give up a lot of goals. They have a pretty decisive way of playing, and they they go out and execute.
00:33:01
Speaker
um this I'm still not really sure how the Sounders managed to to win that game there, but it's still their only loss of the year. they They look for real. I, you know, I don't enjoy having to admit that. I'm not a Bruce Arena guy.
00:33:17
Speaker
ah i was hoping he had kind of run out of magic. But apparently not. I mean, apparently, you know, they they lost ah some key players and and got significantly better somehow without. I mean, Timo Werner, obviously a big addition, but um yeah, it's it's been impressive. I think it's it's it's difficult to take anything away from them.
00:33:39
Speaker
um They they look legit. I'm not sure if they're quite as good as Vancouver, but. I mean, that's that's still a very good team. And they're probably going to be pretty pissed off about that loss that in a game that they absolutely should have won.
00:33:54
Speaker
um So, you know, that that's something you do with. Maybe overperforming a little bit so far, but but not by too much. it's No, not it's not too much at all. it's It's a tough test. It's a very tough test.
00:34:06
Speaker
um would ah Would love to see the Sounders, you know, pull out a result in this one. Yeah. Wouldn't say I'm optimistic they're going to take all three points, but, you know, they they've got a good enough defense that I think they're in every game. They have it and they have a chance to win every game. They have a chance to get a point out of every game.
00:34:25
Speaker
ah But a win here would, you know, would go a long way towards, I think, making me feel better about the season's odds and the supporter shield. That's for sure. For sure. ah So the big the big score for them this year has been Preston Judd. Now, Preston Judd is sort of a very similar player to Danny Masofsky, right down to their hometown being Las Vegas.
00:34:47
Speaker
ah But Judd, you probably know he he played for the Galaxy. He's given the Sounders some trouble in the past. I believe he scored in the game. This sounds a home game. last year.
00:34:58
Speaker
ah You know, he's a, he's a solid player. Like he doesn't do a lot that is fancy or ah flashy, but man, he puts, he puts himself in good positions and he finishes his chances.
00:35:12
Speaker
Like I said, and he's only 26, almost 27, but he is, you know, he's a relatively young guy who, you know, yeah, you know, he this doesn't, wouldn't shock me if he goes on a, maybe not quite Chris Wondolowski run, but something akin to that. I mean, he, he's a real player.
00:35:30
Speaker
ah The other player who's really broken out for them this year is Useni Buddha, who was a really highly touted draft pick a couple years ago. I believe he went, ah he came out of Stanford and he hadn't really done much up until this year.
00:35:46
Speaker
he, This year, he's been absolute gangbusters. ah You know, he's got five goals and an assist already. So he's already... He's already... Equaled his career total. And I take it back. He got drafted in 2022. So it's been more than a couple of years.
00:36:02
Speaker
ah This was sort of getting close to probably last chance saloon for him. And, you know, he's a nice player. He's got some physical attributes. He's a winger. He is. he can play with the ball at his feet.
00:36:14
Speaker
And, ah you know, he seems to have been a really good pairing with Timo Werner. and Between the two of them, they've got a lot of speed. And then this Daniel Mooney guy, who is a center back, has been an absolute revelation as ah as a dr a kind of late bloomer, too. He's 26, and he is now in his...
00:36:36
Speaker
fourth, fifth MLS season and, or fourth MLS season. And he is also looking like a a real player for them, a center back who apparently is like the fastest guy and the fastest defender in the league, which I would not have guessed, but a lot of players that, and that's before we even get talking about, uh, Nico Securus, who has been really good for them as their sort of playmaker.
00:37:01
Speaker
He just suffered an injury. He's going to be out for this one. And then Timo Werner, who, you know Again, we don't know if he's going to be available, but totally looks legit in his... MLS definitely seems to be a level he can play at.
00:37:15
Speaker
Yeah, he's he's been ah he's made the adjustment really quickly. i think he's he's like the ideal... famous European DP signing. Right. I mean, I guess he's not mega famous, but I mean, the guy that's still in his physical prime, more or less um seems committed.
San Jose's Strategy and Player Development
00:37:31
Speaker
He seems to want to want to be here. Right.
00:37:34
Speaker
um And it doesn't seem like a selfish player doesn't seem like he's coming in and and feeling like he's better than anybody else. Right. He he wants to. wants to win games and he's he's playing like it and a great signing for them.
00:37:47
Speaker
Yeah. Four goals three assists and seven appearances. Yeah. Not too bad. Not too bad. his He made his debut against the Sounders, right? He did, yes. um His first start his first start against it was against the Sounders. And that was a game that Cody Baker made him look pretty pretty ordinary.
00:38:01
Speaker
so He did. A lot of crazy things could happen in MLS. But yeah, he you know if he if he is playing, if he is in the team, ah he's going to be a guy that's difficult to deal with. but they've They've got quite a few of those guys. um I'm not really sure how they've done it, honestly. Like, Timo Werner...
00:38:16
Speaker
Not a big surprise. He's been a great player. a lot of the other guys you just mentioned. I don't know, man. It's a lot of guys that are like Americans who got drafted. and it's like it's like an old school.
00:38:29
Speaker
raw It's like a classic Bruce Arena roster. But guys who are, you know, Reed Roberts is another the other starting center back. And he's another guy who came out of the draft. I want to say like they're starting eight to nine guys that came out of the draft every game. I mean, this is sort of the way that the Sounders are this Tacoma Defiance built team.
00:38:51
Speaker
this earthquakes are really a team built on the draft. It's been, it's very impressive that Bruce arena just keeps doing this. Like, yeah, it's remarkable. Yeah.
00:39:02
Speaker
He's i mean, look, I don't like his teams. I've never enjoyed watching a first arena coach team. Not to say that they play like bad soccer or anything. I just don't like the man and I don't like the way his teams play, but they they're good. He's a he's a great, great coach. And, you know, it's it's tempting to sort of view him as like a And this is kind of the way I viewed him until this year, honestly, as kind of ah a guy from a bygone era who's, you know, the game is passing by, but that's just clearly not true. Right. Like what he's doing with with this group of guys in, you know, a market that's like people think the Sounders are cheap.
00:39:39
Speaker
Come on. Like it's you know, he he does not have a lot of resources to work with down there. And just yeah it's very impressive. it's ah I mean, it's like Vancouver. Vancouver is kind of in a similar boat, right? um They have.
00:39:51
Speaker
Both teams have figured out how to make it work with with what they've got. And what they've got is a bunch of guys that are extremely bought in to what they're trying to do. And ah yeah, I mean, it's I don't want to tip my cap to San Jose because I don't like anything about the San Jose earthquakes, but you kind of have to.
00:40:09
Speaker
They've been an exceptional team this year. And, you know, it's it's a game I'd really like to win um because these are the kind of teams that the Sounders need to be able to beat at home yes to really feel like, you know, this is a team that can that can make ah a trophy run this year.
00:40:26
Speaker
Absolutely. ah Yeah. another Another guy that they got, ah someone who i I love his story because he just went to San Jose State, but Bo LaRue, and he's from San Jose, which i I don't know. I have a soft spot in my heart, but Bo LaRue. Oh, for your hometown, you have a soft spot for your... Yeah. you know Believe it or not. Crazy how it works. It crazy how it works, but ah I don't have ah that much of a soft spot for the earthquakes, but I do have a soft spot for...
00:40:53
Speaker
players who came out of Jose and, uh, Bo LaRue is a actual San Jose and, uh, which I appreciate. And he's, he's another fun player. I mean, they just have a bunch of these guys who you couldn't pick them out in uh,
00:41:09
Speaker
you know, in a lineup and yet they're out there and they're, they do, they do play in an attractive soccer. Like this is not, uh, you know, like I don't, I don't really have anything bad to say about this sounds a team other than i really would like to beat them.
00:41:24
Speaker
And i I came away from the last meeting really impressed by their whole, by their whole shtick, you know, ah Yeah, I don't know. um I ah even come around on Bruce Arena little bit.
00:41:37
Speaker
Like, I mean, it's it's impossible not to be impressed by his career. Right. Like, it's just he he has been around in American soccer since the days that American soccer might as well not have existed. i mean, for forever. Like he's yeah he's been around American soccer for as long as American soccer has mattered, which is. Yeah.
00:41:58
Speaker
wild and and much i mean honestly much longer than that even um and you know i think probably the most impressive U.S. World Cup performance. I think it's it's fair say. I mean, he took him to the quarterfinals. No one's gone farther than that.
00:42:13
Speaker
Yeah, and probably and probably should have gone to the semifinals, you know, um based on how that game went. and ah And a team that didn't have a ton of expectations coming in. Obviously won a ton of stuff with the Galaxy.
00:42:26
Speaker
It turned the revolution into a pretty good team when he was there. And now he's doing the same thing with the Earthquakes. Like, it's just... it's it's like a i'm trying to think of a good analog from another sport um and i'm i don't know if i'm coming up with one but it is just like look yeah like i hated those galaxy teams i still hate the galaxy to this day because i hated those galaxy teams so much but you hated them because they had what you didn't and that was a lot of championships you know and they won those championships in part because they had great players but
00:42:59
Speaker
in large part because as Bruce Arena knew how to, how to fill in the rest of the roster around those good players and, and motivate guys and, and get them to succeed. I mean, he's not dissimilar from Brian Schmetzer in that way. Right. Very much cut from the same.
00:43:12
Speaker
Yeah. Which makes sense. I mean, they're both Northwestern guys, you know, um and they've got that kind of work ethic and and everything. So yeah, it's, ah you know, i hate to give him credit, but you kind of have to, like, he he's just a legend in American soccer at this point. And,
00:43:28
Speaker
I would have preferred he went and had his, ah you know, had his little resurgence in the Eastern Conference somewhere. But, you know, it is what it is. And at least the earthquakes are a new good team to to hate. Right. Like, at least it's not LFC or the Galaxy again, i suppose. Yeah. ah Yeah. You know, two teams, it's just so easy to hate in the earthquakes and the Whitecaps there at the right top of the conference.
00:43:54
Speaker
Well, ah I don't know. We have much more to say about San Jose. um It's going to be a competitive game. I'm sure. Would be great if the Sounders could ah could start, you know, winning some of these games.
00:44:10
Speaker
ah But this is going to be a tough one. and i You know, there's no. Certainly when I looked at the schedule, this was the game that I thought looked like the toughest. So or when I looked at this three game stand, I should say this one looked like it was going to be the toughest. So.
00:44:24
Speaker
yeah Fingers crossed, I guess. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, it's, you know, like we said in the first segment, a win here does not undo the frustration of of the last two results, but it certainly makes it easier to move past it.
00:44:39
Speaker
And at the very least, I think if they can get a point out of this and and look... like the Like if they can have that performance they had against San Diego in this game, it's not going to be super satisfying. But I think that loss in this game, you know, putting in those two results and then losing that, that this one would feel pretty, pretty bad, put a pretty big dent in this water shield hopes. And, yeah you know, got to feel like you have to avoid that at all costs. And then you've got, you know, another one, another tough one coming up on the weekend against the Galaxy. Yeah.
00:45:11
Speaker
Uh, so you don't want things to spiral, right? So no, no, no, you know, it would be real, real good to get a win in this one and, and kind of get the ship headed back in the right direction. Yeah, I that's a good place to to put a pin in it. Aaron, thank you, as always, for for hanging out and doing these things. ah Thank you to our sponsor, Full Pull Wines. Thank you to all of you for continuing to listen.
00:45:37
Speaker
I do want to urge you to go check out the Lobbing Scorchers YouTube page. You're going to start seeing a lot more of our stuff on there. ah So, you know, like and subscribe and do all those kinds of things that you're supposed to do.
00:45:47
Speaker
Also, if you're listening to our podcast and you aren't a subscriber, even if you don't listen to it on Apple or wherever else, just go ahead and subscribe. You know, rate us, do all those kind of things. Those help us with discovery.
00:46:02
Speaker
We're always trying to grow. And a shocking number of you actually click on the... podcast player on the website which is great all uh all listens count but uh it's it does help us when we have uh more subscribers and more ratings and all that kind of stuff so we don't do that plug very often so hopefully that you know that means something yeah all of you But all right, well, let's get out of here.
00:46:31
Speaker
i am Jeremiah Shan signing off for Aaron Campo and Lickit. This is No Sarietes, part of the Sounder Heart Podcast Network. And remember, you'll never get alone.
00:47:10
Speaker
Let's go at Sounders.