Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Episode 231: Piling up wins and talking to Sean Okoli
99 Plays9 years ago
Every time we record, it seems like there's more good news. We could definitely get used to this. The latest bit is a string of positive results that has seen the Seattle Sounders win three times in nine days, part of a four-game winning streak and a run of seven wins in 10 matches.
Crazy as it seems, we're talking about a team that's currently one win away from clinching a playoff spot. The Sounders, once hamstrung whenever they were missing a key piece, managed to beat the Vancouver Whitecaps on the road despite effectively playing without four of their top offensive threats. Yep, we're starting to believe this team is shaping as something special.
We also talked to Sean Okoli, who you may remember as a Sounders Academy product, former Sounders player, but more relevantly the recently crowned USL Golden Boot winner. He also happened to play for FC Cincinnati, one of the more interesting stories in US Soccer this year after they broke all sorts of attendance records.
Of course, we also find time to answer your questions.
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction & Sponsorships
00:00:00
Speaker
This episode of Nos Auderes is sponsored by Constellation & Co. Constellation & Co. is a letterpress stationery company and gift shop located in the Fisherman's Terminal, next door to Chinooks. Their storefront in the Magnolia Interbay neighborhood of Seattle is home to antique printing presses, unique greeting cards and locally made goods.
00:00:21
Speaker
They also offer design and printing services for weddings and special events. Mention NosAurieras for a 20% YNYA discount. For more information, visit ConstellationCo.com. Let's make sure that we take care of our bodies and everything and get ice baths. You have a day off tomorrow, a well-deserved day off. But now it's time to dance.
00:01:10
Speaker
The bluest skies you've ever seen are in Seattle And the hills the greenest green in Seattle
00:01:27
Speaker
Welcome back to another edition of NOS Adiatus, sponsored by Full Full Wine, Spiritic Credit Union, Queen Anne Acupuncture, Constellation & Company, and The Book Towards Cascadia. This is episode 231, we're recording on Wednesday, October 5th, 2016, in the Bootstrapper Studios Studio. I am your host, Jeremiah O'Shan, I'm joined with my co-host, Aaron Campo, and our engineer, Lickett,
00:01:47
Speaker
Later in the show, we'll have an interview with Federal Way Native, Sounders Academy product, former Sounder, and current U.S.L. Golden Boot winner, Sean O'Couley. Alright, so...
00:01:57
Speaker
This is really amazing. Every time we get around to recording one of these shows, it seems like we're coming with better
Sounders' Success and Strategies
00:02:03
Speaker
news. This time, we're recording on the heels of a win over the Vancouver Whitecaps, the Sounders' fourth straight and seventh in their past 10. They've now moved all the way up to fourth in the West, at least by points per game, and are actually more likely to finish third than sixth if you believed all the maths. So, Aaron, how have the Sounders managed to turn this thing around? This is amazing. Yeah, it's very amazing, and I feel like
00:02:28
Speaker
You know, every time there's another win or result or positive piece of news, it's, I don't know, a little bit of the old sort of order being chipped away. You know, I don't, it's difficult to frame this in a way that is not me trashing Sigi, and that isn't my intent. So just believe me, because I think Sigi is a legitimately great coach, but I don't think that there's any point
00:02:58
Speaker
in the Sounders history where they go to Vancouver missing the players that they were missing and win that game. I don't see it happening. The result in Houston that they managed to get, I think that that's tough to see that happening. Although, to be fair, they did get that exact result earlier in the season. Well, yeah, but they didn't have
00:03:27
Speaker
For one, they weren't trailing for most of the game, if I remember correctly, although I could be wrong. But I just... I mean, they did equalize that game like on the last play as well. Oh, that's right. I do think that your overall point stands, though. I mean, this is the Sounders' third come-from-behind win since...
00:03:46
Speaker
Brian Schmetzer took over. All three of those were on the road. The Sounders had actually gone 0-10-2 this season when giving up the first goal. And under Schmetzer, they are 3-1-2 in that scenario.
00:04:01
Speaker
which is an amazing little factoid, I think, you know, and it's easy to, you know, there's all these little silly stats that we've been compiling over at Sounder or Heart, but I think that's a really telling one. The Sounders have not shied away from giving up early goals from playing from behind, and yet they have never felt like they were out of a game. Even that 4-0 halftime deficit against
00:04:25
Speaker
the Timbers, you know, they come out and they score two goals early in the second half. And that was actually most of that second half was a competitive, you know, one goal totally, one more goal would have totally changed that game. And I don't, I think you're right. I don't think that we have seen, certainly in the recent vintage,
00:04:44
Speaker
You'd have to go all the way back to 2014. At one point, this was amazing. I wouldn't look this up. The Sounders hadn't won a game after giving up the first goal since 2014. And that was in May of 2014. And that come from behind when was their fourth
00:05:01
Speaker
in five games. It was the end of a five-game winning streak and of course the Sounders went on to win the supporters shield that year. It was a great year in a lot of ways but yeah I mean the last two years of Sigi the Sounders showed no ability to come from behind. I mean it was just it was really dire when they gave the first goal it was basically over.
00:05:23
Speaker
Yeah, and I think that, I mean, I guess that's more what I was kind of getting at is that, and to be fair, that Houston game, which I totally remember now, the Sounders had Clint Dempsey
Challenges and Team Resilience
00:05:36
Speaker
in the lineup, and that's, I guess that's kind of what I'm getting at, is that the Sounders are getting results missing a lot of key players. And, you know, Nicholas Ladero has helped a ton, but Nicholas Ladero wasn't on the pitch against Vancouver.
00:05:51
Speaker
And I think that we all know that when cities teams were at full strength, they were as good as any team we've ever seen in MLS. It was those, and especially over the last couple of years, those times when they were missing players, I think everybody remembers last summer when the Sounders just could not buy a goal. And they have Jordan Morris, and that helps a lot. But Jordan Morris didn't score a goal in this game.
00:06:19
Speaker
And so yeah, I mean, I just feel like Brian Schmetzer is getting more out of less than say he was getting out of, you know, out of his teams in similar situations. And that's not to say that.
00:06:32
Speaker
you know, that this is all down to Schmetzer and that Sigi was a terrible coach by any stretch of the imagination. But I think it does reinforce the belief that I think most people have come around to at this point that it was time for Sigi to go. The situation was just totally untenable. And, you know, it's getting to the point where those patterns that you kind of find yourself falling back into of like thinking like, oh, we're going to Vancouver. We don't have two key players. We're wearing white.
00:07:00
Speaker
You know and notable the whites definitely definitely notable but it doesn't those games just don't feel hopeless in the way that they once did and You know, that's a I think that's a huge change and I think it's it's pretty obvious from the way that the team has responded to those situations and
00:07:20
Speaker
in the past they have not responded well and they kind of carried themselves as a team that knew that they weren't gonna score a goal and that you know giving up a goal was was the end of the road and they just don't have that they don't present themselves as feeling that way anymore and I think that's that's a hugely important thing you know I think it's
00:07:41
Speaker
Siggy was a very, probably still is, a very pragmatic guy and a very pragmatic coach. And, you know, he talked about this in the last interview that I saw with him that Matt Pence did not too long ago, where he talked about, you know, like we knew we were going to lose games and we knew if we didn't have players, it was going to be tough. And I think over a period of time, maybe that pragmatism becomes almost like a
00:08:09
Speaker
I don't know, just sort of a defeatism in situations. Exactly, exactly. And it's like, you know, that Kansas City game where it was like when the Sounders fell behind is like, well, they were like, well, we kind of figured we were going to lose this game. So what are you going to do? And I just don't see that right now. And, you know, that wasn't always the case with the Sounders. I mean, it certainly wasn't in 2014. It certainly wasn't in
00:08:33
Speaker
in 2011, but I think it had happened so much recently over the last couple of seasons that it had kind of become almost part of the team's identity. And I think that if there's one very tangible thing that you can point to,
00:08:49
Speaker
about the difference between Ziggy and Brian Schmetzer is that that just really doesn't exist. I mean, the sounders came out and they went after the game in a way. I don't think we would have seen them do under Ziggy. They responded really well with going behind early. They ratcheted up the pressure when they got a man advantage and they didn't just completely go into a shell after the sides got equaled.
00:09:14
Speaker
And so, yeah, I mean, I think that it's exactly the kind of attitude this team needs right now and is needed down the stretch. And I think it's been a huge part of why we've seen them had so much more success in recent weeks.
00:09:27
Speaker
Yeah, so let's recap some of the things that were working against the Sounders this week. Clint Dempsey was out, we knew that was gonna be the case. Nicholas Lidero was out, we knew that was gonna be the case. But then at kickoff, it was originally announced that Andres Vontchitz was gonna be the starting left mid, and then that was immediately corrected that he had suffered some kind of injury, turned out to be a neck injury, so he was a late scratch. And then eight minutes in, Alvaro Fernandez goes down with a hamstring injury, he has to come out,
00:09:59
Speaker
and then O'Neill Fisher comes in and Jovan Jones moves up to left mid and O'Neill Fisher plays as a left back and almost immediately he's just getting pants by the Davies kid and the 15 year old kid who apparently is being
00:10:16
Speaker
looked at by Liverpool and Manchester United, if you believe the rumors, but still, he was just immediately, I mean, almost from the moment he got on the field, he was getting taken apart by this kid, and then sure enough, he commits a pretty dumb penalty, basically loses a battle, tackles the guy in the box,
00:10:38
Speaker
vancouver goes up one zero and at that point it's like okay this is this is the this is the curse of the whites this is uh... the sounders just can't get a break when when they're wearing white and uh... the centers came into this game oh seven and two i have a lot of things of i've i've looked up about these white jerseys lately they came into the game oh seven and two in all competitions in white jerseys and it really looked like it was going to be oh eight and two but then it just it turned the game turned almost immediately after that
00:11:07
Speaker
Osvaldo Alonso scores a great goal on a really nice assist from Jovan Jones.
00:11:14
Speaker
before you know it the centers are are up a man and they're up a goal on brad evans scoring a penalty and and yeah it didn't it wasn't they didn't cruise to victory after that but uh it was an impressive showing i thought it was you know here they are they're down essentially for their best attacking players and they still find a way to score two goals this team hasn't been shut out since uh since
00:11:40
Speaker
Schmester was hired. They've played really good defense. One of the things I think is kind of interesting, they've only given up two goals from the run of play since Roman Torres entered at halftime of the Timbers game. So that's like four and a half games. And that's a
Playoff Prospects and Skepticism
00:12:00
Speaker
pretty good defensive record. They've also given up a couple penalties in that time.
00:12:06
Speaker
It's it's it's impressive stuff and I think right now I don't I don't if I'm a team in in MLS playoffs if I'm the Colorado Rapids if I'm the MF if I'm FC Dallas if I'm Whoever comes out of the East the last team I want to play as the Sounders right now Especially if you're talking about and this is without Clint Dempsey You know that they've that they've kind of that Clint Dempsey went out and I don't know why I don't want to say that they've gotten better since Dempsey went out But they certainly haven't gotten worse
00:12:37
Speaker
I mean, I don't know. I can't imagine another time when the sounders could be missing Dempsey by himself, but let alone also Nicolas Ledera, like you said. I mean, they're just a resilient bunch and there just seems to be a totally different attitude change. And I do think that there's something too
00:12:56
Speaker
this idea that Brian Schmester put forward is that he's really impressed upon the players the idea that they have ownership of this team that this is their team that if they fail it's that it's like they've kind of kind of shoulder the burden to a certain degree but that if they that they have the ability to succeed too and then I and I don't know how that's how that actually manifests itself any differently than what Siggy was doing who knows maybe Siggy was trying to instill the same thing but the attitude just seems totally different
00:13:26
Speaker
Yeah, and I think there's a very fine line between trying to shield your players from blame and trying to, I don't know, absolve them of blame, absolve them of responsibility. And I think that, you know, Sigi was always somebody that was never gonna throw the team under the bus. You know, he'd criticize the guys here and there, but, you know, it was always,
00:13:53
Speaker
He loved to talk about the refereeing, he loved to talk about the conditions, things like that. And I think that that's okay to a certain extent, but, you know, Schmetzer does not really seem that way. I mean, he takes it as it is, and it's, you know, maybe it has helped spur things on, I don't know. And obviously what Siggy says in the media and what Siggy says in the locker room are
00:14:17
Speaker
you know, possibly entirely different things, I don't know. But, you know, I think the point you bring up about Dempsey being missing is a really good one, because I think that, you know, a lot of what people don't want to defend Sigi talk about, like, well, you know, like, yeah, Schmetzer's done great, but, you know, Sigi didn't have Ledero. Well, Schmetzer hasn't had Dempsey. And, you know, I think that, yes, Jordan Morris has gotten better, but it's,
00:14:45
Speaker
I don't know, I mean I think that he's also playing in a role that I think he's much more well suited for and that changed pretty much exactly at the time that Sigi left the team. So I think that you can think that Sigi was a great coach and his time was up and that's gonna happen even to the best coaches. They're just gonna kind of reach the end of the line and not hold him necessarily responsible.
00:15:13
Speaker
without taking anything away from Schmetzer, because I just think that he's done a just absolutely masterful job. And, you know, yeah, he has the benefit of Ramon Torres and Nicolas Slavero, but, you know, he hasn't had Dempsey.
00:15:29
Speaker
He still doesn't have Oba, you know, and so it's not like he has this super loaded, talented team that Sigi didn't have. I mean, Ledera's been huge, but, you know, even Dempsey was playing miles better when he was healthy, I think, under Schmetzer than he was under Sigi.
00:15:51
Speaker
You know, it was a painful thing to happen, but I'm thrilled that the sounders made the change because I think it really needed to happen.
00:15:59
Speaker
I think at this point, the odds of the coach next year being anybody but Schmetzer are pretty slim. And I'm really excited to see what he can do over a full season. Maybe it's the situation and he's gonna get found out next year. I doubt that, but it'll be fun to see what he can do with at least one more DP, possibly two more DPs and another offseason of fine tuning the roster.
00:16:29
Speaker
You know, frankly, I mean, obviously we haven't, uh, sewn up a playoff spot yet, but I don't remember. I think 2011 was probably the last time I was this excited about going into the playoffs. Um, I don't remember exactly what happened in the 2011 playoffs. Uh, I've kind of erased that from my memory. So I don't recall what it was that soured me on, on the concept of the playoffs, but. Yeah. I can't remember it all. Yeah. Yeah.
00:16:57
Speaker
No recollection, but I'm super excited about the playoffs this year. I think that this could be, you know, we're already kind of playing with House of Money, but I think this could be a really special run. Yeah, I mean, it's really, it's nothing short of crazy to think that the Sounders, here they are with three games left to play.
00:17:16
Speaker
And if they win another game, if they win any one of these last three games, they clinched a playoff spot. That's a pretty amazing feat considering where they started. And so it's still possible, I suppose. They could fall flat on their face. They could lose out and they could, and the teams that they're chasing could all of a sudden figure it out and win a couple games. And who knows, maybe we're sitting here at the end of, we're sitting here in a month and we're going, geez,
00:17:44
Speaker
You know, maybe Schmetzer isn't the right guy for the job. I don't know, I don't know if that would, but honestly I don't know that that would totally change my opinion. I think that Schmetzer has already shown a lot of what we needed to see. He's shown some tactical acumen. He's had great second half adjustments. If you look at the second half of every game, the centers have been the better team. And that was for a long time, that was one of the hallmarks of Sigi's team.
00:18:08
Speaker
And I think that maybe what we had gotten to at this point was that Sigi was carrying a lot of baggage. And I think we acknowledged that on the show a few times. And I think that that was unavoidable. If you're someplace for eight years and you haven't won the big title,
00:18:25
Speaker
There's gonna be some baggage that comes along with that. And you know, Siggy kinda, I was a little disappointed, I'll be honest. In that interview he did with Matt Pence, there was a lot of kinda, woe is me. And there was a lot of talk about his legacy. And I don't know that his legacy
00:18:43
Speaker
Is is like his legacy isn't the thing that was gonna keep him his job And I think that there was he seemed to have this idea that while I had had so much success in the past Therefore I should continue to be allowed to do this no matter what's happening now and there was no level of acknowledgement that the last year and a half essentially had been a Total disaster, you know aside from a short window of time when the Sounders actually Looked like they were maybe finding themselves
00:19:14
Speaker
They were they were horrible. They were horrible all last summer. They were horrible all this summer They were horrible for frankly most of this year and you know, I another thing I happen to look up the Sounders were 11 21 and 7 something like that since the red card wedding which is of course the the infamous US Open Cup lost to the to the Timbers and and it's very it's a it's a it's a
00:19:41
Speaker
It's unfortunately a very easy thing to point at as a turning point. Of course they also lost the regular season game the week before that, so I guess in a way their records are a little worse if you want to make it look worse.
00:19:57
Speaker
I just think that there was starting to be an air of negativity that Siggy Schmidt was a little bit too willing to feed into that a little bit, whether it was blaming referees, whether it was talking about the reality that there weren't players there. And I think we were perfectly willing to let him make some of those excuses, and I think I wanted to believe a lot of those excuses.
00:20:23
Speaker
You look at it now, and when Garth said this is a team that had enough talent to not be last in the league, it's hard to argue with that, especially now.
00:20:32
Speaker
Yeah, 100%. Yeah, I mean, I think that that's that's the key thing is that, you know, I think that if you're going to be realistic, you have to look at mitigating factors and you have to look at context and say, okay, yeah, I mean, like, I kind of get they were they were missing a ton of guys to injury and blah, blah, blah. And that's that's a decent excuse. But they start to pile up after a while. And
00:20:54
Speaker
You know, maybe it is a, maybe they're all totally valid excuses. Maybe there's no reason that the Sounders fell apart last season because they were missing guys. And if they had had the guys, they would have won the supporter shield, won the MLS cup, whatever. Maybe if Opa doesn't leave, um, you know, they, they get off to a great start and Ladera comes in and he's the straw that serves the drink and they just run roughshod over the league.
00:21:18
Speaker
But the reality is that, you know, when you're a coach, especially in MLS, your job is to deal with shit when it's not perfect. And increasingly, it just it seemed like for whatever reason, Siggy wasn't doing those things to write the ship when things were getting tough. And he had always been very good at that in the past. And there was enough of a
00:21:41
Speaker
you know, a sample to say like, this just isn't working anymore. And, you know, maybe that's unfair to him, maybe that's bad luck, but it's kind of a, you know, it's kind of a bug business. I mean, you got to figure out a way to rate the ship and he just wasn't doing it anymore.
00:21:57
Speaker
Yeah, so one of the players I did want to talk about before we go to the Shawna Coley interview and eventually go to the questions at the end of the show, and it's one of the things that has really, I feel like, been underreported weirdly, and maybe it's because we spent so much of the first six years talking about how great Ozzy Alonzo was, and then last year we talked about how
00:22:20
Speaker
or I guess maybe the first five years. But last year, it seemed like there was a big regression that was kind of a continuation of the previous year. And as they started this year, I think the expectation was like, if the Sounders can just get Ozzie Alonso to be half the player he was, or maybe not literally half, but if they could just get him to 90%, that would be such a huge, that you'd take that even if you're overpaying him.
00:22:48
Speaker
And I think in the Vancouver game, especially, it was really, I think we maybe saw just how important Ozzy Alonzo is to this team. You know, I wrote that he did it actually, he actually did a pretty good Nicholas Lajero impression against Vancouver.
00:23:03
Speaker
He started albeit from a deeper position, but he was definitely the guy that was putting in a lot of those penetrating passes He was the guy crashing the box. He was the guy that was making sure the centers were keeping position He was the guy that was all over the field chasing down chasing down the ball and making like difficult for the opposition and especially in the second half when they the centers moved out of a four one or What was a one a four one four one?
00:23:32
Speaker
that they supposedly started it and I didn't really get a sense of if they were really ever in that. But Schmetzer said they moved out of that and they moved back into a 4-2-3-1 in the second half. And Ozzie Lonzo, I think, you know, here he's got three goals and four assists. It's now his best offensive season. He's got something like 23, in addition to that, 23 key passes, which
00:23:54
Speaker
interestingly enough, is three fewer than guys like Darlington Nagby and Michael Bradley, which I think puts it into a very good context of how good of a number that is. And he's leading the league in passes completed by 200. He's got the highest completion percentage. Granted, not a stat in a vacuum that is worthy of this level of praise, but when you combine it with everything else.
00:24:22
Speaker
Uh, it's very impressive. Uh, he's leading the league in in successful duels, which are basically aerial duels tackles things like that And then on top of that he's like he's among the leaders in in all these various defensive actions like blocked shots and interceptions and tackles I mean, this is a guy who I think deserved to be mentioned in the vp discussion and I guarantee
00:24:45
Speaker
I mean, this week, all of a sudden, I feel like there's some talk of this. But I just don't think anyone's seriously considering him for an MVP. And I think, you know, this is a guy who's having his best year, and I think is very much in the, should be in the discussion for MVP. I mean, he's been amazing.
00:25:01
Speaker
Yeah, he's doing this like weird hybrid thing where he's his old self and doing all the things we're used to him doing and maybe take for granted. And then he's also producing like Shelry Joseph in his prime kind of numbers, you know, like one of the best like creative deep midfielders that can contribute to the attacking league history and Ozzy is doing that and also just, you know, being Ozzy.
00:25:24
Speaker
It's pretty incredible. And I mean, we talked about this a lot, I think late last season and the off season, you know, about how maybe it did make sense to try to move him and maybe, you know, it was better to just kind of rip the band-aid off and explore that option. And I think given the information that we had at the time, I think that's a totally reasonable, totally defensible position. You know, last season was, he was a very good player, but it was a little bit rough.
00:25:51
Speaker
And you know even saying that and even saying that that I don't you know feel dumb for for thinking that that was the case I'm really really really glad that there wasn't a market for him last season because he's you know He's just I don't want to say he's reinvented himself because that's not really true because he's he's doing all the stuff He's always been good at but he's doing so much more this year and for a long time
00:26:16
Speaker
you know it was I don't want to say it was wasted but it was just it was hard to appreciate it but I think over the last month or two it's become obvious that I mean this is as good as he's ever been and you know it's it's it's remarkable really because he was already really really damn good uh and he's you know I think he is like
00:26:40
Speaker
If there were one player in the league that you could take away from a team and just totally kneecap them, I think that he's got to be like the head and shoulders favorite for that guy that just kind of makes everything tick. And it's pretty remarkable. And I hope he's got at least one or two more seasons at this level, because this is actually a really good core. And it would be a shame if this was some kind of last hurrah of Ozzy.
00:27:10
Speaker
starts to regress a little bit, because it's been a lot of fun to watch over the last couple of months for sure.
00:27:15
Speaker
Yeah, it really has been. And I was tempted to say that he also seems to not be committing as many kind of scary fouls as he was. And I guess the numbers don't suggest that's true. He's still got quite a lot of fouls committed, and he's got seven yellow cards. But it's notable that the last yellow card he had, though, was the one that got him suspended for the Sporting Kansas City match that, of course,
00:27:44
Speaker
Started they got that got Ziggy fired. Yeah, and I do I mean I think that it's a totally subjective thing But to me he doesn't do as much stuff that makes me say oh You know there have not been nearly as many moments this season where he commits a foul and I say man I hope that's just a yellow And I feel like that used to be a semi-regular occurrence. I just think he's gotten a little bit better at picking his spots and and you know walking out line that he has been in the past and
00:28:13
Speaker
Yeah, and I should say now I lied, he's gotten two yellow cards since then, but whatever. Whatever. Whatever. I'm not gonna let the, don't let me ruin my own narrative here, but yeah, I just think Alonzo has been great, and of course as I look, apparently Sounders FC put out an article saying that he's a MVP candidate, so I'm still gonna take credit for starting all that stuff, because until I wrote my column this week, I didn't hear anyone talking about it, but
00:28:41
Speaker
Anyway, I think the takeaway from this is that Oswald Alonzo has been very good. Whether or not he's been underrated is another good conversation. But anyway, we will go to the Sean O'Couley interview and then we're gonna, we have a lot of questions from you guys and we'll get into all kinds of other fun stuff. You're listening to Nos Arietes.
00:29:08
Speaker
Queen Anne acupuncture has over a decade of experience healing the injuries of athletes. Marathon runners, snowboarders, yoga instructors and weekend warriors have all found relief from pain and have enhanced performance with the use of acupuncture and Chinese medicine.
00:29:25
Speaker
Queen Anne Acupuncture has treated players from many of the Seattle area's soccer leagues for a wide range of injuries. Acupuncture also happens to be one of the best treatments for stress. Credit cards are welcome, but Queen Anne Acupuncture is also in network with insurance plans including Primera, Aetna, Lifewise, Cigna and Group Health Cooperative.
00:29:47
Speaker
Located in the Queen Anne neighborhood of Seattle, you can conveniently book an appointment online today at QueenAnneAcupuncture.com.
00:30:01
Speaker
Fullpaw wines are based in Seattle, owned and operated by Sanders fans, and have been sponsoring Nosa Adieira since 2011. They offer the best boutique wines of the world to members of their mailing list, with special focus on their home, the Pacific Northwest. Their model is simple. One, they email compelling offers.
00:30:21
Speaker
Two, you request bottles that sound appealing and three, your wine arrives at their soda warehouse and is ready for pickup or shipping. Their soda tasting room is also open to the public. If you're interested in joining their mailing list or learning more about them, visit fullpawines.com.
00:30:44
Speaker
Welcome back to NOS Adiatus. Right now we're joined by Sean O'Couley, who you remember as a Federal Way native, a Sounders Academy alum, a former Sounders player, and most recently the Golden Boot winner of the U.S.L.
00:30:59
Speaker
And he was playing for FC Cincinnati this year, scored 16 goals, helped lead them to the playoffs for the first time in their first year. And they were playing in front of crowds as big as 30,000. So anyway, welcome to the show, Sean. It's great to have you. Yeah, thanks for having me.
00:31:19
Speaker
So FC Cincinnati was obviously playing in their first year in the U.S.L. They kind of came out of nowhere to break attendance records, to really impress people. What can you tell us about how that whole situation came about, how you ended up with FC Cincinnati? Yeah, I mean, you know, coming on board with FC Cincinnati in the beginning, I know they're really trying to, you know, make this a powerhouse in the league again.
00:31:47
Speaker
One big important piece for them was, you know, getting the fans behind us. And, you know, I remember in preseason, they were talking about, you know, selling about 10,000 tickets for the first game. And a lot of the players thought, you know, that was going to be one of the pinnacles in the season. But to have that be probably the lowest crowd of the season and just continue to grow and grow. And I really think it's something very special. And, you know, just the beginning of something great.
00:32:12
Speaker
One of the more interesting aspects of Cincinnati was that they were coached by former U.S. national team player John Harkes. What role did he play in bringing you to to Cincinnati and and how did it go down kind of with the New England Revolution and there at the end? Yeah, you know, I was in New England last year and I started preseason with them and halfway through, you know, we both came to a decision where it's probably best for me to move on.
00:32:42
Speaker
you know, cause you know, I was very, very eager and hungry to get some game time. Um, but you know, John has been keeping in touch with me for the, towards the end of my second year and the beginning of my third. And, you know, it was, I mean, I was lucky that everything, you know, canned out the way it did. And I was excited to skip to work with John. And I know some got, I knew some guys on the team and I knew one of the assistant coaches as well. So I just figured it was the best place for me in my time in my career. So.
00:33:11
Speaker
I'm glad it worked out, really. So I guess Harx was one of the early hires for Cincinnati. It sounds like he may have reached out to you early. Did you have some sort of relationship with him before you actually started playing there? Yeah, he did. Like I said, we were talking a little bit in the middle of my second season while I was with the Rebs and. Yeah, they were they were stressing the option, you know, of coming to FCC saying it would be a good place for me to showcase my skill and you know.
00:33:41
Speaker
We take that next step forward in development, so I'm glad it all worked out in there. One thing I'm always kind of curious about is what it's like in the U.S.L., you know, day to day. What's it like, you know, living as a U.S.L. player? Do you have roommates? Do you, you know, I don't know, which is what's going on. I would imagine it feels a little bit more like a like MLS and that you guys are playing in front of big crowds, but it's still U.S.L. You know, what are kind of some of the differences?
00:34:10
Speaker
Um, you know, I think a lot of places can be a little humbling because not the resources aren't the best. You know, the fans aren't the best and sometimes the level of play isn't the best, but there are clubs out there. You know, we're really striving to do it right. And I know FCC is at the top of that list. So I was really lucky to get with FCC for this year. But, um, yeah, I mean, I think at the same time, I think there's a lot of hungry players in this league and
00:34:38
Speaker
I know there's a lot of hungry players on my squad, which really raised our game. And I thought it was a good year for not just me, but for everyone. So what can you really say about how big the gap or maybe how small the gap is between MLS and the U.S.L.? You know, there's a lot of things that can be that can be pointed out. And, you know, one thing I think is pretty obvious is the budget around the league.
00:35:07
Speaker
Um, I don't think that necessarily affects the level of play or the, the play on the field, but I think obviously the budget one thing, um, facilities is also another thing. But, um, you know, really I can only talk about how we're doing things here in FC Cincinnati and compare it to the places I've been, which is, you know, New England, Seattle. So would you actually say that FCC was running an operation that was on par with kind of your MLS experiences?
00:35:38
Speaker
Uh, yeah, they did. You know, I think they, you know, I'm taking this back to Seattle and I was in Seattle. Um, you know, the fans were great. The front office was very great. They loved working with the players and try to make, try to put the players in the best situation to succeed on the field. And same thing with the revolutions as well, actually. But, um, you know, I think FCC, especially for this being their first year,
00:36:04
Speaker
I think they did a great job and it kind of reminds me of Seattle when they were in the U.S. going into MLS and I think it's a great start for this club. Speaking of Seattle, it's been a couple years since you were here.
00:36:20
Speaker
And I guess, what's your take on how that whole situation went down? The way it was portrayed here, kind of by Ziggy, was that essentially you wanted to play a little bit more. They had offered the possibility of you going to S2. And you had kind of insisted that you wanted a bigger role. And so they tried to accommodate you and found a place for you. Is that pretty much right? Yeah, I mean, I sat down and had a conversation with Ziggy and Schmetzer.
00:36:49
Speaker
You know, one thing I really stressed that I wanted was game time and more consistent game time. And, you know, it was something I don't think they could have promised me at the time. And, you know, me being at my age, my experience at the time, you know, I just thought it was best for me to, you know, try and try and explore some options and see what I can do in other situations. That being said, you know, I don't think there's any, you know, salt left when I was
00:37:18
Speaker
making my departure, you know, the guys are very supportive of me and, you know, they wish me the best. And I really thank them and I appreciate all the work we did together, but I just thought it was best for me to, you know, move on and, you know, find a different spot for me, which probably doesn't happen much in MLS, but, you know, I think it's something that happens a lot on the game of football. So, yeah.
00:37:42
Speaker
Looking back on the past couple years, you weren't playing as much as you wanted, but you came out of it and you're winning a U.S.L. Golden Boot at 23. Does it feel like those were actually positive experiences? Did you learn some stuff about yourself? Yeah, because I mean, in New England and in Seattle, I was playing with great players and really good players. So even though I wasn't getting much game time at the time,
00:38:09
Speaker
I was still learning things every day, and I was still working hard. And the adversity I went through at these clubs, it kind of put a chip on my shoulder. And I wanted to prove to not just those clubs, but to everyone that I can play and I can score goals. So that's why I think this year is so important for me. I had to find a place where I can portray that and show that. So I'm glad it worked out this season. So would you actually say you're a better player now than you were a couple of years ago?
00:38:40
Speaker
Uh, yeah, you know, going back to my rookie year with Seattle and to now you think, I think I've grown tremendously. Um, I learned a lot more technically, tactically, and also just a mentality on, on and off the field. So, and I think a lot of that comes with playing consistent minutes is when you really find out some things about yourself as a player in person. And, you know, I think it's been a whole process the last few years of getting to where I'm at now.
00:39:09
Speaker
You know, but the exciting thing is, you know, I'm still, I still have a lot of them to grow and I'm very hungry to keep getting better. So it's been good. What do you see that's next for you? Do you, do you think you're going to spend another year in Cincinnati? Do you want to make a move back to MLS? You think about maybe trying to go to Europe? Um, I couldn't tell you anything set right now. Uh, I know there's interest from MLS and overseas, but, uh, I just, I just want to, you know,
00:39:38
Speaker
Season just ended. I wanted to brief a little bit reflect on the season, you know, start to think what's really best for me and, you know, necessarily staying at FCC. That's not necessarily a bad thing. So I'm just trying to get all my options in front of me and besides what's best.
00:39:54
Speaker
Obviously being 23 is still pretty young, at least by American soccer standards. Do you ever, you've experienced a lot already. Do you ever kind of have to remind yourself that you're still pretty young and you still got a lot of career ahead of you? I don't know. Do you feel like you have to convince others of that maybe? Yeah, I mean, yeah, I am 23. I am young, but at the same time, I'm going into a stage in my career where, you know, results are very important and I can't.
00:40:23
Speaker
rely on my age for, you know, for, you know, security or whatever, you know, what I've been through the last couple of years, it kind of got me to a point and got me thinking, I would say like an older, more mature player. So, so, you know, I'm just trying to take it one step at a time and just keep, just keep working on growing. And I know the goals will come and doesn't matter what age you are really.
00:40:52
Speaker
What was the off the field situation like in Cincinnati? Did you have roommates? I don't know. Did you feel like you had a good relationship with your teammates? Yeah. I mean, I lived with two other guys on the team and it's a pretty close group, which, you know, helps with that aspect. But, you know, being part of FCC really gives you an opportunity to see the city of Cincinnati actually, you know, like first person, like going out to eat for in the restaurants, you know, going to see the parks.
00:41:22
Speaker
just, you know, really trying to discover the city. And, you know, I really fell in love with the city and with my time here. And I think it's a great city. I didn't know much coming into it. I can tell you that, but you know, it's something that, something that really grew on me and I appreciate it. So yeah, it's been good. And you know, it was a little bit easier in Seattle since I had my family and friends there, but at the same time, I feel like I've been traveling around the world since I was 16. So,
00:41:49
Speaker
I always knew traveling is part of the game, so never homesick. Obviously you've kept in touch with your family back here, but have you kept in touch with your friends? Have you kept in touch with the Sounders back here in Seattle? I mean, I have a lot of buddies on the team and I always follow them. Seattle is a close club to my heart.
00:42:14
Speaker
But yeah, I like to keep in touch with not just my family and friends, but the guys on the team too. So yeah, we keep in touch. Would you say that you're still open to the idea of returning to Seattle? Is that something you're kind of hoping to do at some point? Yeah, like I said, Seattle has a very close spot to my heart. I've been watching them since I was a little kid. And I honestly feel like I have some unfinished business to do there. But at the same time, I'm with FC Cincinnati now.
00:42:44
Speaker
I'm focused and, you know, getting better as a player and a person. And yeah, we'll see. You can never, you can never say you always have to keep your options open in football for sure. You obviously had your hands full with your own team and your own career, but did you keep abreast of what was going on in Seattle this summer with the change in coaching and everything else? Yeah, I was busy with, you know, my season, but I, I did see the news and.
00:43:11
Speaker
All I can say about that is, you know, I think Ziggy's a great coach and I thought he did great things at Seattle. And at the same time, I know Shwetch is a very good coach as well. And I think they've had a good start within there. So I wish them both the best of luck.
00:43:27
Speaker
Thanks so much for doing the show, Sean. I know that a lot of people here have taken a keen interest in your career. They've watched it closely. They've taken a lot of pride in what you've done. And it was great seeing you scoring, not just goals, but some really impressive goals. And frankly, being a big part of the story that was, in a lot of ways, one of the more compelling stories in American soccer this summer. So congratulations and...
00:43:58
Speaker
Verity is a local credit union and has been headquartered in Seattle since 1933. They have branches throughout the Puget Sound area and know what is important to you because they live here too. Verity is not for profit and puts any money they make into good rates, products and services for you, the members. They have credit cards with competitive rates, checking and savings accounts and loans for all sorts of things, even bicycles.
00:44:25
Speaker
Verity is federally insured by the NCUA and an equal housing opportunity lender. Anyone who lives, works, worships or attends school in Washington state can become a member and we would love to have you. Learn more and apply at veritycu.com.
00:44:47
Speaker
Towards Cascadia provides an analysis of a wide range of topics including regional identity, bioregionalism, the philosophy of freedom and the foundations of our most pressing civic issues. The goal of the book is to provide readers a new and legitimate perspective on how to understand the Pacific Northwest. Towards Cascadia is now available as an e-book in all major formats. To learn more and purchase your copy today, go to towardscascadia.com.
00:45:22
Speaker
Welcome back to Nos Arietes. You got a lot of questions to ask us, Lickert? Let's get right into it here. SunnyJim509 asks, can we really do this? Yeah, you know, it's crazy. It's totally crazy, but...
00:45:41
Speaker
And I do wonder, the one thing I do wonder about is if the sounders are like burning too hot. Like if they're stoking the fire too much, if they're going to be out of fuel essentially by the time they get, you know, it's like theoretically, if they get to the conference semi finals, they'll have played essentially like 12 straight must win games. And I guess there's a, and they obviously, or maybe not must win, but like 12 games where the margin of error was very small.
00:46:11
Speaker
And it's definitely worth wondering, maybe more than that, maybe like 15. It's definitely worth wondering if, and I think the one thing that has maybe, if you could criticize Schmetzer for during this run, is that he's been really, really reliant on the same group of guys. He hasn't rotated the lineup unless he's been forced to at all. And even his bench has been basically Nelson Valdez, Hercules Gomez, O'Neill Fischer,
00:46:40
Speaker
I don't know who else has been I mean, it's like the bench has only been like three or four guys Yeah, I mean I guess on the one hand the the plane time thing is a factor, but sometimes I feel like We worry about that too much like I don't know these are these are certainly it seems to be the case right now I
00:47:04
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, you know, these are professional athletes. They, I don't know, I just, you see a lot of teams that don't rotate as much as the Sounders have over the years. And a lot of that has been, you know, just they've had to do it because of call ups or injuries or whatever, but they never seem to have fatigue problems. So I don't know. It's, I don't know, but I, but I'm certainly not willing to say like, Oh, it's not a big deal. I just, I genuinely don't know. But in terms of the, um,
00:47:35
Speaker
I guess the less tangible aspects of that, like, you know, are they, is it just going to be too much emotionally or whatever? I'm just, I'm not sure I buy that as a thing. I think good teams win. And, and I think that, you know, mentality is certainly a huge part of that, but I don't know if it gets to a point where it's like, Oh God, we've won too much, you know? And like, I don't know. Like I think that if they can stay healthy, if they can stay, um,
00:48:04
Speaker
you know, they can avoid sort of falling off that cliff in a fatigue sense. I feel pretty good about their chances. And I'll say this, the sounders have kind of done it both ways. They've gone into the playoffs blazing hot and they've gone into the playoffs limping and it doesn't seem to make much difference in the end. So I'm not 100% convinced that it's going to make a huge difference
00:48:28
Speaker
Their form isn't so much what worries me, but I think the fact that when you say, can they do this, the assumption is that can they win MLS Cup and not can they make the playoffs is pretty amazing in itself, I think. We've kind of said that before, but it's now, making the playoffs seems almost like a given at this point, and who knows, maybe in a couple weeks we'll be like, well, that was stupid.
00:48:54
Speaker
Right now it feels like the playoffs are the new baseline expectation and MLS Cup I don't think is an expectation and it does feel like you're playing with house money like you said earlier but man it feels like this could be a team that's capable of making it run.
00:49:12
Speaker
It really does kind of seem like in, from like a narrative perspective of just the way everything's gone over the years, that the sounders sort of like falling ass backwards in the playoffs and then just blowing everybody out of the water is how it would almost have to happen, right? Like they couldn't, they couldn't, like of course they couldn't do it in a year. They won the supporter shield or in a year that they were, you know, if not the best team in the league, the most exciting, like now it had to be a year that they just kind of like farted around for three quarters of the season.
00:49:41
Speaker
MLS at Gritty City Sounder Was that Zach? Did Zach just come onto the show? At Gritty City Sounder asks, fast forward to the last game vs. RSL. How much could that game mean depending on results? How high could we go?
00:50:01
Speaker
It could mean a ton. I mean, I actually kind of think it will mean a ton I think that the sounders could legitimately get to fourth And if they do there's a very good chance they could get a third man. Well, they could
00:50:16
Speaker
I'm hedging a little bit. Yeah, you are. Come on. I think that that game could mean the difference between a home playoff game and having to go on the road. I don't think that's especially controversial. And that's huge, especially since they have a lot of miles on them. Yeah, I mean, I would say that my baseline expectation for that game is that it will decide the four or five seating. And the upside expectation is that it could vault them in a third.
00:50:47
Speaker
Now second, I think it's pretty outside the realm of realistic possibility, although it remains mathematically possible. But third seems like entirely doable, and I'll couch that by saying I don't know that finishing third is that much better than finishing fourth. Because either way you get a home game, and if I have to choose between playing
00:51:11
Speaker
RSL or one of Kansas City or the Timbers. I might rather play RSL but Anyway Okay at Kirby the King asks season ends today. Who is your MVP? For the sounder I guess for the league I Mean it's hard to go against Chiavinko, right? I mean he's been
00:51:39
Speaker
You know, TFC's been a supporter shield contender. He's been their best player. I think he's going to win. But I really do think Alonzo deserves to be in that conversation. And I think Alonzo has been the Sounders most important player. Hell, I mean, I think Nicholas Ledero is probably gonna get some mention. If, you know, granted right now, yeah. I mean, he gets a couple more assists or something. It's pretty, pretty amazing. I mean, it's really amazing.
00:52:06
Speaker
Yeah, I think, I mean, I think Alonzo is a great non for the Sounders. It's really hard to argue with. If Lodero had been here the whole season, I think he might be the front-runner for the league. League-wide though, I mean, I think you're probably right that it's Chavinco, but I think you could make a pretty decent case both for Bradley Wright Phillips and David Villa.
00:52:27
Speaker
Yeah, and even between them three and really even such a question. I mean he's he's having a hell of a year but I think I think it's Genenko just because I think he doesn't necessarily have to like eye-popping goal numbers that that via and right Phillips have but Just his entire I mean he's he's with arrow
00:52:50
Speaker
Like when in build-up play he does everything Ledera does and then he also scores, you know Seventeen eighteen goals a year. So it's it's kind of hard to argue with him Okay Twimberly 23 has two questions. First question is was Fisher's performance due to playing on the left rather than the right? I
00:53:10
Speaker
You know, it's funny, I've seen this suggested several places and I find it mildly curious because he played a ton on the left last year. I mean, I think he had like 14 starts last year. All of them, I'm pretty sure were on the left side. So it's not like he's unaccustomed to playing on the left. So I'm not inclined to give him that benefit of the doubt. I think he was just outclassed. I think he got thrown in.
00:53:39
Speaker
into a situation where he was matched up against a guy whose main skill was speed and his main skill was a little better than Fisher's main skill and he got caught. Second question is, is Ozzy beginning the Zack Scott improve with age trajectory? Kind of seems that way. It really does and it's kind of funny because like
00:54:06
Speaker
I remember 2010 when we first started doing the show, I think it was. It might have been 2011, I don't know. It was a hell of a long time ago, though. I was just very firmly in that I never want to see Zach Scott's ass on the field, ever, in any circumstances, territory.
00:54:24
Speaker
And the league has gotten significantly better and he like, I'm not especially nervous when he's on the field. I mean, he certainly has some shortcomings and I think that's obvious, but he's clearly like significantly better than he was, you know, when he was five years younger, it's pretty funny. But yeah, I mean, if Alonzo wants to keep improving through age, his age 34, 35 season, that's, that's fine with me.
00:54:53
Speaker
Okay, Steve Locker asks, can you boil down the difference in tactics between Ziggy and Schmitzer in the last few games? Why is it working? You know, that's a good question. And I don't know that I have a great answer. I think that one of the big differences is that there's been a little bit more of a real formation maybe.
00:55:19
Speaker
that there's been a little bit more of a commitment to wide players being midfielders and less pure attacking players. And so maybe that's part of it. But I don't know that it's... I know that there's an ongoing conversation about Sigi's sticking to the 4-3-3 through thick and thin. And I would think that most listeners of this show are well aware that
00:55:47
Speaker
While Ziggy was calling it a 4-3-3, it hadn't been a 4-3-3 for a long time. It was essentially a 4-4-2. Heck, it was kind of a 4-2-3-1, not so different than what Schmetzer was playing. I think it's probably more to do less with tactics and more to do with that he's got players that are a little bit more set in roles and that he's got players that are, frankly, putting in a better effort.
00:56:14
Speaker
Yeah, and I think, I think it's less tactics in terms of like, we're gonna play this formation and we're gonna look to do XYZ and more and, you know, like, we're gonna try to counter or we're gonna try to keep possession and it's, it's more, I think it is more about those specific roles. I mean, I think that we've seen, I think Christian Roldan is a great example of somebody whose role has kind of changed since Schmetzer, you know, came out of the scene in that he,
00:56:40
Speaker
You know, with Sigi he was kind of a two-way, box-to-box, just kind of running all over the field, and he was effective doing that, but he has a, I think a much more well-defined sort of double-pivot role with Alonzo. I think that a lot of the time earlier in the season, they both got caught up field, and the Sounders gave up counter-attacks, and you know, I think they've done a much better job of kind of working out a system
00:57:08
Speaker
I think that's a difference. I think what you said kind of about having actual wide players and wide positions has been a big thing when it's possible, at least. But I think more than anything, I think that the Sounders just try to score goals more often than they used to. I mean, that sounds kind of flippant.
00:57:32
Speaker
We talked about it earlier, but I do not see them coming out that positive against Vancouver or under Ziggy. I just don't see it. I see them trying to kind of write out the result. And I think the Sounders just are trying to take the game to other teams and they're having success doing that.
00:57:50
Speaker
And I think that really the, when we kind of saw that change was the Portland game where the sounders did try to kind of sit back and maybe be a little bit pragmatic and just got their doors blown off and, uh, and said, now we're not going to do that anymore. So I think that that's, that's been a big difference, but ultimately I do think it's, it's a lot more of a mental thing than anything else. Okay. P bar 96 asks, where does the tandem of Aussie
00:58:18
Speaker
Kristin Roldan, Rankis, center midfield duels in MLS. I'm loving it. It's up there. Yeah. I mean, I can't pretend to have a encyclopedic knowledge of every center mid tandem in MLS, but I honestly can't imagine one being better right now. Like they seem to be a perfect compliment for each other. Yeah. I mean, Colorado is pretty good. Um,
00:58:45
Speaker
Columbus is pretty good, I guess. Portland, Portland's pretty damn good, actually. That's, they might be the closest, but I would take those two over. I wouldn't swap these two for any, I mean, I'll say this, I wouldn't, if you had to, like, if I could just take another tandem, I wouldn't take one. This is, for me, as good as you want in MLS, as soon as you get, I guess. A.S. Bednar asks, did Brad deserve a red?
00:59:13
Speaker
Do you think it will be rescinded? You know, Aaron and I have had many discussions about this over the last few days, and rather than speak for him, I'll start by saying, and I suspect that he'll say something similar, is that I think it would have been reasonable for Salazar to not give a read, but I think that I'm not shocked that he got a read.
00:59:43
Speaker
And I think that it was probably a stupid thing to do to shake your head violently anywhere near a, whether he was miming a headbutt or he was imitating a headbutt or whatever he was doing, it sure gave the impression to people that weren't just watching a replay but watching it live that he was trying to headbutt the guy. And that's a pretty stupid thing to do. Now, will it be rescinded? It's possible.
01:00:14
Speaker
I don't know, I guess it wouldn't be the craziest card to ever get rescinded. But I have actually come up with another theory though.
01:00:24
Speaker
And that's that I think Brad may have gotten the red card on purpose as a form of a sacrificial red card to destroy, to kind of lift the curse of the whites from the sounders. And you know, Brad Evans surely is someone who is studied in the occult and probably understands that as a first born son, it was gonna be like he would be a good person to sacrifice himself. And so I think he kind of threw himself on the altar. And,
01:00:52
Speaker
And so it was all about breaking the curse. That's certainly a theory. I think piggybacking on that, I think he realized that Salazar was looking for any way to even the game out. So he did sacrifice himself in a way that he could just leave after scoring. Because he wanted, he thought he was the player that could, I don't know.
01:01:22
Speaker
Yeah. I don't know where you're going with that. Anywho, Andy Fretwell asks, what is the worst thing Spencer has done so far as head coach? Putting a Fisher Sunday? Continuing to start Tyrone Mirrors.
01:01:36
Speaker
Yeah, that's like the slam dunk answer there. There's gotta be something we're missing, right? I don't know. I'm at a loss for how Tyrone Mears continues to find himself in the starting lineup. And I guess to some degree, if it was, I will say this, is that I think after seeing O'Neill Fisher's performance on Sunday, that I'm a little more
01:02:06
Speaker
sympathetic to the idea that Schmetcher was reluctant to roll the dice with Fischer over Mears. As bad as Mears has been, maybe he was worried that Fischer might actually be worse. I think it's possible that he would have liked to have used Evans as a right back, but that
01:02:25
Speaker
for whatever reason, it didn't really work out. And I'm not convinced that Evans won't eventually play right back for Schmetzer, but yeah, I don't know. That's, to me, the continued, the seeming reliance to keep rolling Tyrone Mears out as your right back seems to me to be- Is it just that Mears is like never hurt, really?
01:02:48
Speaker
Maybe. I could be. And the thing, so we kind of talked about this with Zack Scott before, but it's like, okay, maybe Zack Scott's not great, but you know exactly what you're going to get. And maybe that's what it is. I mean, mirrors is a very predictable player. He's not going to do anything too terrible defensively. Um, he's not going to, you know,
01:03:13
Speaker
do anything too terrible in the attack, I guess. He's just like, you know, like you're gonna get like an average-ish performance from Tyrone Mears. And maybe that's what it is. Maybe it's that predictability and knowing like, you know, yeah, he might make a mistake, but probably not. And he's not gonna set the world on fire, but he's not gonna be a huge liability. Maybe that's what it is. I don't know.
01:03:38
Speaker
Maybe he'll give up on a random play at the ino opportune time, but. Right, right. Yeah, yeah. But I mean, like, to be honest, he was probably never going to make that play anyway. So like, I don't know. Maybe I don't know. Right. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's possible. It's totally possible. I think it's probably I mean, I'm sure there's a logical answer. We're just being.
01:04:03
Speaker
you know, boneheaded about it. Maybe he's just best friends with Brian Spencer. You know, you don't know. Yeah, maybe he's really good. We just don't appreciate him. And here's the name I always screw up at Matt Latzinca. He asked, is anyone from the usual starting 11 going to be available for the 1012 versus Houston game predicted lineup? Let the kids play. Yeah, we're gonna start Darwin Jones is gonna be fucking great.
01:04:33
Speaker
Uh, yeah, like we can go over the list of who's not going to be available. Uh, or who looks like they might not be available. Jovan Jones is out with Trinidad and Tobago for the Caribbean cup qualifier. Uh, not, I'm not making fun of that. That's just frustrating to lose. Jordan Morris, we're pretty sure was going to be back. So we won't count him. Nicholas Ledero is with Uruguay for World Cup qualifiers. I'm,
01:05:00
Speaker
be very surprised to see him be back. Who else? O'Neill Fisher. Not really a starter, but he's with Jamaica right now. Brad Evans is going to be out on a suspension most likely. Alvaro Fernandez might be hurt, but Andres Avonchitz likely back. Well Chad Marshall of Roman Torres.
01:05:22
Speaker
I would imagine Dylan Remick probably gets a look at left back. Tyrone Mears, obviously, right back. Stephon Fry, Alonzo, Roldan, Avonchitz. And who do we think would start in right mid? Kovar, maybe? Yeah, that seems like a good Kovar game. It's actually not gonna be as bad as it once sounded, really. Yeah, and then maybe you go with Valdez and Morris up top, I don't know.
01:05:51
Speaker
Yeah, I don't know. And if Lodera's back, we're missing two guys. Yeah, I don't think it's as quite, it's not disastrous. You can still beat the Dynamo at home. Yeah, man, I hope so. That would make, winning that game would really ease a lot of my, would erase my concerns, I think. Okay, Bill Jones, STRPT asks, looking at the remaining fixtures, what are the chances that we get a home playoff spot? Asking for our employee.
01:06:24
Speaker
I think it's pretty good. If I was having to plan my future, I would probably plan for a home playoff game. I would say it's 40-60, I would say. Which is pretty good. I would plan for 40-60, right? Let me tell you this, Aaron. If the Sounders go into the season finale needing to beat RSL to host that game, what would you be predicting?
01:06:53
Speaker
If they needed to beat RSL, I would go like 70-30, I would say. The Houston game is kind of a weird unknown and the Dallas game. I think there's a huge possibility that they went out and they, you know, go into the last game, not even needing to win, but
01:07:18
Speaker
Can you imagine if they finished on 53 points? It'd be pretty funny. Yeah, pretty funny
01:07:24
Speaker
It's I mean, it's not that like hard to see it happening. I don't know I think that Dallas maybe is not gonna be in the supporter shield race For the game down there and they haven't been anywhere near the team that they were wouldn't want to see Oh Do you think you think Colorado is gonna pass pass them? Is that what you're saying? Maybe maybe they do. I don't know. I Don't know. I mean it's it's
01:07:48
Speaker
There are a lot of potential outcomes, I guess is what I'm saying, and I wouldn't be shocked by any of them, really. But I think the odds of them having a home game are decent. Okay, Chris Seattle asks, is just making the playoffs, now that we're close to clinching, enough? What outcome equals hashtag higher schnitzr or Z there?
01:08:15
Speaker
It's enough for me. I think they should hire him in the off season. And yeah, I don't know. And if they get in the playoffs, I'm happy. Like, I'm going to be bummed out if they lose a game, obviously. But I think that, you know, it's hard to expect too much more from this season than that. Yeah, I think Schmetzer has done enough to deserve the job. I will say that I don't think it's a mistake on either side's part to not have already made the
01:08:44
Speaker
job permanent. I think if I'm Schmetzer, I kind of want to play this out to see how well I can position myself. And if I'm the Sounders, I'm just not in a hurry to change anything. Let it go. There's no benefit to hiring Schmetzer today other than to shut up a handful of fans. Yeah, I just wanted to say that
01:09:11
Speaker
I would be disappointed if they didn't do due diligence and look or hadn't already. And if they had, then they're going to come back and find that he's probably the best choice in any case.
01:09:24
Speaker
I'll also say that I think Bob Bradley signing with Swansea probably makes Brian Spencer a lot easier to hire. Because if Bob Bradley's swimming around out there and you think here's a possibility you can sign Bob Bradley, you kind of have to interview him. But if he's not available, and if he's at Swansea, he's not available, just point blank, I think Brian Spencer, you're gonna have a hard time finding someone very much better. Hashtag thanks, thanks Swansea.
01:09:54
Speaker
SP the ghost asks who are you? Oh weirdie. Did we ask that now? Who who are you protecting in the coming expansion draft?
01:10:04
Speaker
All right, so SP, of course, getting ahead of himself. We're still a long way from having to worry about this. But you know, it's funny, I kind of, I was, we asked this, we were asked this maybe a month or two ago, and at the time I was kind of like, God, there's more spots than the sounders know what to, than really, like, there's no painful cuts, I don't feel. And I have to admit,
01:10:28
Speaker
that still I'm looking at the roster and I don't see like a ton of painful cuts. I got to 11 I felt like pretty easily. And here's my 11. Alonzo, Lidero, Torres, Marshall, Evans, Frye, Jones, Roldan, I guess Alvaro Fernandez, I guess Tony Alfaro, and then I'm assuming Clint Dempsey will have to be protected.
01:10:54
Speaker
Um, and then you have guys like Jordan Morris or Aaron Kovar, Darmon Jones, who I'm pretty sure will be automatically protected. Um, like there's, and so that like, you know, that you have like bubble guys, I guess like Andrea Savanciets, who I don't feel like you would have to protect. Nelson Valdez, another guy who.
01:11:12
Speaker
You're definitely not, not, it's mean. You're not gonna protect Nelson Valdez. You're not gonna protect to Herrimere's, I hope. You're not gonna protect Dylan Remick. I mean, I'm not sure there, you don't have, there's not a lot of painful, you know, I don't feel like there's a lot of, you know, maybe you predict Avonchitz over Alfaro or Fernandez, but I don't know, I don't see a lot of, I don't see a lot of pain there.
01:11:36
Speaker
Yeah, SP is going to complain about us saying Jones. And I'm still waiting for that list of MLS left backs that are better than Joe and Jones. Yeah. Definitely better than Joe and Jones. Anytime you want to send that my way. I mean, Joe and Jones is not like the best left back in the world. But man, by MLS standards, I don't know that like he's I would take him over Leo Gonzalez in his prime, frankly. I don't know if I go that far.
01:12:07
Speaker
But I would take him over at least 75% of left backs in MLS. And in a salary cap league, you're doing pretty good if you want that. OK, maybe Leo Fennan is Leo Gonzalez in his prime. How dare you. That's a stretch. He was really good. He was. But.
01:12:24
Speaker
You know, Jovan Jones, I think, continues to just, like, yeah, he's somewhat of a liability defensively, but I think he's actually gotten better. And he's a definite plus going forward. He's a huge plus going forward, and he also has to play on the left pretty consistently with midfielders that don't have a lot of interest in defending. And I think that that, you know, that definitely leaves him.
01:12:53
Speaker
At Todd King asks, what do we do if Valdez suddenly becomes a goal machine in the playoffs and single-handedly wins us an MLS Cup? Still a DP? No, we ask him if he wants to come back at 200k. Yeah, you do the exact same thing you do at any place. No, you thank him for his service.
01:13:13
Speaker
You said, thanks for it. Now we feel better about investing the money we already invested in you. Would you like to come for us? I think what you do is you put a contract in the middle of a goal. Don't put a goalie in and say, if you can hit the ball and hit the contract. And then to follow that up, Chip Rogers asks, what kind of goal is necessary to complete the perfect Valdez story arc and when can we expect it?
01:13:41
Speaker
Well clearly, I mean I think the perfect arc is him scoring the winning goal in Emily's Cup. From a racist from Hercules Gomez.
01:13:51
Speaker
Yeah, clearly. That's clearly the... I don't want him to wait until then to do it, but if you're looking for the perfect ending to the Nelson Valdez story, that's it. His first goal... I think it would have to involve him dribbling past literally one person. Just one person beating them off the dribble. That would be...
01:14:14
Speaker
You know, I will say this for Nelson Valdez. I don't know how much we've spent. I feel like we probably have said this before, but I want to say it again. He has been a total asset for like the last couple months.
01:14:25
Speaker
Oh, yeah. Yeah, he's been I mean, he's been great. It's just his contract. No, he's a horrible investment. But he's not like just sucking up space. I mean, he's been like, he's a great guy to come in and kill off a game. I mean, yeah, absolutely. Yeah. I mean, I need a goal. He's less useful than air blood. But when you have the goal, he's tremendous. Yeah.
01:14:48
Speaker
Any to occupy his defenders and he I mean he's you can you can argue that he's helped Jordan Moore score a couple of his later goals You could argue that you know, it's funnier to Now that's all I'm gonna see when I see him Matt Wally recito asks given the relationship with Sigi and Dempsey and the team's current form without Clint Is it possible that he was bad for the locker room?
01:15:21
Speaker
No. I mean, I guess it's possible. It seems unlikely to me, though. Maybe he was just a bad dancer. I don't know. Yeah, I'm not. I mean, I don't I don't think he was. I don't think he's bad for the lock. I don't know if I.
01:15:39
Speaker
Yeah, I don't think he's bad for the locker room, but I definitely think it's possible that he is a, at best, neutral locker room presence. Like, I don't think anyone's rallying behind him. I think, like, that was part of why the whole, like, I don't know if you remember this, I'm sure you do, but last year when he was saying, like, when Oba said, yeah, at one point, everyone said, we need to get, we need to get me the ball, maybe it was 2014, it must've been 2014.
01:16:05
Speaker
And Oba was like, yeah Clint stood up for me and basically said, we need to start getting over the ball. And I was like, wow. Like Clint actually like said something in the locker room that was not about him or whatever. And that's not to denigrate Clint, but I just don't think Clint's like, he says it himself. He's not like a raw, raw guy. He's not, you know, taking Morris aside and mentoring him. And so I guess there's a possibility that this locker room is a little bit more loose, but I don't think he's,
01:16:34
Speaker
I don't think he's actively sewing discontent.
01:16:37
Speaker
I don't get the feeling that he has emotions, really. Like, just at all. Yeah, I kinda have that scene. Like, when he punches the guy in the dick, it's a reflex action, or like, when he rips up a, you know, a red card, it's like a, you know, just what his programming is telling him to do. Like, I don't, and that's not, like, I'm kinda that way. Like, I'm not, you know, a super emotional guy, especially at work. I'm pretty even keeled, like, and I don't talk to a lot of people. I don't think it's inherently a bad thing, I just think it's like,
01:17:07
Speaker
You know, it's hard for me to see him being effusive enough to cause any problems, I guess. So an interesting little note. I just looked this up right now. The Nelson del Des has 4.2 expected goals right now, which is tied for, which is, it's by far the most of any player without a goal. You have to go all the way down.
01:17:33
Speaker
I don't know why I'm doing this to myself. Boniat Garcia is the next, or no, Gilberto, who's no longer with Chicago, is the next player to have the most, he has less than two expected goals without a goal. Anyway, I thought I'd share that. Well, if you wanna be positive, you could say he's been unsustainable in terms of his finishing, and maybe he'll score six goals next year if he comes back. That'd be great. Totally.
01:17:57
Speaker
Speaking of Sean Oakley, Timerfi asks, do you think it would ever be possible or would the team consider trying to bring Oakley back?
01:18:11
Speaker
so I asked him this in the show and he definitely implied that he is open to it and in his mind there's been no bridges burned and he feels like he's on good terms with you know Schmetzer and he felt like he left the sounders on on Reasonally good terms like he didn't feel like it was like in a and like
01:18:33
Speaker
bad blood kind of way. And I would think the sounders would, you know, be open to the possibility of bringing him back. And I don't know, I wonder how that would work though. I don't know what the mechanism is. I guess the sounders would have to put them on their discovery list. Yeah, it's a weird one because like, I mean, you would have to assume that the rubs don't own its rights. Oh, yeah, I would definitely assume that. But yeah, I don't know.
01:19:00
Speaker
Yeah, maybe he is, maybe he's on the discovery list, maybe he's coming back next year. Maybe, maybe there's a... I mean, what's funny about this whole thing is that the sounders basically, and this is the story that he effectively confirmed, was that the sounders basically told him, yeah, we'd love to have you back, but we want you to go to S2. And he was like, well, I want to play in MLS. And the sounders were like, well, we'll find some place where you can play.
01:19:24
Speaker
And of course, he went to the revolution, didn't play any more than he had with the Sounders. And then, sure enough, he goes to the U.S.L. and he tears it up. You know, if you wonder if he had just gone to S2 to begin with. Yeah, he'd be coming out. Who knows, maybe this was a journey he needed to go on. Maybe this was ultimately the best thing that he could do and he's going to come out of it a better player and I think that's entirely possible too.
01:19:48
Speaker
I do too. And I hope that he does it for the Sounders. That would be cool. Yeah, I would love it. It would be a great story if he comes back to the Sounders. I'd love to have him back here. And he's a great, he's a nice kid. I like him a lot. Okay. Turner, Turner ESQ asks, give me a $20 bet to make in Vegas tomorrow. It could be on a game this weekend or a team to win a championship this sports year.
01:20:09
Speaker
How about Sounders to win MLS Cup? The odds gotta be, I wonder what the odds are like right now for the Sounders to win MLS Cup and what they would have been if you- That's a good question. Let me check. Let's fire up the old Bet365 and see what the odds are. I mean, if you're just talking general sports, I would put $20 on Alabama to win the national title.
01:20:37
Speaker
You know, that seems like a safe bet.
Memphis Loss & Sounders Odds
01:20:40
Speaker
How about Memphis to win the national title? That's not going to happen. They lost. They lost the game. Thanks for reminding me of that, that I had forgotten, kind of forgotten that that had happened, but you know.
01:20:56
Speaker
I don't know, I can't remember how to navigate this website, but I would imagine that the odds that you can get in Vegas for the Sounders winning MLS Cup are significantly worse than the actual odds.
01:21:13
Speaker
According to sports insights. Yeah, which Apparently gets the information from five dimes, which I don't know anything about either of these places the sounders are Plus 5,000 to win so I guess that's like doesn't sound good 50 to 1 that can't possibly be
01:21:39
Speaker
Yeah, it can't possibly be the actual odds right now. That's that's what that's 500 to 1 right? Yeah, that's like 501. There's no way that that's no That's crazy 50 to 1 so if you can get 50 to 1 odds on the Sanders winning MLS Cup I would I would do it I would too, but there's no way No
01:22:00
Speaker
Yeah, you're right. This is based on $100 bet. So it's for sure. But that's, that's, there's no way that's the actual odds you get in Vegas. Yeah. But if you, if you find them, I would, I, yeah, that's, that's great.
Humor and Lighthearted Moments
01:22:11
Speaker
And then he asks, not so much a question as a prompt. What's the plot over here for true detective season three starring JMo and Roldan?
01:22:25
Speaker
Man, they are like the best couple, aren't they? They're adorable. I love them. I want to bake them a birthday cake. They are so cute. I love them. And it's so perfect. It's like such a perfect little match. I hope it doesn't turn into a Gareth Walker, Alex Hunter situation. That would crush me.
01:22:48
Speaker
Yeah, I don't even know what that is, but that sounds like, let's hope not. You need to get a PS4. I know. Oh, is that, is that a, uh, is that the storyline in EA 17 or FIFA 17? I enrolled on would totally be Gareth Walker too. He would totally be the one to like get two big first britches and turn on Jamo on Jamo's and grind it and out. True Detective season three would be, um, Jamo enrolled on taking Kova out for ice cream.
01:23:23
Speaker
At Seaburg Sipes ask how many more key wins will it take for the Olympic white curse to be removed? I Think I think no, it's not there aren't enough games there aren't enough games left. I
01:23:41
Speaker
I mean, there's not enough games for me to stop hating the whites. I should, I should clarify. Like, I hope the centers never wear them again and I, and I will never stop hating them. But I think that the, the, the hex has been broken. I think that there's no longer supernatural, uh, things at a foot. And let's go quick fire here.
01:24:02
Speaker
Well, I don't know. I don't I don't know if I agree with that because if there aren't now there never were and I know they were talking about they sacrificed Brad Evans. Oh, that's right. That's gonna be in the lower throat the curse. That's true. That's true. Quick fire. I hope so. In the sounder's cannon. I would get it into the cannon. Two more quick fire. White Olympic white questions. Chessrockle14 asks, who would win in a fight? Sounder's white jerseys are a case of Bud Light.
01:24:34
Speaker
If you spilled a kiss about light on the white jerseys, they would be super gross. So I want to go with the white. Yeah, for sure. White cannot beat a paper bag. And then the last one, CMDCP82 asks, what would you be your method of destroying the Olympic whites? Viking funeral. No question. Viking funeral. That's pretty good. I'd kind of like to
01:25:02
Speaker
Douse him in gasoline, stuff him in a wine bottle, and then throw them against Century Lake Field. No, Providence Park. Yeah, there you go. I was going to say, like, you, I mean, I don't want to play. I don't know why I said that. Providence Park. Sorry. That was crazy. Yeah. That you could do that. I don't know. It would probably go up like a tender rock. So it's it's pretty it's pretty old. It is. That's fine. That's OK.
01:25:31
Speaker
That's the cost. That's the cost of doing business. I hope the FBI doesn't listen to this. Man, how about those clowns, huh? Yeah. The clowns at Mad Oak asks, what dance move will you do when we win MLS Cup this year? I won't do a dance move. Oh, man. I will totally do the electric slide. I will do the full electric slide. We'll record that. We'll do a video. We'll have to answer that one.
01:26:01
Speaker
Yeah. And the last question. ARback asks, or states, I ground meat to make hammers. I made 5.6 ounce, 160 gram patties. What is your ideal burger size? I am rolling my eyes so hard right now. I don't know, like at home, like a third pound. I can't, I don't think I can cook anything effectively more than a third pound.
01:26:33
Speaker
I don't like big burgers. I like like a like a sixth of a pound, you know. So you're like more of a dick size. Well, it sounded didn't sound bad in my head when I said that. I guess. I don't know. I just like a third of a pound. That's a lot of meat. It is.
01:26:54
Speaker
I don't know. How many ounces was his 5.6? 5.6 is a good size, I think. I don't know. I mean, that's a little bit less than like a McDonald's quarter pounder, right? No. No, it's about the same. 16 ounces is a pound. So a little bit more. It's like a third pound. Yeah, it's like a third. OK. A little more. A little more on a third pound. Yeah, so I don't know. That seems fine.
01:27:20
Speaker
I have to admit, I have never weighed, I have never actually weighed my own burgers to the point where I knew the exact weight. Of course Andrew has, of course he has. Generally what we do is I get the smallest ground beef package that they have at the store, which is usually about like .95 pounds.
01:27:43
Speaker
and take half of it and make two patties and then make the rest in one patty because my wife likes even smaller burgers than I do. So that's, I don't know, whatever the size is, but I always feel like mine's too big. I don't make burgers, though. I've gotten into making burgers more often lately. Burgers are great, but I don't know. If I'm gonna fire up the grill, I'd rather make something a little more interesting, I guess.
01:28:13
Speaker
I'm partial to doing burgers on cast iron. Yeah, that's the best way to go, I think, really. But cast iron is the best way to go for most things, honestly. For most things. Most things have life, cast iron. I'm a pretty huge cast iron fan. I am, too.
Conclusion and Acknowledgments
01:28:29
Speaker
We're officially off the rails. All right, that's it? That's it? Look it?
01:28:34
Speaker
We're off the rails, we're talking about burger sizes. Well, I think I'm getting texted by my wife to wrap it up very conveniently. So I guess that means we should wrap it up.
01:28:47
Speaker
But we were done anyway. Lucky you guys. So anyway, thanks to Sean O'Couley for coming on the show. Thanks to our sponsors Verdi Credit Union, Queen & Acupuncture, Full Pole Wines, Constellation & Company, and the book Towards Cascadia. Thanks to Bootstrapper Studios for helping us with the recording equipment to make all this stuff happen. I am Jeremiah O'Shan, signing off on behalf of Lickit and Aaron Campo.
01:29:17
Speaker
This is Nozodietus, and remember, you will never get alone.
01:29:39
Speaker
Roll on, Columbia, roll on Roll on, Columbia, roll on Your power is turning our darkness to dawn Roll on, Columbia, roll on