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What We Learned This Week: The very first game of the preseason recap (spoiler it was a loss)
463 Plays12 days ago
Niko joined Jeremiah to do a review of the Sounders first preseason game against Brondby. They discussed player performance and the use of new team formations all while stressing that it is way too early to panic. The guys took time to talk about the upcoming Sounder at Heart print publication and the office/studio space that was acquired. Also covered was a bit about the transfer window/General Allocation Money (GAM) league changes and of course the ongoing Obed Vargas saga.
Follow Niko Moreno on BlueSky and YouTube.
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Nos Audietis is the flagship podcast for Sounder at Heart, which has been primarily listener supported since 2023. You can support us by becoming a paid subscriber, learn more here. You can also watch many of their shows on YouTube.
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Transcript
Introduction and Will Bruin's New Role
00:00:01
Speaker
Hi, I'm Will Bruin, and I was just recognized as a Seattle Sounders legend. Now I get to do voice reads for the Sounder at Heart Podcast Network. Here we go.
00:00:11
Speaker
Come
Seattle Sounders MLS Cup Victory
00:00:12
Speaker
on. Hey, O'Shaan. Let's go. The Seattle Sounders have done it. MLS Cup winners. Here comes Ruiz Diaz through the middle to crown it for Seattle.
00:00:25
Speaker
The Sounders rule the region.
Sponsorship and New Studio Announcements
00:00:58
Speaker
what was the thought process in terms of who you decided to use and who you didn't? Ever since I wrote a commentary that we didn't take the outcome seriously.
00:01:18
Speaker
This episode of Nos Arietes is sponsored by Full Pull Wines, a Seattle-based wine retailer and proud sponsor of Nos Arietes since 2011. Full Pull was founded in 2009, is based in Seattle, and is owned and operated by longtime Sounder supporters.
00:01:32
Speaker
They offer the best boutique wines of the world to members of their mailing list, with special focus on their home, the Pacific Northwest.
00:01:41
Speaker
Welcome back to another episode of Nos Arietes on the Sounder at Heart Podcast Network. It is Friday. I am Jeremiah Shan, and of course, I am joined by Nico Moreno for another episode of What We Learned This Week. Nico, are you doing?
00:01:57
Speaker
What's going on, Jeremiah? I'm doing all right, man. I'm doing okay. Unfortunately, I got the bad news that I won't be going to Spain. One too many items happening. My son is moving to a regular apartment there in Wazoo, so there's a couple of things that I'm going to be having to handle around those things.
00:02:18
Speaker
dates but it's all good man i am excited to uh be here and uh hear from you guys and and be very jealous of you guys being in spain yeah you know we'll we'll do a one two little thing where you know i'll i'll see what i could find or or bring to the table from here uh but yeah no excited to be back on of course in what we learned this week. Always excited to bring new information. ah Happy for all the commentaries that we continue to get about the show. Thanks everyone for the hellos and yes, let's get going.
00:02:53
Speaker
Yeah, so in case, I don't know if we actually formally announced it, but yeah, Noah and I are going to be going to Spain. we aren't gonna We're only going to be there for really like two or three days, but we're going to be there for February, the two games that are on February 5th.
00:03:08
Speaker
We'll be there at least a day ahead of time as well to gather some interviews, to finish up some of the details in the magazine, of course, for the new Sounder at Heart.
00:03:18
Speaker
print publication is going to, is in the final stages of publication right now. We have pre-sold like a thousand copies already. It's pretty crazy. I know we may actually have to, we've already had to increase our order a couple times. We may have to increase our order again.
00:03:34
Speaker
so it's pretty exciting.
Preseason Matches and Player Performances
00:03:36
Speaker
If you don't know yet that this is a ah new print publication that Sounder at Heart is putting together. ah We have, there's about five, five or six kind of feature stories that will be in it focusing on ah different parts of the Sounders and the rain and sort of the Pacific Northwest soccer scene in general.
00:03:56
Speaker
ah The hope is that eventually this will become a quarterly. We're starting off just committing to two issues for now. But then if that goes well, and it looks like it is going well, we'll start doing that on a regular basis. So that's one. We have all kinds of exciting things. We have that.
00:04:09
Speaker
We have this trip to Spain where we're to have all kinds of exclusive content. And then the the other big news, which we haven't... You know, we you may be... This may be depending on when I get around to making a formal announcement.
00:04:22
Speaker
I just... signed a lease for an office space in the ID. Sounder at heart is going to have a studio, a formal studio. You and I are going to start recording there pretty regularly, ah probably sometime next month. And Lobbing Scorchers is going to be using it for their studio.
00:04:41
Speaker
Going to be a lot of fun. We think there's going some opportunities to have ah listeners come hang out with us and watch some live tapings, like live broadcasts. I don't know, however you put that, but I think this is going to be a really, really exciting time for Sounder Heart. There's a lot of things are going on right now.
00:04:57
Speaker
Studio space, baby. Look at that. We moving on up, baby. we move That's right. And I love it. No, I'm excited. I felt like this was going to be a big year for Sounder Hard. What I love about the studio space that it just provides ah just a whole other level of the content that we can provide. that We could have more guests. Shoot, we could do... a watch party i mean I don't know I mean sky's the limit you know it could be all kinds of stuff there at the studio man I guarantee you the short from having to get there whenever I'm in the doghouse and saying hey man Jeremiah leave the key leave the key because I got nowhere to go i on
00:05:38
Speaker
I'll make sure to keep it, you know, in use. So I appreciate that. I think that people are going to be excited. Some of these extra stuff I have here for Sounders, maybe I'll take to the space and see if we can hang it or if you already have it or not. There we But yeah, it's going to be good time. I like it.
00:05:55
Speaker
Yeah, I think it's going to be a good time. So, and of course there's, there's actual news, a little bit of news to report today in the world of the Sounders. They played their first preseason game of preseason. ah They, they faced a Danish side Bromby. They lost two zero.
00:06:13
Speaker
not like it was, it was streamed. It was not streamed through the sounders that you had. if you like unbeknownst to us, Braun B actually made it available. You could have people, some listeners, some ah readers of sounder heart actually did it. They, they bought a one month subscription to their streaming service. It was like $7 and they got up at five in the morning and they watched this game. So we got some, some reports, some, firsthand reports of what actually happened in the, in this game, they lost two zero. The first goal came on a bit of a scramble play in the first half.
00:06:47
Speaker
ah They, you know, there was a couple of lost marks. And then the second goal came very at the very end of the match. Jackson Reagan lost his footing and fell to guy in the penalty box and they converted the penalty. And, but they, so they played two halves, obviously two, they played a 90 minute game.
00:07:05
Speaker
They totally switched the lineup at half. They had sort of a mixed group. I know, Nico, you talked to some guys. what What kind of what are you hearing about how the game went from the inside?
MLS Rule Changes and Impact on Teams
00:07:15
Speaker
ah Yeah, I mean, kind of um in broader specs that, you know, this first week was going to be about ah playing with new guys and just ah just getting.
00:07:29
Speaker
Hitting the the the road running kind of and and just getting some rust off. Every guy told me, like, it's very different to train and practice to actually getting out there and playing against the whole other side and having to very quickly learn how some of the guys next to you play. Because if you look at the lineups, it was a lot of...
00:07:53
Speaker
Mixing and matching. Mixing and matching. Mixing and matching. In between lines, it wasn't like there was a lot of those partnerships, at least on the defensive and midfielder side. But what I did hear is that every single guy came off that game just saying, look, individually, we have a lot of talented players. um I heard ah some really good things about Tino. Yeah.
00:08:21
Speaker
Obviously a guy that's still trying to get more play time. And he's at the common defiance guy, but someone that I, I rate pretty high. i heard some really good things about him. i heard George shared with Yamar in the first, in the first half.
00:08:36
Speaker
He was paired with Yamar. Correct. I heard some really good things about Georgie play now wide. um So, you know, interesting enough, uh, Every guy that that I talked to just seemed excited to just play a different type of soccer. You know, it's always interesting that um guys take a lot of just playing in European side that...
00:09:02
Speaker
they don't know anything about you don't, they don't know anything about you. And you just hits something different than your usual, like MLS preseason, like the Coachellas or, you know, the, the, those internal tournaments that we have here in MLS, does it just get a lot more of it, especially in the physicality part of, of the game. So yeah, a lot of, ah you know, positive feedback overall, despite the, the two zero loss, of course. But I think everyone understands that this is a process and,
00:09:33
Speaker
I understand crash outs. I really do. And and it's great. And it's awesome. that People are so passionate, but the fact that that there was comments, i'm I'm not kidding you comments about, she already knew that we we're not going to be able to score this season. i mean, that is craziness. I mean, it is game one of the preseason people. And this, this is your fitness camp essentially. So let's, let's slow it down. i like the passion, but let's, you know, let's yeah keep it, you know, calm.
00:10:00
Speaker
Right. So just to give you a little bit more context of what the lineups look like. So the first half had Andrew Thomas and goal, Reed Baker, Whiting on the left, uh, and Tina Lopez, Yemar Gomez, Andrade, and then Kalani Kosarienzi. And then in the midfield, it was Nikola Petkovich and Christian Roldan, uh, sitting behind Sebastian Gomez, Albert Rusnak and Peter Kingston,
00:10:22
Speaker
And then Osa Zade Rosario started up top. And from the sound of it, they sort of defended in a standard four or two. They attacked in more of a three, two, two, three in in that half.
00:10:34
Speaker
And then in the second half, they switched up the lineup completely. Stefan Fry was in goal. And then Paul Rothrock on the left, Jackson Reagan, Galatine Sandus, who was a Academy player and Alex Roldan on the right.
00:10:46
Speaker
And then there was a midfield pairing of Snyder, Brunel and Hassani Dotson. with Jordan Morris, Jesus Ferreira, and Georgie Minungu in the attack with Danny Masovsky up top. Again, they defended in sort of a 4-4-2. And in this half, they played into more of a 2-3 build that had Rothrock very high as a left back, so of almost playing as like a as the left wing back.
00:11:08
Speaker
And then Alex would pinch in along the two other central midfielders to create sort of like a three-man... So like a, yeah, like a two, three ah build out there.
00:11:19
Speaker
So a little bit of a different look. I think it hints at, you know, some of the same principles the Sounders have played with in the past, but you know, maybe a little tweak difference there. ah suspect that we'll most often see that when Alex is on the field, because Alex does naturally sort of fit into that midfield very nicely. um But other than the formations, I don't know that we can,
00:11:42
Speaker
I mean, honestly, I don't know how much we can take away from this in any case, ah but some of the standout players from my understanding, just De Rosario look very sharp.
00:11:52
Speaker
Costa Rienzi had some moments that he looked really good. Yeah. And then Christian rolled, Christian rolled on. Yeah. yeah And then Christian rolled on, just sort of did his thing. ah And then in the second half, Brunel and Reagan were sort of the standouts aside from Reagan's, uh,
00:12:09
Speaker
penalty there. And then Alex rolled on also looked like he looked very comfortable sort of in this new hybrid hybridized role. But the other, the other bit of news, ah Brian Spencer let it come out that they are actually going to be playing three games in Marbella, which makes a lot of sense. Otherwise there had been almost two weeks between preseason games. So I assume that there's going to be a third Marbella game announced as it is right now. They've only announced two, both of which are on February fifth against medalist 1925, which is a Ukrainian team and hammer B, which is one of the top teams in Sweden, a team that they've played.
00:12:46
Speaker
Now, this will be the third time in four years they've played them in Marbella. So this is a kind of a familiar opponent, but, I don't know. I think it's an okay start. I wouldn't get too worked up about it.
00:12:56
Speaker
Like you said, there's not any reason to be panicking or, or anything like that. I mean, these pieces and games, you can't really take much away from pieces and games, especially when, you know, the Sounders are playing their first preseason game. Like I said, Braun B is in their mid season break. They are also, they had,
00:13:13
Speaker
last played on like December 8th, I believe, which is a full month more recently than the Sounders had. And they're about two, they come back two or three weeks before the Sounders do in terms of, uh, coming out of their winter break. So Bronby is much closer to mid season form than the Sounders are, which is another reason why you just sort of don't read too much into this one.
00:13:35
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, there are some things that we can kind of decipher. I think, um,
00:13:42
Speaker
um Andrew Thomas getting the start in the first game. Maybe yes you could consider that some sort of indication. um I think that some of the pairings in the second half with Jordan Morris and Ferreira and Danny Masowski, I also found that maybe that there's some indication that that's something that they're trying because they feel like it could work. Yeah.
00:14:10
Speaker
I think Osas is still the guy that would be considered the fourth guy, I guess, under the strikers. And he's definitely going to have to win that decision. Yeah, I guess it looks how you look at Jesus Ferrer, right? Correct. Exactly. 100%. you the...
00:14:27
Speaker
you know if the If the 4-4-2 is still something that they're going to continue to work, you know that that there would be you know some interest for me to see how how that plays out. with to me To me, I would like to see Jordan and Ferreira at the 9 and maybe having a little bit more speed out wide rather than maybe what a lot of people want to see is Jordan playing on the on the wider channels right off the bat. Yeah. Yeah, there's some interesting things. um But I did hear that, you know, it was a little bit tougher to hold possession because, I mean, that that's one of the things that sometimes you kind of grow into certain passing patterns and it all goes back again. We can't really...
00:15:10
Speaker
put too much stock into these games because the the groups were so mixed that there wasn't necessarily like a core group of players. There were, you know, some players that you maybe want to see together. But of course, you're going to put like Reagan on one of the halves and then Yehmer on the other. I mean, you know, you want to get some of the starters around some of the younger players or the the ones that you're hoping to to look at. I'm curious about Nicola. um I really do want to see what he brings. that That's probably the guy that I want to focus on. I didn't hear much about him.
00:15:46
Speaker
from what I talk to people. So I don't know what that means. If it's good because he didn't do anything too bad or if it's not good because he didn't do anything too great. Again, it's is it's game one. and And I'm kind of jealous that I didn't hear about the $7 deal there. Although i don't know what I would do with a month subscription to be quite frank, but, but maybe in the next one, I'll try to hop on yeah and and check it out.
00:16:11
Speaker
Yeah, it is funny. Like, i don't I don't really understand the ins and outs of why the teams the Sounders are playing often are able to make these games available, but the Sounders aren't.
00:16:23
Speaker
Like, I don't know if I have no, I don't really, I've never really gotten very clear answer as to why that is. Other than the Sounders seem to have this general belief that there is a limited...
00:16:35
Speaker
appetite from their fans. And I don't know, maybe we're just exposed to people who are too rabid, but among the people that I interact with, there's no shortage of interest in wanting to watch these games, even at 5am, like this one game was played at.
00:16:55
Speaker
Yeah. Last time that we discussed it with somebody and I thought you might've been there or not, ah but it, there was something about, Apple TV rights and not being able you got to talk to Apple. I believe if you want to do anything yeah along those lines of preseason, I'm sure that it at in some way, shape or form, the sounders are unable to do anything internally unless they talk to Apple TV and stuff. I mean, it's a problem even with just radio, that alone
00:17:27
Speaker
you know, with some imagery through their own page. Obviously the opponents are not, they don't abide by those rules. So they're fine doing it through their streaming services or their own, you know, websites. But I i do believe that there's something along the lines of it being a no, no to show that if you're an MLS team.
00:17:48
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah, exactly. So I don't know without getting into all that, I don't know there's how much time there's worth spending on it, but it would be nice if these games were a little bit more accessible. Like even the highlight package package didn't include the two goals, which is just kind of like, what are we doing here? ah But, you know, I guess that's how it goes. ah All right. Well, the there were some there was some other news, not necessarily directly related related to the Sanders, but it came out this week. MLS did two big things. One is they released the amount of GAM that each team has available. Now, this is a little bit confusing because...
00:18:29
Speaker
it doesn't give you a very complete picture because what it tells you is how much GAM each team has available. What it doesn't tell you is how much of that GAM is already being used. So we don't really have a sense of how much flexibility the Sounders or anyone else currently have.
00:18:48
Speaker
We just know how much over the salary cap they're able to go. ah The Sounders, that said, I think had the ninth most GAM of any team, something around $5.6 million. dollars i which is a little less than my personal estimates had been.
00:19:03
Speaker
And I'm trying to figure out why, like where the discrepancy comes from. i don't have a great answer for that. One possibility though, might be that they haven't applied the Danny Leyva transfer fee to their GAM total yet because they're waiting to what ends up happening with other potential moves. Because for instance, if they get,
00:19:26
Speaker
if they were to get $3 million dollars for from Obed Vargas, which doesn't seem likely we can, and which we'll talk about later, but that would be their entire, that would be their entire amount. And so they could potentially put off cashing out on Danny Leyva to another year, i believe. So anyway, i don't know exactly. we we are going to look into that, but the more sort of specific thing that the Sounders were, or that we learned about the Sounders and, and the league in general is MLS updated all their roster rules.
00:19:59
Speaker
And there was a bunch of kind of interesting changes. ah The big one kind of the headlining one was that the transfer windows have been altered so that they are a little bit more advantageous to and MLS. So for instance, the primary window, which is the current window we're in right now, runs January 26th to March 26th. That's a little shorter than it used to be because it used to run into April,
00:20:25
Speaker
And what they did is they took some time from this window and they put it into the summer window. So they extended out the summer window. So now the summer window runs July 13th all the way to September 2nd. And the reason September 2nd is notable is because that is a couple of days after most of the transfer windows in Europe close, meaning and MLS can now theoretically swoop in and grab players who weren't able to find a landing spot in Europe.
00:20:52
Speaker
and And it also allows them to trade to essentially move players abroad and have a little bit more time to replace them. So like the the example I've heard cited most often is with Minnesota United, where they could have trade it they could have transferred Joaquin Pereira to somewhere, I guess, in Spain, I believe it was. think the port Portuguese team, I thought. Okay, a Portuguese team. And the reason they didn't do it was because they wouldn't have had time to replace them. Whereas if the window was set up how it is now, they likely could have replaced them. and And so it gives teams a little bit more flexibility. i don't know. Do you have any, before we move on to the other parts of the announcements, do you have anything that you thought was relevant or interesting about those transfer windows
Interleague Loans and Roster Flexibility
00:21:38
Speaker
being altered? Yeah.
00:21:39
Speaker
I just think it puts you in line to better use the the summer transfer window. I feel like this shift is to prepare for the calendar change. I think that the fact that you are going to be, in some cases, at one day, in some cases, a couple of days, from when other teams are getting ready to close, does give MLS some benefit. Going back to Minnesota, I felt like when they...
00:22:06
Speaker
moved Tanny. They also didn't have enough time to replace them when they did at that time, but the offer was so good. They did couldn't refuse it. So they were kind of handicapped moving forward after that move was made.
00:22:20
Speaker
Um, So it does make a lot of difference, although it might not seem like that. um and MLS can shift that and can move that, those two windows at their pleasing in terms of shoring in one and expanding the other. And and I feel like they're,
00:22:37
Speaker
They've purposely done this now to make sure that their MLS teams are protected in both ways. One, to be able to replace players if they do sell players abroad and then being able to cash in when they can and and being a lot more active in the global scale of transfers. So it's interesting. It's something that you know, whenever you talk to agents, they're trying to figure out how MLS does it specifically and they never understand why the summer windows are shorter because it makes no sense. This is something that I would, people will tell me at time, why is the summer window so short and then your winter window so long? So, yeah and, you know, this just, again, brings you back to being in correlation with the rest of the planet. So it's interesting. Right.
00:23:26
Speaker
Yeah. And then this also is a little more like what the window will look. This is a little closer to what the window will look like once the calendar changes with the notable exception that they will probably add a few weeks to the beginning and maybe even they get on either end, they they will probably add some time to the summer window ah because it will then be the primary window.
00:23:49
Speaker
And so you'll have a, ah a, a transfer window that, that run that allows teams to sign players and even has even more flexibility to sign players from abroad. So it it gives you a ah good idea of how these things will eventually line up.
00:24:05
Speaker
And, you know, I don't think there's really any downside to doing this in part because it never really made sense for the, for the winter window to stretch into April because there was just no, so there just aren't that many signings that happen.
00:24:20
Speaker
after mid-March. ah So there wasn't really, yeah, I mean, certainly the Sounders weren't weren't signing. Although I get i maybe they i guess maybe they they were able to get Ryan Kent last year, but not, point being, it's ah it's like these are extreme edge cases. So the other changes that were announced is, and this is like this one of the small ones, like there are some small stuff, like the roster compliance day is now February 20th.
00:24:44
Speaker
which is basically the Friday before the season starts. And then the roster freeze is pushed all the way back to October 9th, which so that's when teams can no longer make changes to the roster. um One of the big changes that it
Sounders' Roster Strategies and Management
00:24:59
Speaker
this will be very interesting to see how this ends up getting used, but they changed the rule around interleague loans where it used to be,
00:25:09
Speaker
that if you weren't, but for the most part, if you were 24 or younger, could only be loaned out if you're 24 or younger, because the thinking was that this is a rule designed to get young players extra playing time.
00:25:22
Speaker
But what they've done now is they've removed all the age restrictions. So anyone can be loaned out, which honestly makes sense from a functional league perspective, because there's all types of situations that where a player who is either young or not needs to get minutes and the, and the one team doesn't want to hold them back or they, they would rather him get minutes. And so this, what's going to be interesting is that teams can now really stock up players potentially for the stretch run, because there's invariably going to be players who are on teams who are down at the bottom of the table, who aren't to make the playoffs. Yeah.
00:26:00
Speaker
who they can loan someone out and get something out of the player without giving the player up entirely. and there's going be teams that are making playoff runs that want to pick up these players. Yeah, and I feel like loans are becoming a lot more used than, you know, a couple of five, ten years ago. i do think that it puts you in a position, well, a team like the Sounders, where they've had, you know, so many players where sometimes there's a need to maybe put them in a USL team. Because maybe there is a lot of constrictions within MLS to do certain things. But now to all those teams that maybe bring in a guy ah from abroad and maybe there was ah you know, an academy kid or something that worked out your way and maybe you can loan that guy and get that cop off.
00:26:51
Speaker
I just think that all these changes are allowing each team to better use their full resources. Right. And to me, that's just a plus. Yeah. I don't think there is a downside. No, invariably, Inter-Miami is going to use this rule in a way that a lot of people don't like or something. And then we' we'll be saying this is bad. But I do think...
00:27:13
Speaker
it's important to note that as annoying as it is to see teams like Miami continuously push the boundaries of what's allowed. I do think that there's a benefit to that, which is that it's, it's forcing other teams to sort of raise their level.
00:27:27
Speaker
And I think that's something that's been missing from MLS for a long time. So I don't, I don't begrudge ah Atlanta stacking the Ross or non Atlanta Miami stacking the roster. I you know, they're clearly very good on paper. I know you guys talked about it a lot on, on lobbying scorters this week and we don't need to do a whole Miami bit, but I don't, I guess I just don't really, I'm not, I'm not worried about that. I think the sounders, if the the sounders don't like it, they need to go out and and do more on their own.
00:27:55
Speaker
For sure. And you're right about it. Pushing everyone to either improve what you're already doing because you need to close that gap or get better at what you are doing currently or simply change Everything of what you're doing. Right. So I'm looking at teams like Montreal that maybe every year they just seem to be a sore spot in the Western Conference. So maybe you you change that up. ah Maybe, you know, a team like like Miami has gone through a couple of shifts. Obviously, there was the ownership change and then there was a theory change. where instead of older name or name players, now they're going younger South American prospects. I mean, there's just all these things that I do believe that I'm okay with, you know, Miami being that super villain, super team, call it what you want. Every league has one. Miami doesn't have to be the exception.
00:28:57
Speaker
believe, firmly believe that in MLS with the way things are set up and the structure that's set up, it's not as clear cut as a Bayern Munich winning nine or the last 10 years or something like that. But ah if that is what happens and they become a super team that is trying to get Denny Buonga on a cash transfer for 13 million, then You got to figure it out and and you got to find a way to minimize that gap. So I i do believe that the Sounders are not worried about it.
00:29:32
Speaker
because of their sustainable academy and the way their structure is set up. But I do understand why maybe now more than ever, we're hearing about potential new investors and and trying to find more capital because at the end of the day, it's about injecting more money into what you're already doing. don Don't, don't, you know,
00:29:57
Speaker
Delete it or or, you know, take it out or destroy it, but, you know, just make it better and reinforce it in Miami and LAFC and all this big spending teams. That's what they do.
00:30:11
Speaker
Right, exactly. and then on the same token, the league also removed the restrictions on how many ah cash for player trades or cashfers. I don't know what where we haven't really had a term for that, but technically they're called cash for yeah yeah they're called cash for player trades in the league. they There used to be just a limit of two that every team could make.
00:30:33
Speaker
Now they can do as many as they want. I don't know how much. that really makes a difference because it's still, you still got to fit it under the c salary cap, but it's, I don't know why there was really a limit on the number they could do because there's other guardrails that keep teams from just going crazy with that rule.
00:30:50
Speaker
That's a very sensical rule to me to get rid of the, to get rid of the limit there. ah And then there's like some older, smaller, smaller stuff. Like they, there's no longer a deadline when a player can be switched from an international domestic. Basically if they are in the process of getting their green card, I believe they are no longer considered international.
00:31:08
Speaker
um Then this was kind of an interesting one. i guess teams can now trade international roster spots for a specific time period. So like if you are in the beginning of the season and you know you just need an international roster spot for half the season, you can yeah you can loan you can basically work out a loan for an international roster spot so that it goes back to the original team in the secondary window.
00:31:37
Speaker
I don't know how often that goes into practice, but I thought it was an interesting little tweak. I don't, I assume there's some team that was asking for this change and, and no one saw any objections to it, but it's a, an interesting little quirk of MLS where, you know, each team is limited to eight international roster spots. The Sounders routinely trade a bunch of theirs right now. Like for instance, this year they've already traded away four of them.
00:32:01
Speaker
So they have no currently open international roster spots. And I think that's actually for the Sounders, that makes a lot of sense because what you're doing is you're maximizing the value on each of those roster spots. Essentially, they're each worth $175,000 a gam.
00:32:16
Speaker
You traded four of them. You brought in $750,000 a gam without really doing anything other than being smart about getting players on green cards. But this is an interesting little tweak to that.
00:32:29
Speaker
um And then i guess the the other kind of small change, I don't, again... I guess if you signed a if you did a cash for, for a DP, I guess they hit the cap at the full amount, no matter when you got them.
00:32:44
Speaker
I, and now they would count as a mid season DP, which is like half the charge. I don't really know how much of a difference that makes, but, uh, like I don't know how often that came into play, but it's an interesting little, little change. um and what what are you And it all goes back to just trying to give teams more like ways to better their teams. Right. and, yeah
00:33:13
Speaker
Everybody does it that's a different. and And you don't need to have 11 internationals in the starting lineup like Miami. You could do it the way the Sounders do it. And again, you could earn your value. And that's why you move your gam and you could do a lot of different things with your gam and transferred and buy down players and all of this elements that you can go ahead and and use it for. But but to me, it really is about...
00:33:40
Speaker
I don't like to replicate everything that other leagues do, but but this this cash transfers to me do present an opportunity where... you start to see some of the the things that other leagues can do to better themselves, both on the money aspect and the transfer aspect. You know, the Evander move, I thought that was pretty cool. The Ayala move, I thought that was, you know, great by, you know, Inter-Miami team that just wants to continue getting better. So i'm ah I'm all in for all of these other less limitations on those sort of tools for each team to better the rosters.
00:34:19
Speaker
Thank you for listening to the Sounder at Heart Podcast Network, which now includes Nos Adietes, Loving Scorchers, and The Cooler Guild. Although this podcast is free, it's only made possible through our paid subscribers. Plans start as low as $30 a year and allow us to remain independent and mostly ad-free. subscribers get access to all our written and podcast content, including a full text RSS feed and a mostly ad free podcast feed that includes every show in one spot. If you really like what we're doing though, I'd encourage you to sign up at our higher tiers, which include all sorts of various perks. The most popular of those is our members only discord or the real Sounders sickos hang out. I know I've called this group the smartest, funniest and best informed Sounders fans in the world, but it's more than the rough equivalent of a Sounders Mensa meeting. Discord is where we make things happen. Like, for real. You know the promotion the Sounders ran that offered fans the opportunity to trade in their messy jersey for a Paul Rothrock one? That originated in our community. You'll not only be the first to know about stuff, but you also have a semi-direct line to the movers and shakers at the Sounders organization. If you want to be one of the totally normal people who occupy the Sounder at Heart Discord, just become a supporter of Sounder at Heart. Anyway, thanks for listening, and go Ders.
00:35:34
Speaker
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Speaker
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Speaker
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00:36:36
Speaker
Right. Yeah. I totally am with you there. I think MLS moving towards less complication and more common sense approach is absolutely a positive. And I think all of these changes, you you look at them and, and you sort of, i think if anything, you ask yourself, why was it different before and not, why are they making this change? Like almost all the changes seem like they are in the,
00:37:01
Speaker
in the goal of making things easier to understand and giving teams more flexibility. And I don't really see obvious downsides to this, especially when, you know, it,
00:37:13
Speaker
I suppose there's, like I said, there's going to be teams who exploit these new rules, but that doesn't make them bad. That just means that other teams need to be trying to exploit them too, because that's why they're there. Right.
00:37:24
Speaker
ah And then one other thing. Oh, good. go ahead. don't know if you were going to go to this yet, but I did want you to just take a couple of seconds and just remind the people the audience about some of those restrictions on buying down players. because It's yeah a a question I get constantly asked and I try to explain it my way, but I know that that is your wheelhouse. You are the expert when it comes to this sort of thing. So if you could just enlight everyone on on why the Sounders can't just go ahead and buy down a player like Jordan Morris or Rusnak or whoever certain audience members hate.
00:38:02
Speaker
Well, and I don't know if it's that they hate them. It's that I think there's this kind of constant perception that you can ultimately do anything you want with any player. And that's not quite right. Like there are right there's two kind of big numbers that you have to keep in mind.
00:38:19
Speaker
we're and we're using broad terms here. when you're talking about the status of a player, one of them is the maximum salary charge that a player can have, meaning you cannot, they cannot count more than this against your salary cap, meaning that if they are above this number, unless they're a designated player or a U22,
00:38:40
Speaker
you have to use targeted allocation or general allocation money to buy down their cap it. And that's $750,000. So if you are making more than $750,000 in combined ah salary and transfer fee, you teams need to buy you down. I think people understand that, but where it gets tricky is that there's a limit that you hit. And if you're making more than 1.8 million,
00:39:08
Speaker
you are no longer eligible to be bought down to that other number. You automatically just count this much against the cap. And those are where designated players come in. And all three of the Sounders designated players, Pedro De La Vega, Albert Rusnak, and Jordan Morris count more than $1.8 million dollars against the cap meaning they have to be
Obed Vargas Transfer Discussions
00:39:29
Speaker
DPs. There is no way to buy. If you're making more than 1.8 million, there is no way to buy down that cap hit below the DP threshold.
00:39:38
Speaker
You are a DP. Now, if they wanted to, now the centers could do this. They, Because all three of those players are getting close enough to the end of their contracts. What the Sounders could theoretically do is re-sign them at a number where they guarantee them more total money, but they bring down the annual charge that they are incurring against their salary cap number. So theoretically, like for instance, Jordan Morris's contract is set to expire in 2027, believe.
00:40:09
Speaker
Yes. They could, they could sign them to like a five-year extension at you know one where, where the average ends up coming down below what he's currently owed. Now that would be an expensive thing. The Sounders would have to guarantee these guys more money, but,
00:40:25
Speaker
Pedro de la Vega is maybe a better example because his salary is only, I think $1.1 million dollars or something like that. And the only reason he counts more than 1.1 is because the Sounders spent six six and a half million, something like that on his transfer fee.
00:40:39
Speaker
And you, you pro write that out over the course of his guaranteed portion of his contract that pushes them over 1.8. So the Sounders, if they wanted to, they could resign Pedro. where they don't have to worry about the transfer fee anymore. They could still give him a raise and they, and they could bring down his cap it. And that's something that potentially they could do if they needed to open up a DP spot. ah The one complicating factor there though, is that as we've reported, Jesus Ferreira has a clause in his contract where if he exceeds a certain number of goals and assists over a two year period, he would become a designated player. This is sort of like the make right for when he took a pay cut to come to the centers in the first place.
00:41:18
Speaker
But the point being is that there is some flexibility there. It's just not the flexibility that I think a lot of people will think it is. Boom. Exactly. that that and there's nothing better than to, you know, understand the way the system works and the intricacies of the salary for, you know, a lot of our audience that is probably some of the most knowledgeable out there. And they don't have to listen to, you know, just...
00:41:46
Speaker
maybe certain places where you just kind of say things just the same and, and, and don't realize that the difficulty of, of, of certain movements. So it is interesting. um I do think that with the amount of GAM that the Sounders have and the current roster they have, that they have a lot of options more towards that the summer window. We're going to talk about it with Bargis, I'm sure, but yeah,
00:42:13
Speaker
that's like yeah With all the position or battles and everything, I keep hearing great things about Hassani included in this game, including in just the overall week. So if if he's a guy grinding you know, the moves that you've kind of added on and you're able to move Obed, you know, where where do you put that money? Where do you add somebody at? I mean, i think that the Sounders in the summer could be, you know, doing a couple of things. So it know it'll be interesting to follow.
00:42:43
Speaker
Yeah. Well, let's, let's get onto the Obed Vargas tip a little bit here. he there has been some reports rolling around out in the internet about him being close to a move.
00:42:59
Speaker
What do you understand that to be? Because I don't know that this really washes what, how I understand the situation. Well, I really just think that certain ah um certain news members, whenever they say something, it becomes a news just because they said it or they repeated it. And i don't know, sometimes if they see it and and do it or they maybe just found out and then they decided to put it out there. And because...
00:43:29
Speaker
You know, C.L. Merlot is the guy I'm talking about. he ended up putting a post that Ovid Vargas could be leaving in the winter, which both you and I have spent full episodes on. then he added, I believe, at the end of his tweet that...
00:43:46
Speaker
his That Obid Vargas' agency or representation, something in that regard, were working heavily on on finding a move and that he could be finalized by the end of the week. Now, that's the part of the tweet that I have an issue with. I don't think at the end of the week, which is now. or maybe Sunday he was thinking the end of the full seven days, something's going to get done. I don't see that to be the case. I just think that maybe he just got a wind of either the the agent or somebody around it and and decided to go with it. But he said nothing different that both you and I have been reporting. i haven't heard anything different. Ovid Bargis right now is fully committed committed.
00:44:30
Speaker
concentrated into the national team. ah He just played against Panama yesterday. So I don't, I mean, I know that agent's doing moves on his own and he could be very well be talking to Real Madrid right now as we speak, but everything that I've heard does not indicate that that's the case.
00:44:48
Speaker
Yeah. My interpretation of what CL Merlo was saying, and I don't know if he was meaning it this way, but my interpretation of it is that Yeah, this is a very important week if Obed is going to move.
00:45:03
Speaker
But barring something getting lined up in the next week, he's not going anywhere. And i would, I think we would both at this point be happy for him for happy for the Sounders. If, if they found a landing spot for him where the Sounders are able to get a few million dollars up front, maybe get a sell on fee on the backend and, and ideally may even get loaned back to the Sounders where he's able to play for the next six months and put himself in the best position possible to make the world cup.
00:45:33
Speaker
And then in the summer he goes out, he, you know, Whether he makes the World Cup or not, he he goes off and he joins this other team. I'm seeing no indication at all that such a move is likely or close to materializing. And if the expectation here is that Obed is currently weighing offers that are sitting in front of him, that does not seem to be the case, correct? Absolutely.
00:45:59
Speaker
Correct. And right now, takes three to tango. I mean, you know, the agent can have the best possible move of what he believes is a good transfer. But right now and until the winter window closes, well, actually until December, the Sounders have all the say in the world, um obviously with the bounds of of a pre-contract in the summer. But at the end of the day, right now, the Sounders need to...
00:46:25
Speaker
give their okay, as well as the the the player. Of course, he has to be okay. So it's it's it's a three-man type of situation that we have here for for this thing to work. And right now, at this moment, as far as I know, as of today's Friday, there is no formal offers that great are on the table for him. So unless the agent and Merlo know more, right i just i don't see it to be a thing. and And to be clear, if the agent were to bring the Sounders a deal...
00:47:02
Speaker
all indications are the sounder, assuming it's not a free transfer, the sounders would probably be willing to accept it. Like the centers are not in a position to be turning down offers. And I don't think they're trying to turn down offers, but,
00:47:15
Speaker
that's sort of on the, you know, that's, there's no, nothing like that in the offing, at least that I can see. And I think one of the things that, you know, we've been discussing a lot over the time and I, and I don't know if if we want to get too deep into this, but I, I feel like there's this perception that once Obed is on a free that offers will just kind of come in like descend on him, like from heaven. Like there's going to be all these big offers ah from teams who for unclear reasons were never willing to make a transfer offer for him, but now we're willing to pay him a signing bonus and, and a big salary.
00:47:59
Speaker
When I, I just, I'm not sure, sure that it's going to come off like that. Like I, I don't doubt that if he wants to go to Europe, there is teams in Europe that want him to play for them. Are they the kind of team, but if it was an Atletico or Dortmund or someone of that ilk, wouldn't it make sense that those teams would be more than happy to pay a relatively small transfer fee to get them now?
00:48:22
Speaker
Of course, of course, because you don't have to get into the bidding war. And, you know, there there are elements of your value that regardless of whether you want to admit it or or not, go down when you're a free agent or you have decided to go on your own. And to me, that that does cap the the the big teams from from getting into it. So I don't know. Again, it's it's a gamble. Yeah.
00:48:50
Speaker
Ovid Vargas, as much as we love him and as much as he's a generational talent, as we've said, ah his value is limited by his position a bit. I mean, you I was watching him with the un sp i was with the Mexican national team, i almost say USMT, with the Mexican national team against Panama. and because of the way that Mexico plays and the positions where he would be more,
00:49:21
Speaker
influential, he kind of got sighted and and could barely get on the ball. I think he got like something across 26 touches. He did a lot of defensive effort. I thought that he was really good showing his physicality. And even the broadcasters were like, oh, this is what we love about Obed Vargas.
00:49:39
Speaker
But when it comes to that that highlight reel tape and and some of the things that maybe if you're a free agent that everybody's just waiting at the door to just pour millions of millions of dollars at you,
00:49:51
Speaker
I don't necessarily know if that's where he shines at. So to me, it would be so much easier if the Sounders and Obed would find a deal now where there is a god there is a team that is so interested in you that they're willing to pay three, four million dollars. And then they're ready to assure you X contract for X salary and not have to just gamble with, with your your future there in the summer or moving on forward.
00:50:25
Speaker
Right. Yeah. ah Yeah. And I, I will say that the silver lining to all this is that from a Sounders perspective, the worst case scenario seems to be that they end up with Obed on a very affordable contract for another year and they get to make a run at a, at another title. And that's, that's certainly not the,
00:50:49
Speaker
ideal situation for the centers. The centers clearly have believed that Obed Vargas is a valuable player who they would prefer to have under a contract and they were prepared to ultimately get some money out of.
00:51:04
Speaker
but they aren't exactly being done dirty either because they are getting value out of Obed just by having them on the team. And Obed to his credit has never shown any signs that he is giving less than a hundred percent that he's not in anything less than that. He's anything less than a hundred percent committed to the Sounders, whether or not,
00:51:24
Speaker
he wants to commit his future to the Sounders is ah separate issue, but for the present, he's been exactly the player that you would want. And Brian Schmetzer has given every indication that as long as he believes Obed is putting in the effort and doing his best, that he's going to treat him just like any other player. And I like, there's not really a, you know, I understand why fans might be frustrated at the way this is playing out.
00:51:52
Speaker
i But I think if you really look at the particulars of the case, you can understand whether or not you agree with Obed's perspective. I think you can understand why he's betting on himself and why he believes that his best, this is his best option.
00:52:06
Speaker
i think we can understand why the Sounders hadn't, you know, they, they can't force Obed to sign a new contract and they've been trying to sign them to a new contract for at least a couple of years.
00:52:18
Speaker
So I don't know if you can fault them too much. And I'm sure if we can, we can do a whole episode on, on that if we want, but, ah it's i I think the more I look at this, the less I am really mad. And i'm just i think we can disagree on on various decisions and perspectives, but I think everyone is behaving.
00:52:41
Speaker
you know Certainly the Sounders and Obed are behaving maturely here. like They're doing what's best for them or what they believe is best for them. For sure. and And, you know, the result, the end result will end up showing you who was right at the end of the day. And to me, i hope it all goes well for both. Right.
00:53:01
Speaker
Right. But as someone that has, again, been able to watch this young man turn into such a good player, a kid that is so nice, so great, you know, so humble, such a hard worker,
00:53:18
Speaker
that that the The thing that I would not want to happen is that he goes to another team where he doesn't get to play the position where he's best at, as it has happened to him with the ah Mexican national team, as it happened to him with the U-20 of Mexico, where he was kind of essentially just a role player to the other two midfielders.
00:53:41
Speaker
And then he just loses his light. And, and at the end of the day that I want to see a Nobid Vargas that, you know, makes it to the premier league at some point or yeah he's this phenomenal player. And, and I feel like this next move is crucial. And,
00:53:58
Speaker
and this is my opinion, my opinion, because I know that he probably, and he's a ah camp probably thinks differently. i wish that he wouldn't feel like he has to rush that decision that he could say, okay, look, I'm going to sign three years with the Sounders and I'm going to get top dollar, everything that I can get. And I'm going to make sure that the next step I'm, I'm really being careful and I'm really careful.
00:54:26
Speaker
assessing all the options rather than me feeling like, shit, I have to this day to to make that decision. Because, yeah, maybe you get the offer that you want, but was that the right decision? i mean, i don't know. And and that that that's the one thing is anytime that you rush a decision like this to me, I just hope it doesn't affect the player.
00:54:48
Speaker
Yeah, I would hope so too. And, you know, there's downside. this is this is not a This is not a decision that Obed is making where it's all upside. And I think there's a little bit of a misperception as to how much of an obvious choice this is. Like I've heard a lot of people say like, well, of course he's going to wait until he's a free except there's a reason this doesn't happen very often, especially for young players.
00:55:13
Speaker
It's not always in the young players' best interest to play out their contract and to set the situation up. The reason we see, for the most part, um almost exclusively older players, highly like if you're marketable,
00:55:28
Speaker
older players sometimes fall out of contract that for various reasons. Right. But for younger players, it's the usually the only reason you're out of contract is because you don't have a lot of options. And so it's not literally unprecedented, but it's rare for a player like Obed to sort of just play out their contract and, and try it this way. i you know, and maybe it's going to be something that happens more in the future.
00:55:52
Speaker
And it's something that i think for a player like Obed, because he signed at such a young age, it makes it a little bit, more possible, but I don't know that this is a path that a lot of other players are necessarily going to follow.
00:56:06
Speaker
I agree.
Striker Options and Team Enhancements
00:56:07
Speaker
Totally agree. I think that if if we move on from Obed and i don't know why I keep doing this like little exercises, but i want to ask you, let's say that Obed moves right now before the the winter window and you have, I don't know, let's say you get 4 million for him in the summer.
00:56:31
Speaker
Are you comfortable enough with what you have in midfield to go and use that to solidify another position? Or do you replace that same center midfield position? And which position would it be to you? If you, if Obed is gone and it's the summer, do you get another center midfielder that can replicate them? Or do you use that money to get better elsewhere?
00:56:57
Speaker
That's a good question. I think a lot of that is going to depend on what you're feeling like you're getting out of Nikolo Pekovic. Because Pekovic, in some ways, is a built-in you know depth piece at that position. Hassani Dotson, it's going to be... you know Between him, Dotson, and Brunel, I don't know that there is a obvious, like the center seem well positioned to, oh to weather the loss of Obed Vargas. They have five very good central midfielders who I feel like are not literally interchangeable, but you can probably pair them all together in various ways and it would be functional.
00:57:39
Speaker
And you pull Obed out of that, and I still think you have four versatile, useful central midfielders. So if you feel like you're getting what you want out of Snyder, Dotson, and Pekovic, I don't know that you will feel compelled to replace Obed at all externally ah because they might be well-positioned already. And by the nice thing is that by the summer, you should really know how ably, how like how deep you really are at that position.
00:58:10
Speaker
And so if we assume that those between those three players, you've already got a sort of plan B when it comes to Obed, I would think you'd want to go out and find another dynamic attacking player.
00:58:26
Speaker
Even though the center seemed like they might be reasonably stacked in the attack as well. I mean, the, the nice thing about the center's roster is there's not ah this glaring need. There's, you can always upgrade. You can always find a better number nine than Jordan Morris. You can always find a better number 10 than Albert Rusnak. Theoretically, like they are not the best player in the world at those positions, obviously,
00:58:47
Speaker
But I, and so I think that's that that's maybe the, what you try to do is like, if you can go out and and you can resign, like, let's just say they could go out and open up a DP spot by re-signing Pedro to a longer term extension. i don't know. Maybe you, maybe you do go and try to find like a, you world-class number nine or something. I don't know. i don't know. just I think that's the center's biggest need right now, but if you have the money and you have the flexibility, i suppose that's maybe what you should try to do.
00:59:19
Speaker
Yep. I totally agree. I mean, to not get too deep into it or or get too extended on it. I totally agree. And the short answer for me is because as much as you feel like you're stacked on strikers, I get this feeling like it's a striker by committee. yeah,
00:59:43
Speaker
Anytime, and this goes, this a football saying, if you have two QBs, you don't have a QB. I feel like if you have, it feels like every striker sometimes like, oh, well, maybe Jordan could play out wide and, you know, maybe he could, you know, maybe he could play the nine and, well, you know, Ferreira, he could play out wide as a pocket winger, but, you know, he could maybe up there. Denny Mussovsky, well, we love it, but he maybe had a fluke here. We'll see what happens with Osorio Rosario. I just want to use that money to have a guy that is undeniably,
01:00:11
Speaker
absolutely the guy that you want up top. And I know that I'm asking for too much because any guy can come in here and be a bust ah just because he's a great profile player and you spend X amount of money doesn't give you the guarantee. But I, at least I want the illusion that that you're going out there and getting a guy that you know for sure is the future of the franchise at the ninth position. And and I want to die in that hill. And it's not out of like,
01:00:42
Speaker
the same narrative because it maybe sounds um ironic that I'm asking for this when the team just came from a 60 plus goal season. But I still feel like a striker, a real spear at the end of that attack would be beneficial. So, you know, yeah, I mean, you can, like I said, but I like it.
01:01:05
Speaker
I don't think you're crazy. And I don't think you're crazy. I mean, I guess I kind of said this, but I think it's not, and it's not the slander Jordan Morris or no, no. no Paul Rothrock Osazade Rosario or Danny Masofsky or, or any of these attackers.
01:01:20
Speaker
It's just that there is a, the world is a big, big place. And if you have an unlimited roster spot to go find a solution, you owe it to yourself to, you know, to go as big as you can. Right. And, ah and, and they shouldn't be, you know, I think there's this idea that the centers are sort of like protecting certain players. I don't, I don't think that's what's happening. I think the centers are just working within a budget for the most part.
01:01:46
Speaker
ah But if their budget grows, their ambition should grow along with it. So, and I don't, and I'm someone who just doesn't think you can have enough depth in the attack. Like you could always have one more attacker that you can figure things out.
01:01:59
Speaker
Yeah, bring off the bench or a different profile player. And again, I'm thinking about the future. I'm thinking about a guy that's going to come in. he's you know He doesn't have to be a U-22. He could be 24, 25.
01:02:12
Speaker
Because I have a lot of stock on Jesus Ferreira. I think that he just won me over last year. I'm a big fan too. I think he's a guy that's going to be here for a while and is going to be a big...
01:02:25
Speaker
deal for the Sounders and the attack, but I just want somebody else that could be right along him. And and again, this is not Jordan Morris slander by any means. It's just that with his age and and the injuries and things i want to, and I think he's going to have a great season and I hope he has a great season, but you know, in two years, you know, who's that next guy coming up. That's what I want with that move in the summer is, is having that guy who I can, you know, be like, Oh yeah, that's the that's going to take over.
01:02:53
Speaker
Yeah. And ah and the U22 spot, they do have an open U22 spot. They don't currently have an international roster spot, but they can always get one of those. yeah And, you know, I, I, yeah, I would think that the U22 spot is like, if I'm going to use a U22 spot, I want to get the highest upside i possibly
Future Plans and Engagement with Fans
01:03:10
Speaker
can. And I know that Craig has said before that they are mostly focused on bringing in players that can help them right now.
01:03:18
Speaker
But the way I look at the roster, they don't necessarily need that. They can afford to be more, you know, long, you know, long game focused and they can start succession planning. And I i think that that's a a perfectly fine way to use U22 spot if that's what they want to do.
01:03:37
Speaker
It comes in a much more budget-friendly number. They can do it with... ah you know That's where you can if you got $4 million dollars for Obed, you can turn around and and spend it right away on ah on a u twenty two something like that.
01:03:50
Speaker
But I don't know. These are all these are all hopes. you know Right now, it doesn't look like the Sounders have... ah the roster space or the budget to go out and make a big signing before the season starts, barring a change. And hopefully, you know, maybe one of those changes happens, but anyway, I think that's, that's what, what I have. ah You have anything else, Nico?
01:04:11
Speaker
no No, no, not at all. I think that ah we used enough of what we were able to see. again I, I would love to talk more about the game, but I am apprehensive about it. Yeah, I know. I didn't watch the whole thing. And I wish we could have talked more about it, but it'd be just disingenuous of me to be like, oh, this is what happened. This the players that did this. But from what I heard, I think we hit it all. Talked about the news.
01:04:38
Speaker
ah Talked about Merlot trying to steal thunder. I mean, I think we're... i think I think we hit it all up. So, no, I'm i i'm excited for what the next week's going to bring along. And I'm ready for the season to start. I'll tell you that.
01:04:56
Speaker
Absolutely. I am too. All right. Well, ah we will, I think be back. I'm sure we'll be back next week. And then after that, we're the next time I'll talk to you is probably when I'm in Spain. So look for that.
01:05:08
Speaker
And ah thank you for to Nico for, for joining us again, again, if you want to get in on the presale of four, the sounder at heart,
01:05:19
Speaker
magazine, i would urge you to go to Sandra Hart right now and click on any of there's a million links on there. Find one of those get the pre order get the $10 price don't get stuck paying $15 cover price that everyone else is going to be paying.
01:05:34
Speaker
We're going to have a lot of news on that. We have a lot of news coming up. This is a very exciting year for Sandra Hart. We're going to be hearing more from Nico. Nico is going to be expanding his role with us. We haven't really talked about that yet, but we'll have more details on that soon. But Nico, thank you for joining me.
01:05:48
Speaker
You can follow him on Blue Sky, El Rolo, NW, as well as on Soccer Down Here. Anything else that you want to plug, Nico?
01:05:58
Speaker
Nope. No, that's it. Sucker down here, Lobbing Scorchers, and of course, Sounder at Heart. And yes, just just stay tuned on Sounder at Heart, man. We got some real fire stuff coming up. And sometimes it doesn't go as planned, as Jeremiah knows. But, you know, we got some stuff there just waiting.
01:06:17
Speaker
Absolutely. All right.
Closing Remarks and Listener Appreciation
01:06:19
Speaker
Well, let's get out of here. I'm Jeremiah Shan signing off for Nico Moreno. This is No Sarietes, part of the Sounder Heart Podcast Network, and we will catch you next time.
01:06:55
Speaker
Let's go at Sounders.