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Under The Lights: Scouting Nashville SC w/ Ben Wright
363 Plays6 days ago
Ari talks to Ben Wright about the upcoming Nashville SC match as well as covers the recent news coming out of the Seattle Sounders camp.
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Lobbing Scorchers is a Seattle Sounders and MLS focused show brought to you by Sounder at Heart. Hosted by Major League Soccer's Ari Liljenwall and Producer Noah Riffe. Join us as we lob our scorching takes on the American soccer landscape, Seattle Sounders, Major League Soccer, USMNT and more.
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Transcript
Introduction and Podcast Overview
00:00:00
Speaker
This episode of Lobbing Scorchers was previously recorded and streamed live on YouTube.com slash at Lobbing Scorchers. If you want to listen or catch these episodes live, see the video, and see all the rest of our content, go to YouTube.com slash at Lobbing Scorchers or LobbingScorchers.com slash YouTube.
00:00:22
Speaker
Well sir, we got a scorcher today. Gonna be a real scorcher today. Quite the scorcher today. Well it's gonna be a scorcher.
Interview with Ben Wright - Nashville SC
00:00:43
Speaker
Good evening, everybody. Welcome in to another episode of Lobbing Scorchers Under the Lights. Got a great show planned for you all tonight. We're going to be talking about the Seattle Sounders.
00:00:55
Speaker
guys ever heard of Seattle Sounders. We'll be talking about them. ah Later on in the show, I'm going to be talking about the live show that we did down at Starfire for the Tacoma Defiance U.S. s Open Cup game, which they won.
00:01:08
Speaker
They beat the Oakland Roots. I'd like to think that's because we were there. Going to do some Schmetz sound, some Rothrock sound, probably some Ferreira discourse. Hit a couple of ah big headlines from around the league. There was a big trade.
00:01:20
Speaker
Talked some transfer values. Got a lot to get to. But first, I'm very excited to welcome in our next guest. This man is a soccer writing machine based in the and the thriving metropolis known as Nashville, Tennessee, where Seattle's next opposition happened to be based. They're coming to Lumen Field this weekend.
00:01:44
Speaker
So it's my pleasure to welcome in right now. going to add him to the stage. My buddy Ben Wright. Ben, welcome in. Thanks for doing this. How are you doing this evening? What's up, my man? I'm doing well. Thanks for having me on. It's a little bit later here in Nashville, but you know what? i'm I have coffee going and I'm ready to do this.
00:02:01
Speaker
Yeah, appreciate you staying up with us West Coasters to ah talk about this game. ah Ben, I didn't even honestly know how to introduce you title-wise. You have so many things, different different hats that you wear.
00:02:14
Speaker
ah You and I work together on the MLS Soccer editorial staff where you're on our sterling team of match night writers. You always do great work with ah with those stories and the ciders that we do for those games.
00:02:25
Speaker
But you've also got an independent outlet, right? 615 Soccer going on You're doing stuff with backheeled. ah You're doing stuff with give me sport. Shout out Tom Bogert. um Before we ah get into this game here, anything that you would like to shill or promote where people can find your work or just what you've got going on these days, which is a lot.
00:02:46
Speaker
Yeah, it's hard to keep track of. um Honestly, don't know how my wife puts up with it. So ah shout out to her off the bat. Yeah. Yeah, I think if if we're plugging stuff, I'm going to plug 615soccer.com. It's a new Nashville SE site that we started just this past January.
00:03:03
Speaker
um Honestly, I think we kind of took a lot of a lot of tips from Sounder at heart. Definitely definitely back yield. Just kind of thinking what if we were fans of Nashville SE, what we would want to to get to read and see um about the team every every week.
00:03:20
Speaker
um And so, yeah, we we launched this new Nashville SC website. And I think we've just been absolutely blown away by just the response we got. we um We kind of set a goal for that we wanted for subscribers before the season started. And we like 4X that within a week of launching it. So I think it was just it was um it was just really cool to see. I mean, I think we all knew that soccer in Nashville was kind of on the up.
00:03:43
Speaker
I mean, they have a 30,000 seat stadium. They sell a decent amount of tickets. Like people around here seem to to care, but we were kind of just blown away by how many people were like off the bat interested in this project and supported it. So i think it was just maybe a little bit of validation that something cool is happening here.
00:04:01
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. And I mean, ever since Nashville entered the league, I think the response from the city has been phenomenal. And Geodisc Park is definitely on my list. It's one of the nicest, like it's a state of the art facility.
00:04:13
Speaker
It looks great on the broadcast, but the atmosphere of those games looks incredible. And it seems like, would you say the interest has sustained since the launch? Has it waned at all? Or what what's the kind of status of the club in the city?
00:04:27
Speaker
Yeah, that's a good question. I mean, I think it was it was huge at the beginning, right? Just, I mean, new team, um maybe a little bit of that waned in in the second year in Nissan Stadium, but then new stadium, it felt like it was right back in there, and and then like Nashville just got bad.
00:04:45
Speaker
um So from like halfway through 2023 through 2024, think it it definitely dipped a little bit just because the team was losing. They also just weren't playing attractive soccer. I think you can probably get fans...
00:04:56
Speaker
you can get fans in the stadium if you're winning games or if you're playing soccer, that's fun to watch. And if you're doing neither of those, it's hard, it's a hard ticket to sell. Um, so I think there was definitely a dip.
00:05:07
Speaker
Um, and I think maybe it hasn't quite fully recovered from that, but I mean, but they're, they're winning games now and they're playing like legitimately fun soccer under BJ Callahan. So I think, um, I'm optimistic that that people will start getting back in. I think you're probably starting to see a little bit of that. But I mean, once it starts really warming up here, um I think over the summer we should see something similar to what we saw back when the stadium first opened.
00:05:30
Speaker
Yeah, I think that's a good segue into the first thing I wanted to ask you, which so what I've been doing when I bring in guests to ask about Seattle's upcoming um upcoming opposition, the first thing I do is I give you my ah perception of the team yeah as an outsider.
00:05:47
Speaker
And then you can tell me if what what I what I think as an outsider neutral actually matches up with what's going on on the ground with the team. Game in, game out. So ah Nashville SC. ah So I haven't admittedly haven't watched a ton of Nashville s SC this year, but so I started digging in a little bit this week.
00:06:05
Speaker
And what I have gathered is that the a lot of the underlying numbers seem to show that they are playing really ah great attacking soccer at times in terms of like the buildup and the movement in the chance generation.
00:06:19
Speaker
and perhaps even the quality of the chance generation, but they're not racking as many goals, uh, as they should based on all of those factors. So it's, uh, it's like the, the soccer looks good, but there's quite a bit of meat on the bone. Would you say that's accurate?
00:06:35
Speaker
Yeah. Well, I mean, 1000%, I actually, BJ Callahan had his pre-match presser this morning. Um, I forget who asked him the question, but someone asked him basically how he would evaluate. He said at the start of the season, he wanted to get to score 50 goals at least like that was kind of a benchmark. And I think he had some kind of historical data about how if you score 50 goals, you're you're pretty much guaranteed to make the playoffs.
00:06:58
Speaker
They're on track for that now. And and someone, but someone asked him, how he would evaluate the offense. And he's, I think paraphrasing here, but I think we're playing well, but we've left a lot of chances on the table too. Like we're scoring goals, we're creating chances, but we can still take it up another level. And I think that's totally fair. I mean, they've, they've missed a decent amount of penalties already this season. I think three penalties so far that they've missed.
00:07:19
Speaker
um So just that should be more goals, but they're creating a ton from open play that they haven't quite found the finishing touch. Honey Mukhtar has missed I think two shots from like within the six yard box, one of them hit the post from kind of point like range.
00:07:33
Speaker
um It's the kind of chances that you would expect them to bury pretty consistently. And it's just not quite there, um which would probably be concerning if they were losing games, but they're like, they're still managing to get results even with these missed chances. And I think they're,
00:07:47
Speaker
It kind of I'm optimistic that that things will start clicking. And if they keep creating this level of chances, then more goals will start coming. um But it's been I mean, I think 19 games under BJ Callahan, which isn't that long. And I think he's already he's already turned things around pretty significantly and in his first year. So I think it's it's been a lot better.
00:08:08
Speaker
It's gotten a lot better, a lot quicker than I certainly expected. Yeah, I mean, i ah I found it concerning from a Seattle perspective to kind of see how well they've been playing in in attack because ah usually when you're generating chances at the clip they seem to be and you're not finishing them, that's the type of stuff that tends to even out.
00:08:28
Speaker
I mean, God knows the Seattle Sounders have done enough XG mercheting over the last year or so, but it seems like that's sort of the situation they've been in, um but they are they are playing well.
00:08:39
Speaker
um That kind of leads into the next thing I wanted to talk about, which is my my other perception of Nashville, really since they came into the league, is that it's ah it's been a bit of Haney Mukhtar or bust.
00:08:50
Speaker
Under Gary Smith, the game plan seemed to be, all right, give the ball to number 10 and just kind of let him do some cool stuff and he'll score some goals and get the assists. But that's it. like If he is having an off game or if he's injured or if he has to rotate out,
00:09:05
Speaker
Nothing like there's no plan B. There's no like ulterior alternative way to generate offense. And to me, looking at how Nashville has started this year, that's it seems like BJ has kind of figured out how to make the attack more multifaceted and not just only Haney Mukhtar. Is that something that you've observed or how has how has the team evolved into being more multifaceted?
00:09:31
Speaker
Yeah, I think they're probably still evolving a little bit to be more multifaceted. I think Hany is still like insanely important. um Maybe not to scoring the goals as much as he had been. I think it was pretty recent it was like maybe as recently as 2023, he had either like scored or assisted 60-something percent of Nashville's goals, like total goals in and MLS, which is i mean good for him, but also kind of yikes. You can't be that reliant on one guy. i mean To be fair, he was playing at an MVP level for...
00:10:00
Speaker
probably two seasons. So like when you have a guy in that form, you can kind of write it for a little while, but there was nothing else. um I think last year they, ah no, 2023, I'm getting my years mixed up. He, he scored like 16 goals or something like that. And the next closest guy was and around five.
00:10:18
Speaker
So, I mean, there was just a ah pretty huge drop off and they've been, very reliant on him. I think they're still pretty reliant on him, but it's not so much to like score the score the goal, but he's kind of he's he's turned into more of a ah playmaker for them.
00:10:32
Speaker
um He'll kind of drop into pockets underneath Sam Surridge and get the ball, move it out to one of the wingers, and he's kind of playing the pass before the pass a little bit more than we've seen from him. so I think it's a little bit of a different role. um so they're not maybe They don't live and die by Hany scoring like they used to, but I think he's still... like I mean, he's a DP, so he's important, but I think he's he's just a pretty massive part of this team still.
00:10:56
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. I mean, he's one of the most talented players in the league. And really, like you said, for there is like a two year stretch there where it was just electric every time he was on the ball and the output was was staggering. I mean, he was up there with any of the best players in the league that you want to name over that time period.
00:11:13
Speaker
ah You know, the Lucho Acosta is maybe the Carlos Velas name name. Honey Mooktar was up there with the best of them. ah You know, if not the best for definitely for periods of time.
00:11:26
Speaker
I remember another storyline with Nashville SC for quite some time was, you know, there's the reliance on Honey Mooktar. And then the extension of that was they need a DP number nine. And that that's what's missing from this roster. If they get that, that's going to unlock a lot more because Honey Mukhtar is going to have someone to like play off of and give his service to.
00:11:47
Speaker
And so that seemed to be like the main thing that everyone was kind of pining for the team to do. They go out and they get Sam Surridge. My impression of Sam Surridge was that it honestly wasn't going that well for a while. I feel like the when he first got to the team, he was either not producing, injured, or both.
00:12:05
Speaker
But then it seems like kind of towards the back end of last year, he started to heat up a little bit and then he's had a pretty good start to this year. um What sort of how do you see the one two with Haney, Haney Mooktar and ah Sam Surridge progressing? And like, do you feel like it's at a point where Surridge is really providing that one two punch in the way that he was supposed to when he first got to the club, but maybe hasn't consistently yet?
00:12:33
Speaker
Yeah, I think it's, I don't know, it it feels a little bit tough to like fully judge him. I think he was pretty, I thought he was really good last year with not much to work with. I think he scored 12 goals in all competitions or or something like that. And I mean,
00:12:48
Speaker
it it was The service was pretty limited, and i thought he did a pretty good job for what he had. um But, I mean, they paid $6 or $7 million for him, so I think the expectations were like he's going to come in and and be kind of one of the close to the top end of strikers in MLS, and I don't think he's lived up to that.
00:13:04
Speaker
um But, like, I was – shout out to American Soccer Analysis. I was looking at their XG tables, and he leads MLS in expected goals right now. I think there's ah two penalties in there, so that that maybe shifts things a little bit. But, I mean, he's getting tons of chances in this Nashville team.
00:13:22
Speaker
And I think probably for he and Hany, they've gotten a lot of chances and they just haven't been clinical yet. um they've They've missed a lot of... i mean, they've missed shots that they should be scoring, but they've also just the two of of them have had like just a lot of missed connections in, in the penalty area. Like one of them will be wide open and the other, the other will take a shot instead of passing it.
00:13:42
Speaker
And it just feels like they're, they're both getting into really good spots, but they're leaving a lot on the table. Kind of like what we talked about earlier. Um, and their win against, uh, rail salt, like this last weekend,
00:13:54
Speaker
um towards the end of the first half, there had been like two or three chances where one of them had the ball in the box and just missed the other one or or played the wrong pass or took a shot from a bad angle instead of laying it off.
00:14:07
Speaker
Like three of those right before halftime. And they, the two of them were like literally screaming at each other, walking off the field, like pretty, pretty pissed off. um it It, I mean, like you see players kind of yelling at each other and, and, and that like in the heat of the moment, this felt like a little bit extra.
00:14:25
Speaker
um And then at the very end of the game, Honey wins a penalty. He's already missed two penalties this season. he He sets the ball down like he's going to take it. And then the last minute, he hands it off to Sam Surge. Sam Surge scores, and then they hug. And it's like no one even remembers that. So I think it's the type of thing that like they are getting the ball in really good spots.
00:14:46
Speaker
They're not consistently finishing those. And I think they're probably feeling ah a little bit of frustration and and maybe even pressure ah to start converting those. um So yeah, I don't know. That that was a very long-winded answer um and a long-winded way of saying I think they're getting into really good spots and I think it's probably going to click at some point, but it's been really frustrating through the first eight games because it it does feel like they each should probably have two or three goals more than they do.
00:15:11
Speaker
They're XG-merchanting. It's exactly what Seattle was doing for a lot of last year where it was so frustrating every week because you know they would drop points, they wouldn't take results.
00:15:22
Speaker
ah But I would always come out of the games being like, man, I swear they actually played like pretty good. i mean The buildup was good. The chance it chance generation wasn't bad. They just like couldn't finish to save their lives. That sounds like a similar idea.
00:15:33
Speaker
100%. they RSL. so they they beat rsl Then before that, they had consecutive losses to Cincinnati and to Charlotte. They outplayed. I mean, I thought they outplayed Cincinnati pretty consistently. They probably should have scored two or three goals.
00:15:50
Speaker
They gave up a penalty kick in stoppage time and lost two to one. Then they went to Charlotte. And I think they played maybe their best half ever under BJ Callahan in the first half. I mean, they outshot Charlotte. i mean, Charlotte or, mean, you know, you guys played Charlotte earlier.
00:16:05
Speaker
elite defensive team. Nashville outshot them, I think, 7-0, went into halftime up 1-0. They probably should have scored three or four goals and and then eventually collapsed in the second a half stoppage time. um So coming ah coming into last weekend, they had lost two games against good teams, and I think it was weird because I was...
00:16:25
Speaker
Maybe more optimistic after the two losses than I was before them, just because I'm like, I mean, result wasn't great, but Nashville had outplayed two of the but the better teams in the Eastern Conference. um So, yeah, I don't know.
00:16:38
Speaker
Maybe the performances haven't quite matched up with the results. But I think just by the eye test and even by the underlying numbers, I think Nashville are playing really well.
00:16:49
Speaker
Yeah, that's the exact impression that I got from even even looking into it a little bit. I could tell right away that ah the results haven't been matching up with how well they've been playing.
00:17:00
Speaker
i did want to ask you about B.J. Callahan because this was a ah this was an interesting hire. ah The discourse around B.J. Callahan when he took over as interim coach of the U.S. men's national team, I thought was funny because they legitimately – that's the best that team has looked in the last probably five years when BJ Callahan was the interim head coach.
00:17:24
Speaker
And at the time people were like, Oh, BJ Callahan, he figured it out. He's, he's got this team doing stuff that Burr Halter never could. And I would, I just was always like, all right, he literally, he was on the staff.
00:17:36
Speaker
Would you think he really told them anything that different? But you do, I, you know, you do have to admit that the U S M N T was playing a lot better when he was the coach. And then also, frankly, since he ah since he left and now they've hired Pochettino, they suck again. So maybe there actually was more to that than i was acknowledging. ah But as far as how he's done at the MLS level so far, it seems like he's actually meaningfully moved the team on from the the Gary Smith era, which the Gary Smith era was honestly a little brutal at times.
00:18:10
Speaker
Like I said, it was Haney Mooktah or bust, but also Nashville was known for being like a defense first team. Like we're going to keep a clean sheet first and foremost, maybe hit you on the counter. let Haney do some stuff, but really like Gary Smith ball, I feel like was defensive and conservative, not that entertaining always.
00:18:31
Speaker
And basically what, uh, what you're describing and what I've looked into and seen is that BJ has them playing, uh, like attractive, entertaining soccer in a way that the Gary Smith teams, they just didn't really do that much.
00:18:46
Speaker
So I guess what have you seen from BJ? That's like, what is he doing differently to impart that style? And I, and then what's just it like covering him day in day out. What do you think of him as a coach?
00:18:58
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, so second taking the second part first, I mean, first all, he's just like a super nice guy. He's super personable, like really open with the media. um Like I've been surprised just like how generous with his time he's been. He had like a lot of the media out to the training facility within the first couple weeks after he took over. And basically – spent the whole day with us. He gave us like ah a similar video presentation to kind of what he walked the players through when he first took, took over the job, just kind of like showing how he wants to play and his vision for the club.
00:19:29
Speaker
Um, he like answered all our stupid tactical questions. And like, so I think he, he gets the media side, um Really well. And that's so it just selfishly. It's been fun covering that just because he's, he's fun to work with. He's, he's easy to work with. And I think he, um he kind of understands.
00:19:49
Speaker
under site and understands that side of things. Um, just on the field, he's insanely detail oriented. And I had talked to some people around the league when, when they first made the hire and they were like, the first thing that everybody said was he's detail oriented and maybe the hardest working guy in MLS.
00:20:06
Speaker
Um, and I think that's definitely kind of, um, proven to be true just seeing him in Nashville he like every player knows exactly what they're supposed to be doing at every time um they all have like very specific not just roles but like roles within each sequence of of play and so he has everything drilled out really well um but I think from what I've seen I think he's doing a really good job of putting everybody in at a pretty sound structure that they all understand, but then kind of letting that turn into freedom, which and don't, I don't know if that makes sense. How um I think everybody knows what they're supposed to be doing so much that they're all that Nashville on the same page. And then within that there's room to improvise just because they understand what everybody else is doing.
00:20:55
Speaker
um So I think he's, he's just kind of completely reestablished how, how this team
Nashville SC's Evolution Under BJ Callahan
00:21:01
Speaker
plays. Gary Smith was like, you said, very defensive, very rigid, but I don't think had a ton of like predetermined patterns or rotations or anything like that in the attack.
00:21:12
Speaker
And Callahan has come in and just like off the bat established some like pretty repeatable ways to create chances to move possession forward, but also just gotten everybody on the same page from,
00:21:23
Speaker
I mean, from the top to the bottom of the organization, like he's, he's aligned the MLS club with and MLS next pro with the Academy. And so I think you're seeing a lot more youth development than you, than you ever saw under Gary Smith. I mean, that that was probably one of the biggest knocks on Gary, who, I mean, I think probably did, ah no, definitely did a really good job kind of establishing the floor for Nashville. I mean, if you had told them,
00:21:46
Speaker
They would be a competitive team, make the playoffs every year under Gary Smith. They would have bitten your hand off. um So I think retrospectively, it's easy to kind of dunk on Gary for playing boring soccer. um But I think Callahan's kind of just coming in, taking a necessary step forward for Nashville and just turn them into a more modern, proactive club.
00:22:06
Speaker
Right. Well, you you can't deny that the Gary Smith ball was effective. And I actually think that the way na Nashville went about the launch, hiring like an an MLS experience coach like that, and then kind of creating a style and identity that gave you ah like a solid competitive floor. And they actually, they did it's not like they were splashing cash like Atlanta you United. and They did on... If you're not going to spend a ton of money, yeah like...
00:22:31
Speaker
that you kind of have you can either come in and spend a ton of money ah and play like great soccer off the bat as an expansion team or you can do the the Nashville route or I mean you could go Cincinnati or Minnesota but I think right that's the route you want to avoid though right yeah like Like what Nashville did is what Cincinnati and Minnesota should have done.
00:22:51
Speaker
think tried and or even tried to do. Like Cincinnati, I think, tried to go that route and just failed miserably. Well, they brought remember they brought up like their entire USL squad. and which that was like mistake number one.
00:23:04
Speaker
And then didn't they like stock up on super draft picks at one point? yeahp And they were basically trying to build it through there. i think they felt this loyalty to the USL guys because they're the best team in the USL.
00:23:15
Speaker
And they were like, you know, we dominated USL with these guys. I bet they can hang an MLS. And then immediately it was just like, nope. And then that launch and season was a disaster. It took them years to to get out of that. So like what Nashville, unless unless you got LAFC or Atlanta money,
00:23:28
Speaker
what Nashville did is kind of what you've got to do. And i think you're right that it seems like BJ Callahan is sort of like imparting the next step of the evolution, which is okay. You're, you're competitive. You're one of the good teams in the league. Now go try and be great. Go try and be a team that actually can dominate, can like,
00:23:47
Speaker
play attractive soccer, score a bunch of goals. So it seems like that's what they're in the process of trying to do right now. And it seems like it's kind of working, like, you know, and ah finishing woes aside, like the soccer that they're playing is just much better from an entertainment and aesthetic perspective than than it was under Gary Smith. And it's really like not a knock on Gary Smith. Like he did what he was supposed to do and it was quite effective. so Totally. And i don't I don't think it was...
00:24:16
Speaker
I don't know if Gary Smith was ever supposed to have been the manager as long as he was. I think he kind of became a victim of his own success in a way because like, I think he was very much supposed to be the transitional manager to kind of get Nashville into MLS and kind of build the foundation.
00:24:33
Speaker
And then he kept winning and kept getting into the playoffs and Hany Mukhtar won MVP. And it's like, okay, you kind of got to keep rolling with this. And it worked until it didn't. But yeah, I think, um,
00:24:45
Speaker
They just like, even just from a youth, like a youth development perspective, Gary hardly played any players under the age of 23, maybe in in the first year or so when they kind of had to, had to play the super draft guys just because they're an expansion team and didn't have anybody else. But then that kind of just dropped off.
00:25:02
Speaker
And like Mike Jacobs, their, their CSO has, I mean, he's pointed out like you can't be a successful club in MLS at this point and not play young players.
00:25:13
Speaker
when everybody else in the league is like creating and developing and playing their own talent, like you're at a pretty massive disadvantage if you're not doing that. And so I think ah even i would put it almost parallel to the results on the field.
00:25:29
Speaker
but i think Callahan was brought in, in large part just because he came through Philadelphia's academy and has kind of that development background too. and And so I think Nashville are kind of banking on him being able to take their development plan up a level as well.
00:25:44
Speaker
What's the situation with the Nashville Academy? Cause I honestly haven't heard much about like their youth development set up at all. I think every club has got a youth Academy now. yeah um So I know they have one.
00:25:57
Speaker
um They started theirs. yeah They didn't. I think a lot of expansion teams end up starting their academies before they start playing and Nashville didn't. The first year of their Academy was 2020 they started playing but you you 13s so you're just seeing a lot of those guys now who started with the academy hit like 17 18 19 years old um And so I think you're really starting to see like the first wave of guys who could be signing with the first team.
00:26:23
Speaker
um They have three homegrown signings. um Isaiah Jones, Edem Sipich, and then Chris Applewhite, who just signed this offseason. And I think of the three, Applewhite is kind of like the the the guy who seems like he has real MLS potential. He's a 17-year-old center back.
00:26:42
Speaker
He started the most, he just turned 17 like late last fall and started the most minutes of any center back for Huntsville in MLS next pro last year. um So like he's, he, he was a full-time starter at the next pro level as a 16 year old.
00:26:57
Speaker
um and so I think they're pretty high on him. He's he's really good with the ball. He's like just a huge a huge guy for 17-year-old, and i so I think he has a little bit of development to do, but he has like all the physical tools to be like a pretty high-level center back in MLS. so um Yeah, I think it's still they're still trying to really like turned that academy talent into next pro and MLS talent.
00:27:21
Speaker
And I think they're Nashville is just not like a super hotbed of talent like you get in other places around the league. But I mean, I think they're, they're starting to make it work. Yeah, I'll be keeping tabs on that. because I mean, you're right. like ah if you If you actually take your youth development seriously and generate first team players, it can give you such a leg up on the competition.
00:27:46
Speaker
and I mean, Seattle has has benefited a lot from that ah over the years. mean, Jordan Morris is obviously the biggest example, but like, In recent years, they've gotten to the point where they're playing for the first team, and you've had guys like Danny Leyva, Obed Vargas has broken out, and they ah traded Joshua Tensio for $1.3 million.
00:28:04
Speaker
So you can start doing stuff like that when these players come to fruition. So let's see if ah Nashville can do that. Yeah, i actually i actually asked BJ about that this morning, and he said – I forget exactly what his his line was, but he basically said Seattle's like the model club for getting production like at all levels of the – like and MLS next pro Academy and kind of moving guys from that. So, i mean, he was, he was super complimentary of, of just the job Seattle has done.
00:28:31
Speaker
Yeah. I think FC Dallas is in that conversation. The Philadelphia union are in that conversation. yeah but like, ah it's, it's a pretty strong correlation between the clubs that take it the most seriously and get the most out of it. And the clubs that are successful, the union famously money ball, and then just have an army of Academy kids that are all good. Like they did. They traded Jack McGlynn for a bunch of money and they don't, they have like probably five others. Like that's just how it goes.
00:28:59
Speaker
um Ben, I wanted to ask if you had to name non honey Mooktar or Sam surge player for, for Nashville, who like makes the team go stirs the drink, like who has been one of the maybe unsung guys that people wouldn't know about in the early going that's sort of fueling the better ball that they've been playing to start the season.
00:29:20
Speaker
Yeah, so I think two kind of immediately come to mind. Eddie Tagseth is the first. ah I mean, you'll you'll see on on Saturday, the dude is just everywhere. I think he's already run something like 64 miles this season through eight games.
00:29:34
Speaker
um He's like everywhere in midfield. He kind of reminds me of a younger Dax McCarty. He's kind of like the same build, like, build like five, seven type guy. Who's just like a terrier. He's all over the place.
00:29:48
Speaker
Like doesn't ever back down from a challenge. I think he probably likes annoying the opposition almost as much as you like scoring goals. Like he, like there's so many, just our photographers have got so many pictures of him, like after a foul, just kind of like laughing at at the guy who he knocked over.
00:30:03
Speaker
um Like, he's he's immediately become a fan favorite, but he, he does, he does all the kind of dirty work for them, but he's also like really quality on the ball. So I think he's kind of been a huge piece of, of the midfield.
00:30:17
Speaker
um And just kind of the the changes Callahan's made. I think taxes has has been huge to that. um And then they've just got a ton of attacking production from both fullback spots.
00:30:27
Speaker
um Dan Lovitz who, I mean, he's been with the team forever. Um, but he has three goal, sorry, three assists in a goal already this year. And he's just been huge. And then Andy Nahar, who, I mean, everybody around MLS knows him, but he came back from Honduras, um, and has just been massive for them on the right. And I think, um,
00:30:48
Speaker
Nahar especially, I think everybody kind of knows that he's good with the ball. So it makes sense that he's kind of fit into this more possession-based approach. But Lovitz has, I don't know if he's reinvented his game or if he's playing in a system that probably frankly just fits him better now. um But I think both of those guys have been huge.
00:31:05
Speaker
Yeah, you know, I hadn't even thought about that. But Lovitz and Nahar might be the best like attacking fullback duo together. in the league right now. They're certainly, they gotta be the most statistically productive when you put it together.
00:31:20
Speaker
um or if not, they're near the top there. So I think that's something that a Seattle people have got to watch out for. Those guys are gonna, they're gonna go like, they're gonna bomb forward. They're gonna get those crosses in and they're gonna be on the attack.
00:31:35
Speaker
And I, I guess that's like a good segue into, uh, into the game itself, because i mean, that is how, uh, I would expect Nashville to play, but, uh, how are you sizing up this matchup as far as, know, when teams take road trips to Seattle, ah they very often consider one point
Nashville SC's Strategy and Key Players
00:31:54
Speaker
successful. They very often sit behind the ball and, uh,
00:31:58
Speaker
Hunker down, try to absorb pressure and just get out of there. um and like, obviously, the best teams in the league, they can come in and they just they try and play their game no matter what. Like, how are you expecting Nashville to go into this game and approach it as far as, you know, are they going to be?
00:32:16
Speaker
Happy if they could get a point here knowing that the the length of the road trip and the challenge of the environment and all that, or are they going to, theyre are they going to be trying to just play the same BJ ball that they've been playing and really try and push for goals and push for the win?
00:32:31
Speaker
Yeah. i mean, I think you're probably always happy to draw on the road and MLS, especially. like, so like a point would be a good result, I think. But like with that being said, i mean, they, BJ pretty explicitly said they, they're not going to change how they play on the road. I think he said that would be compromising or identity or, or something like that, which kind of like took me off guard for like how strong it was.
00:32:54
Speaker
Um, But, and that's not like coach speak either. I think it's been backed up and how they played on the road this year. I mean, they apart from the, the, the, who was it? The Red Bulls game kind of at the start of the year where they played 19 year old kid and a super draft pick in midfield.
00:33:12
Speaker
And they were just kind of caught off guard. Like they've, they've been really good on the road. And I mean, they beat Philadelphia um on the road. They played Charlotte off the field in the first half. And I think probably would have come away with at least a point and maybe, maybe a win if Walker Zimmerman hadn't gotten a concussion.
00:33:28
Speaker
um So like they don't really change how they play. um So I don't think they're going I don't think they're going to go to Seattle and sit back, but I do think, a team like Seattle can, can still punish them. I mean, they play really aggressively. They press really high. They do leave space in behind. So, I mean, I don't think they're going to change that, but i do think there are ways that you can, you can beat this team.
00:33:51
Speaker
It's going to be so interesting watching a Nashville team that's like proactive in the, in the attack, other than just getting the ball to Haney Mukhtar. I don't know how a little, it's been a little like, there've been a couple of times where I'm like catching myself, like wondering if this is actually Nashville.
00:34:06
Speaker
Like it's just so different. I think Matt Doyle and one of his, his columns said like they're one of the five most attractive teams to watch in MLS. And I did a double take. Um,
00:34:17
Speaker
So yeah, it's it's definitely, ah it's it's very different. Like this is not Nashville from even 2024. Like this is a completely different team. Yeah, no, I think that's clear. um Ben, I just got a couple more from you for you and then I'll ah i'll let you go.
00:34:32
Speaker
How is Walker Zimmerman? That was a scary injury that he took a couple weeks ago. Didn't he get bicycle kicked in the head? Isn't that what happened? Yeah, he he he cleared the ball right as Kerwin Vargas was going for the bike. Walker got there like a half second before and just caught the full boot in the face. It was a full boot, yeah. Yeah, it was pretty bad. And like, I, I, they never confirmed if he was knocked unconscious and like, I don't want to speculate on any anything like that, but I mean, it looked really bad on the field. I think he was, he got treatment for like almost 10 minutes and then stretchered off in a neck brace.
00:35:06
Speaker
Um, So, yeah, like not great. And obviously, like number one concern is just for his long-term health. I mean, he's a wife and kids, so you've got worry about them too. um BJ said he's still in concussion protocol, um and he like didn't commit to if he was going to play or not this weekend. like You have to think if he's still in concussion protocol.
00:35:27
Speaker
It's probably not great, especially since he hasn't trained for two weeks. like even if you if yeah Even if he gets through... probably unlikely that he plays but it it sounds like they're not super worried about long-term ah effects but they're they're definitely playing it safe and I mean you have to play it safe with that kind injury how how has the defense been holding up without him would you say that it's been more error prone or they're giving up more chances conceding more goals or anything like that or if they stayed afloat decently well Yeah, maybe. I mean, maybe a bit of a small sample size because it's really been ah a game and a half, less than that, actually. I mean, the the last 20 minutes of Charlotte and then this Real Salt Lake game. And I think, a again, Charlotte, they were just... You could tell that it just threw them off. i mean
00:36:13
Speaker
I think probably, like, the emotional stuff, too, like seeing a guy kicked in the face and then having to keep playing soccer can't be easy. um they But they looked really good against ah RSL. um Jason Palacios...
00:36:26
Speaker
came in and started for Zimmerman. I don't think anybody really knew what to expect from him. I had, I mean, to be honest, I had never even heard of him before Nashville signed him. He has, he's ah a 30 year old, um, Colombian center back. He had like 250 appearances in the Colombian top divisions.
00:36:42
Speaker
Um, and So I think was a bit of a wild card and he came in and was awesome against ah RSL and and looked like he could push for starting minutes um one one summer once Zimmerman comes back. So i'm I'm interested to see how he does in a very different environment this Saturday, but he looks kind of he looks like the real deal.
00:37:00
Speaker
Ben, that is all I have for you. Thank you so much for staying up late, joining us here tonight. Really appreciate the time. i asked you at the top, but ah for for anyone who might have joined late, ah if you want to go ahead and shill any 615, any of the work that you're doing, where can people find your work and anything you're working on right now?
00:37:21
Speaker
Yeah, 615soccer.com. You spell it out. It's not the numbers. um You can find all of my national coverage there. i um Joe Larry and i have... the ah power ranking slash analysis column we do every week where we kind of break down all 30 MLS teams at backfield. And that's, that's just a ton of fun.
00:37:41
Speaker
We've been doing some version of that for the last two years. And it's been, it's one of my favorite things to write every week. So definitely check that out. um Yeah. I probably the easiest thing to do is just follow me on blue sky, just been right. And I'll, I post to pretty much everything I do out there.
00:37:56
Speaker
Everybody follow Ben Wright, sub to 615 soccer. All right, Ben, thanks again. Appreciate the time. We'll ah we'll have to do it we'll have to do it again soon. you know i know I know you cover the the whole league, so I don't even think ah Nashville has to be playing Seattle for you ah for me to get you on. but ah Definitely.
00:38:14
Speaker
Down to do this anytime. Appreciate it man. Have a good one. Take care.
Tacoma Defiance and Seattle Sounders Updates
00:38:20
Speaker
That was my friend Ben Wright of 615 Soccer, of our MLSsoccer.com editorial staff. Give me sport, backfield, man who wears many hats. Again, ah learned ah learned a lot about the opposition by but ah by bringing on these guests. you know i feel like I'm even more of a sicko because doing this every week. I get all of the all of the knowledge that the people who cover the teams every day have that I wouldn't have. I've been having a lot of fun doing this. And hopefully you guys are enjoying the interviews and learning more about these teams.
00:38:54
Speaker
<unk>ve I'd say my main takeaway from that interview is that my perception that Nashville have been playing better than their results is quite accurate. And this is going to be a hard game. This team is playing really good ball.
00:39:08
Speaker
And it's not like... You used to be able to go into a game against Nashville SC and it would be like, all right, I mean, they're probably not going to score more than one goal. Maybe they'll, maybe Haney Mukhtar will explode and get two, but really he's going to get one if any, and then that's their whole team.
00:39:24
Speaker
That's not, and that's not them anymore. And I think what we were talking about with the fullbacks is a big thing in this game. Like that's going to be, as going to present a challenge for Seattle's defense, will be playing without Jackson Reagan.
00:39:38
Speaker
so I think it's a good challenge. It's, it's good to play a good team when, uh, when you're going through a tough stretch, I think, I mean, might make it less likely that you take the result, but you really, you find out what you're made of.
00:39:51
Speaker
So, uh,
00:39:55
Speaker
That's something, I guess. All right. what do ah what Okay. I wanted to, ah moving on. I wanted to talk about ah the Tacoma Defiance match, actually, and talk about Noah and I's live show that we did down there. First of all, appreciate everyone who came up and said hi.
00:40:11
Speaker
you know, a couple of people were like, I don't know if it's cringe to come up to you guys. And we were like, no. No, it's cringe not to. ah it's It's always fun, like, meeting you guys, interacting with you in the ah in the real world.
00:40:22
Speaker
And the ah the show went really well. We talked to Sounders technical director, Henry Brawner. He was nice enough, gracious enough to give us about, like, 15, 20 minutes, probably, of his time. And we mostly talked youth development, and MLS Next Pro, Tacoma Defiance, and Stuff like that.
00:40:40
Speaker
Got some good insight from him. Learned a little bit about Omar Hassan, who I think is the most exciting, intriguing prospect that Seattle has coming up right now. What I think is interesting about Omar Hassan is that...
00:40:53
Speaker
you know They're developing like a real pure attacking player. Henry even talked about this. He said, you know we've produced a lot of sixes and eights, widebacks, stuff like that, ah but we haven't produced as many pure attackers like this Hassan kid has the potential to be.
00:41:08
Speaker
So that's a name to keep an eye on. But yeah, go watch the interview. And the game itself was... i had I had a great time. um and MLS Next Pro games are kind of lit.
00:41:22
Speaker
Like, you can tell that they are kind of catering it towards... I would say, like, there there's, like, a lot of Gen Z in, like... like high schoolers there that I think it was like a lot of family that was there and the extended social groups of the players and stuff. But they also, they did a good job. They do a good job of like making it kind of a cool place to be. Like they're, they're blasting like rowdy music the whole time.
00:41:46
Speaker
they but ah They're, they're, Every time Defiant score a goal, the guy does the Kool-Aid man. Oh, yeah, which I thought that was that was fun. And the ah the atmosphere at Starfire for ah how many people there were, which wasn't filled like an Open Cup game, but people were really into it. I mean, there there was multiple people who were just screaming the whole game.
00:42:07
Speaker
lot of it was just yelling at the ref, but the atmosphere was was good And then the game itself, Defiance played really well. They're playing one of the worst teams in USL right now. But like, honestly, um when you're an MLS next pro side, any USL team that that you play is going to have guys that have been playing at the pro level a lot longer than you.
00:42:29
Speaker
They have a lot more experience and savvy than you just just by virtue of their age. And a lot of them, they're a lot bigger, like, The size differential between like the Oakland Roots CBs and the Defiance CBs was pretty funny. Like the Oakland Roots guys, ah you know, big stout built like strong safeties.
00:42:49
Speaker
And ah you got you got MLS Next Pro kids running around out there against these guys and they beat him. Peter Kingston, Pete. He's a new new one I'm paying attention to on Tacoma Defiance. He hit a nasty free kick.
00:43:02
Speaker
That looked similar to one that he hit for Ballard FC. And that was Defiance's first goal. But really, they had been on the front foot until that that peak goal. ah The De Rosario kid ah put one off the post like just a few minutes into the game.
00:43:18
Speaker
And the crowd the crowd was like really into it from that moment on, really. like he He rang that off the post, and everyone was like, okay, like it's on. This isn't... This isn't a game where Tacoma Defiance is going to get run over. it They're here to play.
00:43:32
Speaker
And then the De Rosario, De Rosario had the game winning goal in extra time and the whole place went nuts. He ran into the crowd and was pumping everyone up.
00:43:44
Speaker
It was pretty awesome. So i definitely i definitely recommend going to Defiance games, even if it's not Open Cup, just because i i was kind of surprised at how live it was, like how how good the atmosphere was, how much the crowd was into it.
00:44:00
Speaker
and Like I said, they're playing music the whole time. It was fun. It was fun. And Defiance won, and it actually worked out even more comedically because now they're playing the Portland Timbers first team.
00:44:14
Speaker
The actual Timbs are going to be playing Tacoma Defiance in the Open Cup at Starfire, which I think we're we're ah we're planning on going again, hopefully doing another live show. So if you didn't go to this game, definitely come out and hang out with us at the next one.
00:44:29
Speaker
Everybody's welcome to come watch us record. Hopefully we'll have a setup where we're actually facing the crowd this time. We had lighting issues that didn't allow for it to be a dynamic where there was actually an audience.
00:44:41
Speaker
um But we're we're gonna we're trying to get out there again for this Defiance-Timby's Open Cup game, um which is going to be... not easy for defiance. I mean, this is the next step up. Like they're literally playing an MLS first team.
00:44:59
Speaker
Um, so that's good. to that It could be the worst team in MLS, which the Timbs are not right now. They're actually playing pretty well. Uh, but like, there's just such, uh, an experience gap and, uh, realistically, I mean, and like, I don't know You got you got all the all the big dogs on the Timbys who could be playing in this game. They just have a lot of experience and quality on these on these kids that aren't that experienced. So it's going to be a tough game. But what I will say about that is that ah if Defiance does beat the Timbys, that would be really funny.
00:45:36
Speaker
that but That would rule. ah That would be... greater bragging rights, honestly, I think than any Sounders win over the Timbs in Open Cup even could be. Because it's MLS Next Pro.
00:45:49
Speaker
Like, if the Timbs, all the pressure, all the pressure is on the Timbs for the game. Like, they, if they lose this, they're going to get clowned on absolutely righteously.
00:46:03
Speaker
And if they win, it's like, I mean, that's what you're supposed to do is an MLS Next team, like, whatever. They're not even going to get that much credit if they win. Not for me, at least. So it's really, there's only...
00:46:15
Speaker
They're the only team with anything to lose in this situation. They sacrifice a lot of dignity if they lose this game, and that presents these kids with a great opportunity. And I just think in general, like there was a lot of discourse about how the Sounders' first team wasn't in Open Cup this year and how sending defiance was sort of like ah a knockoff or whatever. A lot of people weren't happy about that. I think Noah and I were both saying at the time, like, this is this could this actually could be fun. Like, obviously, I think in an ideal world,
00:46:43
Speaker
We all want the Sounders first team to be in Open Cup. But just like I understood the logic of, you know, they're in Club World Cup, cc CCC and Leagues Cup.
00:46:54
Speaker
They're just that's just too many games at a certain point. ah So, I mean, I was OK with it the whole time. I know some people weren't. But now that I've actually seen it in practice, there is no better experience for these developmental players. Yeah.
00:47:10
Speaker
than play in games like this, like elimination games where the pressure is on. You got to be on it. The intensity is super high. That's how these developmental players get better.
00:47:24
Speaker
Like grinding the MLS next pro games is how you get better But Like, and that will help their development. Every game that they play will theoretically help their development because it's all reps. It's all experience at this point.
00:47:37
Speaker
We're playing in games like this in set in situations like this and really testing yourself, really having to play in these high pressure moments, being in an extra time game against the USL squad and then winning that makes everyone on that team better to like get reps against this competition and to actually excel to win the game.
00:47:59
Speaker
It's huge. It's huge for the team and it's huge for all the players on the team. So, uh, I think they have another opportunity to build on that in this Timbs game, even though I'll be honest, I'm not expecting it to go as well as playing the Oakland roots, the Oakland roots. God love them.
00:48:15
Speaker
Uh, did not strike me as a particularly good soccer team. They were not happy that they got, uh, that they got beat by an MLS next team.
00:48:26
Speaker
But, uh, the Timbies, it's like, like any MLS team, it's a, it's a whole different animal. um Will any supplemental players be loaned down to the match? Pauly Primetime suggested he wasn't interested.
00:48:41
Speaker
i mean, i don't i don't know, but there's only um there's only so many guys that are eligible for that. Rothrock is one, but like Georgie can can't go down for it. Yeah.
00:48:54
Speaker
and Andy T. Andy T. was playing goal in goal against the Roots. So I imagine he will again. And Andy T. That's like, i was ah that's honestly proven to be a valuable resource in a game like that. Because Andy T. was on it all night.
00:49:07
Speaker
um He made, that they had one big chance. They had one big chance and Andy T. was up for it. ah The Oakland Roots goal came on a penalty. which I think it was a fair call. It happened like directly in our sight line.
00:49:20
Speaker
And so I definitely didn't have that much of an issue, if any issue at all with the call. But Andy T was locking it down. He'll be out there against the Timbs. And like I said, it's an opportunity for, it would be like the funniest win in the history of the organization, like the Sounders organization, if they win this game.
00:49:44
Speaker
So i'm all ah I'm all for it. we're gonna We're going to be down there. We're going to be down there one way or another. And yeah, go watch Tacoma Defiance.
00:49:55
Speaker
Go watch Tacoma Defiance. um All right. Do you guys want to talk some Seattle Sounders? Yeah, i agree. Andy T, man of the match. um Yeah, let's talk some Seattle Sounders, I guess.
00:50:09
Speaker
There's stuff going on. ah Jackson Reagan out four to six weeks. Brian Schmetzer said at practice yesterday, i believe, which sucks.
00:50:22
Speaker
Hope Jackson has a swift, speedy recovery. But Kim Kihee, I thought, looked pretty good deputizing in the last game. So we'll see if the they can stay afloat without Jackson. But I did have an agenda that I wanted to push on that, which is like Schmetz was talking about. we're gonna I'm going to play the Schmetz sound in a second. But they're talking about the replacements, you know, Kim Kihee, John Bell.
00:50:49
Speaker
Stu Hawks. Where's Stu Hawks? You got to let him play at some point. You got to let him play. I don't get why that's not even like a possibility.
00:51:00
Speaker
They've been high on him internally for years and years. And then now they won't play him.
00:51:08
Speaker
The rationale being, I think that he's too skinny, but like, how are you going to know if you can hang, if you don't let him try. So I would like to see Stu Hawks, get some sort of run during this period when, when Jackson is out, maybe they can make it. So if there's a situation, you know, put them in the match day squad.
00:51:25
Speaker
And if they get up a couple of goals and it's late in the game, that type of situation, um can get a They can get Hawks in there at some point. I know he's got a open cup obligations with defiance right now, but Jackson's out four to six weeks. like There'll be an opportunity to get him some run if they if they want to, but it doesn't seem like they're going to.
00:51:49
Speaker
At least Schmetz didn't mention that name. So anyway, I wanted to throw that out there just because I want to see i want to see what he's got. It's time.
00:51:59
Speaker
It's time to give it a shot. um All right. Let's do a, let's watch this Schmetz interview. i actually haven't watched this fully yet. So going to play I'm just going to play the, play the Schmetz sound and now, and we'll react to it.
00:52:19
Speaker
Just have to pull it up right here.
00:52:24
Speaker
Oh, what is this? Oh God.
00:52:33
Speaker
There we go. Sorry about that. It was giving me a hard time. Ryan, you look like one person wasn't out there. Jackson Reagan can give an update and they look like you had a full complement of players.
00:52:44
Speaker
ah Four to six weeks.
00:52:49
Speaker
Hamstring injury.
00:52:52
Speaker
the players you know Everybody else out there. What do you... I heard Christian yesterday just talk about this time your team was able to get the ball forward.
00:53:05
Speaker
What did you see in terms of that, you know, being on the front foot? don't know if was being on the front foot. You're talking about the Dallas game. I mean, they played well enough to win. There's still room for improvement, but the stuff we saw about two pivots playing together, playing it.
00:53:26
Speaker
movement ahead of the ball, all those little details. Yeah, it was better. Paul's passing because it was his pass that went to Alex and that went to Pedro. Has he, is his vision continue to improve or?
00:53:40
Speaker
yeah they're all working on their vision. We've made a point of it the last couple of weeks to revisit that. Mid-range strikes seem to be a good resource. It seemed to work. Is that something you're doing more off or was it just what Dallas was giving you guys? Yeah.
00:53:53
Speaker
I think it's what Dallas was giving the guys what they see in front of them. ah You know, sometimes games manifest themselves like that. Pedro in training had to hit a couple of good long range shots prior to the game.
00:54:08
Speaker
So I think he was feeling confident. Christian's left footed strike was good. We're doing a little bit more training of that. ah But, you know, it was probably just a combination of both those two things.
00:54:22
Speaker
kiki He came in, he seemed to do a good job. What have you seen out of him in that time as well as this couple of days today? yeah His ah English is getting better. I appreciate his a tutor and getting hold of the English language. And he's actually communicating on the field with his teammates.
00:54:41
Speaker
So that little bit of leadership from a veteran player certainly is good. But he was clean on the ball. And, you the first tackle, his first duel, his first, you know, interaction was good.
00:54:53
Speaker
Keeha, Jackson is obviously a very good passer. Would Kim kind of be able to still fill that kind of sweeper role or how do you? Well, someone has to do it. I mean, we've had Jonathan Bell do when Jackson was out. Kim Keehee will get a chance.
00:55:08
Speaker
ah You know, Jackson's calling card is, you know, his ability to make the right pass, not just the technical piece of the pass, but also the decision making.
00:55:19
Speaker
So we'll miss him. ah But Kim will step in, do a good job. Jonathan Bell can step in, do a good job. And obviously Jonathan's been here for a minute, so he would be very comfortable.
00:55:30
Speaker
him getting one game is that um you know putting more uh do you think that he's comfortable enough to yeah to yeah yeah yeah look pretty good at training today rank is another one that you know we're looking at uh how have you seen him you know integrating this week and getting ready for this upcoming match good.
00:55:52
Speaker
Training's a little different. You know, he was training in a gym and on his own and, you know, last six months been tough on him. I see a player, i listen, and he's happy to be back on the grass.
00:56:05
Speaker
But that's going to take some time. going to manage some expectations here. um He hasn't played a significant amount of games in the last couple of years. And so for him to get back up to where he was, like he was at Rangers and all the highlights that we see, it's going to take him a bit.
00:56:20
Speaker
But he's working hard and integrating with his teammates as far as, you know, the social aspect, talking, you know interacting. And then the soccer is going to come because he's a talented player. Ryan, the chemistry of Orbit and Christian. There's a play here where Christian was up there.
00:56:37
Speaker
He got beat. Orbit came back just defensively. Can you just talk about the importance of that? I know we talk about offense. They both cover a lot of ground. And they're smart. they know They're smart tactically. So...
00:56:50
Speaker
that on the defensive side of things gives them an advantage. They cover a lot of ground, they see things they cover for each other. It's it's been a good partnership. There's one play in practice where the ball was on the other side and you you talked to Pedro about getting in that, you told them to slot over. We have to stay connected.
00:57:10
Speaker
You know, individual performances, you have to get yourself right first, then you work in pairs, you know, Obed and Christian, you know, Kalani and Pedro or Alex and Pedro, you know, number 10 and the number nine.
00:57:26
Speaker
Then you go to the back four as a bigger group or a back five is a bigger group, the attacking front four, you know, pretty soon you have a team. You have to start with yourself first, get yourself right, and then you know work with your teammates.
00:57:41
Speaker
Especially with ah Pedro. I mean, I know he's a creative kind of player, but they seem like a little bit more creative against Dallas to kind of start. and Is that kind of what you saw? I think you're seeing a joy in Pedro being able to be back out on the field.
00:57:55
Speaker
You're seeing a kid who loves to play and just the joy of running around, kicking a ball, passing, running. i think you're seeing that. Going back to your pivots, Christian has the most minutes out of any any player.
00:58:12
Speaker
Is that something that you're trying to create some continuity and maybe that's where you're not rotating them as much as other players? don't know if I'm not rotating them. Each game's different. Christian certainly has been an integral part of this team since he joined.
00:58:28
Speaker
You know, as a rookie in 2015, where his numbers that high, where his minutes that high, no. But as he progressed and certainly, you know, the last couple of years, he's been, know, one of the first names I write on the sheet.
00:58:43
Speaker
J.P. has seen gotten in a lot of minutes. I mean, obviously, he's a guy that you can count on coming in any moment in time. You how's he doing? So is Danny. J.P. and Danny are great. Good pairing. Good pairing against LFC.
00:58:55
Speaker
Sorry, Brian. You talked about pregame this last game. You needed your team stay on top of them. how How would you rate how your team took advantage of that terms of staying on top scored the first goal, if that's what you're asking about. I mean, we haven't played from the lead in a while, so that was a good thing. And I think we were able to close it out through good defending, you know, a little bit of, you know,
00:59:21
Speaker
you know, stressed, you know, the substitutions because of the injuries, all that they came together as a group and got it out of one, nothing win. It's a Friday question, but playing home just important to that first, i don't know, 20 minutes or leaving 10 minutes. Come out on the front foot.
00:59:40
Speaker
Nashville's a good team. It'll be challenged, but we're going to come out with the home crowd behind us and see we can do. With Kim, what's some changed maybe about him that you saw? Kim?
00:59:52
Speaker
Since 2019. You're stretching my memory. he looks but He looks the same. He looks fit. He's got a few more miles on him, few more years on him, but he still looks good.
01:00:05
Speaker
I mean... He, when I was roughing the game here earlier today, he like I said, he's communicative, he's talking, which is a little bit different than from before. I think he was a little more quiet.
01:00:18
Speaker
He had Chad Marshall and Roman to play with, so maybe he didn't need to be that loud. ah But, you know, he's been great. In terms of just knowing where they're at, Alex, Jordan, Albert all has some knocks. you know well Where are they at right now? How comfortable are you with them going into this game? They'll all be involved in the game. Just depends on you know what the final line-up the decisions are.
01:00:41
Speaker
B.J. Callahan, the Miss Nashville team, offensively, they're top four in XG. They seem to put the ball in a lot into the A-team. What other challenges do they present to you?
01:00:52
Speaker
They get a big striker. They got a clever number 10. ah Midfield works. He's done a good job.
01:01:06
Speaker
All right. That was Schmetz from training. um I don't know about you guys. i thought ah the answer that caught my ear the most was when he was talking about Ryan Kent. I'm really hoping that he plays in this game on Saturday.
01:01:22
Speaker
i'm not sure. I don't think he said... Either way, if he was going, i'm pretty or maybe he did. At the end there, he was talking about Jordan and Rusnak, who are going to factor into the game in some capacity. um But hopefully we get to see some Ryan Kent.
01:01:36
Speaker
Schmitz was doing some expectation managing there. you know He pointed out that ah really it's not even just in the last six months that that Ryan, Ryan Kent's been totally out, but I think there was injury issues before that. And maybe he wasn't getting in, in games at his previous clubs or at the, at the Turkish club, even before that. So he hasn't played in a while. And Schmetz was you know kind of saying it might take him a little while to get back into it.
01:02:03
Speaker
ah But he's talented enough that once he gets some reps, gets more comfortable, we'll start to see him make the impact. We think more at that point than right off rip, which I think that's fair for him to say.
01:02:18
Speaker
But I think for me with Ryan Kent is, I don't know. It's just something to be like interested in you know, season's been a little bit, a lot of a slog so far.
01:02:29
Speaker
Champions cup didn't go that well. ah There's been a ton of injuries. So I'm looking forward to just having and injection of, Just something new, even if it doesn't work out, like I'll be interested to, ah to watch it. And I'm cautiously optimistic that this player can actually be and impact player.
01:02:50
Speaker
And I think if this is his first ah opponent, it'll be a good test. We don't, they are not going to have Walker Zimmerman, who's still one of the best defenders in MLS. He's one defender of the year. Is he one defender of the year twice?
01:03:06
Speaker
So he's really good. They're not going to him, but they're a solid team. I mean, we were just talking to Ben about it. They are, and Nico brought it up when he was asking Schmetz that last question, like they're top four in XG.
01:03:19
Speaker
They're going to get their looks. That's sort of how I feel about this right now. Like, I would be kind of surprised if Seattle keeps a clean sheet um just because any team that's racking XG like that, like they're going to get their chances. They're not finishing well right now.
01:03:38
Speaker
So maybe that continues into this game, but finishing stuff like that, it tends to even out at some point. So hopefully it won't be this game where it does, but it's sort of when you're playing a team like this, that's playing well, but not finishing, you kind of feel like it could, the dam could break at any moment.
01:03:56
Speaker
So, uh,
01:04:00
Speaker
That was my biggest takeaway from what Schmetz had to say, other than obviously the Jackson-Reagan injury. And then also ah him saying that Jordan and Rusnak – Chad, am I bugging? I'm pretty sure he said Jordan and Rusnak are going to play in some capacity at the end there.
01:04:19
Speaker
So ah i think that's another thing to look forward to – mean – i mean It seems like this team is a little dangerously dependent on Jordan Morris.
01:04:33
Speaker
That seems to be the situation right now because Ferreira at the nine hasn't worked and Moose at the nine has been a lot better as far as how the whole attack is functioning, but he hasn't been finishing well this season.
01:04:46
Speaker
He did get a goal in the last game though, but it's really, and like also it's about how they play. Like I think they clearly, might've, uh, I underestimated like how much of a change there's going to have to be between when Jordan's on the field and when it's when it's Ferreira or Moose like you have to play way differently. And I think there was too many if I had to attribute the rough start to the season to I mean, there's a lot of factors that go into it.
01:05:18
Speaker
But one of them is that with Jordan injured, they haven't like adapted. well enough to that so um that could be a segue into a ferrera discourse which we'll do that at some point that seemed to be the uh okay all available all right oh i did want to hit this uh this thing this comment from chat you can't convince me that the number of hamstring and injuries we have every year is normal I never know what to make of this issue because i totally understand the like hamstring FC storylines, but I'm not sure how much of that is like they actually have an above-average amount of injuries or the team like or if it just feels like that the team you follow the most.
01:06:02
Speaker
It always feels like they have the most injuries because soccer is a sport where you're running a lot, and you're going to have a lot. like Literally, there's like a set amount of muscle injuries that are just kind of baked into the sport because of how much running that you do.
01:06:16
Speaker
But I won't deny, like, it does feel like Seattle has an above average amount of of muscle injuries.
01:06:27
Speaker
Some people think that's the turf. I don't know about that. But... it is always going to be a topic of conversation with this team because it's, it is frustrating to like go through all of preseason, have this kind of vision in your head of what it could look like or what it's supposed to look like.
01:06:46
Speaker
And then two games into the year, four guys are out four to six because they pulled their hand being like, we all And we all know the situation with De La Vega since he's been um the team. But I think this this next stretch of the season coming up is big for the De La Vega thing.
01:07:05
Speaker
He was playing really well. He actually was, he was looking, I thought he was looking like the player that they thought they were getting in ah definitely in the Antigua series. And just to start the season, he was looking really good. He was looking very dynamic. He was trying stuff. He was taking people on.
01:07:21
Speaker
Mark Kastner called it expected trying things is expected trying things. was off the charts. ah So I like i have really liked, honestly, what I've seen from him on the field so far this year. It's just the injury thing cropped up again. So it's kind of make or break the way I see it for the rest of this season.
01:07:43
Speaker
I still think that the signing can work out if they are actually able to keep him on the field and play a full complement of minutes. If they're able to do that, To me, he looks like he can actually make the impact that they thought that he was going to be able to make when they brought him here.
01:08:01
Speaker
it's just It's just a health issue. it's not like I don't think it's a like a talent issue or like ah like a fit issue like we've seen with Jesus Ferreira. They just got to keep him on the field because like I've so i said this before, but like assigning busting because of injury is different than assigning busting because of of like talent or fit.
01:08:22
Speaker
or anything like that. But at the end of the day, if it busts because of injury, it still busts. Like, that's reality. So, I think the whole situation is kind of toeing that line. And they just, they got to do whatever is possible to keep that guy on the field because that's going to be huge for the ceiling of the team.
01:08:42
Speaker
And I really... I have, again, no doubt in my mind that with reasonable health, both Pedro de la Vega and Jordan Morris, this team this team can compete and can can contend, but that seems to be and open question.
01:09:03
Speaker
Built our team around an injury-prone Jordan Morris. We have no like for like backup. Hope he can keep last season's durability, but it's not looking good. I mean, i don't like, i don't know if I would describe him injury-prone, like ah outs outside, like he did his ACL twice, but he's not a guy who is always pulling his, like, it's not like a De La Vega situation. Like he just did, he did his ACL twice and he's had a couple muscle injuries, but I don't know if it's anything.
01:09:32
Speaker
above average i think what happened was ah he was kind of getting run into the ground early this season he was playing he was playing all 90 of every game even if it was on short rest like no matter what like and i think schmetz even at one point acknowledged this like yeah i probably was riding him too much And I think we were even talking about it at the time. Like, it's like, can you really just play him every single minute of every single game every week? I'm pretty sure that doesn't work.
01:10:03
Speaker
I think that's why he got hurt. Like, honestly, that's what it looked like to me. Like when that, when that injury happened, it was like a result of just his injury. just gave out from overuse, you know? So I think I'm hopeful that if they just manage his minutes better than that, cause they're going to, they're going to be juggling competitions and there's going to be games on short turnaround.
01:10:28
Speaker
Hopefully that'll keep them healthier. And, uh, I think what you said though, Jake, about the like for like broke replacement, like, yeah, that's what I was getting at. Like they didn't, uh,
01:10:40
Speaker
They didn't figure that out. They didn't figure out how to play without him. But I think what that does mean is that if he's healthy and he is playing, this should be a good team. Theoretically, it's not just him. It's him and De La Vega.
01:10:53
Speaker
And then we'll see what happens with Ryan Kent.
01:10:58
Speaker
I'm excited to finally get to see him play, hopefully. Did anyone else find it funny that CBS named one of the U S open cup groups after Dempsey Dempsey still haven't served all his band.
01:11:11
Speaker
didn't, uh, I didn't see that. Uh, that is really funny because yeah, relations between Clint Dempsey and the U S open cup famously did not end particularly well.
01:11:24
Speaker
That was very, uh, notable decline in relations between the two parties. Uh, I think we all know the situation with that.
01:11:35
Speaker
But, uh, like that, uh, I, I noticed it was like a year or two ago. Their official Twitter account was like doing like, they were like banter tagging him. I'm like, he's still suspended. Yeah.
01:11:47
Speaker
You're right, Joe. He literally, I don't, yeah, that's, that's the whole bit. Like he hasn't, he's still suspended from the open cup. If Clint came out of retirement and the team he was on was in open cup, he wouldn't be able to play because of a red card from a decade ago.
01:12:00
Speaker
God, was that a decade ago? Damn. Just dated myself right there. Kenny, thank you for the $2 super chat. Appreciate the support, man. New who is a top four defender in Sounders history. Hey, you know that I actually am with that take.
01:12:15
Speaker
i so So one of the listeners who came up to us and was hanging out with us at the game, she was telling me that she appreciates that I'm the the new who defender. And like, really, i that's a mantle that I ended up taking up that I felt like a I don't actually feel that passionately about, like I shouldn't have had to take up that mantle, but I'll, I'll still take that mantle.
01:12:42
Speaker
i think like, ah honestly, I understand the frustration with the player at times. I've never denied that watching him can be frustrating at times. I think my take on it is it's overblown.
01:12:53
Speaker
It's overblown. Like pretty much he's a good defender, like at playing defense. Yeah. The criticism, the critique of him as a two way player couldn't be more valid, but I think that's just sort of the reality of the player that he developed into is he's a specialist. He's a specialist.
01:13:11
Speaker
He's like, uh, he's like Pat Beverly kind of, you know, he's not going to score many buckets, but God damn it. He'll do, can put them on the other team's best player.
01:13:24
Speaker
He's gonna, he's gonna compete his ass off. He's going to hold his own. And, uh,
01:13:30
Speaker
i'll stand i'll still I'll stand on that. I'll stand on that. Here, Kenny has his list here. Marshall, England, Yaimar, Newhul. Marshall is ah is the MLS GOAT as far as CB goes. God, i do miss watching him play soccer sometimes. be he was So he was the that the peak Chad Marshall was when I first started covering the team.
01:13:54
Speaker
It was his first year on the team, actually. And i got I just got so used to watching flawless center back play. That guy never made mistakes. Yeah. pretty much ever. Like, I'm sure if you went through his, ah the tape of his career, you could find, you could find a fair amount.
01:14:11
Speaker
Any defender, you're going to be able to find some individual plays where they put a foot wrong. But Chad, like, it just barely ever happened. Like, I don't think I could, i don't think I could count five just off the top of my head. I don't know if I can count any, like, it's like,
01:14:28
Speaker
in it was It was funny because he wasn't known for being like a like a physical or like ah a guy who got into that many tackles. But it's like, yeah, because he's always just, he doesn't have to.
01:14:42
Speaker
He's always in the right place. Every single time. The way he... Just lethal in the air. Crushed his headers. He could he could ah take a header under duress and still place it.
01:14:56
Speaker
Like, make it a pass to a guy and start the attack. But, like, the best... The best used ah passer with his head I've ever seen. So good at that.
01:15:07
Speaker
And then, obviously, very goal-dangerous CB. Like... Best CB in the air that I've covered in MLS. He spoiled us, exactly. He spoiled us.
01:15:21
Speaker
Oh, we see, we got people saying that, ah that the new who has an attacker stuff is, uh, actually overblown too. I like this. I like, uh, I thought I was kind of on an island with that stuff, to be honest.
01:15:36
Speaker
So I appreciate that there's, uh, Like-minded folks on that. It's not a popular take. It's really not. Like, I dished that take, and people are like, you suck.
01:15:48
Speaker
You don't know no ball? Who's terrible?
01:15:54
Speaker
Okay. um They should name Defender the year after Marshall. They should. They literally should. He's the only one to win it three times, unless Zimmerman did that.
01:16:06
Speaker
Zimmerman equal that? That's what I'm going to look up right now because I was trying to remember how many he won earlier. ah But there was a while where Chad was the only one to win it three times. um Yeah, Zimmerman's won Defender of the Year twice.
01:16:18
Speaker
So Chad's still definitely still the only one who's won it three times. And he's the best CB that's ever played in the league, man. Like... And there's been a lot of really good CBs to come to the league, obviously, from like overseas and stuff.
01:16:35
Speaker
Give me Chad Marshall over any of them. Give me Chad Marshall over any of them And he always hated talking about this. But the fact that he was never in the USMNT fold is just fucking stupid.
01:16:47
Speaker
The guys that they were bringing up at the time over him, like when he was in his prime, there's literally no way you can tell me that all those guys were like that. There was enough players that were above him in terms of talent that he shouldn't have been getting called in. Like there's no way.
01:17:08
Speaker
There's no way.
01:17:11
Speaker
Like, Yammer's a good example of what I'm talking about with the spoiled thing, though because Yammer's a great CB. Like, I love watching him play. He's one of the best defenders in the league. But, like, you can still go through his tape and find plenty of, like, individual errors, mistakes that led to goals or big chances, whatever.
01:17:30
Speaker
And that's not even a knock on him. That's just, like, any normal CB is going to have some of those. And Chad just didn't. He literally just didn't. And at the time I took it for granted. I was like, oh, this is just is what life is like.
01:17:43
Speaker
ah CB that just never messes up ever. That is not what life is like. It was a sad day, man, when he retired.
01:17:56
Speaker
It really was.
01:18:01
Speaker
Jake's got his ah top five list. Let's look at this. Top five in no particular order. So this is Mount Rushmore plus one. Ozzie Alonzo, Nico, Dempsey, Chad Marshall, Raul.
01:18:13
Speaker
and don't know if a I don't know if I disagree with a but any of those. It's tough. If we're doing field players, it's just it's tough not to have Fry on there, isn't it? Like if we're doing goalkeepers included.
01:18:28
Speaker
Like Casey Keller, honestly, might have a shout here as well. But like they literally like the 16 MLS Cup, they don't win without Fry. And that was sort of like the trophy that set off the borderline dynasty that they went off to rattle off.
01:18:45
Speaker
And Fry's been there for all of it. and MLS Cup MVP, best save in MLS Cup history. basically won the Sounders their first MLS Cup.
01:18:56
Speaker
The fact that they won that 16 Cup, the further I get away from it, the more I'm like, that was one of the just balliest performances that the club has ever put out. And it was in a 0-0 draw that was just like a brutal game. But like, I was there.
01:19:12
Speaker
I've never felt cold like that. I went back there for the one that Seattle lost the next year. And it was equally cold. I don't understand how people live there.
01:19:24
Speaker
That is too cold. There's a threshold of cold that I can live with. I grew up in New Mexico, okay, which gets very cold. the Desert climate is actually just like, a lot of people think that it's just super hot all the time.
01:19:38
Speaker
It's a common misconception. Desert climate is actually just like the most extreme of all conditions. So when it gets hot, it's like pushing 100, over 100.
01:19:49
Speaker
When it gets cold, it's down at zero, below zero. But that Toronto cold was built different. I've never felt anything like that before or since being there.
01:20:00
Speaker
And that was me just walking around layered up. Playing soccer in that is borderline inhumane. This is what we were kind of talking about the other night with this whole calendar switch idea. It's like, yeah, it's it'd be great schedule-wise to help this issue the league always has with national team absences, but you'd be like Toronto. You would be, you would literally, this is what would happen guys that you would be playing like weekend week out. Toronto would be playing in that MLS cup, 2016, 17 type weather. That's like what that you're contending with, with that.
01:20:36
Speaker
That's an issue. You can't do that. It's like a safety issue at a certain point. Like I remember thinking that both times I was in Toronto, i was like low key.
01:20:49
Speaker
This could be dangerous from like a frostbite perspective. It's too cold. It shouldn't be allowed to be that cold as it is in in Toronto.
01:21:04
Speaker
Frank McDonald is a good shout. I've interviewed him before for his stories and I had that same idea and I kind of forgot about it. That's a good reminder. not hit him up. Do some Sounders history lessons. That's the guy.
01:21:17
Speaker
Frank's the man.
01:21:20
Speaker
Pro schedule change if for nothing else to end this small piece of American exceptionalism. Yeah, no, that's, ah i agree with that. Like I, grant I'm all for it in principle. ah just think like having been to Toronto,
01:21:36
Speaker
um I just, I don't ever want to go back there. Is anyone else at those? Like that shit was crazy. And like in the, yeah in the 2016 one, there was a play like 10 minutes into the game where Giovinco tried a shot from way outside the box and Roman Torres blocked it with his face.
01:21:55
Speaker
And it looked like that must've felt like getting hit in the face by a Giovinco shot. With a rock. That's what it had to have felt like.
01:22:06
Speaker
Because the ball's freaking frozen. You're kicking around in solid ball of ice. And it hit him in the face going like 100 miles per hour. And Roman got his ass up, stayed in the game, and then hit the winning penalty.
01:22:21
Speaker
So... At the 2016 game, so cold my beer was freezing. There should be a rule that if it's so cold that your beer is freezing...
01:22:33
Speaker
You don't play. It's ridiculous. Basically, if it gets that cold, you should have to have a roof on your stadium or you're not allowed to have a team. like Shouldn't subject people to playing in that.
01:22:50
Speaker
It's one thing what Seattle does, subjecting everybody to playing in the rain. That's fine. A little soccer in the rain never hurt anybody. Soccer in negative 10-degree wind chill? It's dangerous.
01:23:03
Speaker
um Paul Rothrock also talked and I wanted to play that sound so we're going to do that right now give Paul Rothrock some shine and then was going to do a little Ferreira discourse because that was the hottest topic of discussion on Lobbing Scorchers kickoff the other day and then there's a couple league-wide headlines I wanted to hit so that'll be the that'll be the rest of the show tonight ah but Let me just find this Paul Rothrock sound real quick because ah everyone knows that we're very pro-poly primetime on this show. So anytime he talks, I'm going to give him some shine.
01:23:42
Speaker
Let's hear from Paul Rothrock.
01:23:50
Speaker
If I can get my screen sharing to work. Why is this giving me such a hard time tonight? Come on. There it is.
01:24:01
Speaker
Paul, what's going on? Talk to us. I'm clicking on the wrong thing.
01:24:06
Speaker
Paul, maybe we should start off just talking a little bit about the Tacoma Defiance. You know, you play with that team a little bit. I just want to just get your take on that win. You know how'd you feel? How'd you see it?
01:24:18
Speaker
Yeah, really happy for the guys there. What an opportunity to play against the Timbers at Starfire. really cool experience for them and I'm excited for them and they deserve it. I think they've, you know, sea
Paul Rothrock on Tacoma Defiance's Performance
01:24:31
Speaker
ah shown a lot of character in some of these games and it's been fun to watch all the new guys step up and, you know, fill the holes that different guys left and, you know,
01:24:43
Speaker
There's a lot of talent on that team, and it's exciting to watch. And you know staying in games late has been kind of their m MO, and and that's cool to see from the second team, especially. It shows you know good culture, good coaching, and lot of heart from the guys. So I'm happy with You obviously are crucial part of the first team, and you have been playing so many games. But is there a part of you that wants to also maybe help out that's a common team?
01:25:12
Speaker
i was ah ah I would say I'm a little envious that they're going to have playing that game. That's a really exciting game. And I'd be licking my chops to play in a game like that. Would you be willing ask though?
01:25:24
Speaker
I don't know about that. I mean, depends on who we got. When is the game? What's the date of the game? Is that 6th, I think? Yeah, it's 7th. don Yeah, no, that's ah that's a that's their earned opportunity.
01:25:36
Speaker
And those guys those guys have put in a lot of work for that. I don't want to take that from that. Oh, great answer. Keep doing it. And I'd love to see them beat the Timbers so far. ah Looking back at Dallas, just how do you evaluate the team performance in that win?
01:25:51
Speaker
i think it was gritty win. um I think everyone kind of felt a different energy from the players and the staff that week. I think the losses this are going to make us better. i think the loss at San Diego made us better. think it helped us all, you know,
01:26:13
Speaker
crumple up the paper a little bit and start on start on like you know on ah on a blank page again and go back to some basics. And I think everyone locked in a little bit more on that training week. And you could kind of just feel it. Everyone was, we were playing as a team, you know, the shutout really speaks to that.
01:26:31
Speaker
And I thought a lot of people played, you know, really solid, I think across the board. i can' I can't say anyone had a below par performance, you know, I think.
01:26:43
Speaker
Um, obviously there's still things to work on. could have finished more chances. you know, I had a couple of moments I want back, but, um, overall great, great step in the right direction for us. And, um, know, something to build on. In addition to everything you talked about with the kind of a different vibe last week, did it feel like there was a sense of urgency to, to get a win after what had happened the last couple of weeks?
01:27:05
Speaker
Yeah, definitely. Definitely. I think, um, you know, this is a big club with big expectations and, um, We've been in these situations before and I think, you know, especially Smets and a lot of the vets know how to handle these situations well.
01:27:20
Speaker
You know, you don't make big changes, but you, you know, Schmidt said today, want everyone to see if they can improve 5%, which I think is a good message for everybody.
01:27:31
Speaker
can Can we just be a little bit better than our average and focusing on that message right now, not trying to do anything too crazy, not, know, changing the whole playbook, but just asking a little bit more from everybody.
01:27:46
Speaker
You mentioned the vibe last week. the The vibe this week, it's a little bit different. You've got Ryan Ken in the fold. Jordan's working back from injury. Albert's back. Pedro may start back from injury. Is there a little bit of extra juice? The sun's out.
01:27:57
Speaker
You know, you get the result. Is there a little bit of extra juice this week in training, you know, as opposed to to last week? Definitely, definitely. i think, you know, it's more fun when – The week's a lot more fun coming back on Tuesday, Monday when you've got a win under your belt. And the depth is is the team's strength this year.
01:28:18
Speaker
I think we're saying that you guys can see it. We've got so many different pieces who are really different types of players. Jesus is different from Albert and from Pedro, and I'm different from Ryan. and Misovsky is different from Jordan. We've got a number of guys, Georgie, you know, a number of different profiles that can all add something. And I think, you know, you've fostered an environment in the right way where everyone's really competing and putting the best foot forward. And that becomes a really scary team. And I really feel good about how we're going into the next couple of weeks.
01:28:54
Speaker
know, it's game by game. But, you know, Yeah, spring in Seattle, summer in Seattle. I have a good feeling. You mentioned the depth and, you know, different players bringing different things. Is it is it hard to adjust to different players' play style? how do you How do you sort of go about that with the injuries and the lineup has to change so much early in the season?
01:29:15
Speaker
Yeah, I think, you know, communication is a big part of that and and learning guys, getting to know them as people too. I think, ah you know, last year we started doing well when we had a big stretch on the road. I think that speaks to just the more time that you get together on the road, you know, all those – flights and meals together. You end up chatting with each other more. You get to know each other a little bit better. And you know some of the new guys like Jesus and Ryan, you know we're still getting to know them, but we we're starting to know them better. I'm starting to understand how to play with him, what kind of passes he likes and what kind of movement he makes. He makes different movements from Albert. And that makes us more dangerous too, because we can you know switch things up if we need to. Yeah.
01:30:01
Speaker
yeah ah home game Nashville, different natural, by the way. Yeah. Yeah. What do you have to do to keep this momentum up that winning doubts? um I think, you know, kind like I said, 5% better. And, you know, getting a win under a belt is a nice little vote of confidence and just building on that. Can we build on that?
01:30:24
Speaker
Especially at home or better at home. We've got the crowd behind our back. Um, you know We've got a lot of pieces back. there's there's some really We have some exciting momentum right now. you know Guys are all getting healthy. We're going to have some scary pieces coming off the bench.
01:30:41
Speaker
I think that makes the starters better because you know that you can push a little bit harder. and When you're tired, the next man's up. and and it also gives you that that healthy pressure of you know you've got to be on your A game or the next guy's up as well. so Nashville's a team that can score.
01:30:59
Speaker
um It doesn't seem like they're a team that likes to sit back, even when on the road. yeah As a wingback, when you see a team like that, do you think, okay, they're just maybe not going to sit back? you kind of lick your chops a little bit, maybe to be able to get up the field and get them in transition?
01:31:11
Speaker
Yeah, I'm excited about those kind of games because I think it suits my style a bit more, too. um You know, the games that you know that do start going back and forth a bit, I think I'd...
01:31:22
Speaker
yeah I back myself against anyone in terms of like the legs that I can, the running that I can do in that game and get back and forth on both sides of the ball. And, you know, I think especially at home, that's exciting because it's, you know, it's difficult to create chances when you're sitting against a back five that's really structured. And, you know, I think it's going to make for an exciting game for people to watch this weekend.
01:31:47
Speaker
What's the biggest difference between Paul Rothwig back and Paul, but I mean, Paul Rothwig wing Rothwig winger? That's good question. I think more responsibility.
01:31:58
Speaker
think, you know, asking more from me on the other side of the ball now. And, but, you know, it's still, you know, it's like that total football stuff. youre You're still the same guy and can, know,
01:32:14
Speaker
I see myself as somebody you can put anywhere and I'm still going to bring the same attributes. Right. So, um, I don't think it changes that much, but yeah, it's more running probably as well. Uh, but yeah, thanks guys.
01:32:33
Speaker
That was probably prime time live. from long acres. Uh, there was a lot of good stuff there. Really good questions from the beat. Uh, my biggest, my, my biggest takeaway is, uh,
01:32:46
Speaker
I really liked his answer on the ah on the defiance question when they were asking him if if he was going to campaign to go to get loaned down and play in that game. And he eventually landed on, like, they earned that opportunity, not me. Like, it was them that's been playing in these games. And i don't want to just slide in there for the glory when they're the ones who have been putting it in to get to this point.
01:33:12
Speaker
So I thought that was a great answer. And I also thought it was interesting how he was talking about how they tried to kind of take the San Diego result and turn it into something positive as far as, you know, i think he the analogy was like crumpling up the paper, locking back in recalibrate, and really...
01:33:37
Speaker
Try and use it to get better. And he was saying that he, he thinks that they actually did that to good effect. And that was part of the impetus behind a good week of training leading up to the win that they got at FC Dallas. So,
01:33:53
Speaker
We'll see if that sustains itself going forward here. But he was also talking about how um they're getting healthier. The depth should be back to what we hoped it would be relatively soon.
01:34:07
Speaker
And then when that happens, another thing he was talking about was how that should lead to them hopefully being able to be more multifaceted. I think what we've seen is that ah they like the depth that they do have with all the injuries, they hadn't figured out how to play with each other and like kind of get those different skill sets to mesh in a way that it did when everyone was healthy.
01:34:34
Speaker
um But with a, with a improved bill of health, hopefully that'll improve. Hopefully Ryan Kent pulls up at some point.
01:34:48
Speaker
This weekend, he's going to play. I think he's going to play this weekend. So I'm excited for the next few weeks here just to ah get Jordan back, get Ryan Kent in there, and hopefully they can start stacking some points and really like scoring some goals.
01:35:07
Speaker
Turn this fully
Debate on Sounders' Player Trades and Performance
01:35:09
Speaker
meaningfully turn this rough start to the season around. I think the FC Dallas win was a good start, but it only really matters if you actually do what Paul was talking about and and build on that.
01:35:23
Speaker
um All right. Feel free to drop any questions, topics, agendas, and grievances in and chat if you want me to hit as we are. I'm going to stay on for a little bit here, but not all that much longer. So there's anything you're dying to talk about, feel free to drop it in and then then I will ah i we'll try to get to it.
01:35:45
Speaker
I guess, yeah, let's do a little bit of Ferreira discourse, ah which Noah and I did a little bit. at the live show, but, uh, I got, I was getting into it with Chad a little bit, lobbing scorchers kickoff, which is fine by the way. Like, uh, Nico and I were both trying to be clear about this at the end of the episode, but we really don't mind ah spirited discussion or people disagreeing with us. And, ah we certainly had a lot of people disagreeing with us or maybe, maybe it was just me. I don't know regarding the Ferreira stuff, uh, because, okay, I'll tell you guys what was happening.
01:36:18
Speaker
If anyone is here for under the lights that wasn't here for kickoff, tell you what's happening. The Ferreira stuff ah was, it was polarizing at the time because a lot of people didn't like the trade and a lot of people did like the trade.
01:36:34
Speaker
was polarizing at the time. And now that it's not started off super great, people are trying to victory lap, which, you know, I think victory lapping on match day nine is premature to begin with.
01:36:49
Speaker
um But I'll tell you, I'll tell you what's happening is they're victory lapping about predicting something that they they did not predict. They did not. They're trying to take credit for it. They're trying to take credit for like, I knew that this Ferreira thing wasn't going to work all along because i have superior ball knowledge.
01:37:09
Speaker
I am the guru. I'm the soccer guru. And I knew that this tactical fit wasn't going to work the whole time. I was saying it the whole time. No, you weren't.
01:37:23
Speaker
Those were not the issues that people were bringing up at the time. If you're trying to say that those were the issues that people were bringing up at the time, like his schematic and positional fit, literally go me go find me like one comment on our and our YouTube videos, one tweet.
01:37:41
Speaker
Skeet or whatever literally find one where you were talking about that And i'll eat my words. No one was talking about that stuff and what happened was people were getting on me Because I was interviewing sam hale and he was saying that, uh ah The positional stuff with Ferreira actually dates back to FC Dallas, which I actually, I did know like a little bit, but he was, he was, he was literally saying that the exact same conversations that we're having in Seattle about Ferreira
01:38:13
Speaker
were, be taking place at FC Dallas for like towards the end of his time there. And I learned that live on the air and I have no trouble admitting it. People were getting on me like, how could you not know that? Everyone knew that.
01:38:27
Speaker
I mean, not really. That's the other thing I think is funny about it. Like to know that you have to be as plugged into FC Dallas as like Sam Hale. If I'm not that plugged into FC Dallas and I follow the whole league really closely, then I know for a fact that the people who were saying that in our chat,
01:38:44
Speaker
you know't You don't follow the ins and outs of FC Dallas' tactical setup every week, okay? You don't. You're victory lapping on something that you didn't know about.
01:38:59
Speaker
So that's ah that's number one. But, like, I also, ah here's my take on it. ah James, James, ah james friend of the of the pod, calls in post-game sometimes. He made a made ah He made a good point, I thought, about this, which I've vote i've acknowledged, but you know he was basically talking about how
01:39:24
Speaker
part of the sell of Ferreira was the idea that he could hit the ground running, right? Because he has experience in the league.
01:39:35
Speaker
And with guys on this team, the idea was that he could hit the ground running and help this team in CCC. That was really a big part of it. I think club world cup has something to do with that too, but really part of why they signed Ferreira was like, we got CCC.
01:39:49
Speaker
This guy has experience in the league. A lot of experience in conky calf has played with a lot of our players. He can probably help us in that tournament. Um, that that i think that was part of there i mean I think there's more to the rationale than just that, but that was part of the rationale is the adaptation process should theoretically be quicker.
01:40:12
Speaker
I was saying that at the time. I'm pretty sure the Sounders were talking about similar upshots to the arrival, and ah that didn't that part of it didn't pan out. like There's no question about that.
01:40:28
Speaker
ah did It didn't. the The CCC this year was a flop. It was a flop. They bombed out pretty hard. So, and Ferreira, like, clearly against Cruz Azul, like, the chemistry wasn't there for him to be effective in the way that I hoped, certainly.
01:40:49
Speaker
um So James was saying that, like, in ah in a way, it's like already a whiff of a signing because he didn't end up helping in CCC. i I wouldn't go that far. I wouldn't go as far to say that it's already somewhat of a failure based on that because...
01:41:06
Speaker
um I just think that there's still an outcome where if he gets more comfortable with the team, the chemistry gets there. He becomes a meaningful needle moving impact part of this team scores goals, helps them contend for trophies.
01:41:23
Speaker
Maybe they win a trophy with them. If that outcome happens, which I think is possible. I know people are writing it off, but again, match day nine, like, Even if you're positive that ah that it's going to work out like it like it is right now, we at this juncture don't know that. If there's an outcome where he actually becomes an impact player on this team, helps the team contend for and win for trophies, which is still possible, then I think that it is still a good, successful signing, even with what happened with CCC.
01:41:56
Speaker
And i don't think that outcome is as outlandishly impossible as the victory lappers out there are making it. lot you are talking about it like it's over, like the season's over.
01:42:11
Speaker
It's already, like, it's terrible, like, whatever.
01:42:16
Speaker
There's a lot of games left. I've followed this league... like and Like, honestly, a lot you know sometimes the Ferreira takes or cope, but this isn't cope. This is having covered a lot of these seasons now.
01:42:28
Speaker
The narratives fluctuate and change a lot, man, over the course of any given season. It is match day nine.
01:42:38
Speaker
It hasn't worked out yet. And it definitely, there's no denying that it flopped for CCC and CCC as a whole was a flop. But there's a lot of goddamn games left.
01:42:50
Speaker
a lot of games left. And it's honestly like, it's like anything, man. Like the more reps you get with it, the more you run it, the more you practice it, the better that you get. So I would honestly be surprised if,
01:43:07
Speaker
it stays like it has been going forward all season. And if it does, and we're, we're talking about match day 17, 18, 19, 20, and we're still having this exact same conversation, then yes, at that point I would accept some victory lapping depending on how the team is doing.
01:43:26
Speaker
But right now, some of you are early. Some of you are early on that. I'm just telling you right now, like, like you're setting yourself up to look pretty silly. If it does turn around and he starts banging in goals or whatever, like then I'm going to victory lap on you.
01:43:46
Speaker
Think about that.
01:43:48
Speaker
Think about that, you know? So anyway, that's just sort of how I just thought it was funny that, uh, People were giving me a hard time for me. You didn't know that Jesus Ferreira's tactical deployment was also an issue during his FC Dallas career.
01:44:07
Speaker
Like I painstakingly followed. I watch every FC Dallas game. I knew that.
01:44:14
Speaker
Fuck out of here. Anyone who was saying that, like there's one really annoying commenter in particular who comments on a lot of our videos. I'm not going I'm not going to call him by name, but he's the whiniest commenter that we have.
01:44:28
Speaker
He was talking about how everyone was, everyone was talking about that. Literally. It's not like, i think you're, what's the word for that? Lying. You're lying.
01:44:40
Speaker
It's not true.
01:44:46
Speaker
Jesus and Paul Areola were a great duo against Antigua, two-step in prime form. that that ah That's a good point, Jake. um
01:44:55
Speaker
That was the best he looked when he and Areola were on the field at the same time. And I know people are going to say that those goals didn't count because it was against the Guatemalan team. But the chemistry that it was clear as day.
01:45:09
Speaker
it was it was clear as day
01:45:13
Speaker
And Jesus was setting, he set him up for multiple goals in that series. And it just looked really honestly, since Areola, I think you could draw a pretty strong connection between like when Areola went down and when the Ferreira thing,
01:45:32
Speaker
kind of grinded to a halt as far as how it was looking. But I don't even want to say grinded to a halt because other people took issue with this take as well. ah They said I was coping because I said I thought that Ferreira looked better against FC Dallas. I mean, am I...
01:45:52
Speaker
Am I just chugging copium with that? i like I'm not saying that that is a high bar. I know it's a low bar. It's an admittedly low bar. The bar is zero shots, which there's multiple games where he came out of it with that. That was that was what the bar was.
01:46:10
Speaker
And against FC Dallas, I think he took like two shots. So that's two is more than zero, is it not? Is it not? But also, I thought even like outside of that, like...
01:46:21
Speaker
I thought that he just looked a little more dangerous, which I get that that is a low bar. I get that's a low bar, but that is, I mean, that's what I don't set the bar, the bar, the bar sets itself.
01:46:34
Speaker
That's what the bar is right now. It needs to look better than absolutely nothing. And I thought the FC Dallas game, it looked better than absolutely like two of those shots he took were actually not bad chances.
01:46:48
Speaker
They're the type of chances where I feel like if he can get them with consistency, the goals will probably come.
01:46:57
Speaker
Okay, so Reese is talking about the ah Sounder at Heart article. Okay, I'll give you my opinion on that, Reese. My opinion on that is that if you actually read the article, it wasn't as it wasn't as like confrontational.
01:47:13
Speaker
I think the headline and like the graphic is what people are latching onto with that. Like, if you go back and read it, he's really just laying out. Like he gets a little confrontational. I actually brought him onto the show to talk about it.
01:47:27
Speaker
It's definitely like a little, little calling out the doubters, but not, ah not as much as the headline made it out to be. ah think if I were, you know, I'm a copy editor for living.
01:47:43
Speaker
If I was the one writing that headline, I would have made it less like that because I think people keep like the people will keep posting links to that. Like, see, like we were right and this guy was wrong. But like if you actually read it, I don't think it had as much of those connotations as people are saying. they I don't know.
01:48:02
Speaker
Maybe I'm wrong. I remember reading it. And like, honestly, he actually, as much as people want to bring up that article, he makes good points in the article. ah ah Someone, uh, someone, uh, we had a commenter who was talking about, ah The point that i was may that i mean Noah and I made a bunch of times about how like the perception of the Ferreira signing is purely based on the fact that he played previously in and MLS and that if he had come from any other league in the world, it would be getting lauded. That is still true.
01:48:37
Speaker
That is still true. And you know what? you want You want to know what else is true? It's true about Rusnak too. If Rusnak came to this team straight from the Air DeVisa, which is where he was playing before he went to Real Salt Lake, if he came to this team straight from the Air DeVisa, and last year was his first year on the team, and he put up 10 and 16, pushed comps.
01:48:56
Speaker
pushed thirty goal contributions all com I guarantee you on my life, man, I guarantee you on my life, people will be talking about how like he's like been a great, great signing that that signing was a hit, but he just doesn't have he hasn't had enough support. That's what people would be saying.
01:49:12
Speaker
That's and that's what I've been saying pretty much dating back to last year. And the only reason that that's not the narrative with it people don't like this, people don't like this, but this is facts.
01:49:25
Speaker
The only reason people have these talking points is because he played for Real Salt Lake first. And so it's perceived as like not ambitious or like not a big swing or or whatever, because he came from within the league.
01:49:40
Speaker
And that was the, that is why that was more what people were talking about when the Ferreira trade happened. I'm sorry, but that is like, you can go back. I remember that discourse. People talking about his positional flexibility, his positional stuff. That was not, they were saying it was like an MLS retread.
01:50:00
Speaker
They were saying it was an MLS retread and he was coming off a down year where he was injured. So those things, and there was like attitude, body language stuff. Those were the Ferreira talking points.
01:50:11
Speaker
And those are all fair, by the way. But like,
01:50:17
Speaker
If he came from another league, people would be talking about the signing way differently. That's just, that's true. Okay. what Please comment on the stat that the Sounders haven't won a single game Rusnak has started and have won all when he didn't.
01:50:30
Speaker
um That is what's known, brother, as a small sample size. That stat does not prove... Anything at all. I could just as easily point to a ton of games last year that he started and that they won because of him.
01:50:46
Speaker
I have and ah pointed out a ton of the game winning goals, like the clutch goals that he's scored. i pointed that out, pointed out all the goals that he's scored against good teams.
01:50:58
Speaker
by the way, which is a big thing. People say he only beats up against bad teams, but if you go actually go through the match logs, which I did, he scored a lot of goals against good teams. I could point just as easily to the fact that he was starting and played an integral role in the team winning CONCACAF Champions League.
01:51:13
Speaker
That's one that doesn't get talked about a lot, but that's also a fact. He was playing a different position, but they don't win Champions League without him. They don't. They literally don't. And that you can debate if they should have brought him back as a DP, like in spite of that.
01:51:27
Speaker
But like, yeah, i've I've seen people bring that set up. That's that is stupid, man. I'm sorry. That is so that is like a. You're talking about like ah very, very small set of games that can just as easily be like you can bring up countless examples that go against that.
01:51:47
Speaker
So that means
Analysis of MLS Teams' Spending and Strategy
01:51:48
Speaker
absolutely nothing. I award you negative points for dropping that stat. Negative.
01:51:59
Speaker
think the point Reese is making is that the Sound at Heart article needed to be written because there's already some discourse about how lackluster of a winter window we had. yeah I just, I don't know. My thing on that article is it's like people got riled up on the headline and now that the start of the season hasn't gone that well and the Ferreira thing hasn't gone that well so far.
01:52:20
Speaker
Everyone's like trying to trying to dunk, trying to score points. i guess Guess what's going to happen like if if things turn around? which could happen. Then is he and is that article just going to, are you going to admit that that article could have been right?
01:52:36
Speaker
There's a lot we don't know yet. And I know that ah people get tired of hearing that it's early. I get tired of saying that it's early, but I'm i'm looking at it from a lens of, I've seen a lot of times, especially covering this team, how much narratives can change over the course of a given season.
01:52:56
Speaker
And, I guarantee that the narrative around this team is going to fluctuate over the course of the net of these next 20 some odd games, at least regular season games, plus leagues cup club world cup. There's a lot of games. There's a lot of games for the narratives to change.
01:53:13
Speaker
And i like I said earlier, I think just purely based on the fact that if you practice stuff a lot, you usually get better at it. I would be surprised if they don't figure out the, the Ferreira thing a little more and really just,
01:53:30
Speaker
playing better and more cohesively as a team than they have for most of the start of this season. um But I mean, everything I said is true, but it is also true that this team had like the CCC, CCC this year was supposed to be a tournament that they really made a push at that. They really contended for, and they didn't do that.
01:53:53
Speaker
So it is more than fair to point that out. And ah like James did point it out and he's right. He's right. Like anyone saying that about the Ferreira stuff, don't disagree at all.
01:54:04
Speaker
I really don't. That is, i think that's the biggest, most fair criticism you can make of it is that he was supposed to help you in CCC and that didn't happen. So, but that doesn't mean that it's chalked.
01:54:22
Speaker
since like i mean Since when do we victory lap our takes in match day nine? I probably have. I get it when when you when you have information that you think proves that you were right. You want to do a little dance, dunk on people.
01:54:35
Speaker
I'm just telling you that it's early.
01:54:39
Speaker
It's not outside the parameters of a normal adaptation period on a new team. the The criticism is that
01:54:53
Speaker
but Part of the point of it was supposed to be a quick adaptation and it's been anything but that. So
01:55:01
Speaker
I wouldn't say that he's been useless this season. I would say, why, how, what does he have? Two goals, three assists. Is that, that useless? He, I thought he was actually off to a a ah good start.
01:55:13
Speaker
He, uh,
01:55:17
Speaker
what is you what is he actually, what is he at? What is he at? I know stat sheet isn't everything, but I mean, it's something like useless would be if he hadn't been contributing go kind goal, contributing, that would be useless.
01:55:32
Speaker
Two goals, three assists in 546 minutes. Then he got injured. I thought he was having a good start to the season, but I watch a different sport than some people with the roostnack stuff. Like, I'll admit that.
01:55:47
Speaker
are we doing Are we saying that the goal and assist he got during LAFC don't count because they were rotated, even though they put Bwonga on the field at the exact same time? So you have to take those off.
01:55:58
Speaker
Wait, let me pull up his match log again, because I'm trying i'm having trouble remembering the second goal he scored. Must not have been a...
01:56:09
Speaker
Oh, hes yeah, he scored the ah the equalizer in San Jose, which, you know, you can say that doesn't count because it's the Quakes. ah But the Quakes haven't been that bad under Bruce Arena.
01:56:22
Speaker
They're a little better. They're a lot better, I think, than they than when they wouldn't spoon last year. And also, Seattle always struggles to take results at San Jose, no matter how bad they are. Famously, they couldn't beat the Quakes last year when they gave up 80 goals and wouldn't spoon.
01:56:35
Speaker
But that was that was a good goal. That was an important goal. What was wrong with that goal? Why does that not count? thought that was a good goal. Let's look at these assists.
01:56:49
Speaker
Let's see why his assists don't count.
01:56:53
Speaker
I'm having trouble reading that. So whatever. uh, I thought, I actually thought Rusnak was doing pretty, pretty well, at least in league play to start the season.
01:57:05
Speaker
Um, he's injured now, but hopefully he's going to be back. Hopefully he'll get to, uh, I'm not trying, I'm not trying to sound butthurt. I just, um,
01:57:21
Speaker
the goals, the, the goals don't count stuff. I take issue with three goal contributions versus LA. Oh yeah yeah. Okay. So it was one goal, two assists versus LAFC. Yeah. He was beasting in that game.
01:57:35
Speaker
And, uh,
01:57:38
Speaker
That was like the discourse around that game has has bothered me as well because i like that that one, I feel like I'm on a different planet because people say it doesn't count, that win doesn't count and the goals don't count because LAFC was rotated. But literally, they they both teams were equally rotated.
01:57:56
Speaker
What am I missing with that? Like, i I honestly feel like I'm on drugs when people say that.
01:58:09
Speaker
Oh, okay. Uh, let's, uh, let's, let's keep it moving. I'm coming up on two hours here. So, uh, probably going to get off here in a bit. Uh, but I did have two things I wanted to hit.
01:58:22
Speaker
ah there was a big trade MLS, uh, the, uh, freaking Columbus crew, the Columbus crew made a big trade with, um, the Philadelphia union to get Daniel Gauzdog, which that is a big, that's a big move.
01:58:40
Speaker
And, It's really like, it's classic Columbus crew, man. That's like, but okay. You know what it is similar to, you know, it is similar to it's similar to what the stuff that Seattle was doing, ah with, with the Roosnack and Ferreira acquisitions, which, so people look at like, a like when you get it, when you trade or you sign a player off another and MLS team, that's like not, it's like automatically not good. No one's saying that about Columbus though. Cause God's dog is hella good.
01:59:13
Speaker
Um, but like, I think like deals like this, actually there is a, uh, a method behind the madness as far as if you can look at a player who's of the DP status, like Gozdog was, who already has a track record of success in the league, then you already, you eliminate, don't you, isn't it like a higher percentage that it's going to work because you're, you have information that you already know they can handle stuff like the, like the travel, the physicality, all the unique things that,
01:59:47
Speaker
about MLS. So um that's a, ah that's a long way of saying that, I really like this deal for Columbus.
01:59:59
Speaker
They gave up Philly four and a half million or yeah, four and a half million per player of Gauzdog's caliber who Gauzdog for my money, like is and upper tier number 10 in the league. Like without a doubt. Like, i mean, if you look at his career, he, uh, that guy puts up 15 plus goals. Like it's freaking nothing.
02:00:20
Speaker
So,
02:00:23
Speaker
that's smart I think it's smart business from the crew. i think they're increasing the likelihood of it working out because they already have a lot of information on the player within MLS.
02:00:37
Speaker
And they're just like a good-ass organization. and Anytime I see the crew make a move, I'm like, that's probably... That's probably going to work. And really they haven't lost that much of a step after selling Cucho, which I kind of figured that they would, but they got Jason Russell row out there banging in goals and they still got Diego Rossi.
02:01:02
Speaker
So I think that's a good deal for the crew. And yeah, I don't know really why Philly, maybe there was like a falling out between them or something like, like,
02:01:14
Speaker
maybe maybe Bradley Carnell, new coach. Maybe he doesn't like Gosdog for some reason. But I guess ah my main takeaway is that the the crew are hella good.
02:01:35
Speaker
The teams that spend more spend more don't always win, though.
02:01:41
Speaker
aska Ask United fans. Ask them how that's how that's going. Atlanta United, so I think it's so funny that Atlanta United dropped, well, $22 million on Latte Loth, another $10 plus million, maybe more, i don't know, on Almiron.
02:02:01
Speaker
Worst start in club history. That's what i'm saying, man. I don't value the transfer fees. I don't. I even said ah when we were talking about KDB, like I would support the Sounders making like a big ah big name splash or a big money splash just for like vibes.
02:02:20
Speaker
But just and the on the raw principle of it, I don't like i don't care that you spent $22 million dollars on Latte Loth. Show me the wins that you got out of that.
02:02:32
Speaker
Show me the trophies. You know what they've shown us? The worst start they've ever gotten off to in the history of their club. That's what that 30 plus $40 million in transfer fees has gotten them.
02:02:46
Speaker
Ask Toronto. Yeah, exactly. Ask Toronto how spending, splashing a shit ton of money on Insigne and Bernadeschi, where that got them.
02:02:58
Speaker
It matters. I'm not saying it doesn't matter. And honestly, I um i can ah agree with the frustration of like wishing that Seattle splashed more like Atlanta United.
02:03:12
Speaker
I think the the cheapness thing is a little overblown. They dropped they did drop bags on Ladero and Rui Diaz. And De La Vega wasn't as big a bag as like an Atlanta United bag, but that was a bag.
02:03:24
Speaker
Six, seven million dollars. So that's not nothing. Um, but like they're never, it's, it is hard not to feel like, man, like what if you infused Atlanta United spending with Seattle's like youth development and then like the, uh, the money balling and stuff when they have done it effectively, like to fill it out sort of like how LAFC is kind of what that is when they're at their best, they're a team that drops huge bags.
02:03:54
Speaker
And, uh, And is really good at like the kind of smaller moves, like the auxiliary moves. They combine that together. That's why they're one of the best teams.
02:04:06
Speaker
Atlanta United, are as far as I can tell, their strategy is dropping huge bags on players, but not really thinking through how it makes a team.
02:04:19
Speaker
That's what you really have to think about. And it seems like they haven't learned that lesson. Bocanegra never learned that lesson. the extent that they seem to have a plan is like, we're going to find expensive players and buy them. And then just like Tiago Amada, Zikil Barco, Petey Martinez, all these guys were bust, by the way, besides Amada.
02:04:39
Speaker
And even, even Amada, dude, they spent, boatloads of cash on him and their team was not that good. He was good individually. He's a sick player. You want a world cup. They sold him for a huge bag that they subsequently spent on latte lot who is producing and looks good, but it hasn't gotten them anything.
02:05:00
Speaker
They're bad. They're bad. So i
02:05:07
Speaker
it matters. It matters, but it's not everything.
02:05:12
Speaker
KDB might be stupid as hell, but the reason I was advocating for it was out of my own. like i'm a i'm just That's just arguably my favorite player. It's sentimental. it might It would be it would be a vibes-based thing.
02:05:28
Speaker
But I acknowledge it could be might be a stupid idea. And i don't they're obviously never going to do it. I just personally love the player. That's why I was advocating for that. I love those Belgium teams.
02:05:40
Speaker
that Those are ah the teams where I was watching it and I was just like, this sport is the best. It's the best. Watching those guys, KDB, Hazard, and Lukaku.
02:05:56
Speaker
Loved it, man. All day. My favorite teams I've ever watched. So that's why that's where I'm coming from with like, if you took like the main my favorite player from my favorite teams to watch and put them on the Sounders,
02:06:08
Speaker
really hard for me to not it would be hard for me to not be excited about that because I'm such a fan Zach thank you for the five dollar super chat thanks for the stream thank you for tuning in and thank you for the support appreciate you
02:06:26
Speaker
look at the galaxy they sold out last year and are paying the price to be relevant once every 10 years now I mean it's true but like I think the thing is when you sell out like that and then you have to blow it all up because of salary cap stuff, you just better get the ring.
02:06:42
Speaker
Right. And they did. I think if you ask any galaxy fan, if they would trade the ring,
02:06:53
Speaker
for if they knew that the next season was going to be this bad. they take the They take the ring. They take the trophy. I said the same thing when seattle went Champions League ruined Seattle's season.
02:07:06
Speaker
They sold out that year. They sold out and put everything into it, and it was risky because it's like if you don't win, like say they made the final and lost, then it's for nothing, and they would have had that trash-ass season for nothing.
02:07:18
Speaker
But for me, i look at that and I'm like – i trade I trade that the playoffs for that trophy 10 times out of motherfucking 10. Like there's no doubt about it.
02:07:29
Speaker
And I would say the same thing for the galaxy. Like they sold out and went all in for that one year and then had to blow it up, but they got the ring. They got the ring and that's, that makes it worthwhile.
02:07:46
Speaker
Did you lose faith in Garth? See, that's an interesting question. That's an interesting question because Garth, I think, rightfully has a reputation, earned reputation as one of the best execs to ever be in the league. You could argue, like, track record-wise, he is the best.
02:08:04
Speaker
Clearly a smart guy covered him for a long in time, talked to him a lot. One of the smartest dudes. And Noah and I were talking about this a while back, but, like, Garth had his swag.
02:08:17
Speaker
He actually, like, just the way he walked around, the way he talked, just his whole demeanor, he just exuded confidence. Anytime you interviewed him, he he had an answer for everything.
02:08:29
Speaker
He's a lawyer.
02:08:32
Speaker
And he had, like, a presence and an aura about him that i don't typically associate with a GM. And ah he got fantastic results his whole career, turned ah RSL into a really good team, won MLS Cups and Champions League with Seattle, was and architect ah of of a lot of that, him and Chris Henderson, who's now in Atlanta with him.
02:08:58
Speaker
He's been in Atlanta for a couple years now. And to be fair, when he got there, it was Boca's team. And Boca was still the technical sporting director for a while after Garth got there.
02:09:12
Speaker
And eventually Garth was like, what is going on here? I'm going fire Boca. ah But so this offseason was the one where I was like, all right, what are the excuses now?
02:09:25
Speaker
Boca's gone. You've scouted up and bought your own players. you got You guys, Chris and Garth, were the ones who went out and bought Latte Loth and brought Almiron back, which I thought i thought that the Almiron move was great. I called it at the time the best move that any MLS club arguably made all offseason.
02:09:45
Speaker
um But they went out and they got their guys. They brought Almiron back. They spent the most money anyone's ever spent on an incoming player. They broke the record for Latte Loth. And now they're still not good.
02:09:57
Speaker
Atlanta fans are already talking about, uh, like Ronnie dial his job security, which I think is so funny. Like they, they just do this every year. Like honestly, like as tough as Seattle start to the season has been, man, like could it could be, it could be like, I, Atlanta's doing the, uh,
02:10:18
Speaker
I think they have like a pretty similar record to Seattle, but it's like the weight of expectations for them with all the money that they spent. It's tough.
02:10:33
Speaker
Problem is we don't even make the smart one to $2 million dollars signings. We just sign only free agents or cheap MLS players. I think that's, uh,
02:10:44
Speaker
like You could say that more recently, but I think historically, if you look at like the Garth era, the garth if you look at the Garth-Chris Henderson era, I think Seattle was good at those signings. That was like a part of why those rosters in those days were...
02:11:00
Speaker
As good. And, you know, Craig Wibes, I know ah he's one like Ferreira that everyone is is burying, too. But like what I what I think is that Craig Wibes.
02:11:15
Speaker
Is going to be judged on De La Vega. On Ferreira. Ryan Kent. there's an outcome where all those, all three of those players are impact players and propels propel this team to being an upper tier team. That's contending for and winning trophies.
02:11:34
Speaker
Then I think the, the conversation around Craig wives will change. And
Youthful Energy of MLS Next Pro and Club World Cup Strategies
02:11:40
Speaker
i don't think that's an outlandish idea. ah don't, we're going to have to see I'm not predicting that all three of those moves are going to hit.
02:11:51
Speaker
And Craig wives is a,
02:11:56
Speaker
guaranteed going to be the goat, but that's at least that I personally, that's how I'm going to judge him. is primarily on those three things. Because if I think if those, if those three things go positively stuff like missing on the moose signing, for instance, which I think is probably what you're referencing.
02:12:15
Speaker
That'll like, no one's going to care that the third striker is an XG merchant. If De La Vega, Ferreira and Ryan Kent are all falling. But like the flip side, there is totally an outcome where,
02:12:29
Speaker
Ferreira never figures it out. De La Vega can't stay on the field. Ryan Kent's kind of a bust. If that happens, then yeah, like the Craig Wibes burying will, will be, will be vindicated.
02:12:41
Speaker
It's just, he, like this, we're, we are now seeing him make his mark. So now we're going to, Now we, now we can more credibly judge it in my opinion, because now we have like the bigger type moves that he has made and kind of shaped the team more how he was trying to shape it.
02:13:01
Speaker
And we are going to find out the rest of the season, how that works out. And, uh, I'm excited.
02:13:12
Speaker
I'm excited to see, i think, uh, Ryan Kent is a fun little variable.
02:13:22
Speaker
Hopefully he plays on Saturday. I think he will. I don't think there's any like visa shit that he has to do anymore.
02:13:30
Speaker
So, all right, I'm going start wrapping it up folks. I'm at two hours and 15 minutes.
02:13:39
Speaker
Long one. Um, as always though, I'll play the low fly and, um, I will take any last questions, thoughts, topics, agendas, but play the lo-fi at a reasonable val volume. Shout out Reese.
02:14:02
Speaker
Got any last topics? Drop them in chat. I'll get to as many as I can before i get out of here, but appreciate you all tuning into the stream as always. I love my Thursday night crew.
02:14:16
Speaker
We're the, we're the real sickos. Lobbing Scorchers kick off, you know, does better, does better stats. Cause I guess people like to hear what Nico has to say for some reason, but this is the, this is, this is the real ones.
02:14:29
Speaker
Thanks again to anyone who can't, Oh, I think I missed one in chat. Someone in chat who was saying that they were hanging out with us. That's my bad.
02:14:47
Speaker
Oh yeah. Pat's word. Yeah. Thank you for coming up to us, hanging out with us, chopping it up a little bit. It was fun. I really, really like meeting, meeting you guys. IRL.
02:15:02
Speaker
It's always fun. And we had more people come up to us at the Defiance game than I even thought. Like glad, glad people enjoy our show. That's always good to hear.
02:15:14
Speaker
We do our best.
02:15:17
Speaker
You know, not every take hits,
02:15:23
Speaker
but we do our best, do our best to provide some entertainment and discourse throughout the season. And we're going to keep it coming. We're going to keep grinding, keep streaming, keep podcasting.
02:15:43
Speaker
Hopefully get more dub pods in the coming weeks. a But
02:15:54
Speaker
we're going to be putting them out regardless.
02:16:00
Speaker
Excalibrate. It was good to chat with you, Noah Tuesday. Looking forward to chopping down the Timbys next.
02:16:07
Speaker
i can't tell who you are, though, from your username.
02:16:12
Speaker
Is that Blake? Who else came up and talked to There's few. There's a few. There's a few.
02:16:21
Speaker
was a handful.
02:16:33
Speaker
Javier Arriaga, 1.5 mil.
02:16:37
Speaker
Guy with the beard. Okay. Got you. Got you.
02:16:41
Speaker
That's what, ah yeah, it was nice to meet you too, man. Appreciate you guys. That's what lobbing is. Sometimes you miss. Yeah, exactly. That's sort of I think that's the role we play because we, we just fire it out there. Sometimes we ah sometimes we hit, sometimes we miss.
02:16:59
Speaker
I fire it out there and let the chips fall where they may. That's my philosophy on take giving. That game was fun. i was trying to kind of describe the MLS Next Pro vibe earlier, and i don't know if I was really capturing it. It's like a young person crowd. That was my observation.
02:17:16
Speaker
You could tell a lot of the players, families, and friends were there. There's a lot of ref screaming. But like it seemed like it was a it was unexpected to me how much the vibe felt like it happened in place for like young people to hang out and watch soccer.
02:17:35
Speaker
And just the vibes, the music, the atmosphere, the crowd.
02:17:42
Speaker
I think part of why it was so ah ah electric was because it was open cup. But I think Next Pro is like intentionally trying to give it that type of vibe.
02:17:53
Speaker
Just from the whole environment that they sort of create around it. That's what it seems like to me. Which I think that's smart, if you think about it. capitalize on the, like a lot, you know, a lot of the players are that age.
02:18:09
Speaker
So, all right, I'm going to call it right there, guys. Great show tonight. Another banger stream.
02:18:20
Speaker
Parents getting a bit too into the ref hit.
02:18:26
Speaker
If Club World Cup wasn't this year, I would be happy with Morris and Albert as DPs. i like Albert since day one in Seattle. My thing with that is just like, um, like you're building, you're building your roster for MLS and for CONCACAF. Like at the end of the day, like Club World Cup is not something that you're expecting really to play in when you build your roster.
02:18:48
Speaker
Um, so like, You could try and make big, splashy signings to compete better in that tournament, I guess. i per Some people disagree with me on this.
02:18:59
Speaker
I don't think that that would make a difference. I think you would have to realistically like make a run at Club World Cup. Maybe maybe a couple of those signings help you not get grouped. Although in Seattle's group, i don't even know. But like I think realistically, you would have to sign eight guys.
02:19:17
Speaker
Like, that's the type of disparity we're talking about in how much money are in the rosters of the teams that Seattle is playing and what Seattle is allowed to spend, you know?
02:19:29
Speaker
so The argument of like, Roosnack's fine or whatever, but he's kind of underwhelming. We should have like moved off him and brought in so-and-so for Club World Cup purposes.
02:19:44
Speaker
I just don't think, I don't think it would really matter. i don't. Or like you do have to do like, you have to sign like eight guys or do what Inter Miami did. Sign Messi and get him to draw all his boys and every elite South American prospect there is.
02:19:58
Speaker
If you do that, that's that's a good... Inter-Miami, this is the hot take of the night. Inter-Miami had a really good roster building strategy that will help them compete at the Club World Cup. It's called signing Lionel Messi.
02:20:10
Speaker
larry It's a time-honored strategy. couple sporting directors have been able to pull it off in their careers.
02:20:21
Speaker
And if you can just do that, that's the most important thing that you can do to compete in any tournament that you're going to play in. You just got to sign Messi and then a couple other guys. Just sign Messi, couple other guys, and then you'll be you'll be ready to rip at the Club World Cup.
02:20:42
Speaker
All right. That's it for me. I'm out of here. Thank you guys for tuning in. Like the video. I should have said that earlier. Please, you haven't yet, like the video, sub to the channel, um like, comment, rate, five stars, tell your friends, ah but mainly like the video and sub to the channel.
02:21:02
Speaker
Be back at it. We're going to try to do a postgame live on Saturday. Home game is always a little tougher. No one and I were just talking about it today. like ah We're going to try and set up logistic logistics and get them ironed out to be able to do postgame lives from all the home games.
02:21:22
Speaker
But that might be a little bit of a process to figure out how to do that, what works, how we can do it with like my postgame obligations where it's like I'm still kind of working. So it's sort of hard to stream. So our plan is definitely to do postgame lives for the home games. But TBD, if that happens on Saturday, if not, we did one on Sunday morning last weekend and it worked pretty well. So maybe we'll do that if we can't do it at the actual game.
02:21:48
Speaker
um So ah follow me on Blue Sky and I'll let you guys know if we're doing postgame live for this game. Going to try to. Might not work on Saturday night. We'll find out. And then I'll be back at it Monday at 8 a.m. with Nico for Lobby Scorchers kickoff. All right. Thanks for tuning in tonight, guys. Peace.