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Nos Audietis: This is what a chess match looks like
446 Plays4 days ago
The Seattle Sounders are coming off a 1-1 tie with the Columbus Crew. While the result was rendered almost meaningless by the way the game ended, now that it’s clear Stefan Frei is doing much better it feels like we can finally unpack what actually happened.
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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.
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“Diversions” audio provided by Sounder at Heart subscriber Lars; find more of their music here.
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Transcript
Introduction by Will Bruin
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'Shaughnessy.
00:00:13
Speaker
Let's go. What save by Frye. The Seattle Sounders have done it. MLS Cup winning. Here comes Ruiz Dias through the middle to crowd it for Seattle.
00:00:29
Speaker
And now they truly can start the celebrations. It's the Sounders MLS Cup. Nico leaves absolutely no doubt. The Sounders rule the region.
00:00:43
Speaker
Seattle, Sounders, it's got built.
00:00:52
Speaker
This feels fucking awesome. This is a tiny dog. Nice work on your little yacht yat thing. And Portland can't say shit. know, what was the thought process in terms of who you decided to use and who you didn't?
00:01:06
Speaker
Ever since Southert Hart wrote a commentary that we didn't take over coming seriously. Go, not Seattle!
Sponsorship by Full Pull Wines
00:01:18
Speaker
This episode of Nos Arietes is sponsored by Full Pull Wines, a Seattle-based wine retailer and proud sponsor of Nos Arietes since 2011. Full Pull was founded in 2009, is based in Seattle, and is owned and operated by longtime Sounder supporters.
00:01:32
Speaker
They offer the best boutique wines of the world to members of their mailing list, with special focus on their home, Pacific Northwest.
00:01:43
Speaker
Welcome back to another episode of Nos Adieta as part of the Sounder Heart Podcast Network, sponsored by Full Pool Wines, Hacks and Ferments, and our subscribers. We're recording on Wednesday, July 9th, 2025. I am your host, Jeremiah Shan.
00:01:55
Speaker
Joining me today is my co-host, Aaron Campo, and our producer, Lickett. The Sounders are coming off a 1-1 tie with the Columbus Crew, ah match that where the result was virtually rendered moot by the injury to Stefan Fry at the end.
00:02:10
Speaker
but And we'll talk about that, but I do think that this game, now that we have a little bit of of space from it, there was a lot actually in this game that it is worth discussing. Aaron, um what is what what is the thing from this game that you felt like, that what was the big takeaway that you had from this game?
00:02:28
Speaker
Oh, gosh. um I think... if i'm gonna If I'm going to come up with one that wasn't, I guess, obvious and but wasn't a hot take, it's that I think Brian Schmetzer is maybe a little bit better of an in-game tactical coach than he gets credit for.
00:02:44
Speaker
i think one of the things that was interesting about this game was you had these very distinct periods of control of the game. Yeah. um Like it was, I think, on the aggregate, a very evenly played game. There really wasn't anything between the two teams.
00:03:01
Speaker
But I think when the crew were in control of the game, it felt like the Sounders had never played together before. And vice versa, when the Sounders were in control of the game, the crew had a decent amount of meaningless possession, but the Sounders were able to spring attacks really quickly and cause them problems and completely prevent them from creating any kind of chances.
00:03:21
Speaker
So you had these like really distinct periods of control of the game, and they were they were all the result of tactical adjustments by... um by by the coaches. And Nancy, to his credit, made equally good tactical changes to counter what the Sounders were doing. But I think everybody acknowledges that he's one of the best tactical coaches in MLS.
00:03:43
Speaker
So it' to see Brian Schmetzer match up with him, toe-to-toe, make adjustments in game, change the shape pretty distinctly, change sort of the game plan from the outset, I thought was really interesting. It was just a really good game um i played at a high level most of it um the last i want to say the first 78 let's say first 75 minutes was a very competitive interesting game and then the last 15 to 20 minutes was kind of slop yeah i think you identified the yellow card to muhammad farcee for time wasting sort of the point at which the game kind of died off
00:04:22
Speaker
um It was very clearly because the Sounders had been pushing pretty aggressively for for the whole second half. second half um yeah They'd been really in control of the game.
00:04:35
Speaker
um And they had started to fade a little bit and they brought on Jordan Morris, who was definitely bringing some energy about 10 minutes earlier. And at that point, I think the crew said, all right we're going to shut this thing down because we're, you know, it's at risk getting out of hand. and And they, they did until the red card and they thought maybe they had a chance to just yeah snatch something at the very end.
00:04:57
Speaker
Yeah, it was fascinating. I rewatched this game on Monday and, you know, I think rewatching games has, it's interesting. Oftentimes you, your second impression is very different than your first episode.
00:05:10
Speaker
But it's in a game like this, I was entertained. I thought it was a really great game. i thought I was actually surprised at how many people thought the game was uninteresting. And I just thought it felt like there was it wasn't as fast-paced as some of the games recently have been. And I think a lot of that is, frankly, just as comes down to the turf plays so much slower in the afternoon sun than it does...
00:05:34
Speaker
ah In the evening, it's just stickier. The players, you can just see the energy is getting sucked out of the players a lot more. And it was a warm after, you know summer afternoon day. And I think that showed up, but there was still a lot of dynamic play, a lot of back and forth.
00:05:50
Speaker
You know, the first 10 to 12 minutes, the Sounders really came out strong, looked like the better team. And then the crew sort of flipped it on them. They got that goal. And it, you you know, really up until the point the Sounders scored, I thought that they were doing a good job of controlling that match. And it was starting to get maybe not ugly, but it was, i was, i remember being very impressed at how,
00:06:11
Speaker
well, they move as a group, you know, they do some really interesting stuff in terms of being able to get their center backs into the attack. Like, I think there are various points in this game where you would be really hard pressed to identify who the center backs even r Uh, because so Dursky will be up in the attack, uh, Mo four or, uh, Steven Marrera will be up. And it's not just in the attack where, you know, you'll see Jackson Reagan in the box on a, on a set piece or something like that. And he'll maybe get stuck up there and, and he'll get a recycled header or something.
00:06:43
Speaker
But this is like they're their, their center backs have possession in and around the box in a way that just does not look like a center back handling the ball. And it's very impressive to watch, but it on the other token,
00:06:55
Speaker
I was very impressed with the way that the Sounders flipped that game and really, you know, kind of starting with their goal, which was a really nice goal. Although ah Mark Kastner pointed out something I thought that was a fair thing to identify.
00:07:11
Speaker
So the Sounders get possession on that goal. through Obed Vargas essentially trying to make up for a bad pass that he had made. And he wins back the tackle. They pass it around a couple times. And it goes to Nuhu, who is on the near touchline.
00:07:26
Speaker
And he has Christian Roldan sort of... He has a sight on Christian Roldan in the middle of the park. And if he makes that pass, Christian it has the ball 25, 30 yards out from goal.
00:07:36
Speaker
And the Sounders are in business. And he ends up recycling it back... And that to the center's credit, they work it around and they they score the goal, right? And they score a goal, really nicely done goal.
00:07:49
Speaker
moon mean that But it took really a dynamic play from Kalani Kosarienzi to make that goal because it's not for that touch that he makes that puts him into the space. that That goal probably doesn't happen.
00:08:01
Speaker
But I thought it was a fair thing to point out. Mark pointed this out that... Nuhu really should make that pass to Christian. and then you and And I thought it sort of identifies one of the Sounders weaknesses this year is that they do a great job of turning teams over in that part of the field. in there you know they They do a great job of creating turnovers in their half, either directly from pressure or as a result of teams just kind of kicking it away.
00:08:27
Speaker
But what they don't do is then immediately turn that into attacking play. They oftentimes are more than happy to recycle the ball. And a couple times this, you know, in the last couple weeks, they've created goals from that sort of recycling. And that's not to say that recycling is bad, but I do think it it speaks to there's this blockage, I think. And, and, you know, Brian Schmetzer says our, our directive is always pass it forward. If you can, you should always be looking toward goal.
00:08:57
Speaker
And I don't know what's getting lost, but it's, it is an interesting thing that the Sounders keep doing this where they create these turnovers. And then instead of pressing forward, like, you know, like you would see a the Philadelphia union or the New York red bulls. And that's really the the thing that differentiates the Sounders pressing from some of these more sort of aggressive pressing squads is that,
00:09:17
Speaker
They just aren't, it's like they're doing it to almost create, it's it's more of a defensive tactic. I guess this maybe the way to explain it. It's more of a defensive tactic than it is a offensive tactic. And I think a lot of teams use the press sort of as an offensive tactic, but that's not how the Sounders are really even using it.
00:09:36
Speaker
Yeah, I agree um with the observation. i agree with your characterization of of the um the utility of it, and it drives me completely up the wall.
00:09:46
Speaker
like it just It drives me nuts to watch it, because you see them create these turnovers in dangerous areas and fall right back into that pattern of play of trying to score in possession. And and the thing I think the thing that makes it so much more frustrating is that you can kind of forgive that a little bit more when...
00:10:03
Speaker
your team's primary playmaker is Nico Ladero, and you score your goals from from open play and good ball movement. But the Sounders don't have those players. Like, Albert Rosanek is extremely dangerous in transition.
00:10:16
Speaker
They've got wingers who like to run. They have really effective pressers pretty much everywhere on the pitch. And... they seem allergic to creating those countering opportunities. And when they counter from defense, right? Like if they're countering off of a set piece, they are super dangerous and they know what to do and they're decisive with it. But it's almost like,
00:10:39
Speaker
it's almost like they don't like a short field. Yeah. Yeah. It's, it's very strange. It's, it's a very strange offense. Isn't very effective. Yes. I mean, yeah, I think that that's true. It's like, it is it is like, it's like a team that would rather have possession 30 out,
00:10:55
Speaker
than have a possession in the red zone because they're just not, they want that space to run in. They want the, you know, they and and it's almost like, you know, and and their goal kind of came from, you know, they we had a goal like this last week.
00:11:07
Speaker
They had a goal or two weeks ago, they had the goal this week where it was almost like they were seeking to expand the field, draw the opponent out, which is, hey, that's not a that's That's not a horrible tactic. If you can get if you can draw teams out, that's good.
00:11:23
Speaker
And maybe that's ma um maybe we're being too naive. Maybe we weren't giving the Sounders enough credit for sort of using the press against teams the way that they kind of did in in these last two games.
00:11:36
Speaker
but And maybe it is also why they struggle to break down teams who don't want to press them, who won't drawn out. who won't be drawn out ah But I do think they need to get it in there.
00:11:47
Speaker
They have to get it in the playbook. Like they have to start figuring out that if you get the ball 30 yards from goal, you don't want to move it back 70 yards. You want to get it to 10 yards from goal. You know, you want to you need to like take advantage of a defense that's not set, you know? Yeah. Yeah.
00:12:08
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, because if if you're not doing that, I don't really understand the the point of pressing so high up the pitch and so aggressively because like by the 65th, 70th minute, most games, your your wingers seem exhausted from having to play that level of intensity. um You know, your your forwards are being asked to press too. And it's just like, if you if you're not going to try to take advantage of those those opportunities immediately, if you're not going to take advantage of those turnovers in the and the opposition third immediately,
00:12:38
Speaker
save your legs, you know, just go back to bring that line of confrontation back. And, um, and maybe the idea is while it's easier to dispossess the center back than, uh, um, than a midfielder. I don't know. Maybe that's the idea. Maybe.
00:12:52
Speaker
ah crew The crew's center backs, not really. No, they weren't. Yeah, exactly. The crew's center backs were pretty ball secure. The crew have this pattern of play, sorry to interrupt, but that that I find really interesting, and I love it when my teams do it, and I hate it when other teams do it, which is their center backs will just get the ball in their third, and the press isn't coming, so they'll just sit there.
00:13:14
Speaker
They'll just put their foot on the ball and wait. That was an interesting little chess match. Yeah. We saw that several times in this game. it it can be so effective. um to see when it's when it's working, when it's doing what you want it to do. And I thought the Sounders did a pretty good job of being like, look, I'm going to press you just so we can get this going, but I'm not falling into your trap.
00:13:33
Speaker
But when it's effective, like when teams are falling into the trap, it's it's lethal. And i and they tried it decent amount and kind of figured out, right we're not going to really have a lot of results with this today and and moved on. But um yeah, I mean, that just takes guts to trust your center backs as much as they do with the ball. It's really interesting to watch.
00:13:53
Speaker
Yeah, it they the crew do a lot. I mean, they just do a very effective job of like moving as a unit. they They are the closest thing, I think, that MLS has a team that wants to play a kind of total football or you know whatever like the silly term is.
00:14:08
Speaker
ah yeah But it was neat to watch. But at the same time, the Sounders were, especially in the second half, were all over the crew. I mean, the Sounders really, they didn't generate a ton of actual goal scoring chances.
00:14:23
Speaker
But, you know, they they they had a few, the best of which was Paul Rothrock's chance in the 52nd minute. And that was really a great ball from Albert Rysnack. He had a couple passes like that in this game where he just put a ball on an absolute, you know, you just...
00:14:44
Speaker
Dished out a dime, I guess, is I don't know i'm like the right way to call this. But he was he was really effective, I thought. And he put Paul into space. Paul made a great touch, I thought.
00:14:55
Speaker
i And his only mistake there was he tried to go sort of far post. I think he's has got his body shape sort of wrong. To me, it looked like a ah ah chance he really should have gone near post with.
00:15:07
Speaker
Uh, and, but even after that, they, did they didn't have a ton of shots. And in fact, that may have been their last shot until, uh, Alex rolled on shot in stoppage time. But they were putting the crew under a lot of pressure. They were sort of a pass away from from getting a ah really dangerous opportunity.
00:15:24
Speaker
And it was it was good to see. um you know i did a little video today about Paul Rothrock. And i wanted to talk about this a little bit more because I think he is sort of – this game I thought was really emblematic of what he is doing so well and why he is getting into the lineup on a consistent basis. and fairly A lot of people have focused on a line that I don't know if was actually in the video, but it was in my write-up where I said he was the least talented the of the five Sounders wingers.
00:15:56
Speaker
And i i would actually assume that he would agree with that, frankly. I mean, the the Sounders have some really talented wingers. ah right let Let me just be clear who we're comparing them to here. We're comparing them to Ryan Kent, Pedro De La Vega, Jesus Ferreira, and Georgie Menungu, who I think have really obvious talents and skills and assets.
00:16:17
Speaker
And it's fair to point out that getting the most out of your talent is a talent in itself. My point was that that is sort of the thing that Paul is best at is that he is best at maximizing his talent. But that's also not to say he's just some try hard. He has some real abilities.
00:16:37
Speaker
One of which is he's very effective at ah getting runs in behind. We saw that repeatedly against the crew. You know, he's he's great at even recycling his run when he needs to, which is absolutely a skill.
00:16:50
Speaker
Like he understands that just because you don't get the ball the first time, it doesn't mean five seconds later you can't try it again. he's He's good at you know reading body language he's in terms of like shaping his body.
00:17:04
Speaker
he doesn't He has a lot of really good assets. And I thought he had a great game in this one. And i i just I do hope people understand. i think he's a great he i think he's actually ah a pretty good player.
00:17:16
Speaker
But I think we're also fooling ourselves if we think his ceiling is as high as these other wingers that they have. Right. and And a player's ceiling is not equivalent to what they're actually going to be.
00:17:29
Speaker
Right. It's just it's what they could potentially be if all of the environmental factors are right and they they stay healthy and blah, blah, blah, blah. And like and I think that and soccer is a game where you can be insanely talented and have a bad career because you're not good at other elements of the game.
00:17:50
Speaker
um And I don't, you know, I don't, I've never talked to Paul Rothrock. I don't, I don't know much about the guy personally, but I think that he, I don't think that you could make it as far as he has in his career without being aware of who you are as a player. Like, yeah.
00:18:06
Speaker
And, and I think that everything he does on the pitch speaks to the fact that he is aware of, what he is capable of and what he's not capable of. And one of the worst things that you can see is the soccer player who consistently tries to do things that they aren't capable of doing.
00:18:24
Speaker
It is. It's like one of the ways guys flame out a lot of the time is because they are just convinced that they should be able to do X, y Z thing that they just can't do at a high enough level. And I think Paul Rothrock knows exactly what he's capable of.
00:18:38
Speaker
And, and he's really good at the more cerebral parts of the game. Like you mentioned, Um, he he plays the game, I think in a way that really, he brings something to the sounders that none of the other wingers do.
00:18:52
Speaker
Like he is able to create chaos in a way that nobody else can. um he, he, he's a master of the dark arts. Like he's one of the best shithousers that the sounders have ever had. Yes.
00:19:05
Speaker
He's got a lot of John Stockton in him. I realize John Stockton has become kind of a, a real, uh, third rail. We just mean, just mean on the, on the, on umm just on the pitch. He is kind of a John Stockton.
00:19:17
Speaker
I think he's probably polar opposite from John Stockton off the pitch, but let's, uh, we're getting into it. I should have just kept that to myself, but, uh, He's got some Gary Payton in him, right?
Impact of Stefan Fry's Injury
00:19:29
Speaker
like There you go. There you go. Better. Yeah, he's yeah he's I think that's a good that's actually a good comparison.
00:19:34
Speaker
i And I think that it's something the Sounders have been missing. like I think that it is it's ah it's a mentality and mindset that they I think the best Sounders teams, they've had a guy or two who was capable of doing that stuff, who was capable of selling fouls, who was capable...
00:19:49
Speaker
of getting under opposition players skin. um You know, the Sounders haven't had a guy that can bait people into reactions the way a couple of Sounders players that are currently on the team are maybe guilty of of having happened to them. Sometimes so they do have a guy that can do that.
00:20:04
Speaker
um They have a guy who there is value in a player saying, i know I'm not getting to that ball. and I'm going to save my energy.
00:20:15
Speaker
I don't have any problem with players doing that. I think there is value in also having at least one guy on our team who said, I think can get to that ball. Let's find out. Let's find out if I can get to that ball.
Diverse Player Mentalities
00:20:27
Speaker
And if I can't, I'm going to make your life hell while I'm trying to get to it.
00:20:31
Speaker
That's not everything, right? And and I think, like what I said last week, I think that sometimes he... People mistake, I like watching the way that guy plays with, I think that they're a like, that's a better way to play or more effective. I don't remember exactly how I said, but, and and I think that that's what I mean, right? Is like, you can't have every player that plays with that mentality. It's, it's a recipe for disaster.
00:20:56
Speaker
But having one guy who is fully committed to that mentality is hugely beneficial. and And I just don't see, you know, none of the other Sounders wingers really do have that mentality. And that's not a knock against them. It's just it's what the Sounders need at this moment in time.
00:21:12
Speaker
And he's going to give it to you like, you know, he's going to give you that mindset and that approach to the game every time out. And that's not to say that he's just like some try hard, safe player. Like he frankly, he, he's not that safe of a player. He does turn the ball over a fair amount. His pass completion percentage actually appallingly low for a player who doesn't attempt a ton of progressive passes, but.
00:21:41
Speaker
He does stretch defenses. He does chase balls. He does. He's pretty good in the ball. I mean, he's, he is actually really good in the box for the most part. Like he, yeah he he's a good he doesn't waste a lot of chances. he you know you know, he doesn't, you know,
00:21:57
Speaker
yeah We get frustrated when a player, you say you got to put that on frame. He he does a really good job of putting it on frame and giving him a chance giving himself a chance to succeed.
00:22:07
Speaker
that's a big those Those are big assets. ah Does it mean that the 100th percentile version of him isn't less isn't less of a player than the 100th percentile player of Pedro de la Vega?
00:22:22
Speaker
I mean, I i think Pedro De La... Like, the reality is that Pedro De La Vega's ceiling is probably... a player in the Argentina national team. The ceiling for Paul Rothrock is probably not, maybe, who knows, maybe, ah maybe I'm wrong.
00:22:36
Speaker
Maybe I'm underestimating him, but I don't, I don't necessarily see him as a, ah you know, as a U S national team player, although it would be interesting to see what he would do in camp. ah Yeah. We, as a total aside, Matt Doyle and I had an interesting conversation earlier this week about Christian Roldan and Jackson Reagan, both getting into the national team camp.
00:22:55
Speaker
i I do think both of those guys have really good chances, by the way, um because they I just think should. Yeah, we just saw what they could do against some of the best players in the world against PSG one Club World Cup today, right?
00:23:08
Speaker
I just get to the final. They get to the final. It's going to be done. And I think it's either Fluminese or Chelsea, no Chelsea. It's Chelsea. Yeah. Oh, is it? how do Yeah, they're playing Chelsea. Now I realize that.
00:23:21
Speaker
Uh, but anyway, it's, it's, it's very, I don't know. It's an interesting conundrum that the centers have right now. They like, they have no, I don't think they've ever had this much talent on the wing and, and it's, you know, if Paul is the only one that's producing. He's going to absolutely keep playing.
00:23:39
Speaker
Uh, but they, the talent is not their issue out on the wing right now. They have players who I like every, I don't know, like Georgie Manoongu can't get on the field right now.
00:23:52
Speaker
And he's he's a really fun player. i mean, we just saw he just played again in the in in the for the Tacoma Defiance. And he had a you know he was he's just so dangerous. and it's And I can't really blame the Sounders for not getting him on the field more.
00:24:09
Speaker
ah But it would be interesting to see what he can do. i am I'm actually kind of looking forward to this little period of fixture congestion that's coming up because hopefully we're going to see a little bit more rotation.
00:24:22
Speaker
See, because right now, Brian has essentially settled into basically his starting group. Like the lineup has changed every week, but it's usually for suspension or an injury here or there.
00:24:36
Speaker
It seems like his core starting group, if my impression is that if everyone is healthy, You've got probably Jordan Morris starting up top, Paul Rothrock, and I guess Jesus Ferreira is the other winger right now.
00:24:51
Speaker
Albert Rusnak, Vargas, and Roldan, obviously. And then I still think Roldan is the starting right back. And then I assume Yamar is your starting right center back, Jackson Reagan on the left, and and probably Nuhu and Fry.
00:25:07
Speaker
But I do think there's some interesting competition going on here. And I think this was another, it was like the emergence of Alex Roldan as a viable option at center back is absolutely fascinating to me because it yeah what it does is it allows the Sounders to keep Jackson Reagan on the left.
00:25:28
Speaker
play Alex Roldan, who looks, he's made it look so easy these two games. ah I guess maybe we can talk about, dig in on that, because the combination of Kalani Kosarianzi playing really well, his red card aside, and Alex Roldan looking really competent at right center back, that does give the Sounders some interesting options, I think.
00:25:53
Speaker
It really does. i mean, i think I said last week that I'm fine with Alex getting more time at sitter back, but, and you know, especially as it's necessary.
00:26:06
Speaker
um But, you know, i I wouldn't expect that to be like a long term possibility. And I think I'm so like as a permanent thing and I think I'm still in that camp, but I'm less convinced that I was last week, um especially because I felt like the crew were trying very hard to target him.
00:26:26
Speaker
Last week, like against Austin, it was a little easier to write ah write it off because it's like, all right, you're playing Austin at home. He didn't have a whole lot to do, even though he looked pretty tidy. um But against, you know, against a good team like the crew who identified him as a potential weakness, they wanted to attack to see him have the kind of performance he did was...
00:26:46
Speaker
you know, that's, that's a little bit different. That's a little bit different of a, that's some new information that you've got. Right. So, I mean, I don't think he's a better center back than Yamar. I think when Yamar is healthy, he's, he's like the second or third guy on the team sheet probably, but Yamar's got to, you know, not going to be around forever.
00:27:06
Speaker
um and if Koster Renzi, if Koster Renzi keeps developing and you want him to get minutes, um, i'm I'm not giving up the dream of the three center back set up, Jeremiah. I just won't let it go.
00:27:20
Speaker
And we to lose who are your three center backs? So that's the I think that's becoming an interesting question. That's the thing, right? Like knew who was always yeah one of the obvious choices. And now I think. You know, if you've got everybody healthy available and available, yeah, maybe it's maybe it's ah Reagan and Yamar and Alex.
00:27:39
Speaker
Maybe that's who you go with. Or maybe more realistically, maybe Yamar, or sorry, i mean, like i do I do wonder if how effective Yamar would be as a left center back.
00:27:50
Speaker
I do think that's a legitimate concern. Yeah, and Reagan, I guess, needs to play in the center. Yeah. Right, exactly. and so I do think that's one that's one problem with that. But i'm also I am really intrigued by what happens here with the with the defense because I think suddenly at full strength, the Sounders have some really interesting and somewhat interchangeable options because you've got Kalani Kosarianzi, obviously.
00:28:15
Speaker
You've got Alex Roldan. And if Alex Roldan can slide back, that that allows you to get – Kosovi Enzi onto the field a little bit more. And then you've got Reagan in the middle. I think Reagan is easily your best kind of distribution focused center back.
00:28:32
Speaker
Although I do wonder now if Alex, if Alex can really play center back, maybe he in a, like if, if Jackson's not available, maybe Alex Rodon can deputize there. That's an, I kind of an interesting yeah wrinkle to this whole thing.
00:28:46
Speaker
You usually think of, ah Sorry to interrupt, but know and just on that point, you usually think of a three center back setup like you want your top stopper type defender in that central position. But that's not how the sounders use it.
00:28:59
Speaker
Well, yeah i've yeah, I've definitely seen um center back setups where the central center back sort of a more advanced player. Right. And they really are more of a pure distributor.
00:29:11
Speaker
um You potentially take some of Jackson Reagan's distribution abilities off the table if you play it that way. But um I don't think that Alex being like maybe a little undersized for an MLS center back is a problem if you're playing him in that kind of a role in the center.
00:29:26
Speaker
Yeah, especially if you could put, let's just say hypothetically, you want John Bell and... ya like To me, if it's if I'm out there making the decisions and I have to choose between playing John Bell in the role of Jackson Reagan, which is the Sounders have done a bunch of times, I would rather play three-center-back set with one of Nuhu or yeah John Bell on the left, Alex in the middle, and Yamar Kim on the right. Like... yeah like if if that If they were opposed with that sort of situation again, i would find that to be an intriguing. I mean, I guess Kim also played on the left quite a bit during while Jackson was out. So we shouldn't discount that as a as an option as well.
00:30:11
Speaker
But it does give I just think it's it's really interesting. The Sounders have a lot of optionality. and And it's just going to be really interesting to see how this plays out because I don't know that they've had a lot of players who have just failed the test that they've been given this year. You know, there've been games where they didn't look great, but they've also those same players in similar situations have also looked very good.
00:30:35
Speaker
So I think there's a lot of interesting options back there. I think the center is probably the biggest question right now is what happens if Christian or Obed are out for an extended period? Because that is...
00:30:47
Speaker
probably my biggest concern at this point luckily we haven't had that tested but joe paulo being out does not help i suppose alex can potentially deputize in the central midfield that's probably going to be something that you know we're we're going to see at some point uh so i don't know i'm i'm fascinated by these by these various options that the saunders have Yeah, it's interesting. And it's I mean, it's funny to be talking about all of these options while we're still in a situation where we're forced to play Alex Roldan at center back because everybody else is dead. But right. But it's true.
00:31:21
Speaker
and And, you know, players are getting ah getting healthier. So that's it. It is nice to think about. Like, it's almost a coping mechanism of like, well, once these guys are back, you know, you've got a lot of. Well, I mean, the thing is is that. got yay more and kim are back in full training so they i don't know that either one of them are gonna i don't think either one of them are gonna start against sporting kansas city but they're gonna be buying i mean they again we've said this i feel like we've said this many times throughout the year is uh once we're fully healthy we're gonna have all these options and then invariably there's some big injury but uh
00:31:57
Speaker
you know, and I mean, I guess right now, Steph Fry is out and, and Joe Palo is out and, you know, so there's, it's not like they're totally healthy, but it it is, i do think it is a deep team.
00:32:09
Speaker
It really is a deep team. I know people like apparently hate talking about that, but, um, yeah, I mean, it, it I think we've we've said some variety of this a lot over the past month or so, but being a deep team doesn't mean you can endure a bunch of injuries without a hitch.
00:32:29
Speaker
It means you can endure a bunch of injuries without dropping to the bottom of the table like a stone. Like a stone. Yeah, right. Like one of the themes I think of the last couple years has been, okay the Sounders are back to full strength.
00:32:43
Speaker
are they going to like, has their confidence been destroyed? Are they going to be able to rally and make a charge this late in the game? And they've been up to it, but it it's really nice to be getting back to full strength coming into the, you know,
00:32:56
Speaker
I guess not the stretch run yet. No, but coming into the meat of the, I mean, this is like, we're really getting to the meat of the season here. And, you know they've, they've got about 14 games left to play in the regular season. They've got leagues, like leagues cups going to start at the end of the month.
00:33:09
Speaker
Yeah. Like it, the the schedule is going to get more congested. ah Right. You know, we had, and we had a stretch of, of season where it was not congested. You know, we had about two or three months where ah from the end of champions league until now, where they were just basically playing a game a week.
00:33:27
Speaker
That's over. Yeah. And, and as it stands there, they're nine points out of first place with a game in hand on first place. Like, yeah, and that's a much better situation, you know, than they've been in, and in the past couple of years. So it's hopefully though they can stay as healthy as they have down the stretch in the past couple of years.
00:33:46
Speaker
um Because they've, they have, they've endured all these injuries at the start and in the middle of the season and stayed relatively healthy after that. And hopefully, you know, that, that pattern holds true, but they've been able to endure it a lot better this year. I think they have in years past.
00:34:01
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Well, uh, I think we're to take it. This is probably a good place to take a break.
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00:34:06
Speaker
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00:36:08
Speaker
Welcome back to Nos Arrieta. So we do have a power ranking segment. We're going to power rank the way we want to see the Sounders use the U22. Before that, we probably should talk about the Stefan Fry injury because it was sort of the dominant narrative the dominant storyline that came out of the game.
Concerns about Stefan Fry's Injury
00:36:26
Speaker
It was scary. It was scary in a way that I don't know that I have experienced in a stadium before. You know I wrote a column talking about how I've covered an unfortunate number of these,
00:36:40
Speaker
um you know, season ending injury types of situations, including one to, to Steph when he broke his leg. Like these things are scary and they happen, but they've never like this one that felt different.
00:36:54
Speaker
ah There wasn't the the fact that the ambulance was on the field. The fact that there was some concern of like, is he even moving type of stuff? ah It was a scary looking collision. Yeah.
00:37:09
Speaker
it's it is also at the same time really reassuring and it's easier to sort of like move beyond it now because he we know he's okay you know he's walking he's uh you know he he's he's talk he's home he he got he he was you know essentially um released from the hospital the same day and he was at back home. So it's, you know, it's his CT scan was negative, which means there was no other damage.
00:37:36
Speaker
So these are all good things. But at the same time, you do hope that he takes some time off. Like, it yeah, like even if he were cleared to return the next game, it's almost like, no, like, just take some time, right?
00:37:51
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. I think if for no other reason, then that's got to be a traumatic thing to go through. i mean, I think if you're a goalkeeper, you have experienced a lot of pretty tough collisions and you, um, it's just part of the play in the position is you have to brave brave um to to put yourself in those situations where you're pretty vulnerable. You know, people complain a lot of the time. And by people, I mean, MLS color commentators, most of them used to be forwards about how protected goalkeepers are.
00:38:21
Speaker
But like, that's, that's why. Right. Because you're they are they're putting themselves in danger in a way that is. Yeah. Is very real. And like, I don't, I think that there was a little bit of recklessness shown from a true player.
00:38:35
Speaker
Like, I don't necessarily need him going in like that, but like, they're trying to win a game and it was mostly just bad luck. Like, I think there's a good argument that that's a foul on him. I definitely think there's a good argument. There's a foul, but I don't think it's a dirty play or anything, but I think you can write.
00:38:52
Speaker
Like, I feel like almost every time a goalkeeper gets hit like that, it's a, not even like that. Like if you run into the goalkeeper, it's a foul almost always. Like I don't, yeah the more I think about it, I'm a little confused how it wasn't a foul.
00:39:10
Speaker
And and honestly, i don't I'm not trying to beat up on the on the on f referee Ishmir Pekic too much. I didn't think the game was called great, whatever. I'm not going to.
00:39:24
Speaker
It was well within the range of what you expect. But it it does boggle my mind that he was ready to let that corner be taken. Yeah, it's like pretty shocking.
00:39:36
Speaker
It's pretty shocking. Like the easy way out there was to say, oh, there was a foul. Let's right let's end the game. Right. But or like it's a foul. And I guess maybe I'll make you kick the ball or something. I don't know what you do there, but it's just like I actually had a conversation with pro about this because I wanted to get a comment from them about that decision and whether or not.
00:40:04
Speaker
they would like to see the game whistle dead at that point. And without getting into too many details about how this conversation went, they were, they wanted to clarify that under normal circumstances, the referee does not have the authority to just call the game. Like that's just not how the and MLS rules work.
00:40:24
Speaker
That if this were to happen in the 85th minute, just to pick a random point in the game and even if there was a horrible injury it would for the game to be called, that would be a decision that would have to come down from the league office.
00:40:40
Speaker
yeah Even if it's like if you've awarded seven minutes of stoppage time and it happens in the first minute of stoppage time, that's still like a different situation. And what I was really trying to understand, though, was like, well, we that wasn't what happened here. We know what happened here. What happened here was that there was about eight seconds left on the referee's watch.
00:40:58
Speaker
The seven minutes that he had originally awarded had already expired. what is the like, shouldn't common sense sort of take over here? And there was sort of like a reluctance on, on pro to commit to what they really think should happen there. And I think my suspicion is that it's because everyone kind of gets it.
00:41:19
Speaker
Like, yeah, um it's, it's, you know, probably should call that game, but yeah, they also don't want to like, throw the referee under the bus, I suppose. But I don't know. It'll be interesting to see how this all comes out because I don't know if they're I don't know if pros going to actually put out a statement about this.
00:41:38
Speaker
No. And I mean, at the end of the day, the game was ended. um There shouldn't have been as much um drama over it, I guess. But like, ultimately, I don't know what would be different.
00:41:52
Speaker
um I think once it was very obvious that Steph was very seriously hurt, um because there are lots of scary collisions in soccer where a player is down for a few minutes and they end up being okay. Although, I mean, Steph did have the fencing reaction and it was pretty obvious pretty quickly that this was not one of those situations, but that was for everyone that had the benefit of replay and and everything like that. Like if you're a player or the referee and you didn't see it that closely, I think once it became obvious that there was a serious, serious injury or the potential for a serious injury, um calling the game was the right call.
00:42:29
Speaker
And ultimately that's what ended up happening. am. i am And I guess that's maybe one of the other things that we ultimately did get to the right right place. We got the right result. Yeah. It's just that I think it didn't feel like it got there the right way.
00:42:43
Speaker
It should have taken less pleading from the coach of the team who stood to benefit the most from the corner being taken. um Like Nancy looked legitimately bewildered that the referee is not calling. That there was even a possibility.
00:42:57
Speaker
Yeah. And, um, like he had to convince him almost to do it. And that's, I think that speaks to it, but you know, it's, I was not enamored with the refereeing performance either. So there's part of me that doesn't want to give him the benefit of the doubt, but it's also a just a shitty situation. I think too, it's, it's a bad situation for everybody.
00:43:16
Speaker
ah And yeah, I'm just, I'm so glad that stuff is okay. Like this was one of the relatively okay. um This is one of the times where the discord being ahead of the game I was grateful for it. It's usually really annoying because, uh, people could not help, but react immediately to things that they're watching live that they know other people aren't.
00:43:38
Speaker
Um, yeah but in this case it was, I was glad because I was able to go to the other room before I had to see it and was able to know that stuff was mostly okay before I saw the collision. And so that was good. um but yeah, it's just, it's one of those things, man, when you,
00:43:55
Speaker
when one of the things you do for entertainment has this element of risk for it, it's very easy to just sort of push that out of your mind most of the time. And when you confront it, it's a really uncomfortable feeling.
00:44:09
Speaker
um To recognize like, yeah, like these guys can get seriously hurt any any game, any time out. and Yeah. You know, it makes you really grateful for for them doing it like.
00:44:22
Speaker
especially a league like MLS where like Steph is handsomely compensated, you know, but he's not making, I never have to worry about anything for the rest of my life money. I don't think, no you know?
00:44:36
Speaker
um And so, you know, for, for people to put themselves on the line like that, like it really, to me, at least it makes me just really appreciate them that much more because it's, it is a, it's a dangerous way to make a living.
Risks in Soccer
00:44:48
Speaker
Yeah, and Obed Vargas, I thought, had an interesting line about that and sort of said, like... look, we all know inherently that when we do this, that there is a chance that we could get very seriously hurt and we do it anyway. And that's sort of what the job is.
00:45:02
Speaker
And it was an interesting, you know, it's when, I guess it's an, that's a 19 year old maybe talking, but I just thought it was an interesting insight. And it's, it's a fascinating just core. Like, I don't really, I'm not going anywhere with I just think it's a, it's a reminder that the players sort of have to have that meant mindset of like, look, I'm either doing this all in or I'm not doing it at all. And,
00:45:23
Speaker
You know, it'll be and I and I just hope Steph gives himself the space to kind of make sure this is really, know, like I'm not I'm certainly not trying to get him to retire or anything like that. I just hope he feels like he can make a ah smart choice and he can do what he feels most comfortable with.
00:45:37
Speaker
And part of the reason I would hope that he doesn't feel like he's he needs to rush back is. Andrew Thomas i'm is capable goalkeeper. you know He doesn't have great numbers this year, but I don't necessarily think I don't put that on him.
00:45:51
Speaker
you know i was little surprised. I did some research for a story I ran today where I basically just compared their metrics, and they have a shockingly similar sort of spider chart of ah of what they're good at. like Fry is a little bit better of a shot stopper.
00:46:11
Speaker
he He has a little bit better of a goal, you know, goals against average, but not really that much. And really the one thing that that ah Thomas excels at is that he's better at claiming crosses. He's actually really, i didn't quite appreciate how good he is at claiming crosses. He he ranks in the 99th percentile in terms of ah percentage of crosses claimed.
00:46:31
Speaker
which is you know obviously a pretty good thing. But neither one of them leave the penalty area to do much. ah That was kind of an interesting little, like they're both very much um toward the bottom of the league in terms of coming out of their box.
00:46:42
Speaker
But I do think the Sounders are in good hands, and I hope that gives Steph a little bit more space to to make a smart choice. And if he needs a couple weeks off, few weeks off, whatever, ah right i hope he takes it.
00:46:57
Speaker
Yeah, and I'm glad also that the sport has gotten to a place where that's even an option. That's even considered be an option because it really wasn't that long ago where, um you know, players were under a lot of pressure to come back from an injury like this where they were outwardly physically capable of playing.
00:47:14
Speaker
um So it's good both in the sense that the Sounders aren't going to suffer too much, but also that there's no or less pressure, I think, just for a player to shrug off an injury like this in USP.
00:47:27
Speaker
Yeah. Well, right. Well, this brings us, I don't have a good, i don't really have a good transition, but we're going to power rank our, we we basically came up with three categories. ah So it's not the normal five. We just got three categories, how we want to see the sounders, how we think the sounders would most effectively use their U22
Sounders' U22 Player Strategies
00:47:46
Speaker
spot.
00:47:46
Speaker
One of them is going all out and spending, you know, 6 million or more on a U22 transfer. The other one is spending a more modest amount of money. It's probably somewhere in the $2 million to $4 million range.
00:48:00
Speaker
And then the final ah category would be using it on a homegrown or internal signing. The Sounders, of course, have three open DP spots. So I suppose you could say, i want to use one of each.
00:48:12
Speaker
But for the purposes of this discussion, I think we we're going to stick ourselves, just rank these place. priority Aaron what is the lead of those three options which is the least intriguing to you or the thing that you think it would be the dumbest decision maybe um but yeah because they're different because I think this would actually be the most intriguing in a lot of ways but um yeah I think it's the worst the worst use of the mechanism and that would be spending six to eight million dollars on a player who has potentially a super high upside but um is a project a longer term project um
00:48:49
Speaker
I think that you can hit on those players, but it is exceedingly rare in MLS. It is, it is just, it is rare to find a player who's going to live up to that potential, who is the right, like Venn diagram of, of hasn't reached a high enough potential that they're not available to an MLS club at such a young age, but still has a high enough potential that they can't,
00:49:14
Speaker
um or worth spending that much money on and on as an MLS team, but also doesn't demand a wage that makes them a non-starter yeah as a U22 player. um That's a very narrow slice of players.
00:49:26
Speaker
And so anytime you spend you know a transfer fee on ah on a young player, you're rolling the dice, as I think we've seen with Pedro de la Vega, who is a less risky player than but any of these guys would be.
00:49:38
Speaker
um so yeah i think that if you didn't have an academy that was regularly turning out mls quality players um if you didn't have such a good track record of drafting and then developing decent players with the defiance uh maybe that's a good way to go but because the sounders are really good at developing younger players i just don't think it makes a lot and they're cheap right like If the Sounders were freewheeling and and willing to spend $20 million dollars on designated player signings and there wasn't a concern with spending on the first team, then sure, go for it. like Make that your spend of the roulette wheel. But because they are they are pretty cheap when it comes to so transfer fee spending, um it's the thing I'd like to see them do the least because if it fails, they will never spend another dime.
00:50:27
Speaker
And I think that's sort of that's the thing right there that... pushes me to agree with you is that it would be different if the Sounders were a team willing to spend, make bad investments.
00:50:40
Speaker
If they were Miami who has inner Miami, who has made a bunch of big signings who haven't all ah they with the U22 initiative and then they haven't all worked out. But the thing is that if one goes bad, they know they can move that player along and get a new one.
00:50:57
Speaker
LAFC kind of similar where they know that they have the, they have the infrastructure built in saying, look, we're going to take a lot. of This is a volume game in part. The Sounders do not play a volume game.
00:51:10
Speaker
The Sounders are, They almost need every investment they make almost has to hit for this to work. And that is part of why the Pedro de la Vega thing has been so frustrating is that it's not that he's such a bad investment. It's that he was he was kind of the way it's being framed is it was like this was their one shot and it's not hitting.
00:51:31
Speaker
And that and so now that's making them more gun shy to do it again. and look, if you're going to invest in young players, you have to be willing to take losses. That's just the game. That's how it works.
00:51:43
Speaker
You know, there's a saying in baseball, there's no such thing as a pitching prospect. And I think that's probably true about everything. It's not, you don't have a pitching prospect. You have pitching prospects.
00:51:54
Speaker
You have yeah five guys that you think could be a number one starter. If one of them hits, that's great. But you can't have one that you think is going to be the next Roger Clemens or whoever ah the next, who whatever players are these days. I don't know any pitchers anymore, but right ah the point being is that you can't just put all your eggs in one basket. And and if you're going to play this game, you got to play the, you got you got to be willing to take losses. And I, and I don't think that's where the Sounders are right now.
00:52:21
Speaker
So I agree with you. I think that for the Sounders making a big investment in the U22 is probably not a ah prudent, choice unless they're changing the way that they do business uh yep so what's your number what's your number two spot what's the second most thing you would so for me this is number two in a vacuum right and i'll and i when we get to number one i'll come back to why this is number one in this situation but of all the you know possible things the sounders could do with these spots um
00:52:57
Speaker
this is not in with ah a blank slate. This is number two, and that is signing a player of the caliber of Noah Ohio, who is, i think, has a little, you know, a higher floor probably than the more expensive younger players, um but also a much lower ceiling than than those players. um I think that,
00:53:19
Speaker
If you can sign a player who costs about what he would cost and it has has a salary about what his salary would be, and you can get in aggregate Leo Chu levels of production out of him, I think that that's a pretty decent investment.
00:53:37
Speaker
um hopefully that would be a little less weighted towards like one 20 game chunk of time and more spread out over the the time he was on the team. But, um you know, if you can get that sort of return on your investment, I think that that's, that's a pretty decent outcome.
00:53:53
Speaker
And there's, I think there's a very good chance that a player like that could, could be a much better player who could go on to be a really, really good striker in MLS. um And I think the odds that they just aren't useful at all are very low.
00:54:06
Speaker
Like I think, he slides in right now, probably below Musavsky on the depth chart, but I think with a pretty good shot of beating Musavsky out for that, as you know, backup striker role in the near future um or making you feel more comfortable getting some return on your investment in Danny Musavsky, who's, who's had a great season and probably looks pretty attractive to some ah MLS teams who could use a starting forward.
00:54:33
Speaker
um It gives you, just gives you more options. So, That is, I think, the second best use because you're probably not going to get a world beater. You're probably not going to get a player you can turn a huge profit on but you're probably going to get somebody who is at least worth the roster spot.
00:54:48
Speaker
Well, let me ask you this, because I feel like the people's excitement or lack of excitement around Ohio are mainly two buckets. On one hand, yeah people see a player who has moved around a lot. He's played for seven different organizations.
00:55:04
Speaker
He's only 22. So he's averaging like basically an organization per year since turning pro. He's been productive on a permanent basis, but he's never really established himself as a starter.
00:55:20
Speaker
Yeah. And then there's other people that say like, well, he's moved around a lot, but that also shows that he's been able to be successful in a variety of different places. He has ah bunch of, he's scored bunch of goals at the youth national team level.
00:55:33
Speaker
And he has scored. you know, when given the opportunity, he scored a lot. So if we can, you know, if you it so it's, especially you consider he might not play a lot, this is the kind of player who probably fits in nicely.
00:55:47
Speaker
So I guess given those two sides, which one are you more inclined to be sympathetic to? Uh, I think that I don't think that either side of that argument is wrong.
00:56:00
Speaker
I like, I think that those are everything you said is true. Um, But I think I am more inclined towards the the latter, the I guess more optimistic, you would say, take in that I think this is just a really common career path for people who have this sort of elite youth career trajectory, right, where, you know, they go from their local academy to Manchester United to Manchester City, which at that time was a, you know, a step down from United
00:56:32
Speaker
to Red Bull Leipzig. And then, okay, they're, you know, he's probably not going to make it here, but let's loan him out and see if he develops or we can get some money for for him. And they do pretty well. Like he did pretty well on loan, um but never good enough for teams to be like, yeah, we feel like we need to bring this guy in.
00:56:52
Speaker
And so he's just kind of trying to find his level. And then he goes to standard Liège, which I think is a, like a pretty good comparison for, the level that you would hope for in MLS. And he was pretty good, but it's understandable why they would maybe want to move him on. They have a pretty high standard. And now is it he's at Utrecht and he's, you know, he's had success there in limited minutes, but I can also see why they'd be like, Hey, if somebody wants to pay us a couple million bucks for this kid, like he's probably never going to be a superstar in the Eredivisie.
00:57:22
Speaker
we're happy to, we're happy to do that. Right. So to me, it's not necessary. It is notable that he's moved around that much and it's notable that he hasn't stuck at any one place, but there are also a lot of guys who are good and MLS players or good players at, you know, ah similar level to MLS who have that kind of career path, who move around a lot as young players, especially when they start out at like a very high level, because,
00:57:46
Speaker
Teams say, oh, he's a Manchester United Academy product, or or he was in Manchester City's Academy for three years. Like, we got to, let's take a shot at this guy and see see what he's got. um and he's he's not at that level, pretty obviously. So, yeah. that's where I'm at with it.
00:58:01
Speaker
Yeah. All right. Fair enough. ah I'm I'm more like I like this signing. I think this is probably about as good of a use of like I also want to say that I've seen him compared to Leo Chu a lot.
00:58:14
Speaker
And I do think it's important to note that his track record is. Stat sheet is way, way but like Leo Chu was way, way more indexing on.
00:58:27
Speaker
Look what he could be in his potential. Like he had not produced anything like what. what no Ohio has. So, and I suspect no Ohio is going to, if the Sounders get them, and they're going to have to spend more money than they spent on Chu, I suspect.
00:58:40
Speaker
ah He's older also, but anyway, ah so number one, number one for you then is you want to see, you would really like to see the Sounders make a internal signing, whether it be a, you know, it someone else from in, in the league basically is what you're saying.
00:58:55
Speaker
Yeah. I think that the, the best use of this rocker roster mechanism um in a vacuum again, is for academy prospects and and domestic players, players who meet the criteria of a U22, who are productive MLS players already.
00:59:14
Speaker
Josh Atencio, Obed Vargas, guys like that. you know those Those are players who you know are going to do well in MLS because you've already seen it. There's already proof concept there.
00:59:26
Speaker
You're getting that cap relief. You're getting that extra cap space. um there's zero risk to it um or less risk. Like if you're if you're trading for a guy in league and you're giving up a decent, like Colorado took a pretty big risk trading for Atencio, but it's not the same as the risk you're taking by spending an equivalent amount of real American dollars ah for a player who may completely flame out, right? So there are a lot lots of pluses. The minuses, like you're not bringing in a new person with upside.
01:00:00
Speaker
um You're just managing your books. But I mean, it's not sexy. It's not exciting. But accounting is a big part of being a really good MLS team. Like knowing how to manage your books is a huge part of success in this league. So, um you know, it is it is a really effective use of the roster mechanism.
01:00:20
Speaker
Having said all that, though, um I think the Sounders are in a situation where They need to spend some money. I would like them to make Obed Vargas a U22 player because it seems like he's probably not going to get sold this season. And frankly, there I don't really want them to sell them to sell him this season because I don't see what they're going to spend the money on. you know um They can't sign a DP right now.
01:00:47
Speaker
I don't think that they're going to be making the space to sign a DP before next season. They would have to replace Obed and they're going to be a lot. it's That's a lot easier to do in the offseason. So I'm happy to have him, you know, still on the team through the rest of the year, at the very least, at a, you know, it on a contract that that makes the rest of the roster management a little bit easier.
01:01:11
Speaker
But i think they need to spend some money. I think if if they have a player that they think can help, spending some money would be would go a long way towards getting a little bit of, you know, showing a little bit of good faith to the fan base.
01:01:26
Speaker
Yeah, and I do think that's in some ways the most important element of this is that on one hand, they have a deep roster. And so it's by definition going to be hard to find someone who upgrades a roster. And I do think that Weibel has done maybe not himself a disservice, but I do think he's sort of framed. He's maybe not framed this as well as it,
01:01:49
Speaker
it could have been framed because he's sort of given this idea that were there the Sounders going to out and find a starter. I don't think there is a realistic scenario where they're going to find a starter with the u twenty two spot. That's just not going to happen now. yeah Could that player become a starter?
01:02:04
Speaker
I think that's more his point is that this player could theoretically become a starter. And i just don't. And so I suppose no Ohio could do that. He does. He seems like on paper, he seems a very similar player to Jordan Morris.
01:02:19
Speaker
Um, but I agree with you that the, probably the best you, like, I think the, the best use of this mechanism that we've seen, like the Jack McGlynn trade, whatever we call that, uh, cash for, I guess it's been called, uh, it is probably been the best you 22 signing
Obed Vargas's Contract Decision
01:02:38
Speaker
this year. i don't, I haven't like gone, uh, done a real big, uh,
01:02:43
Speaker
dig into that but like that seems like a really good move and it's the kind of move that i think shows a lot of promise so yeah i don't know um yeah it'll be they could if they could only do one of those things this off season i think that's the kind of move i'd like them to make but fortunately they can do both of those things and i think they should Yeah.
01:03:06
Speaker
Yeah. And I do think, but the other bit of news we had this week, Obed Vargas looks like he has had his option exercise, which is not huge news in itself. I think everyone knew that was what was going to happen.
01:03:18
Speaker
The bigger news is that the Sounders are trying to get him signed to a two year extension. My understanding is how that would work is he would, he would have two additional years. It would probably technically be a three-year contract because if he were to sign it now, I'm pretty sure it would replace next year's contract.
01:03:34
Speaker
And I would imagine his agents are... probably going to push for close to the maximum that they can get, which is about a million dollars. yeah i don't I don't know if how I feel about paying Obed Vargas a million dollars right away, but i I say more power to you if you can get that.
01:03:49
Speaker
um it but But I think it's hard to say. It's also hard to tell a player, look, we think we can move you for 10 million, but we won't pay you 1 million. ah does That does come off as a little tough to sell.
01:04:02
Speaker
Especially because he could say, all right, you don't want to pay me a million? Then take... take the Tigris offer and get me out of here. And I'm rightm not suiting up until you do that. Like he has that leverage and he she does. He kind of he does.
01:04:14
Speaker
I don't think that's what he's going to do, but you're right. He does. no It could, it could go that way, I suppose. Right. And, and also this is a situation where the sounders have to care how much Obed's paid as a U22, but I don't, I don't, I don't care because it doesn't, it doesn't affect anything I care about.
01:04:29
Speaker
Right. Like, right. Doesn't hit the cap. So not my money. And it's not enough money that I could see it meaningfully. Like they're not going to not buy a DP the next time they have an opening because they paid Obed Vargas $250,000 a year more than me.
01:04:45
Speaker
Well, no, you know what? That's a good point, Jeremiah. You would hope not. You definitely would. Right. Yeah. Well, all right. Well, I think that's probably a good place to end this.
01:04:58
Speaker
ah Thank you, of course, to our sponsors, Full Pool Wines and Hacks and Ferments. Thank you to our listeners and our readers, I will of course give another pitch that if you listen to the show and you think it's valuable and you think it's valuable, what we're doing at center heart in a larger sense, please become a ah paid subscriber plan. Start as low as $30.
01:05:20
Speaker
They go up to 75. And then even more than that, if you really want to get crazy and they're This is ah we're we're we're getting into sort of ah pledge time, as it were.
01:05:31
Speaker
and August is the is when everything sort of resets. most We have the biggest bulk of our subscribers signed up in August. So at the very least, I would hope that if you are a subscriber that you are planning to renew, and if you feel like you want to get crazy and you want to change your membership and and pay us more money,
01:05:52
Speaker
That would be great too. ah There are, there's probably ways to upgrade your membership if you want to do that. ah But I'm going to, I'm going to stop there. I'm going to sign off for Aaron Campo and lick it. I am Jeremiah Shan. This is Nozadietas, part the Sounder Heart Podcast Network. And remember, you'll never get alone.
01:06:36
Speaker
I expect the LAFC who is motivated ah to prove themselves at home, to prove to their fans that that they're capable of winning in this league. And it's up to us to really ruin the party.
01:06:52
Speaker
i feel a lot better than