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Nos Audietis: Maybe Cruz Azul properly rated us, after all
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The Sounders went on quite a roller-coaster this week, enjoying their most impressive and dominant win followed by a depressing performance against Cruz Azul. Along the way, they lost three players to injury, one of whom is likely gone for the season.
Aaron and Jeremiah take stock of it all and try to assess what this means for a season that started with so much promise.
Later in show, MLS Season Pass commentator Ross Smith helps us preview the St. Louis City match.
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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 and Sponsors
00:00:02
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 Sounders supporters.
00:00:16
Speaker
They offer the best boutique wines of the world to members of their mailing list, with special focus on their home, Pacific Northwest.
Will Bruin's New Role
00:00:25
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. Come on. Hey, O'Shea.
00:00:39
Speaker
Let's go. I'm sorry, Mark Fry. The Seattle Sounders have done it. I don't know.
Sounders vs LAFC Recap
00:00:57
Speaker
sounder that has come nila
00:01:17
Speaker
This is a tiny dog. Nice work on your little yacht thing. Ever since 7th, I wrote a commentary that we take
00:01:42
Speaker
Welcome back to another episode of Nos Arietes on the Sounder at Heart podcast network, sponsored by Full Pull Wines and our
Recording Details
00:01:49
Speaker
subscribers. We're recording on Wednesday, March 12th, 2025. I'm your host, Jeremiah Shan.
00:01:54
Speaker
Joining me today is my co-host, Aaron Campo, and our engineer, Lickett. Later in the show, we'll have an interview with MLS Season Pass commentator Ross Smith, who will help us preview the St. Louis City match on Saturday.
Sounders' Mixed Week: LAFC Win and Cruz Azul Loss
00:02:06
Speaker
Well, quite a week the Sounders have had. They started with an absolutely rollicking five to win over LAFC, getting goals from five different players in all sorts of fun ways and putting vibes about as high as they've been ah this year.
00:02:21
Speaker
He then followed that up with an ultra defilating loss to Cruz Azul. It was, it wasn't just how badly they were
Injury Challenges
00:02:28
Speaker
outplayed. It's that they lost Paul Areola to a potential season ending knee injury. And then Jordan Morris to some sort of other muscle injury combined with Pedro de la Vega's injury in the LAFC game. And suddenly bowing out of the CONCACAF champions cup might not be so bad.
00:02:44
Speaker
ah Now the Sounders need to pick up the pieces. Aaron, how confident are you that they can do that? And don't worry, we'll talk about this game as well. but Let's look forward first.
00:02:57
Speaker
Yeah, I, um you know, I think I'm fairly confident in their ability to weather the storm for a little bit and to... do what we've seen them do many times, which is just grid it out.
00:03:10
Speaker
ah I think I am hopeful. I'm optimistic. I don't know whether it's cope or just me choosing to be optimistic or what, but I am reasonably optimistic. Jordan's not going to miss that much time.
00:03:22
Speaker
um You know, Paul is, I think probably done for the season. I would be shocked. Yeah. um and And that's going to be difficult, right? Like he,
00:03:33
Speaker
He's not what you would consider like a ah key player necessarily, but I think he is his presence is important to kind of making the whole system work. And so they're going to have to to rejigger things a little bit, which, you know, is a little scary after last season, right? When they had to spend half a season finding their sort of identity.
00:03:54
Speaker
ah And, you know, I think Pedro hopefully will be back sooner than later as well. And hopefully this isn't another situation where things sort of drag on all year. But I think the Sounders are in a better place.
00:04:09
Speaker
this year just holistically to weather a storm like this than they have been in the past. ah But I think it's going to be a difficult couple of months. it's It's a bummer because I think everybody has been so excited by what we've seen so far this season.
00:04:21
Speaker
um You know, they, they were frustrating earlier on, but they just looked a lot better. And then they finally put everything together against LAFC. They looked great for the first 20 minutes or so against Cruz Azul.
00:04:32
Speaker
And then everything just kind of
Schedule and Recovery Time
00:04:34
Speaker
falls apart. yeah, it's It's a bummer to feel like yeah probably the best case scenario is we're going back to gritting out results and doing it in a less than exciting way.
00:04:45
Speaker
um But if they can actually manage to do that until they get healthy this year and and get back to it once they're a little closer to full strength, that's, you know, that that'll be ah nice change of pace from last season.
00:04:58
Speaker
I'm maybe a little bit more optimistic that, A, I don't think it's going to be a couple months. I would think it might be more like a few weeks. And the good thing is that the the schedule sort of opens up a lot over the next, really, the next three months. The Sounders ah only have two midweek games between now and the start of the Club World Cup, which is June 15th.
00:05:19
Speaker
And those are all league games. So that's, you know, that's a lot of one week games. And as long as they can just sort of not have any, as long as their injury situation doesn't get worse, like I'm okay with them playing another a couple weeks without, without these guys.
00:05:38
Speaker
i i am intrigued to see how they handled Jordan Morris's injury in particular. you know, he very, been their most consistent player this year. Like he's been there. He's been the player who's played the most in the attack.
00:05:51
Speaker
He has been, i think one of the things that also gives me hope that he's, this is not too serious of an injury is that really ever since he did his, his second ACL injury, he's been remarkably healthy.
Strategic Adjustments Post-Injuries
00:06:02
Speaker
yeah He only missed two games ah from injury during that time.
00:06:07
Speaker
And so I would hope that he can get back without too, too much rehab. And, and that, you know, who knows, maybe we'll find out it was really bad and this will seem ah hopelessly Pollyanna ish.
00:06:18
Speaker
ah But where we sit right now, I'm not freaking out. ah And, and, it and the schedule does sort of set up. Okay. I mean, I'd be a lot more worried if they had somehow managed to get through ah past cruise of school and they were going to be looking at club America,
00:06:36
Speaker
while trying to juggle the lineup with ah short a short roster. ah So in that sense, maybe it was for the best. I think you may even said this in the discord yesterday that maybe once these injuries happen, maybe it was for the best that they didn't advance.
00:06:51
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, well, I, I actually a few days ago, I'd rather go out in this round than the next one. um oh yeah. that's right Maybe I'm getting confused. I think during the game, I was, especially after most scored, I was of the, hey, if we can come back in this situation with these guys, we can win the whole thing with these guys, which in hindsight was, you know, key of the moment sort of feeling. But yeah maybe, I mean, maybe maybe we could do that. I don't want to think about what it would have done to the league form ah if we if we had continued playing in this competition with without the horses.
00:07:25
Speaker
um But yeah, I mean, I think you make a good point that the fixture congestion has been unreal. And I think we've kind of internalized it to some degree as a fan base, that that's just the way it's going to be this year.
00:07:37
Speaker
Well, it's not going to be that way for a while. You know, it's like, this was it. This was a period of time when things were were
Emerging Players: Rothrock and Ferreira
00:07:42
Speaker
bad and there were a ton of minutes to be eaten up. And, um, you know So hopefully that does allow them to get Jordan back a little quicker. um i' I'm really hopeful that now that Musabski finally has a goal, that he's maybe going to play with a little more confidence. And so his his minutes are not going to be as um you know underwhelming or seeming as as just ah totally incapable of amounting to any kind of production.
00:08:11
Speaker
um So that that would be nice. um And... I do think that his, this Ferreira needs to step it up a bit. um I haven't been as down on his play as I think a lot of people have. I think he's looked good.
00:08:25
Speaker
think, I thought he had a couple of really, really good moments early on um when the Sounders were really threatening early in the game last night. yeah he almost pass Yeah. He almost connected with Jordan on a cross or he did connect with Jordan on a cross and Jordan put it wide.
00:08:39
Speaker
If I remember yeah correctly. And there were a couple of other just like really nice creative passes that he made to spring attacks. And, you know, and that's I think that's really encouraging. But he's probably going to need to step up the actual production in front of goal. Yeah, because i think he's he's got to be he's got to be the primary scoring threat now with Jordan out, I would think so.
00:09:01
Speaker
um I do think that you are right to be. reasonably optimistic or as optimistic as you can be. But I think that for the optimism to, to pay off or to, you know, to come to fruition, some guys that have not been producing in a bottom line sense are going to have to start doing that more regularly.
Impact of Missing Goal Scorers
00:09:21
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, the reality is that, so the Sounders have, I think 14 goals scored so far this year, eight of those goals are now out with injury three each from Pedro and and Jordan, and of course two from Areola.
00:09:36
Speaker
So that's, that's obviously not good. I don't want to make it sound like this is a good situation, but the presence of Jesus Freda helps me feel a little bit better.
00:09:47
Speaker
the you know, I feel a lot better about Areola's injury after Paul Rothrock had a good performance and he honestly, he looked okay against Cruz Azul tool. He made a a great move to get in and then set up Ferreira for a chance that was very badly missed, but was probably their best look of the game ah outside of the goal.
00:10:11
Speaker
where he sets Ferrer up right at the top of the penalty area and he just skies his shot, which, you know, whatever, i guess that happens sometimes, but we we definitely need Ferrer to, to sort of step up and, and become the player that, uh, you know, they, they, they've given him some betting in time and it's now time to, to sort of, uh, know, maybe take the control ah a little bit more. So I don't know. I'll, I'll be very interested to see if the Sounders play him or Mussofsky at the nine on Saturday.
00:10:38
Speaker
oh we And Nico Moreno actually asked Schmetzer about Ferreira's situation and and sort of implying that he hasn't been as productive as they they wanted.
Debate: Ferreira or Mussofsky for St. Louis Match?
00:10:50
Speaker
And I'm sure to some degree that's that he hasn't been. i would imagine they were hoping that he would be scoring a bit more at this point. but you know, Schmetzer said that he he's he's been okay with the way he's played.
00:11:02
Speaker
i don't think he is. He's a very different player than Jordan. I think that's one thing that we've seen is that he's someone who sort of wants to play in the half spaces a lot more. He's not going to go bang in the box with, with center backs as, as much as ah Jordan certainly was willing to.
00:11:18
Speaker
And so he's a, he's just fundamentally a different kind of, of player than Jordan. It's, So the centers are going to have to play a little bit differently around him. Although I don't know, he he might be able to get in behind just as well.
00:11:30
Speaker
So I don't know. We'll we'll see. But I look at the possible lineups for the St. Louis game and I'm not freaking out. You know, I'm not saying I'm excited about this, but I feel a lot better about the talent they have on the roster right now than the talent they had on the roster at this time last year when they were still sort of sorting through a lot of injuries.
00:11:56
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, the the guys that they have now are the guys that had to step up that were missing last year. Right. and to To a large extent. Like Jordan, obviously, you know, was was healthy.
Key Player Influence: Rusnak
00:12:06
Speaker
But um last year, they didn't really turn to Paul Rothrock for help until things had gotten pretty bad. um And, you know, Georgie was obviously a a late season later season addition. Russ Neck was still hurt at this point last year. Was still coming back from injury at this point last year.
00:12:24
Speaker
Yep. And I think i think that Rusnak's presence is going to be critical because there are a lot of guys who are going to have to play a lot of minutes who um want to run at guys and want to create chaos. And I think Rusnak is very good at picking out the moments to take advantage of those runs and settle things down. like I think he's just a calming presence that...
00:12:48
Speaker
is going to be helpful without having some some key players that have been so good early this season. And yeah, I mean, I think Georgie every game convinces me more and more that nothing we've seen is an illusion. i think that some people are a little over their skis with his his potential, but I think he's a real deal, extremely solid MLS player right now who is such an X factor,
Reflecting on Cruz Azul Missed Opportunities
00:13:12
Speaker
right? Like even if his production over the course of the season is good rotational guy, the the chaos that he causes in games, I think is is really valuable with the rest of the players on this team.
00:13:25
Speaker
And Rothrock, you know, aside from the the penalty against Cruz Azul, I thought was really good. And that's the second game in a row. He's looked like really bright, really promising. And, you know, the penalty was extremely annoying, but I i just can't get super mad at an attacking player for...
00:13:44
Speaker
giving up a penalty like that, I guess, like how, how often is that going to be an issue? And I think his attacking play is what's more important. And I think that it's pretty clear that his struggles earlier in the year had a lot more to do with injury than any sort of regression or, or last year being an illusion or anything like that.
00:14:02
Speaker
ah Yeah, I would say I'm, I'm at this point, with you on that. I think the struggles were more about injuries and form than they were about just not being a very good player, which is, you know, you always start to get a little worried when that, when that happens, but let's, let's talk a little bit about this game.
00:14:22
Speaker
as much as I, ah I guess was trying to avoid it. you know, we we talked about this after the first leg and we I think we all knew that there was a missed opportunity there, that that that was a chance for them to get off to a good start and to ah to to put a number on the board. And they didn't.
00:14:45
Speaker
They played well. I think they played really well. But I think we saw really how costly it was for them to not get those goals that they probably deserved. And if they go into this game up 1-0, certainly up 2-0,
00:15:01
Speaker
I think that they very possibly could have weathered that storm. ah But Cruces will came out. ah The Sounders were okay for the first five, 10 minutes, maybe. But for the first half, the Sounders were just on their back heels.
00:15:16
Speaker
Cruces will dominated possession. Sounders could not really string passes together. You know, like Brian Schmetzer said, it was, it would, they get into a cycle where they defend, defend, defend, and then they'd give the ball away.
00:15:29
Speaker
defend, defend, defend, and then they'd send a clearance instead of trying to to build out. And they just couldn't really build any sort of sustained pressure. And then Areola goes down towards the end of the first, very close to the end of the first half.
00:15:44
Speaker
And, and, you know, at that point, it's just becomes a real struggle. They were already down one zero in the first half, right? They were. Yeah.
00:15:57
Speaker
And, you know, I would say, yeah, they were down one zero. I would say I felt okay going into halftime. Like, okay, like, look, they can read, they can sort of get their heads back on straight.
00:16:08
Speaker
They can put this together. They can, you know, they can ah pull out the second half. And i thought they were better, but not much, you know, they and I will say, I'll give them credit for this.
00:16:19
Speaker
I thought they you know, all like they were getting into tackles. They weren't shying away from that stuff. I didn't think they were overwhelmed. They just couldn't connect passes and they couldn't build out. And they, they struggled with sort of like the stuff that they've been really good at this year.
00:16:37
Speaker
And ah ironically, their first really good scoring or their, their first promising attack in the second half was the ball that got played into Morris in the channel. And then he, yeah he pulls up out of it and you're like, Oh, of course this is, this is how this goes.
00:16:53
Speaker
But I don't know. ah I will say that after Mussovsky scored, which was a nice little, a free kick that, that Rothrock put back into the box. and then I guess it came off maybe Yamar and Mussovsky was just kind of in the right place, the right time to finish it.
00:17:09
Speaker
I, at that point was okay, this can happen.
Midfield Struggles Against Cruz Azul
00:17:13
Speaker
That came in about the 73rd minute, 74th minute, somewhere around there. And if they get one more goal, they're through.
00:17:20
Speaker
And for the next 10 minutes, I thought they were okay. And then Rothrock commits that penalty and it's sort of like game over that point. Yeah. I mean, I think that everybody kind of knew,
00:17:31
Speaker
um when that foul was called and it was couldn't have been more obvious. It was obvious in the in the moment. um I think everybody knew kind of knew that was, that was game over. Yeah.
00:17:42
Speaker
yeah I love, I love Stefan Fry. The, the downsides are worth the upsides and then some, but he is not good at stopping penalties.
00:17:53
Speaker
So he did not come close to stopping that one. He did not. He did he did not. And you got to hope a guy misses. And I think I think the book is kind of out that, hey if you put it on frame, you're probably going score.
00:18:05
Speaker
um And yeah, it's you know, it is what it is. um i thought that.
00:18:15
Speaker
the The key takeaway of for me from this game was that. The central midfield was the reason the Sounders demolished LAFC. And it was in turn the reason they got demolished in this game.
00:18:28
Speaker
I don't remember Christian having this bad of a game, certainly not since he switched to playing at the six, probably not since the year that he had the concussion issues, I think was the last time he had a game this bad.
00:18:44
Speaker
Obed was also pretty bad. um i sort of had this this realization during the game that I I thought Obed made a nice recovery. And I said, Oh, this a nice play by Obed.
00:18:56
Speaker
And I said, i feel like every time I've had that thought in this game, it was them recovering from a mistake they just made. Like even their positives were a result of their negatives. And sometimes it's just like that, you know, like, I don't think we are clearly better than l LAFC.
00:19:14
Speaker
um I don't think that the Sounders midfield is that much better than LAFC's, but they dominated on the day. i don't, you know, I'm not convinced Cruz Azul is that much better than the Sounders.
00:19:25
Speaker
I don't think that Cruz Azul's midfield is that much better than the Sounders because I thought they looked pretty good against them in Seattle. But yeah on the day, they were much, much better. And I think that, you know, when you put yourself in a situation like the Sounders did by not scoring at home, where you, there's a ton of pressure on you to get a goal against the team that, you know, probably has at least a slight talent edge and is playing at home at altitude who are in more of their mid season form.
00:19:54
Speaker
um It's, it's just, it's, it's going to be tough. It's going to be really, really tough to do And i think once that penalty was called, I think the Sounders kind of knew that that was game over and,
00:20:07
Speaker
um You know, it can't be easy to when you see two guys who have been so key to your season out injured one. I think everybody knew immediately for the season. It's just a really, really tall hill to climb.
00:20:21
Speaker
Yeah. ah So I messed up. ah The penalty actually came before was the second goal, but it came almost right. It came right after Morris got hurt. And so that was, i think, also part of what led to the emotional ah downturn of that is they were.
00:20:41
Speaker
they were They were sort of in it, and then they weren't in it anymore. Masovsky did pull them back into it. So, I mean, there was a solid 10 minutes where the Sounders were back in this game, i where after Masovsky scored, it felt like they might actually you know put together something like a comeback.
00:20:58
Speaker
But again, either way, it was not it was not
MLS vs Liga MX Competitiveness
00:21:01
Speaker
meant to be. I think you can't really argue that the better team moved through. And that's, you know, there's a... that doesn't feel good to say ah the sounders you know they they had some chances in this one ah but they they were not the better team they they just weren't uh i i do think it's very funny that uh the only and mls team to beat a league amecis team in this round is the vancouver whitecaps who managed to go to monterey and and uh
00:21:33
Speaker
when ah They tied 2-2, but they go through on away goals. And really, it wasn't as even close as 2-2 would suggest because it was a ah like a 97-minute penalty that equalized, but was essentially for not ah for for Monterey.
00:21:48
Speaker
so ah But right after the Sounders played, Tigres equally demolished Cincinnati. Cincinnati did jump out to ah a little bit of a a lead in that one.
00:22:00
Speaker
But... I mean, they did get it. They were, they were actually leading at halftime and then Tigris just poured it on in the second half with three goals in the second half. um I don't know. It, it, it also, i will say that I take some small solace in looking America ended up beating Chivas pretty roundly.
00:22:23
Speaker
They, pull they won four to zero Chivas got just absolutely demolished. And i just don't think the Sounders were going to, No, I don't think so.
00:22:34
Speaker
I think that there are before the Sounders had for the Sounders won the Champions League and even before the Sounders had beaten a Mexican team in the Champions League.
00:22:46
Speaker
a game like this felt so crushing because it just felt like it was insurmountable. never going to happen. never going to happen. And now that the Sounders, I mean, in in their, you know, in their run to the the CCL title, a lot of people have tried to memory hold this and pretend like they didn't have a difficult run, but they beat Leon, the game at East team for one on aggregate, and then they beat Pumas 5-2 on aggregate.
00:23:10
Speaker
um There are, you know, ebbs and flows and peaks and valleys in terms of the relationship between the leagues and where the Sounders fit into that and everything. But we know that MLS teams can compete with Liga and Mackey's teams. We know that um the gap isn't that big anymore. and You know, Caruso Azul is a really, really good team and the Sounders weren't up to it.
00:23:35
Speaker
And that's OK because doesn't feel like they can never get back there again. And now they can focus on the league, ah which I think, honestly, for me, is the more important thing this year.
00:23:45
Speaker
Like if you gave me the choice between another Champions League title and and MLS Cup or Supporter Shield, I would take the league trophy this year um because I think that that's just really important to the health of of the club um and the sort of, you know, just like the well-being of the fan base to have that title chase that goes on all year rather than ah continental
Prioritizing League Over Continental Success
00:24:05
Speaker
title.
00:24:05
Speaker
Yeah, I would agree with that. I would also say that you always want to win whatever tournament you're playing. And I think that's sort of a But if you're going to not win it, going out early is probably the better choice.
00:24:20
Speaker
Like if if the Sounders were not going to win this thing, they may like if they were going to lose to America, I just as well them lose in this round. Now that's a kind of a reductionist way of looking at it. But I will say, if i again, if I have to choose these things, I would rather the Sounders compete for the Supporters' Shield and play great, entertaining league games than having to sort of slog through all of spring and just sort of hope to be making a run in the second half of the season. Now, of course...
00:24:49
Speaker
The big step is actually going on that run and playing well. And we don't know, you know, like that's a unknown. are are they going to do that? I think they're capable of it. I think that this is a good team. I really, i genuinely like this team.
00:25:02
Speaker
Uh, but they need to now go out and and do that. And i don't know if I have huge expectations for Saturday against St. Louis. I mean, there are reasons that they might not feel their best team.
00:25:17
Speaker
They might sort of just punt this game a little bit and lick their wounds and say, okay, we're going to come back and reset next week. But I don't think they should have to feel like they do need to do that. ah They're going to have two days of training in Seattle.
00:25:31
Speaker
We should get a decent – we should get some decent run out. Then they have – they don't have anyone getting called up into – at least no one in the U.S. s or our Mexican teams are getting called into the and international duty. So they should have a full squad next week or something close to a full squad a week from Saturday, that is.
00:25:50
Speaker
and And then again, like it's just – one game a week from here on out, basically until we get to the club world cup. And that's manageable. Like they, there's no reason, even if they're missing Paul Areola for the season, they, they should be able to figure out how to handle this thing. Reed Baker Whiting has come back. He can help fill in there.
00:26:10
Speaker
ah Kim key. He's coming back pretty soon. This roster is going to still be reasonably deep with or without Paul Areola. Areola was a very nice piece to have. I don't want to diminish his loss.
00:26:22
Speaker
This is a better team with him on it than without him on it. But I don't think he's the difference between them being able to make a supporter shield run and them not being able to, he might've been the difference between them being able to compete on multiple fronts, but yeah that's right not an issue anymore.
00:26:42
Speaker
yeah it's not. It's not. I also, um It probably should be said, I don't know if if the ariel injury changes anything about their strategy, but the Sounders do have a decent amount of cap space, a couple of roster mechanisms, and about six weeks to add a player.
00:26:58
Speaker
So if they had a guy that they were looking at, you know, maybe it makes sense to move that timeline up a couple of months. Right. I mean, the and not to be too cold and calculated about this, but the reality is that if...
00:27:12
Speaker
Areola did his ACL. He's out for the year. There's not really any point in pretending like he's going to come back in six months. He's not going to, it's, he's going to be out 10 months.
00:27:23
Speaker
Yeah. There's no reason. The, the first, at least six months back is not going to be, that he's not going to be the same player. Right. I mean, there's just no, there's no reason for them not to put him on the season end during injury. Assuming he's actually done his ACL. And if he hasn't, then who knows, maybe he can come back, but it let's just assume a worst case scenario.
Using Cap Space for Roster Adaptation
00:27:42
Speaker
The Sounders need to put them on the season end during injury list and they need to re they, and they'll be able to replace them with a comparably priced player. And he hit the cap. I think somewhere around 600,000, 650,000, something like that.
00:27:57
Speaker
you combine that with the 1.2 ish million that they had already that, you know, they have something like 1.8 million in cap space that they can go out and find good players with there's that's real money. That's real.
00:28:11
Speaker
the Those are real assets that they should be able to deploy and, and help bolster this roster. ah So I, I would hope that they, ah there's, there should be no excuses. Yeah.
00:28:23
Speaker
I'm not saying they need to go out and sign those players tomorrow, but there should be new players coming to the team and, and they should be getting here before the, I would think the target should be before the club world cup.
00:28:36
Speaker
ah And then that would give them time to, if they get here before the club world cup, they would also be here for a league scum and they'd be here for the stretch run of the playoffs. I don't see any reason why that shouldn't be sort of their main goal at this point.
00:28:50
Speaker
Yeah, it's it is unfortunate if the timeline got moved up. It's unfortunate that it got moved up for the reasons that it did. um But, you know, what's's what's what's the old saying that psychopaths love to say every crisis is an opportunity, right? Like, I mean you know, if there if there's a player that they think is interesting...
00:29:13
Speaker
yeah good good no that's i was i was gonna say i i agree they like that's ah that's a great way of using this particular phrase that got used way too much over the last five years sadly right right yeah but but it's you know it is it it there is truth to it right there is absolutely truth to it and it's a it's a good opportunity to deploy it from the sounders uh And it's, you know, I don't know. that Like, I think i definitely know there was an argument going around that I was not as keen to ah before, which was the best way to like the Sounders should just be focused on improving league play. And they shouldn't be too worried about ah the club or the CONCACAF Champions Cup in part because the fan base just doesn't.
00:30:01
Speaker
it doesn't impact the fan base as viscerally as the regular season. The regular season is longer. The regular season has more games. It is just the total impact of the regular season is more than the the the CONCACAF Champions League and by that token winning MLS Cup I think we've seen has more of a sort of like this was a successful season vibe to it than CONCACAF Champions League which we lived through this we basically had to explain it over and over again no this was a good season we won the biggest trophy ever and on some level if you have to spend that much time explaining it
00:30:43
Speaker
it maybe Maybe it's not having the impact you need it to. Again, i will say this as someone who has championed the regional championship, uh, for lack of a better term.
00:30:55
Speaker
I'm not, saying I'm not quite saying that I was wrong all this time, but I do understand. I think it's a valid point that, uh, this is not, there's no reason this should be a loss season. And I would hope that the same folks who were poo pooing the, uh, the impact of the positive impact will also be like, okay, great. So this doesn't matter. And let's move on to the to league play. Right.
00:31:19
Speaker
Yeah, I would say that the there's sort of two distinct errors of the Sounders. I mean, there's more than that. But but in this context, there's the Sounders before they won the Champions League, which felt like a culmination, i think, for people who were like day one hardcores.
00:31:34
Speaker
Yes. And. And the day one hardcores, lot of them have turned into less hardcores for one reason or another. Myself very much included in that. um I don't go to every game like I used to, right? I don't. And and my the sounders are not the center of my life in ways that they used to be.
00:31:52
Speaker
And that's fine. That's normal. But now you got to get day I don't know how many days are in 15 years, but you know, you've got to get a new batch of hardcores in the door and CCL games are probably not going to be the the way that happens. CCL trophies are probably not going to be with it the way that happens. It's going be people, you know, getting invested in the league games and hopefully buying season tickets and then becoming the kind of sicko who knows who the players on Antigua are, you know, five years from now. Right. right That's, that's the path that you've you've got to start getting people on.
Engaging Fans with Entertaining Home Games
00:32:23
Speaker
Well, and the Sounders have been talking a lot this year. you know we just had a They just had a big press conference ah last Friday about some of this stuff, which is you know a lot of the focus is on how do we get new people in the building and how do we turn casual fans into hardcore fans.
00:32:41
Speaker
And the way to do that, frankly, is by playing fun, exciting soccer, especially at home, and probably during the regular season when you can put a bunch of those results all together.
00:32:53
Speaker
Uh, yeah, that's a great way to build goodwill with your fans is to play entertaining soccer at home for a long period of time. And that's not something the Sounders have done a lot of, frankly, since, since they won CONCACAF champions cup, even when they've been good, they've only, you know, the last two seasons, the last three seasons, actually, they've been a bit of pretty middling home team.
00:33:16
Speaker
They haven't played a lot of exciting games. And that was part of what was so great about the LAFC match, which was, Unlike the Montreal game where you could sort of say, well, they were beating a dead horse.
00:33:29
Speaker
LAFC came to, you know, that that was a team that it was a real, a real game, you know, LAFC just advanced to the, the round or to the quarterfinals of CONCACAF
Season Optimism Despite Setbacks
00:33:39
Speaker
champions cup.
00:33:39
Speaker
That was their first loss in four games. They hadn't given up a goal in four games. So yeah.
00:33:47
Speaker
That was a fun game. And I don't I think there there's still reason to be optimistic that this can be a ah good season. I guess I I feel like maybe maybe I'm talking myself into it, but i don't know. It's I'm I'm I am not as down on this as i feel like i i was immediately after the game.
00:34:09
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, i I did not expect to win that game. um And so the I think the the negative feelings about the game were almost entirely wrapped up in the injuries because I thought that the scoreline flattered Cruz Azul a little bit.
00:34:24
Speaker
I think that um the Sounders spent a lot of time under pressure, but they really weren't giving away a lot of great chances. That's true. And, and then things just kind of fell apart at the end, right? The wheels totally came off and that's going to happen. Sometimes we're chasing a result at altitude and it did, it did. And, and, but that's just, you know, that's, that's game state, right? Like you're chasing, ah you're chasing a goal at altitude without your best, some of your best players, uh, three days after ah game when you've played what, like 21 games in seven days or seven days, ah seven games in 21 days.
00:34:56
Speaker
Yeah. 21 games in seven days would be a lot worse, but, uh, Yeah, I mean, that's it's it just didn't feel bad in the way like the 6-2 to Santos Laguna did in 2011 or 2012 or whenever it was right where it was just so clearly just from bell to bell being outclassed. It felt like a team that just kind of fell apart at the end for understandable reasons.
00:35:17
Speaker
And. and You know, when you look at the roster holistically, like, are the Sounders going to be as much fun while Jordan Morrison and Pedro De La Vega are out? Probably not, but they can probably still string together some decent results.
00:35:32
Speaker
And I think it's optimistic, but reasonable to think that they're probably going to be back and healthy within a month. And there's still a lot of season left after that. So, yeah, you know, still plenty of of of reason for optimism that this will be a successful and also exciting, entertaining season.
00:35:49
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. ah I would agree with all of that.
Upcoming Interview with Ross Smith
00:35:54
Speaker
Well, that's probably a good place to call this a segment. We're going to ah send it out to an interview I did with Ross Smith.
00:36:02
Speaker
You may know him as a former Timbers player ah and even more frustratingly, a former Timbers announcer, but he was actually a good sport. believe it or not. And he's been working for MLS season pass for the last few years. So I'm not going to hold that against him, ah but he has some good insight into St. Louis city.
00:36:20
Speaker
And, and then we'll come back, have a few parting words at the end there. And that's it. But ah yeah, you're listening to no sunny at this and stick around. Thank you for listening to the sounder at heart podcast network, which now includes no sunny at this lobbing scorchers and the cooler guild.
00:36:37
Speaker
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00:36:43
Speaker
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00:37:11
Speaker
To find out more, just visit seminaratheart.com and click the subscribe button in the top right corner. Thanks for listening.
00:37:20
Speaker
Thank
00:37:24
Speaker
if you're an a alliance member you are getting a free subscription to m unlessse pass and you're covered similarly if you're a tmobile subscriber you're also coming but if you're going to have to pay for one you may as well give us some of that money by using the link sounder atart dot com slash mls seasonpa You'll help support independent media while also getting access to every Sounders game, every other MLS game, MLS 360, and all sorts of other content.
00:37:51
Speaker
Just to make things extra easy, we'll put a link in the show notes too. Thanks.
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00:37:57
Speaker
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00:38:53
Speaker
Hacks and Ferments is a proud sponsor of that Sounder at Heart podcast network.
St. Louis Game Preview with Ross Smith Interview
00:38:57
Speaker
Welcome back to Nos Arietes. I am joined now by Ross Smith of the MLS Season Pass broadcast team.
00:39:06
Speaker
You may remember Ross from his days, unfortunately, with the Timbers. ah But now he's he's working a more neutral job with the with MLS Season Pass, and he's going to be doing color on on today's game or this weekend's game against St. Louis.
00:39:20
Speaker
ah Welcome to the show, Ross. How many of your audience, Jeremiah, just tuned out right there when you gave me that introduction? Right? but so ah Well, hold that's great going to be honest the I'll note that you you only, it looks like you your time with the Timbers as a player, at least, never overlapped with ah the Sounders in league play. Although, I don't know, did you plan those Open Cup games?
00:39:44
Speaker
did. I did. i Casey Keller had the best save of his entire career on one of my penalty strikes in the U.S. Open Cup. i'm sure he I'm sure he's having a pint somewhere talking about how great a save that was.
00:39:56
Speaker
um Oh, yeah, for sure. And my my first ever game for the Timbers in a friendly match when Freddie Youngberg was was playing was what was called Century Link then was a preseason for the Community Shield, which is a picture me holding up the trophy. And I remember at the time thinking, I have no idea what this trophy is, but, you know, I'll gladly hold it up.
00:40:17
Speaker
Yeah, they it was funny. they They kind of tried to make that a thing for a little while, and it didn't really it didn't really last too long. But that was a funny little ah footnote.
00:40:27
Speaker
The history of Sounders soccer was the the community shield that they – I think they did like two or three of them maybe – But anyway, well, ah it's good to have you on. um We are getting ready for a game against St. Louis City. This is ah a place the Sounders have actually had a fair amount of success. they They've won the the two games, the two times that they visited there.
00:40:51
Speaker
ah They closed out the 2023 season with a win. And then last year they got a pretty good to one win that sort of helped turn around their season a little bit.
00:41:02
Speaker
ah But St. Louis has been an interesting team this year. They're, they're undefeated, albeit with just one win, but they've only given, they haven't given up a goal yet this year. It seems like it's been a pretty solid start for, for St. Louis.
00:41:18
Speaker
Yeah. and they've They've got a manager who knows what it means to keep clean sheets and all of Melbourne, you know, former Aston Villa player, Juventus, Swedish international. He was a center back and I've been impressed Jeremiah, just how he's been able to, to get the blueprint, get the backbone sorted.
00:41:37
Speaker
And then what we saw away at LA galaxy go in and be a little bit more brave going forward. And they banged three goals in and he, uh, You started to see what they have to offer going forward and and opening things up. So but I thought it's it's a brilliant start for him, almost a perfect start. The fact that he just got his base, he got everybody set in the position.
00:41:56
Speaker
And once he got everybody on yeah on the same page, then he said, right, we can go and and break free a little bit more. And, you know, we saw what they did against the Galaxy 3-0. That's not easy to to do away at L.A.
St. Louis City's Defensive Strength
00:42:08
Speaker
It is not easy, although LA does look like they're having some struggles. But still, winning away at LA is never an easy task. And for anyone to do it, frankly, is is a good achievement.
00:42:22
Speaker
But... ah St. Louis has been, you know, they they've, they've looked as good defensively against everyone. Really? They, they, they shut out Rapids.
00:42:33
Speaker
I'm currently blanking on who they played in their second game, but this is a team who has been known to be a very press heavy team, a team who ah isn't really that interested in possessing the ball.
00:42:49
Speaker
ah And that seems to be kind of the what they've been doing so far. mean, how would you describe how how has Milberg changed what they do? Yeah. San Diego with ah being the second, the second game at San Diego.
00:43:03
Speaker
yeah um Yes. Yes. What, what he's done a different to, you would say Bradley Carnell before was, for was um you know, Bradley Carnell was all about the, it was the the the energy football 2.0, the red bulls, everybody associated Bradley Carnell because of his time with red bulls and it was against the ball. And that was the priority.
00:43:23
Speaker
with it all. Um, and Melberger, what he's trying to do ah while it's still very defensive, I think he's, he's just wanting to get that sorted before he can then open up and, and then have more emphasis being on the ball.
00:43:37
Speaker
Whereas i think that was Bradley Carnell. that transit and you would say that was he able to make that step? He didn't get a load of time to be able to show that he could make that step from going against the ball to with the ball and and showing in them the the different ideas that he has. You know, I think he would argue that he has, you know, the players in there that he was able to then take that next step. And did he have the time?
00:44:00
Speaker
um I think he's having something to say with his results at Philadelphia union. Now that Bradley Cornell's there. But so all of Melberg's done it, you know, it's not a whole lot different to be offensively is is what we're talking about the team and how good they've been.
00:44:14
Speaker
The changeover in players has been remarkable. I mean, we're we're talking about just a whole new list of, of players, a couple that remain, um, And Luvin, Edward Luvin is still with the club. Joao Klaus, you know, their top two players that were the top two players when Bradley Carnell first came in.
00:44:33
Speaker
It's still them, but they've added a whole new cast of players around them. So it'll be interesting though. So Olaf, Melbourne, what differences are going to make? I think we're still waiting to see because it's been pretty much a similar brand of soccer.
00:44:48
Speaker
So some of those new players that have arrived, at yeah even since the Sounders last played
Offensive Development of St. Louis City
00:44:53
Speaker
ah St. Louis, Marcel Hartel, Simon Boettcher, Giannis Horn, Cedric Tuchert, sorry. ah These are all ah difference difference makers for them that are that are likely to be starting in this game.
00:45:08
Speaker
ah What can you tell us about some of these guys? I guess we as well start with Hartel, who's sort of been there, expected to be their main offensive force. Yeah, it's interesting you bring him up, Jeremiah, because I think he's the real key.
00:45:22
Speaker
And what you've seen a big difference from St. Louis when they've tried to expand a little bit more is his role. Because the previous two games, Colorado, certainly in San Diego, he was sitting a lot deeper in the midfield. but But then once san diego one St. Louis i'm sorry started to to score their goals,
00:45:40
Speaker
he was starting to release more and join in it and combine. And whether it's Klaus and, and two shirt, or whether it's ah Simon Boettcher in there instead of Klaus, you know, yeah the big difference was hard and being able to release and, and join in, um you know, he's a, he's a great talent. He's, he's good on the ball. He's good with his, his runs off the ball link up play. Yeah.
00:46:02
Speaker
My one hit on him was that he has to get involved more. He has to do more. And I think we really started to see that against ah against the Galaxy, what he's capable of. i would say, though, to to jump to the other side, I think somebody who's gone under the radar is Kessler in the back, the center back. For me, and I think you guys, Sounders, have an argument to be made with this.
00:46:23
Speaker
He has been one of the best centerbacks across three games. And I put him in the category of Yamar. I think Yamar and, and of course, Jackson Reagan is – they're superb. But I think Yamar is just another level.
00:46:35
Speaker
Well, Kessler's been at that level as well. And I think a big reason as to why they've had success so far is – Is Kessler coming in? And he was traded with Tim Parker. Tim Parker went to ah New England um you know last year Kessler was brought in.
00:46:51
Speaker
And Kessler didn't have the greatest of times at New England under Caleb Porter. Kessler has been sensational the last three games. He hasn't put a foot wrong.
00:47:00
Speaker
Yeah, it's interesting how that how that sometimes works. I mean, here's a relatively young center back who has a lot of good years ahead of him and ended up being, and and it looks like he ended up could kind of being a cornerstone piece for ah St. Louis, and and he wasn't really shaping up that way in New England, at least under Caleb Porter.
00:47:20
Speaker
it is always funny how a fresh st start, what a fresh start can can do for players. um Yeah, absolutely. but what let what What do you make of the attack, though, ah for ah more broadly beyond Hartle? is a they've been up and down in these first three games.
00:47:38
Speaker
You know, they, they didn't score any goals in the first two ah came came out and scored three somewhat helped by set pieces against ah the galaxy.
00:47:49
Speaker
what Is it, does it feel like it's flowing yet? I know when Melbourne came in, one of the things he said was that he wanted this to be a better, a team that can possess a little bit more, but it doesn't seem like early on that's really come to pass yet.
00:48:05
Speaker
It hasn't. and And think we're all waiting to see what draw Klaus. I mean, when he first came into the league, ah forget what the string of games was of, of him scoring a goal, but he was, he was tearing the league up right at the start. And everybody was saying, where's this talent come in from? And that was, that was two years ago.
00:48:21
Speaker
His first, ever game against Austin. I mean, he's a big guy that's gone out to the wing and he's he slashed inside one V one and scored it such a delicate goal, but the outside of his right foot to the far corner and thinking, wow, a big man with feet that is tough to come by.
00:48:38
Speaker
um But then injuries last year, it tailed off in 23 a bit. i think teams maybe start to figure him out a little bit, but then last year injuries, you know, just didn't catch on. He had five goals last year.
00:48:52
Speaker
You're waiting to see if he's still going to be the main man. And there was a quick little sign of it. LA galaxy second half. He hit the post left foot curler. I mean, if, That for me is still, if this team is really going to take off going forward, he's got to get going. Simon Boettcher, I think is a real interesting one as well. If he is your is your top striker, if he's getting a run of games, 25 plus games, and you're really playing to his strength, I think he could be a 15 goal man in this league.
00:49:19
Speaker
So you you potentially have two guys at St. Louis here, number nines, big guys with good feet that could be 15 plus goal scorers. But I really think you have to play to... to their strength. And that, and that will be the difference.
00:49:31
Speaker
um You know, if they can, and and who Melberg picks as his number one guy, I think right now it's, it's open to who that will be. And what are you expecting ah per or ah one tactics wise coming into this game? Do you think this is a game where you would imagine that Melberg will press that he will sort of like force the Sounders who might be on somewhat tired legs and a little shorthanded after picking up a few injuries ah in the last couple of games?
St. Louis City's Pressing Strategy
00:49:59
Speaker
ah What would you imagine the, the, you know, the, his, his approach to this game is. Yeah, i I think exactly that. They have the same shape as as what the Sounders have been playing with, with the three at the back. They found success with that.
00:50:15
Speaker
um I think that's, they watched that game last night and, you know, so disappointed with the injuries. Jordan Morris, Paul Areola going out to Vega, going out against LAFC. um you know St. Louis have solid results that are coming off the back of of their great great win at Galaxy. I expect them to press. I expect them to be high up the pitch, to get in the sound his faces and remind them of of their travel to Cruz Azul just you know midweek just last night.
00:50:45
Speaker
um as we're chatting. um So I imagine them to to really get the tempo going. And I don't know how many Sounders fans have been at that stadium, but you I put Portland, I put Seattle at at the top five in terms of atmospheres.
00:50:59
Speaker
I put St. Louis in there as well. It is something else. And when that crowd gets going as an opposition, you feel as though they're right on top of you. So given their form, given the Seattle the The sounders, the the tiredness of the travel, depleted squad with the injuries, given they're at home, I expect them first 15 minutes to ah to really get after them.
00:51:20
Speaker
Yeah, so you brought up the atmosphere. That was one other thing I wanted to touch on is ah the Sounders haven't had to deal with it quite as much because they've been able to be in advantageous positions in the in the last two games there.
00:51:32
Speaker
But what is St. Louis like when it really gets going? I mean, I actually just watched the onside episode that focused on St. Louis, ah which I guess features ah some of the games that you were on the call for.
00:51:44
Speaker
you... you what what what What is that place like? or what is What makes it different, I guess, is ah um another way of putting it. yeah they and Through and through, they they support their team.
00:51:55
Speaker
And so even when things aren't going well, they're still full voice. um It's all a similar atmosphere. And I can't speak to with Seattle, but I know in Portland, it's like familiar faces that you see in the crowds and you're passing by. So it's really a family environment at the same time, too. It's When you're going around St. Louis and there's it's a game day, you know it's a game day. You know it's a match day. You see the colors.
00:52:19
Speaker
Everybody you know are are going to that game. um And so you have that. it's It's on everybody's mind. It's what matters the most about their day. And I think that carries into... That first whistle going, everybody is desperate for the for the results. um you know Outside of that, I think they really embrace their their culture there, the history of it, it there ah the the culinary experience in St. Louis. You have to have fried ravioli, from what I understand, when you go there. It's it's it's a must.
00:52:46
Speaker
You know, I say all this, Jerry, Mike, because I've had a lot of experience going there over the last two years. And it just, you you really want to immerse yourself in what is different than any other soccer environment because they've um embraced that, you know, from the food.
00:52:58
Speaker
I haven't experienced the drinks yet, or or although I have post-game at a pub across the street, which is phenomenal in the history of St. Louis soccer is there on the walls. Yeah.
00:53:09
Speaker
you know So it comes down to they they just embrace it. They know what they are. And um it's ah it's it's a nice, yeah you would say, relationship between the players on the pitch who work the tails off to the fans and the stands who give everything as well.
00:53:24
Speaker
Awesome. Well, ah Ross, thank you so much for doing this. Obviously looking forward to a good game, looking forward to a good call ah from you all. ah But yeah, ah any anywhere people can follow you other than and then watching you on on season pass.
00:53:39
Speaker
Yeah, i'm I'm on Instagram. most I'm on Twitter, but I don't use it an awful lot. But Instagram, Rossi, underscore R-O-S-S-I, underscore 20. um is I'm on there. So I would but love that.
00:53:52
Speaker
That opens myself up, though. I know it's a lot of Soundless Vans coming hot at me. Oh, don't worry. We're nice. We're nice. Don't worry. All right. Well, thank you so for doing this. Thank you.
00:54:04
Speaker
Thank you so much, Jeremy. It's great to have be on. Yeah. Thank you for coming on. ah I'm Jeremiah Chan. This is No Sarietes and we'll be right back.
00:54:14
Speaker
Welcome back to Nos Adietes. Hopefully you enjoyed that interview with Ross Smith. I think we're just going to get out of here. We don't really have a whole lot else to do. Aaron and I have been kicking around an idea of another segment that we're still workshopping a little bit.
00:54:32
Speaker
ah But we are going to do a mailbag episode for March probably next week, I guess. ah And we'll have more good stuff throughout the week.
00:54:44
Speaker
ah But with all that said, ah thank you to our sponsor, Full Pull Wines, ah Hacks and Ferments. And ah I'm Jeremiah Shan signing off for Aaron Campo and Lickit.
00:54:56
Speaker
This is Nose Adiates, part of the Sounder Heart Podcast Network. Remember, you'll never get alone.
00:55:38
Speaker
We love you. Let's win another one!