Transcript
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.
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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.
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Speaker: Welcome back to another episode of Adietes on the Sounder at Heart Podcast Network. It is Friday. We are here in the Sounder at Heart headquarters in the International District of Seattle for another episode of what we learned this week.
Speaker: And this week, I am joined by Sounder at Heart contributor Tim Foss. going, Jeremiah? Good. Good. It's going going well. going you know it's it's been ah It's been a funny week for the Sounders, as as you know, going out to training today.
Speaker: Just when we thought the Sounders were getting all nice and healthy... We get a slap in the face. Yemar Gomez Andrade goes out of practice yesterday on Thursday with a ham... with the What we learned today was a hamstring injury. And even though ah Brian Spencer was reluctant to...
Speaker: say that he's out for the year. The math suggests that it's going to be really tough for him to come back. They, they sent the, uh, the MRI results out to their specialist in England. He's going to look at it and give them some sense of how serious this injury is. But I mean, the regular season's got two weeks left essentially.
Speaker: right even sort of best case scenario maybe if they make a run to the cup right like yeah able to come off the bench there at which point what like what are we doing yeah you're not really getting much benefit from that uh it's a it's a bummer it is a bummer yamore and yamar in it's it is maybe ironic, maybe fitting that his last Sounders appearance this year, at least, is likely to be a team of the week performance. Now, I i think that maybe overstates how well he actually was. If you watch the game, i don't know that it was a real team of the week level performance, but he sort of did give us reminders of why he is their mayest maybe their highest upside center back. Certainly, he's the best case pairing with ah Jackson Reagan.
Speaker: yeah i think upside maybe not the right word highest ceiling yeah there you go um yeah i know you were talking about it some at training but going from you know a defender of the year candidate to cannot stay on the hardly being on the field at all played made seven appearances yeah fewer than 400 minutes just not Not really what you want makes it tough to plan for the season or really know what to expect. And it's, you know, particularly difficult where none of your other center back options are required.
Speaker: the same sort of player, I guess maybe Tino Lopez is the closest stylistically, but certainly not even the, the, the, uh, profile, the athletic profile. of Yeah. Um, and even he probably would prefer to be playing on the left, uh, which is sort of the issue with,
Speaker: just about all of the other center backs on the roster who are anything close to available right now, um, kind of puts you in a position where you're deciding between, do you play Stuart Hawkins on the right next to Jackson on the left, or do you play Alex rolled down at this point? Is it really out of position anymore to play him at center back given how much he's played there, but yeah.
Speaker: Um, a choice of two, you know, less than ideal options. Not that either of them is necessarily bad, but but they're just not, I think, i think we had all sort of coalesced around the shared belief that the sounder is best.
Speaker: Option going forward, the best 11 included. yamor it Yeah, for sure. Like say what you will about how good Alex will Don has been at times at center back. Say what you will about both the potential and the performance of Stu Hawkins at center back this year to say nothing of the the other options that they have.
Speaker: I think Yamar was clearly the best bet. And he was the player who in a must win game, I think you felt best about having in the lineup. Yeah, absolutely. Um, of all of the players, I think Jackson Reagan, not a bad defender, but the greatest value you get from him is in possession and going forward.
Speaker: Jamar is sort of the one, member of the center back core who his real strength is keeping goals off the board. Yeah. His value proposition is entirely be the best defender. Yeah.
Speaker: And the, you know, the way the Sounders have, struggled to, i think, control games a lot, particularly, you know, getting beat in transition or transition-like opportunities.
Speaker: Having someone like Jamar, especially going into the playoffs and knockout games and things, you need a little bit of that. i Definitely makes the task that much more difficult for everyone else without him there.
Speaker: Undeniably. And I do want to get into how we want to see him replaced ultimately, but we should focus a little bit more on Yamar.
Speaker: I don't know how many more times we'll have a chance to talk about him. he He ends up only playing, making five starts this year, 334 minutes, not a lot less, like significantly less than 400 He, you know, he went out on March 7th,
Speaker: seventh And then he effectively missed five months, five months or six, six yeah six months. And, and he had just come back. He had a couple of performance. He came back in enough time to give us a couple of performances that were real reminders of this guy can still be elite. If he can stay healthy,
Speaker: But at this point, you know, again, like we're maybe making an assumption. Who knows? Maybe there's a miracle and he comes back in three weeks and he's available for the entirety of the playoffs. I don't think that is ah like that does not seem likely to me. He has now suffered calf injuries.
Speaker: He has suffered injuries to both of his hamstrings. It's feeling like he's just at the point of his career where it's just hard for him to keep his body clean.
Speaker: you know, in, in playing shape. I mean, he's in good shape, but his body just is not reacting the way that he used to. And what's really too bad about it is, you know, we talk a lot about injury, uh, preventedness and durability. And he is someone who,
Speaker: always seemed to beat the timeline to come back from injury. He very rarely, he didn't seem to get hurt a lot, even though he was playing a physical game. He was someone who was able to sort of like fight through everything basically and until he wasn't. And it's not like he's super old. I mean, he is, ah right now he is 34 years old. So he's going to be, i mean, this is around the time, I suppose when center backs start to break down, but it's also,
Speaker: you know Kim Kiki is 37. ah there are there's There's a world where Yamar has three more good years in him. Not that ki Kim is also having fitness issues, but like he point being, he could theoretically keep playing, but it's going to be hard to see him...
Speaker: I think he's going to, what's tough is i think he was stuck between two set mindsets. On one hand, he was thinking, got to do everything I can to stay on the field, to be on the field.
Speaker: I'm going to push through any little injury. Maybe he wasn't being entirely honest with the training staff. Maybe he was feeling stuff that he wasn't really feeling because he knew that this was his best chance. If if he was going to be a starter, this was his chance to become one.
Speaker: But on the other hand, he you know He knew that if he didn't stay healthy, there's ah his career is very much in the balance. Right. I think it's tough when you know you want to compare Kim Kihee and J-Mar, in part because they are the elder statesmen in the center back group. They are the most similar to each other.
Speaker: in comparing them to anyone else in Seattle's center back group, but they are also such different stylistic players that they are. Yeah. JMR does depend a lot more on explosiveness and he's really,
Speaker: whether he's being proactive or reactive in a moment, chasing the game a bit more where I think Kim Ki, he is much more about positioning and reading the game and reacting. Um,
Speaker: I think the, the physical demands of the way Jamar plays much higher makes it that much more likely that he is going to pick up an injury like this because of the explosive nature of his movement.
Speaker: Um, And then, you know, his build and his frame on top of whatever, you know, psychological elements are contributing to possibly not fully sharing any strain or pain or discomfort with the team staff in order to try to stay on the field, not only for this season, but to, you know, try to secure his future going forward. Right.
Speaker: The... the nature of being such a substantial muscular person means that those injuries are going to sort of lead into each other and make recovering from one that much more difficult. And certainly I'm not in any way comparable to JMR, but i know having dealt like, you're too, you're too modest, Tim. You're too modest. I do tend to play center back, even if that's not where I'd like to be. Yeah. But,
Speaker: I have dealt with a handful of injuries in the last year and a half or so. And I know for me, like building back up to a point where I can be anywhere close to full takes much longer, especially as I have aged. And then i If I have a drop in activity or a change in routine, whatever, it can have a huge effect on my ability to continue. Like I can only imagine how that impacts, you know, ah an elite athlete like him. Yeah. Yeah. I fully agree. Yeah. Well, there is a ah reality of, and we won't really know what the the Sounders thinking is exactly about what his future is.
Speaker: It's hard to imagine, though, given that, you know i just did the numbers on this yesterday. The Sounders have 15 players who are 15 senior roster players who are already under contract for the sprint season.
Speaker: Yamar was always going to be on that border of do we bring him back or do we not? He has a cap hit of close to a million dollars. it's It's hard for me to imagine a number that makes sense for him and for the Sounders to bring him back this year.
Speaker: That's not what I take no pleasure in the end of Yamar's in the end of yamar's Sounders career, but it's hard to see a path back for him.
Speaker: And it was almost going to have to be a, he was, you know, I think there was a scenario where he plays really well down the stretch and the sounders say, how can we not bring this guy back? He you know went at his best. He's still in the lead center back and we can probably get him at a discount.
Speaker: Well, you know, if you just really can't bank on him for any minutes, it's very tough to, and justified well and even if he was able to come back at a discount in that best case scenario you still can't really go from this season into next and plan for him to have as big of a role as he was planned to have this year right and at that point even if he's you know coming on a sweetheart deal
Speaker: you do have to, especially with the, you know, the nature of the sprint season and the way it seems like the Sounders are planning to make use of the sprint season to plan for seasons going forward.
Speaker: think it's tough to justify the, you know, the planning of him being a huge part of your on field plans, especially when you, you know,
Speaker: probably need to get a bigger, better look at Stu Hawkins to know what you can expect from him going forward. Yeah. And you prop you have to start your post-JMR planning some point. At some point. so point you know, it's tough. So it's tough to plan for the next guy when the old guy is still there. Although right they managed to do it with Steph Fry, it seems. Andrew Thomas has been, you know, but and I guess I was imagining a potential st Steph Fry like role for, for Yamar next year, if under the right circumstances where he comes back and he is sort of more of a mentor who is there to spot start, but it's really, we've you know, we've transitioned to the Stu Hawkins era.
Speaker: One way or the other, the centers are going to have to bring in some veteran center back players next year. They, you know, ah even if you think that Jackson Reagan and Stu Hawkins are your starters, I would still think you got to backfill that, that veteran position. Cause can't imagine Kim Kihei being back either.
Speaker: So why not? Yamar under the, you know, if he had been healthy, if he's not again, like it's just a, it's just very hard at this point to, to see a path back for him.
Speaker: But in the shorter term, and maybe in the more relevant term, the Sounders have to play a game on Saturday. And it seems like these are really two choices. It's either you start Alex Roldan there, and you move Kalani Kosarianzi into the right back position, or you leave Alex at right back. And by the way, Alex...
Speaker: Looked like he was all in on training this week. he He was partial on Tuesday, but since then he's been all in. So as far as we know, he's fully available, even though he was you know beat up and under the in the words of Brian Schmetzer.
Speaker: And then the other option would be just starting Stu Hawkins ah with, like I said, with Alex O'Donnell right back. Of those two options, we did not get actually a great look at what they're going to do.
Speaker: So just going off of your gut instinct, which one of those two options do you feel like is the better one? I think in a vacuum, my choice would be Stu.
Speaker: Um, I really like him as a player. I think we have seen a lot in the last month in particular of when he is on the field when a block needs to be made, when someone needs to make a play, he is there making the play. Yeah. um Not to draw too direct of a comparison or bring other soccer teams into it, but watching Jeremy Jacquet for Liverpool, where he is a young, promising... didn't know were going to use a Liverpool player.
Speaker: example It's, you know, the example I've got, but he is a similarly, although Jacques is a little bit older, ah young, very talented center back playing next to a more veteran presence who just...
Speaker: seems to always be there. um i think Stu has had a very similar showing recently, even if it's not always perfect, it is consistently involved doing something to make a play on the ball and keep the ball out of the back of the net.
Speaker: For this game, i think the reality is that it is not just this game. Schmetzer talked at training about you know, as much as they can for each of the, each of the next four, but particularly these three that are coming in the span of eight days tomorrow, Wednesday, Sunday. It's funny to be talking about there's four games left in the season, but there's really two weeks, right?
Speaker: um You know, wanting to go into each of those and play their strongest team possible. Yeah. But knowing that you have to get through all of those games and there's going to have to be some rotation,
Speaker: I think it makes more sense, especially knowing how ah San Diego wants to play. i think playing Alex at center back and Kalani at right back just feels like it makes a little bit more sense. You can yeah sit a little bit.
Speaker: more knowing you're probably not going to have as much of the ball and you can let one, you can let Kalani run for transition opportunities and you can let him just try to Harry the ball in midfield and in San Diego's half a little bit more, which for all that Alex can do that, I think,
Speaker: For this game, you are served a little bit more to have him at center back and Kalani out there on the on the right wing. Yeah. So, Ivan, what I'm hearing correctly from you is you would probably rather see Stu there, but you think that Ryan will most likely go with Alex. or that you I mean, I don't know that maybe you didn't have a strong preference, but... I think...
Speaker: a combination of, I think Alex is the choice Brian will make yeah for San Diego. And given the likely need to rotate the circumstances of the games coming up, I think that is probably your better option anyways. Yeah. I tend to agree with both of those statements, which is,
Speaker: Alex makes more sense in this game. If he just gives you a little bit more ball security, he gives you a little bit. I did want to add, I just looked this up. Stu Hawkins it has been very good in ways that we would have maybe not expected. ah He ranks in the,
Speaker: 80th percentile for tackles he ranks in the 87th percentile for block shots and he's in the 91st percentile for possessions one in the final third not necessarily all areas that i wouldn't necessarily have graded him out as where i think his strengths are he's always struck me as more of a passing oriented center back uh he and he hasn't really been asked to do as much passing as a because he's oftentimes been paired. I believe he's, he has been paired with Jackson Reagan a fair amount and he's just not, you know, he's not, he's a young center back. They're not putting the offense on him, but it's encouraging to see that he's able to stand up when he's needed to stand up. I honestly would, I wouldn't mind at all seeing Stu Hawkins. I tend to think that you're right though, that Alex is the more likely option here.
Speaker: And what was, and and I, and I suspect that's sort of going to be the default option. I think when push comes to shove,
Speaker: Brian just sort of trusts Alex at center back more. Alex has to his credit performed very well as a center back. You know, I think he is a closer to an elite right back than he is a elite center back, but Kalani has shown, you know, a pension for, for moments. You know, he scored some big goals for the Sounders.
Speaker: ah And I think he's probably going to be the player that gets the the first chance to to do that. What's maybe just as intriguing is what the Sounders do farther up the pitch, because i think there's a general belief, at least on this show, we've sort of coalesced around the idea that the ideal, the best four attacking players are Dion Jovovich, Albert Rusnak, Jordan Morris, and Jesus Ferreira.
Speaker: We have not really seen them playing together almost at all. Brian and today sort of alluded to acknowledging that we need to see that group together, but I don't know that we're really that close to him settling on an attacking quartet that is his default starting line lineup because we,
Speaker: We just haven't seen that group very much. And it makes the decision. I don't want to dwell too much on this, but it does make the decision on Saturday to not start all four of them all the more baffling because it was another opportunity to see what you had. And instead, we did not get to see them all on the pitch together at all because Ferreira replaced Rusnak.
Speaker: So it's... I think that's the group that we're going to see this week. If for no other reason, then Brian just really feels like he needs to see it. But I don't know if we can really say all that confidently that when push comes to shove, that's going to be a starting group because it just hasn't happened really.
Speaker: Right. It's tough when, you know, you didn't have all of those guys available for so. And right. Obviously.
Speaker: Jovlich doesn't come in until the summer and then is here for a few games and then gone on international duty. But um yeah, starting Ferreira in the Montreal game really seemed like it would have made a lot of sense. It seems like he's at a point fitness wise.
Speaker: i it is not worth relitigating. No, Caden Clark. I can somewhat understand, you know, your former team, like,
Speaker: i see what you can do, whatever it doesn't really. I do think it was an example of Brian maybe, and he sort of alluded to this as I think he sometimes gets caught up in what's the best, what gives us the best chance today. And yeah and in this case, it ended up being the wrong, that clearly was not the best chance, but I think that was his genuine thinking was, I want to see Caden Clark.
Speaker: Maybe he has a big game against his former team. it wasn't the craziest thought. It just seems like it was a ah missed opportunity, but we don't, again, i don't want to relitigate that whole situation.
Speaker: i go on. I interrupt. But I think, you know, we have seen, i do think and hope that is the group we see against San Diego. ah We have seen Ferreira and Kalani combine pretty well on that right side.
Speaker: um i think having, you know Jordan and Jesus on the wings, they can theoretically swap sides a bit and just give the opposition defense different looks that they have to deal with.
Speaker: um Especially if you are playing... a game where you are not expecting to have the majority of possession and you know, you're going to need to hit on the counter. I think having that group out there is a good group for that sort of game. I think Jordan and Jesus can really work well in transition. Obviously we saw from the goal against Montreal, Jesus can really do a good job creating those opportunities as well. And having,
Speaker: having Kalani coming, running in behind him. i think Jovlich can operate well in those spaces. i i do think that's the group that gives you the best chance.
Speaker: Yeah, I think it is too. i still think if there is one player that's going to break into that group, it is most likely Paul Areola. Yeah. In part because Areola is a natural, he he seems more comfortable on the left side, which allows Jordan to play on the right side.
Speaker: It looks to me like if we see that group, the the quartet of Jesus, Albert, Morris and Deky that it's most likely going to be Jesus on the right, which I think is his position best position.
Speaker: We have not, Jordan has not looked his best on the left. It is funny that just this week we asked Jordan where he feels most comfortable. And he said, he feels more right now. He feels more comfortable on the right. Although he is at other times said he feels more comfortable on the left. There's been many times where you've said he feels most comfortable at number nine. He seems to,
Speaker: ah Bounce back and forth depending on how he's feeling in any given time. That said, i I do think the numbers would show that he has looked the best on the right this year.
Speaker: And I would have liked, I think that's where I would like to see him most. We don't really know if Jesus fits for the sounder, the way the sounders want to play on the left. I don't know that he has played on the left almost at all in the two years that he has been here.
Speaker: I assume that we will see him on the right if he's in there. But yeah, Ariel is the player who I think has the best potential to break into that starting group. Seba Gomez continues to show that he deserves minutes.
Speaker: I still tend to think that, especially with the way the the group is right now, he's best used as a change of pace player off the bench. but he's also the only guy who likes to take players off the dribble. And the Sounders do need that. And it's just very frustrating that here we are four games until the end of the season.
Speaker: i know a lot of people have given me the feedback that we should be more worked up over the Sounders being in this position instead, instead of talking about, well, can they get up to fifth? And I understand fifth is not a great position for the Sounders. It is a below average season by the Sounders own standards.
Speaker: But I think that is the high expectation. But there is some, I think, reason for folks to be just frustrated. Like, why are we talking about who our best 11 is with four games that with two weeks left in the season? This is ridiculous. And yeah, I mean, but that's the cards that we've been dealt at the same time.
Speaker: I think part of that is also like we could certainly have a conversation about that right now, but that is probably a better conversation for the offseason. I agree. Realistically, it's roster construction and, you know, player use decisions that part of the problem is that a bunch of the guys that you have who can or would play on the left wing do not function with new who has the left back behind them.
Speaker: One of the major frustrations for me watching the Montreal game was how often because of the way NUHU operates on the left wing, rather than having a option on the wide left who can receive and then distribute the ball quickly down the line,
Speaker: to Jordan Morris to run in behind a defense. Jordan Morris is having to check back and receive while effectively at a full sprint running directly away from goal. And he doesn't have a player who he can then play a wall pass to where knew who's going to get it, take a touch and Jordan can turn and run. And now he has a defender chasing him rather than set up to defend him.
Speaker: And instead you just get this horseshoe of death that, kind of generates from having a left back who can pass, but it takes him several touches to set up a pass and he only can really hit certain shaped passes. And he really has to be physically set up in a particular way to be able to hit the pass. And you need to operate faster to make use of a player like Jordan there.
Speaker: It's why Seba has been sort of the oddity on that left wing because once he gets the ball, he'll just do it himself. He's going to set the opportunity up for him or somebody else. And I think Paul Arreola pretty similar in style.
Speaker: But again, this is not it's a moot point because you know who the only left back on the roster is? Yeah, it's new who he's going to be starting on Yeah, I think that one thing that we could probably agree on is the number one offseason goal probably needs to be someone to compete with new who as the starting left back.
Speaker: You know, and I know this year, one of the thinking, one of the lines of thinking was, well, new who's are starting left back. And we have Paul Rothrock and Paul Areola who can play there in a pinch. Or if we go to wingbacks,
Speaker: They ended up not really using wing backs almost at all this year. And again, this is something we can get into probably better in the offseason than right now. But yeah, i mean, Nuhu does a lot of things really well. I still think he's ah a really good defender. And when he's when he has the right group of players around him, he can still be something like an elite left back if you you know narrow what your definition of elite in this case is.
Speaker: ah But yeah, he he creates some some challenges as well when you're when you're talking about the attack. ah You know, the center showed that last year they they can have an elite offense with Nuhu, but it does require players with certain kinds of abilities playing in front of them.
Speaker: Pedro de la Vega being the primary example of someone who it didn't matter who was playing left back. He was a one man. He could do a he could do everything he needed to do on his own. And then and things flowed out of that.
Speaker: Unfortunately, we we haven't gotten to see that um at all virtually this year. And we don't know when we're going to be able to see it next year. i Hopefully he's back by the start of the the sprint season, but we don't know that that's going to be the case. And so that leaves a bit of ah of a challenge.
Speaker: ah The other position that we still, I think, are closer to knowing who the starters are, but I don't know that that's set in stone either. is at the in the in the double pivot, Christian Roldan, clearly a starter when he he is at his best. He is maybe the best number six in the league.
Speaker: Hassani Dotson, we thought against New England, showed us everything he needed to show us. And it's like, oh, there's the guy. That's the that's the starting. That's his partner. No, that that's all shut. And then he starts against Montreal and not the same player.
Speaker: ah Snyder Brunel comes in and he looks great off the bench. I still think that Hassani is probably going to get the benefit of the doubt, but we are in the territory where there's doubt.
Speaker: I, it is very frustrating because I think the particular ways in which Hassani struggled against Montreal are the ways that you look at you know the three players who are likely to play in that position you go oh yeah that's where he'll that's where he's going to struggle uh and typically the benefit of him playing alongside christian or the theoretical value of playing him with snyder is well you just don't have to have him do those things you can let him do the stuff he's good at and then occasionally he'll pop up with
Speaker: a wonder goal or, you know, uh, this whatever. Right. And Christian can handle the distribution or you can, you know, I still think that,
Speaker: given the appropriate roles and assignments, you could play Hassani and Snyder and have Hassani really be a defense minded six, who is a threat on set pieces and whatever. And Snyder operates more as a like half spaces, eight kind of guy who is going to carry the ball through midfield rather than necessarily passing from there and can pass once he gets into the opposition half or in the final third. But,
Speaker: That's also not really the way the Sounders are set up to play. they you know Schmetzer is going to give the responsibility to the senior player as with playing Alex at center back rather than Stu.
Speaker: it is just the decision he is going to make more times than not. And when you play a team that you should dominate in midfield,
Speaker: Asani maybe isn't the option, but again, it's probably not the expectation or the plan for the San Diego games. right you know, it's only definitely makes sense for the San Diego. Yeah. i I think it also is a little bit of, i mean, maybe the, you make a choice of like, all right, you had a rough game last time out. We're going to let you play through it, play through it, which again is ah big chapter in the Brian Schmetzer playbook. So,
Speaker: ah You know, I expect we're going to see Hassani start tomorrow. i I do too. I fully expect Hassani to start. I also think we're going to see minutes from Snyder. You know, i maybe we see a different option when they play. i'm sure I think we're going to see some rotation when they come back home to play Houston.
Speaker: This is a very... It's it's almost like taking me a by surprise a little bit how busy the last two weeks of this season are going to They play San Diego on the road. They come home. They play Houston. Those are the two... Maybe the two most important games they have yeah left this year.
Speaker: If they win those two games, everything else is gravy. If they lose those two games, they are suddenly fighting for their playoff lives. If they tie those games, we...
Speaker: I suppose that shifts where the most important two games, two games end up being, but they're really important games is my point. And then they go on the road to Vancouver on the weekend on, which is a Sunday game. And then they're, they close out the season at home against l LAFC, which if all goes well,
Speaker: Could be a could be a a battle for the number five or number six spot in the in the Western Conference table, which is not necessarily the highest profile. But the Sounders do still, as of now, control their destiny when it comes to those games.
Speaker: ah But we're going to take a little bit of a break. we're gonna We have an interview with Brian Dunsett that we're gonna play that he's talking about San Diego a little bit. We're going to come back and then we will give our own sort of preview of the San Diego game.
Speaker: You're listening to No Study At This on the Sound at Heart podcast network, and we will be right back.
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Speaker: i am joined by one of our favorite recurring guests here, Brian Dunseth of ah Apple TV. ah And now the Soccer Wise Media Collective. Welcome ah my my kind of coworker, Brian. I appreciate Thanks for having me man. Been a while.
Speaker: Yeah, it has been. It has been. Uh, so you're going to be on the call this weekend ah as the Sounders visit San Diego. You may as well start here, San Diego.
Speaker: The numbers say this is not that far of a departure from last season are the underlying numbers I should say, but the top line numbers say this has been a huge regression.
Speaker: ah they are currently a 12th or 13th place. They are still technically in the playoff race, but they are, ah in danger if they lose this game. It's almost curtains for them. From your perspective, what's really gone wrong? What's the... But what is the... and And how dangerous are they coming into this match? I think they're still extremely, extremely dangerous. um Yeah, listen, I think...
Speaker: And I'm talking to someone who's watched Seattle Sounders post-World Cup and the challenges, right, that you guys have gone through. um let's Let's just start with a baseline conversation. it's so It's such an odd season. It is such an odd season. You know, the momentum that MLS had heading into the World Cup break,
Speaker: All of a sudden you get two and a half weeks off. You've got this mini preseason. People are returning. All of a sudden you're kind of getting everyone back up to speed. MLS is back and then introducing everyone to League's Cup. And then on top of that, that momentum of getting back into Major League Soccer.
Speaker: And i I guess, stupid me, I guess i was I was under the impression that, yeah, life goes on. This is just a normal season. This is going to be the last time we have this type of season before the sprint season to align with the international calendar.
Speaker: but I forgot how many games there were left. And in the midst of all of this, I forgot that. And by the way, this is literally the first week that I haven't had a midweek game in major league soccer and or leagues cup since the world cup.
Speaker: And so um I just started thinking to myself, like the difficulty, you know, San Jose had a big old speed bump. Seattle had a big old speed bump. RSL still has a big old speed bump. And then we talk about San Diego and, and, and I'm still, you know, I, I, I know that we watched St. Louis and Bradley Carnell and Lutz, Fan, and Steel have a ah phenomenal debut season in Major League Soccer.
Speaker: And the Western Conference, they run away with it. And all of a sudden, Seattle goes to St. Louis in that final game of the season. And that second half falls apart for St. Louis. And all of a sudden, they have a a really poor first game against, I believe it was Sporting Kansas City. it was. And next thing they know, they're out of the playoffs.
Speaker: And so the second year, Bradley gets fired, Lutz is out. It's a transition of power, influence, locker room, you know, on the field personalities. And I always kind of use that as a data point or reference point, because I'm old enough to remember Seattle winning stuff and missing out on the playoffs the next year.
Speaker: Toronto FC winning stuff, missing out on the playoffs next year. You know, like there's there's been these kind of one-off seasons. But when I looked at Mikey Varis and everything that was being built in San Diego, it felt like because they were so good last year, so consistent last year, and Max and I were on the call in Portland when they lifted the Western Conference title because of the diabolical red card up in Vancouver against FC Dallas, it felt like you know everything was on track.
Speaker: And then the offseason comes along. And you're thinking about the Chucky Lozano and all of the drama that was kind of going on behind the scenes. And then effectively the evolution of a roster that was going to maybe divest of guys like Patty McNair or Franco Negri and those type of guys.
Speaker: um And then try to build into this new roster. And I think when you think, ah you know, what Tyler Heaps and Mikey have done, this roster is stronger than last year's roster. But there's nuance to that conversation because everybody now is acutely aware that San Diego wants the ball, whether they're at home or on the road. They have a very specific style. You know that Anders Dreyer is going to be that guy that's going to start on the right. He's going to underload. He's going to overload as a 10. Now they add Bakambu to the group that is much more dynamic in the phase of play as ah as opposed to Ingvartsen.
Speaker: On that left-hand side, you know you've got competition for spots. Lewis Morgan comes in. Lewis Morgan goes out. And you still have kind of the heartbeat and soul with Godoy, Tverskov, and Valakari.
Speaker: um And so with all of this, you're looking for consistency of results. And I guess back to my original point, so many games, such a short turnaround time, so many injuries, and then the management of the load plus how competitive the Western Conference is where it feels like the margins just aren't a lot.
Speaker: um Now you find yourself eight games and ah without a win. And I don't want to say it's ever a crisis of confidence. But there does become that point where guys start looking over their shoulder and instantly recognize who's the weakest link in the group.
Speaker: And as that starts to happen, do they pop their chest and try to protect everybody? Or do they individually and singularly worry about their responsibility and their matches, you know, their markup?
Speaker: we were talking about red cards early in the year, talked about lack of form for players earlier in the year. And now it's just about getting back on track because that kind of seventh position to that 13th position with four games left, proverbial six point swings, everything looks a lot different. Um, as we've seen kind of grinding out results and getting back on track, despite what I've been told is the most diabolical 45 minutes we've ever seen for the Seattle Sounders against Montreal in that first half the other night.
Speaker: It was, it was pretty bad. It was pretty bad. ah So, you know, to your point, Sandy or the Sounders are sitting at 42 points in seventh and it's only eight points between them and 13th place.
Speaker: ah San Diego also on eight points behind, but they're only, you know, they're, they're five points out. This is a a tight race at the bottom of the West. And what's fascinating to me is that as good as Vancouver has been at times, as good as St. Louis had been,
Speaker: yeah I guess you could still say has been for the last few months. Yeah. This feels like the West feels like it's really wide open. And i mean that from top to bottom, almost this is, and I guess this is made, this is MLS free, I suppose, but it it it does not feel like there's an overwhelming favorite. And it feels like one of those years where if you can get into the playoffs, everyone is going to feel like they have a decent chance chance at making a run.
Speaker: Yeah. and and And maybe this is just me. But I have a hard time um chopping the legs out of LAFC. I know they got rid of Marcos Santos. I know Xavi comes in. There's a little bit of tweak. Leo Valta seems like a ah real huge asset.
Speaker: Sieb kind of slides over to Denny Buonga's spot. Sonny sits in the pocket a little bit more. I, you know, how do you, you know, how, how how do you, i guess, verbalize in a, in a one-off type of game, that danger to give somebody else the advantage. I still think Vancouver is probably the most complete team yeah um in terms of, I just think they've done a phenomenal job and who, who, who could have ever predicted Ali, the Raz would,
Speaker: much differently do what Sebastian Berhalter was doing so well. And Thomas Muller and Ryan Gould and Tate Johnson and Brian White and all these guys, you know, with the additions that they made in the summer, it's a very fun team to watch.
Speaker: San Jose. I'm sorry. i I'm just like a ah sickness over here. um Did San Jose the other night combative Bruce American player, you know, 14 Americans, whatever um they are who they are.
Speaker: Benny Olson and Houston, I think are going to be a big pain in the ass for anybody that they come up against. I think the return for Aceh Aceh was very quietly so brilliant because it afforded a leadership component inside of that locker room that allows everybody else just to focus on their own game. And Guigerme has been phenomenal on that left-hand side.
Speaker: Still not sure what to make of FC Dallas, but my former teammate, Eric Will, I try to give him all the respect in the world for what he's done. And then I think everything else is up up for debate. But what I would say, if Seattle continues to work players back into full fitness, very quietly, it's like new summer additions that all of a sudden, um i think makes it very difficult to...
Speaker: I don't know. I like, how do you really categorize what Seattle is over these last couple of weeks? Is that more truth rather than fiction? But I'll tell you, whoever, whoever draws the Sounders knows that they're in for one hell of a game, either at home or on the road, which then makes it more emphasis on finishing as strong as possible to give yourself the best opportunity to play us home for as long as possible in that Western conference playoff. eight Yeah.
Speaker: ah So on the Sounders, you know, you know, yeah you've probably covered as much of Albert Rusnak's career as anybody. This is a player who every year he seems to just put up numbers and somehow...
Speaker: there is a, always a large contingent of folks who just feel like he's, he hasn't proven it yet or something. And yet here he is sitting, you know, we're, you know, four games left in the season.
Speaker: He is, i think a so one assist behind the leaders for the assist lead. He is likely going to have 20 goal contributions in MLS this year.
Speaker: why do you what like How do you explain the perpetual underrating of a player who just is able to produce the way that he produces basically every year? And he's been doing it now for, what, eight seasons in MLS? I think he is, ah when he as of stopping, me like he's no longer a designated player, but I believe no player in MLS history had been a designated player for longer than he had.
Speaker: Yeah. which Listen, I've, I've covered him since he was 23 and he came over. Um, I love Albert. Uh, listen, let's just start there as a human being. I think he's an excellent person. Um, and I've loved the way that he's approached every single moment of his career that I've, that I've seen that I've been a part of.
Speaker: Um, He's a really interesting type of player to categorize because this is what we do, right? We we rank the designated players and we think about their costs and we think about their their their their wages and we think about their goal contributions. And all of a sudden in our minds, it's like, well, they've got to have 20 goal contributions and that offsets the designated player tag and all these fun things.
Speaker: But the designated player tag is effectively for years before, right? That what the present is, is the contract that they've, you know, Jordan Morris, perfect example. He goes off and he gets a DP contract. Is he a DP type of player?
Speaker: Up for debate. But, you know, his health has been the biggest concern. Albert. When he left Real Salt Lake, I watched all these RSL fans pontificate about who he was, who he wasn't, and the type of player.
Speaker: It's very simple for me. He is never the focal point, but he is the guy within the system that makes everyone around him better. And sometimes he's the pass before the pass that leads to an amazing goal scoring opportunity.
Speaker: His link-up play, his vision, his technical ability, the way that he reads the game, he's incredibly intelligent. He's very unique with the way he strikes the ball. His set-piece service is so unbelievably consistent.
Speaker: And I think, honestly, when when when fans are judging him, they almost forget that he's almost always available. Like if you go through his yeah career, the health of this guy, especially when you compare and contrast those and the injuries that Seattle has had, you know, the guy's almost always available. And I can remember times when he was going back and forth to Slovakia, trying to make the world cup team.
Speaker: And you get off the plane and he'd go play. Like he would like, no, put me on the list. I want to be involved coming off like a 22 hour trip where he's connected through three airports. um So he's one of those guys that I would effectively say, you're going to miss him.
Speaker: At that some point down the line when he's no longer a sounder, sounder fans are going to miss what he did so consistently because I think he's more of a link up than people give him credit for. And that importance of link up in the attacking phase of play, whether he's on the right, whether he's on the left, is he in the pocket 10?
Speaker: Is he a little bit deeper as an eight, which he played alongside Christian a few years ago? You can put him anywhere and he still makes the team better. And I think that's something that people forget sometimes. But I understand because ultimately we do this tribalism where we try to compare and contrast our guys versus everybody else. And we talk about Hani and we talk about Evander and we talk about all these other number 10s. And we think like, that's who it is.
Speaker: That's just not who he is. But you can put him in any team in Major League Soccer. He's going to make them better. That for me is kind of the baseline of how I judge him. Well, Brian, ah I think that we're going to call it there. I don't want to keep you too much. I know you have got other stuff going on. You're a very busy man. I have heard you all over the place lately.
Speaker: I'm sorry. Feel free to mute. No, no. I love it. I think it's great. And we're going to be hearing more from you on SoccerWise. Is that right? Yeah. So i'm I'm super stoked after leaving Sirius XM, I joined up with, ah with Tommy Bogert and, and, you know, Dave Gass and Matt Doyle and all the group has kind of hyper-focused on us men's national team coverage because of the amount of games that we had with that new hybrid of a September and October window.
Speaker: But, I found myself in the scariest moment of doing kind of the summer transfer window coming to a close. And it was Doyle and Bogart. And I felt so underprepared, so overwhelmed by their knowledge, because these two are like so high with the way that I categorize kind of MLS after dark soccer knowledge.
Speaker: And then here's me who's Mr. Like Western Conference, trying to figure out like which direction we were going. Like my notes were absurd really quick. me see. I think these were like that. I was just like jotting down just to try to stay with those guys during the two hour window.
Speaker: And by the way, Doyle somehow still got me in trouble with a team in major league soccer because of a comment he made. um So I know that I'm in the right place, but I love those guys. I love that you're involved as well.
Speaker: I think what they're doing is unbelievable for all of us that have just this, this, this lust for the information of knowledge and coverage and organic coverage for so many people like yourself that have invested so much time, so much sweat, so much blood in covering teams around major league soccer. So kudos to you, kudos to listeners and kudos to those guys, because I think they're doing a great job in real time.
Speaker: Well, thank you for that. And I look forward to listening to more often. i am as well as part of the soccer wise media collective. I am also a listener. So are we all because that I know it's a kind of a common thread in, in, in MLS media these days, but thanks for so much for doing this, Brian.
Speaker: Of course, follow them on socials. ah You can listen to them on the Apple broadcast this weekend when the sounders take on San Diego. Thanks for doing this, Brian.
Speaker: Appreciate you, my man. Thank you.
Speaker: Welcome back to Nos Adietes. All right. Thank you to Brian for doing that interview. It's always good to hear from Brian. He is, of course, going to be on the broadcast for Apple TV.
Speaker: But let's talk a little bit about the San Diego team. They are, this is this is really their season. If they don't win this game, it's hard to see a path to them getting into the playoffs there.
Speaker: As we record this, five points out of the number nine spot, which is... already sort of, you know you're very much looking for help anyway, but if they drop points this week, it's, it's just hard to see either making up five points in three games.
Speaker: So the centers going to be facing a desperate team. We asked Brian about that. Brian said, look, we've, we told them we, we, they know that this is a desperate team. The Sounders probably will have to manufacture that level of desperation.
Speaker: It is a funny little anecdote that this is the second time Diego and the Sounders have played. Both times San Diego came into the game on an eight-game winless which I guess speaks to their season this year, but also just kind of weird that that worked out that way. Yeah, that is pretty odd.
Speaker: and What's really odd is that this is a team who... If you catch them in the right moment, they look every bit like the team that blitzed the Western Conference last year. You do not have to squint that much to see the team that everyone saw last year.
Speaker: And yet their record suggests that they are having a lot of struggles. Early in the season, it was red cards. Late in the season, it's just been a defense that cannot hold a lead.
Speaker: What do you make of the San Diego team?
Speaker: It's tough to look at them and not draw comparisons to St. Louis, who similarly took the West by storm in their first season and then really...
Speaker: through a variety of causes fell off the the following year. You know, the elements of their game that were a surprise in that first season were less surprising in the second. They lost some firepower in, you know, the whole Chicky Lozano soap opera, the days of our lives elements of it. ah
Speaker: him finally leaving. They've brought in a new player, but it doesn't really seem like he's hit the ground running in the same way. They also just play a very high risk, high reward game. And, you know, when you gamble realistically, you don't have that much control over what happens. You're just throwing your bets out and hoping that it works out all right. And,
Speaker: it has not worked out all right this season. um It is a, you know, a tough thing to really predict going into any game with them, but you do have to kind of hope for the Sounders sake that a desperate team that plays an already pretty risky style is going to give you opportunities to get at them and You know, if the Sounders can put some of their finishing trouble to the side for this game, they they have a chance of, you know, really bouncing back from the last two games.
Speaker: Yeah. If they put in a performance that is closer to that New England game, they really have a chance of. you know, winning this game, leaving a mark, and, you know, they're on much better footing going into that Houston game and beyond, but it's got to start with this one, and they absolutely can't start the game the same way they did against Montreal. No, and they've they've even during this period of of games where they have righted the ship, the Sounders have shown a frustrating penchant for falling behind.
Speaker: I want to say that they fell they gave up the first goal at least four times during the nine-game unbeaten run. To their credit, they were able to come back and tie or win ah in all four of those games.
Speaker: But San Diego has sort of had the opposite trouble. Now, this is now going to be the coming into this game. They've allowed at least two goals in seven straight matches, but they've also blown.
Speaker: leads in three of their last five, including a three goal lead where they settled for a three, three tie and then a two goal lead where they settled for a two, two tie. This is a team that has really struggled playing from ahead, which is a weird thing for a team to do.
Speaker: I mean, we have seen the Sounders have that same struggle in the past. Yeah. But, you know, I think for the difficulties the Sounders have had recently and specifically looking at the game against Montreal, coming into a game against San Diego and knowing the challenges they have with holding leads and turning them into wins gives the Sounders a little bit more cushion and protection to go, you know, full blitz to start the game because they have the comfort of knowing that
Speaker: all right, if we go out and we absolutely give it to them for the first 15 or 20 minutes and they score during that period, that's okay because we have 75, 70 minutes left right and these guys can't hold it together. like but Just because they get a lead doesn't mean they get a win. like We can still get at these guys even if they get It's not in their DNA to sort of shut things down.
Speaker: Well, and I can't imagine even if they did, they would be particularly good at it because it is so diametrically opposed to the style that they play.
Speaker: If they tried to shut it down, they'd probably still try to play it around in the back. And right at this point, it seems like that is just going to turn sour for them if they try. So, you know, if they do somehow switch it up and try to go direct, I think you can also feel pretty good about how you play there. um I think it's a game the Sounders should feel confident going into, but, you know, they should have felt confident going into the game against Montreal. They really should have felt confident in going into that game. But yeah I know I feel like San Diego might be
Speaker: famous last words and all that, but it feels like the right kind of team. The Sounders have seemingly struggled with, with opponents who want to pack it in That is not going to be what's going to happen. San Diego is as pretty committed to living and dying by the sword for better for worse. This is the, who they are and this is how they're going to play. Now it could get, you know, we we've seen San, Sounders have really struggled to get results against San Diego ah in four meetings. They are one, one, and one, but that,
Speaker: maybe overstates how in the one win that they had they were probably outplayed pretty badly they got crushed in the second meeting last year this year they tied ah and i guess you could argue that the centers were maybe a little bit better in that game but that also was right when the season was starting to we didn't necessarily know it at the time but the season was about to fall off the cliff uh And, and so I San Diego is, it might be a good test for them.
Speaker: i suppose, you know, we can talk ourselves into this all that we do this all the time where if they get this win, it it makes the Montreal game not seem quite as bad, but the Montreal game, unfortunately, I think is going to haunt the Sounders ah if they,
Speaker: I mean, if they finish fifth, it's going to be like, oh, they could have had a home field advantage. If they finish sixth, it's going to be, well, we could have had a slightly better first round matchup. We're going to go down the the road. I have a feeling over that Montreal one. But this San Diego game, I think it's also important just to get their head straight ah because they...
Speaker: As much as it it felt like the Sounders put the season sort of back together with that four-game winning streak and that nine-game unbeaten streak, they still haven't won a game outside of that four-game window. yeah And so just being able to pick up regular wins, I think, is going to be important for their psyche.
Speaker: And there is a remote chance that the Sounders can actually clinch a playoff spot, which would be really funny because ah the Sounders have not clinched a playoff spot with three games left to plan the season.
Speaker: all that often. And they, now it would require almost everyone behind them to drop points, but it is mathematically possible that they, that they can, they can clinch, but they would have to win. And, and winning would also, you know, makes finishing six, which I think to me is the, is where they should be at least targeting is like getting to six because the difference between playing St. Louis which is the most likely opponent if you're seventh and Dallas to me is a ah pretty big difference.
Speaker: aye And, and it also actually keeps you out of the, and either way you're, and I don't mean, actually getting up to fifth, I'm not sure is great. Cause you, and then you're on the same side of the bracket as Vancouver.
Speaker: don't need to get into all that. That's getting way too far ahead of ourselves. But my my point is that this still feels like an important game. Uh, and hopefully at the very least, the Sounders can find some kind of consistency because we, as much as we are unlikely to see this exact same lineup against Houston, just for rotation purposes, i think it's going to be important for them to at least know this is our best group. Yeah. We can go back to it when we need.
Speaker: Yeah, I completely agree. i think, if nothing else, figuring out, okay, can this be your front four and the rest of it can be to the extent that it can be a little bit malleable based on availability, but figuring out, okay, can this four work together, be effective and efficient?
Speaker: Can they sync up over the course of the next three games after this one with, you know, Could they all you know start all three games and you know maybe you are pulling certain guys 60 to get them a rest, but a yeah, figuring out who your go-tos in attack are is a bare minimum, I think, thing to figure out with this game.
Speaker: Absolutely. Well, with that, we should probably get out of here. I do want to say Nico will be back on Monday. Nico has just ah had other... other responsibilities today that he had to take care of. So Tim and I decided to just record this without him.
Speaker: But Nico will definitely be back next week. And otherwise, thank you, Tim, for being here. i am Jeremiah Shan. This is No Sarietes, part of the Sounder Art Podcast Network and the SoccerWise Media Collective.
Speaker: Also, I want to say thank you to our sponsor, Full Pool Wines, as well as um so our subscribers, which is just another good reminder to please like this video, subscribe to our channel.
Speaker: Leave us ratings on whatever podcast you're you're listening to this on. And please consider becoming a subscriber. Subscribers are really how we keep this thing going. And I want to say thank you to all you guys. And with all that, let's get out of here.
Speaker: We'll catch you next time.
Speaker: Let's go and sounders.
