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Back to Reality as Seattle Sounders Wake Up to Austin FC (Feat. We Are Austin TV) - Ep. 110
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After wrapping up their 2025 FIFA Club World Cup campaign, it's back to the MLS season for the Seattle Sounders, who return to action by hosting Austin FC in Matchday 21. We're joined by We Are Austin TV to preview the matchup, then hit some more takeaways from the CWC, and react to Wednesday's scores and other news from around MLS. Subscribe to We Are Austin TV.
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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 Episode Format
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 real scorcher today. Why the scorcher today? Well it's gonna be a scorcher.
Club World Cup Wrap-up and Austin FC Preview
00:00:43
Speaker
Good evening, everybody, and welcome in to another episode of Lobbing Scorchers Under the Lights. Got a great show for you planned here this evening. The Club World Cup is over.
00:00:55
Speaker
It's done. It's a wrap for the Seattle Sounders, and it is back to league play in Matchday 21, where they'll be hosting Austin FC. at Lumenfield to to continue the MLS regular season campaign.
00:01:12
Speaker
ah We're going to bring Hernan from We Are Austin TV on to preview that match in just a second. It's going to give us the the inside scoop on what's going on with ATX this season.
00:01:24
Speaker
And then later on, going to hit a little more Club World Cup discourse. Now that I've had some time to sit and marinate on my takeaways from the Club World Cup, I found I was thinking about it and I have some amended takes that I want to that I want to get out there.
00:01:39
Speaker
We got some Jordan Morris sound to react to. He talked to training earlier today, I believe, either today or yesterday. We got some Jordan Morris sound to react to. ah There was a full slate of MLS action midweek action last night with some ah other scores from around the league to react to.
00:01:57
Speaker
And then I had ah a little bit of a blazing hot presser from Charlotte FC's Dean Smith that i was gonna that i was going to hit later on.
Lobbing Scorchers Hot Sauce Promotion
00:02:05
Speaker
um Real quick, before we get into all that, I did want to ah shill that the Lobbing Scorchers hot sauce is out. If you haven't ah you haven't seen it yet, we've dropped it.
00:02:15
Speaker
ah it's It tastes great. Great product ah that we made in collaboration with one of our sponsors, Hacks and Ferments. ah And if you go to their website, Hacks and Ferments, you'll see our page. And if you order there or lobbing scorchers.com slash sauce, you go there and you use the code LS, you get a free bottle with your order.
00:02:36
Speaker
So definitely peep it, try it out and throw some support to our, to one of our sponsors, Hacks and Ferments, who we, we love working with.
00:02:46
Speaker
And we're really excited about that project. We've been, we've been working on with them. All right, without further ado, let's get into this Austin FC preview. I'm really excited for our next guest.
We Are Austin TV and Fan Engagement
00:02:59
Speaker
Absolutely love their content. They do some of not only the the best work covering Austin FC, but I think some of the best work of any MLS ah content or YouTube channel.
00:03:12
Speaker
ah So excited to talk to, we're going to bring him onto the stage right now. We've got Hernan from We Are Austin TV, also known as H. Hernan, thank you so much for taking the time to join the show tonight.
00:03:25
Speaker
How are you doing? I'm doing good, man. You know, just chilling down here in Austin, Texas. Of course, you guys had the club World Cup to worry about. Austin FC has just kind of, you know, been taking a little bit of a break. You know, they've had a crazy month of May.
00:03:38
Speaker
The fans, the people covering this team also, they had a crazy month of May. And now we're kind of, you know, a month is, you know, coming to an end. But it's definitely been a more relaxed vibe down here in ATX when we're talking about Austin FC. It is hot, though. It is very hot. That does not escape us down here in Texas.
00:03:55
Speaker
Yeah, that Texas heat is no joke. We know that up here from every time the Sounders have to go to either Houston or Dallas or Austin. you know It's always like that abtic added obstacle that you have to take into account. You're like, you know, maybe based on the quality of the teams, this should be an easy win, but it's going to be 126 degrees. So you got to take that into account. ah But yeah, thank you so much for joining the show tonight. We were talking about it very briefly off air.
00:04:18
Speaker
ah But I absolutely love your guys' content. Anyone in chat has not checked out WeAreAustinTV. They do fan reaction interviews after many of the home games at Q2 Stadium.
00:04:31
Speaker
And they are absolutely hilarious, especially the ones during the Wolf Out era. They're so good, dude. Like, i like no notes. the way The questions you guys ask, the answers you get, the way they're edited – Uh, they're just so funny. And, uh, my cohost and I would send them to each other all the time just because of, uh, just how funny of the responses you get. Like, I think your guys' fan reactions are like the, they're the gold standard in major league soccer. So, uh, excited to, uh, excited to get to connect with you and, uh, actually talk some ball with you. Cause, uh, you guys, um, you guys know your stuff as well.
Austin FC's Role as a Pioneer Sports Team
00:05:06
Speaker
Uh, but before we get into it, Hernan, if you want to, I know I just did it a little bit for you, uh, but if you want to give our audience the little backstory on maybe how you guys formed the type of stuff you guys do the fan reaction videos and just like where to find your work covering the club yeah totally well first of all thank you for those words man i mean incredible shots right there and you know um i i wouldn't you know i ah ah I'd be lying if I said that, you know, I haven't heard it from like other people. And it kind of just like, it just adds on to the fact that, you know, the the team that we have done here, you know, cause it's not just me, you know, there's a guys, you know, there's guys that edit, there's guys that also come onto the show too.
00:05:47
Speaker
And ah it's, it's all of their work with the grain of sand that I put in there as well that, you know, just combines to this, into this project that we call, we are Austin TV down here in Austin, Texas. And yeah, pretty much, man, like what you said, you know, we, we, we interviewed,
00:06:01
Speaker
a lot of fans outside Q2 stadium since, since day one, you know, since the first ball was kicked for Austin FC. The first game though was out of, out of Austin. It was in l LA. They lost it to one. We had fan reactions in the streets of LA. There was cars passing by that were honking at us saying this Austin boo that Austin. and it just added it to the video. And,
00:06:20
Speaker
And, you know, i know that other fans, you know, they they they've watched these videos in the past and, you know, maybe they've they've felt happy that it's not their fan base going through it.
00:06:31
Speaker
But there's a whole other side of it, too. You know, I know these people that are in these videos. I see them at Q2 all the time and. I feel their pain too, you know, and it's been some some some low moments for Austin FC, like you mentioned, the whole Wolf era.
00:06:44
Speaker
It had highs. i can't I can't come on here and say that we didn't go to the Western Conference final because we did, but there was more lows. There was way more lows, and I'm just thankful. I'm just thankful for all those times that I got to that i got to experience with Austin FC fan base outside Q2 Stadium and the away games that we've gone to, Houston and Dallas, and, you know, they're the ones that we can drive to since the state of Texas and this country is just so big.
00:07:07
Speaker
It's just been a lot of fun with my friends down here in Austin, Texas, guys that I've known since we were in middle school to build this project, you know, to so really just um our our main mission just last. Our main mission was to start something, you know, for our for our city ah to kind of just shine some light on the first professional sports team that came into our community.
00:07:27
Speaker
hometown, Austin, Texas. you know We have UT Longhorns down here. Yeah, that is a great college football team, but it's college football. you know we don't We've never had a professional sports team. and When Austin FC arrived in Austin, you know we kind of just got together. We organized and we were like, hey, let's see what we can do. At first, it was just an idea. i just wanted to make phone graphics. I tell everybody, like I just wanted to make iPhone graphics.
00:07:48
Speaker
After that, I started making player stat graphics and then we got into media zones and then you know we still talk to fans outside and we're kind of like a hybrid platform where we talk to the fans and we have an independent kind of kind of view of of a lot of the things. And then we're also in these media zones where we talk to players, where we talk to coaches and, you know, we have to kind of change the way our tone a little bit, you know, kind of change the way that we talk about the game because those are more serious scenarios than the fans outside Q2. I mean, you've seen them how they'd be talking on that mic. So, so yeah, man, it's just been, it's just been a journey. It's
Austin FC Fan Base Dynamics
00:08:21
Speaker
been a lot of fun. And, uh, I really, really appreciate those, those kind of words that you said there at, uh, at the, uh, start of the pod.
00:08:29
Speaker
It's, it's kind of, it just adds fuel into this engine for us to keep going. Absolutely. Now, if anyone in chat, definitely go toss WeAreAustinTV a sub. I put the link in the description for this stream, so just go hit it up right there. Toss these guys a sub, because ah it's it's awesome work, and it's like ah you guys have the comedy. like that that that like It's not like a super... ah always like super taken is super super seriously.
00:08:56
Speaker
Like you guys have the comedy aspect, which I always support. So ah yeah, definitely subscribe everybody. Vamos. I see your question in chat there. I'll, I'll get there in a, in a sec, but I did want to start with, ah I have like kind of a format for how I start these guest previews. So ah what I like to do to start these off is I give the guest my perception of the of the club they cover sort of lies like the outsider neutral perspective.
00:09:19
Speaker
I follow the whole league decently closely, so I know but most of the club is pretty well besides like CF Montreal and like a couple others. But I know the whole league pretty well. So I like to give my outside perspective but i because I don't always have it right. So you can tell me if ah the way I perceive Austin FC from the outside is correct as someone who covers this club day in, day out. so That's fair.
00:09:43
Speaker
my ah My perception of Austin FC is that ah Austin FC, as we sort of alluded to already, I think had one of, if not the most disgruntled fan bases in MLS last year.
00:09:57
Speaker
Every year, there's a handful of hand but fan bases that end up disgruntled, but in a way where I feel like the genesis of it was... ah going into a year that had pretty high expectations and then the results kind of not living up to that. And the source of that discontent in the eyes of many was the head coach, Josh Wolf, who I felt, I feel like a lot of the fan base felt like he should have been let go after the 2023 season or during the 2023 season.
00:10:28
Speaker
He wasn't, he ended up coming back for 24 the result and the result when the team ended up playing around, you know, like 1.1 to 1.4 points per game was people were, it it was like, it was basically a movement wolf out.
00:10:43
Speaker
Like I think there was a plane at one point that flew over the stadium with like a banner that said wolf out. In all your guys' videos after the game, it was Wolf out. It was like a widespread thing, ah basically until it actually happened.
00:10:59
Speaker
And ah as far as my impression of what led to that, Sebastian Drew, you see, he was on the team at the beginning of last year, last year if I'm not mistaken, or did he get transferred beforehand?
00:11:10
Speaker
No. So he pretty much went on vacation after the 2024 season, went to Argentina and pretty much communicated back like, Hey, sell me. I'm not coming back. Yeah. Okay. So he was on the club all of last year, which um I was going to ask you about that later. Cause I think that player sale is one of the most mind boggling transfers I've ever seen in MLS for the exact reason that you just stated. He was literally talking about how he didn't want to be on the team and you guys still got a $10 million dollars bag for him, which that's a whole separate topic.
00:11:39
Speaker
ah But the sort of the way that ah I perceive how the season is going this year for Austin FC is, you know, the wolf out thing kind of it took effect. He was let go and replaced by Nico Estevez, who joins the club from rival FC Dallas.
00:11:56
Speaker
And there was sort of a feeling of like a fresh start, a new era. ah But my impression of it is that the start of this season wasn't going that well results wise.
00:12:07
Speaker
And it seemed like the the cause of that was ah this team's had a lot of trouble scoring goals this year. Like the offense just hasn't been able to get going. Brandon Vasquez took a little while to get going.
00:12:20
Speaker
ah But that in the last like few weeks maybe like the last month or so ah there's been a little more of an uptick you start to see the goals start to come some of the results have improved over the last few weeks so now it's kind of at this place where i feel like people at the start were like i don't know about this estevez thing doesn't i not Not sold, not working that well yet.
00:12:41
Speaker
But like it seems like this is a team that is sort of just now coming ah coming into its own, and you're starting to sort of see what Nico Estevez
Coaching Changes and Team Strategy
00:12:51
Speaker
was getting at. Is ah is that all roughly accurate, or would you make any amendments to that picture that I painted?
00:12:57
Speaker
Where do you live, man? Do you Q2 it's It's on my ah it's on my ah bucket list for sure. It looks like one of the best teams in the league. Haven't been there, but no, I'm just an absolute sicko and know a disgusting amount about this league. that's Pretty spot on, mate. I would say pretty spot on everything that you said. I mean, of course, you know, you know't you you try to pay attention to all the teams so you're not 100% focused with Austin FC. There are some little details that go in a deeper level, but everything that you just mentioned right now, I would say is is pretty spot on.
00:13:32
Speaker
All right. So I think that presents like an interesting scenario for Seattle because on one hand, you could perceive of it as a team that's struggled a little bit this year. But on the other hand, they have been playing better. What ah what do you sort of attribute the little uptick in form to? Is it just getting used to the new coach in the system?
00:13:52
Speaker
Or is there something else that you've noticed that's maybe clicked a little bit? So, you know, we're we're able to now this year we have a lot more access to these players, to these coaches, and we're we're able to go to the midweek media.
00:14:06
Speaker
um availabilities that they have. And, you know, i'm talking to Coach Nico, talking to some of the players or whatnot, what they've been asking, or not necessarily what they've been asking, what they've been saying to the media, to the fans or whatnot, the month of May was hectic for coaches, for the players. There were some injuries there too, to some important guys that, you know, just didn't It didn't give you anything good. It just made more problems for for Coach Nico.
00:14:35
Speaker
And all during that whole month of May, you had ah an interesting and MLS schedule, but you also had an Open Cup schedule, right? You had to take care of some games there. You had ah the El Paso Locomotive, which ended up being a p pretty tough challenge for the Southern MC side. They got through it.
00:14:49
Speaker
And then you had the the Houston Dynamo in Open Cup, which has just beaten you at their house in MLS play. Then you had to face them. at Q2 for the Open Cup.
00:15:00
Speaker
they got ah you know They got business taken care of there. They go on to the next round, the quarterfinals, first time in club history. But the whole time that that was going on, Coach Nico was just alluding to the fact that, hey, we've just been resting.
00:15:14
Speaker
We've been practicing to just recover, pretty much. were We're not even practicing to prepare for the next opponent that much. We're more focused on how we can recover guys from the previous game.
00:15:27
Speaker
How can we not get not have an injury happen to another one of our key players? And you know one of the guys that went down in May that really hurt, in my opinion, it hurt the team the most was Danny.
00:15:39
Speaker
Dani Pereira going down for Austin FC for an entire month was disastrous for the midfield. He's supposed to be one of the leaders, right? He was the first draft pick way back when, when Austin FC came in the league. Now, to me, he is a pillar in the midfield along with Owen Wolfe.
00:15:53
Speaker
But you had guys like Elia Sanchez come in. You don't have to really talk so much about Ilya. Everybody knows what what he brings to the table. But then you also had another guy like Vrsaar Savovic. And there's multiple things that going into this.
00:16:04
Speaker
But to put it into short terms, shorter words, it's the fact that you're not able to practice, to prepare for the next team, to practice with your tactics. You're more recovering. But also these guys, these new this new team is still gelling together.
00:16:17
Speaker
And it's not helping them when one of the main guys goes down and then the new guys just kind of have to step up. And that team chemistry is not really there. And guys don't really know if if this guy shoots better with his left foot, if this guy shoots better with his right foot, right? I mean, it's a whole chemistry issue that was going on.
00:16:33
Speaker
And nobody was happy during the month of May. You could just tell. Now you come into the month of June, you get two wins off the bat. You beat the New York Red Bulls for the first time in your club history. So to me, May, it's more about the rest. It's more about the the team being able to actually practice for the team that's coming up and not just recover and think, man, we have another game midweek.
00:16:53
Speaker
man, we have another game midweek. And as for the fans, it's also a big, refresh it's also a relief for them to not have to go to the stadium, you know, Wednesday again, because they can also relax. You know, the fans go through it themselves.
00:17:05
Speaker
So this this month of June has really just been a reset for this team. And we've seen them play better football. You also have Robert Taylor. He comes back from injury. You sign him from Miami.
00:17:15
Speaker
He gets injured right off the bat in a US Open Cup match. mean, you lose, you also lose him for three, four weeks. You know, things just weren't going their way. But, you know, there's other guys that have to also step up. You know, there's not just a certain amount of guys. There's also bench players that you brought to this team that need to step up.
00:17:30
Speaker
But it's more of a chemistry issue. It's about finding out what their best form is Danny Pereira is a shout that I hadn't really thought about, but that is like a massive loss. Like you mentioned, first overall super draft pick who has become like an excellent player.
00:17:46
Speaker
He's actually one of my favorite players in the league to watch at that position because he's one of those guys where – but It feels like every single time he's on the ball, he just makes the right decision, like every time.
00:17:57
Speaker
And ah he really has become sort of, I guess, hearing you describe it right there, like a linchpin where if you take him out, it kind of has like a domino effect. so ah So that all makes sense.
00:18:08
Speaker
um We got a viewer question in in chat for you if you wouldn't mind hitting this. Vamo Sounders wants to know, can you tell us which players on Austin could cause some trouble for us
Key Players and Match Preview
00:18:19
Speaker
on Saturday?
00:18:19
Speaker
Yeah. Well, right off the bat, you know, you got to watch out for guys like Brandon Vasquez. You know, you mentioned how he's kind of got things going. You know, I would want things to be a little bit more going for him. You know, and maybe I could put that in better words. But, you know, he's he's catching form. He's getting into into his bag. You know, he's finding rhythm or whatnot.
00:18:40
Speaker
um But the fans also want more from him. You know, they they got him from ah the F.O. brought him from a triyabo's team that sold him to us. Very expensive. Ten million dollars. You know, he has five goals in MLS right now, ah was selected for the All-Star fans on social media kind of pushed back on that. They were saying, they were saying hey, there's other guys with better numbers out there.
00:18:59
Speaker
And, you know, when you look at the numbers for BV9, for Brandon Vasquez, they might not be what you there where you want them to be at this point in the season. things are They start off a lot slower than what you're expecting and what you wanted after the investment that was made into this team, almost $30 million dollars just in the front three players.
00:19:15
Speaker
um He's still a guy that can cause you some some some headaches. You know, he's somebody that in the air is dangerous. And also there's there there's been some conversations post-match.
00:19:26
Speaker
I asked Brandon Vasquez. I was like, hey – and There was a goal that they had that they had scored against Red Bulls New York. and There was multiple touches. that It was about 10 or 15 touches that went into that goal.
00:19:37
Speaker
And I told Brandon, i was like, hey, ah you know is this something that you and Buka have been working on? you know And he said, actually, yeah, we have been working on it. something that him and I and the coaches have been had been telling me that I need to get into these positions where I'm more dangerous, into these positions where I'm more of a threat, and I'm also more open to getting the ball from the likes like Bukhari and also Mirto Uzuni.
00:19:55
Speaker
you know Other than Brandon Vasquez, he's the main goal threat for Austin FC. But I've been saying this for a while. I've been saying to the fans in the Austin FC community, I've been saying, hey guys, Mirtu Usuri, the $12 million man from Granada, from the second division of Spain, a team that bounces up and down.
00:20:16
Speaker
He has been the most he is the most expensive sign in in club history. The numbers are not there. He has not really panned out. It has not worked out for him at all. But there's a small thing in all of that.
00:20:28
Speaker
And I've been saying to the fans, wait until this happens. And now we're at that moment. He recently had a child, hadn't seen his baby, hadn't even carried his baby, went in international duty with Albania recently, just was able to meet the the the child in the airport for 10 minutes, goes back with his national team, flies back to the United States, has a game with Austin FC.
00:20:51
Speaker
They go into this break, Austin FC, and then he travels back to Europe. Is it finally able to have this time with his family to care carry his child for the first time? And now he's back in Austin.
00:21:03
Speaker
And based on some some of the stuff that he's been posting on social media, this guy looks happy, he's smiling, he looks like a different player on the on the surface level. And I really think that for a soccer player, those kind of things matter so much and people don't even see those kind of things.
00:21:18
Speaker
So be on the lookout for him. Bukhari as well, a designated player. He's quick with the ball at his feet. You know, he's not afraid to take on a guy or two. So if Seattle has some tired legs at the back, expect Bukhari to try to maybe expose those guys. But ah Seattle has some some quality players at the back. So, you know, Seattle is not somebody that you can just talk about like that freely.
00:21:37
Speaker
But to keep an out for him. And, you know, of course, Brad Stuber. You know, Seattle has great co goalkeepers. And Austin FC has a really good one right now. Brad Stuber, all-star guy. And he's going to be a wall back there. You know, he might not score them, but he definitely saves that goal for Austin FC. He keeps it at zero so much.
00:21:56
Speaker
Yeah, well, I can tell you that ah I'm pretty sure Seattle has one healthy center back right now. So i like I saw reports that they were having guys out there in training, like the right back and the homegrown kid who played there in the academy, but has never actually played an MLS match there. It's like that right now for Seattle at CB. like It's bad. like that Everyone's injured.
00:22:20
Speaker
And it's been kind of like that for a while. But apparently this week, it's like really bad. So I think this is this this is a situation where Seattle has got to, I mean, you're probably going to have some inexperience on the back line. You're going to have yeah either a veteran player who's never played the position or ah like an academy kid with very limited and MLS experience who's never played the position in and MLS. So it should be interesting.
00:22:46
Speaker
I want to add something to that. Us down here in Austin, Texas, where we went when we hear Seattle Sounders and teenagers, we don't get excited or confident anymore. We do not do that anymore.
00:22:58
Speaker
Takes me back to that one day. I forget what year it was. It was 22 maybe or 21 early days. Yeah, this is 21. Seattle came into Q2 with nothing but youngsters and won the game. I believe Ridiya scored banger that that match. Yeah, so that's actually one of the most famous Sounders games of the last ah few years.
00:23:17
Speaker
It went down in club lore for the exact reason that you said. It was – It was the youngest starting 11 in MLS history at the time. It might still have that distinction. Five teenagers in the starting 11. It was Obed Vargas' and MLS debut. He was 15 and has since gone on to become like the subject of all this European transfer interest.
00:23:38
Speaker
Obed was 15? 15, yeah. He was 15. fifteen yeah he was wow If you go back and watch the highlights, you can see he looks like he's 15. He's ah he's he's ah sounding like he's going to bring in $10 million, dollars no?
00:23:51
Speaker
That's what I've seen on social media? Yeah, I think so. like If it's not 10, that's going to be something in that ballpark. I think most people expect at least. ah So yeah, that was the start of that. And then... ah but It was like the kids were just kind of holding their own for the whole game.
00:24:05
Speaker
And then they brought Rui Diaz and he hits a worldie from like 45 yards or whatever that was. yeah Absolutely insane shot. One of the best Rui Diaz goals of his time in Seattle. And ah frankly, ah i think you could say an issue that Seattle has had this year or really since he declined and stopped.
00:24:24
Speaker
doing stuff like that as much. It's been something that's been hard for Seattle to replace, especially with Jordan Morris being it. The idea was that Jordan Morris would be the line leader without within in the post Rory Diaz era, but he's been injured all year.
00:24:38
Speaker
Danny Musavsky was hot for a while, but there have been struggles for sure at scoring goals at times and particular at that number nine position. ah But yes, that, would that is a game that we remember fondly around here.
00:24:49
Speaker
The legendary night at q two five teenagers in the starting 11. ah yeah It was a great night. It's great night. We all, we all loved that night. ah Let's talk, let's talk about ah Brandon Vasquez a little more. You hit, you hit on it ah a little bit right there, but when I saw that ah Austin FC was getting Brandon Vasquez,
00:25:12
Speaker
$10 million dollars seemed steep, but I liked the move because it felt very high percentage. Like this is a guy who had already been like a carry the load goal scorer up top in major league soccer. He's proven.
00:25:25
Speaker
So it it felt like there was less risk that it might be like worth a little bit of the extra money to mitigate some of the risk that you sometimes have bringing in a guy from an outside league. He'd already been in the league and proven that he could do it. So I liked it from that perspective. And it also just seemed like a good fit like for him specifically, where he's at in his career. And also, it's I know he's from ah San Diego, but it's like ah it's like a relatively similar vicinity of the country. It's not like he was going out east or something. So it it all added up like that.
00:25:57
Speaker
ah But it feels like the season... like kind of people expected him to just slide right in and start banging in goals right away. And that wasn't really happening at the, at the beginning of the season.
00:26:09
Speaker
ah Where, what do you kind of make of just how that whole transfer is, ah is working out so far? And would you say that you're still optimistic that he's going to like come good on, on that $10 million dollars price tag? Or is there sort of some apprehension here of like,
00:26:26
Speaker
I'm not sure this guy can actually ah carry the load for this team like we might have hoped or thought. ah you know I want to attack the question about if if he's going to repay on that 10 million or if he's going to come close to come close to getting that value back to the club that they spent on, you know, bringing him in. And, you know, the fact that, like you said, he was ah a person, he was a player that had it going already in MLS with, you know, Cincy.
00:26:53
Speaker
It's what really inclined a lot of the people in this fan base to be like, yeah, let's go get Brandon Voskis. We have to bring him. I was one of those. You know i was one of those saying – If Brandon Vasquez is out in the market, if Brandon Vasquez is flirting, because he was flirting with San Diego. I remember San Jose. Apparently, Bruce Arena wanted to bring him in or something like that. There was rumors going around about the Cali teams.
00:27:13
Speaker
And then we had John Gallagher on the pod at the beginning the season. And he said something. But before he said it, he was like, wait, can I say this? And he was like, I think I can because and because it already happened. And Gallagher said he was all like, because they're they're both really close. They know each other from the ATL days.
00:27:29
Speaker
And Gallagher said he was on like, he said that Austin was in for Brandon Vasquez way before the Cali team started even mentioning that they wanted to bring him in to Cali because, you know, that's where he is where he's from or whatnot. So that told me that Austin MC was in the run for Brandon Vasquez for a very long time. They wanted to bring him. And even the sporting director, when he presented Brandon Vasquez to the media, he shed a tear.
00:27:53
Speaker
And this is a guy, Rodo Borrell, that won the triple with Man City, worked with a guy like Pep Guardiola, has been through so much talent that you couldn't even you know manage it in in in your brain of how much talent this guy has worked with.
00:28:06
Speaker
For him to get emotional with Brandon Vasquez at the press conference, it tells me that a lot of work was put into this deal. They really wanted him. He's coming in to be the guy. But there's a problem there. Well, before I get to that, and also he he also brings in an element of ah marketing. And I really don't, I hate to go down this path of marketing, but the reality is, is that it goes hand in hand with the world of football where we're at today with so many sponsors on jerseys,
00:28:33
Speaker
and so many people sponsoring and ads and all this and that. Marketing is now something that these teams have to think about when signing players, most of the time. and bre And just like you said, Brandon Vasquez fits here so well because of the ginormous Mexican American community that is in Austin, that is in Texas.
00:28:48
Speaker
And a lot of kids down here will identify with Brandon Vasquez. They'll want to buy his jersey. They'll want to be Brandon Vasquez. know, they'll want to score goals for the U.S. men's national team, but also feel connected because he is also Mexican. You know what i'm saying?
00:29:00
Speaker
Even though he does support the U.S. men's national team, well, he represents the U.S. men's national team. But there's a small problem with BV9 is the fact that another player that Austin FC also got, Mirtu Suni, very high price tag as well.
00:29:14
Speaker
They essentially play the same position. And a lot of people down here in Austin, they have been noticing that when they're on the field, they're trying to do the same thing and it hurts their numbers because they're clashing.
00:29:25
Speaker
So that's a problem that we're currently experiencing down here. We're trying to work through it. They've tried to move these guys in different positions. Coach Nico's been asked about it. What are you going to do to separate these guys to you know put them in ah in a position where they can succeed? And he's been trying different things. He's been experimenting. And maybe that's been adding to the fact that Austin FC has not been able to get those results as quickly as people wanted.
00:29:46
Speaker
They're still trying to find their best version because these two guys that cost us so much and you're almost forced to make them work. They're just clashing on the field. And it's a difficult problem for Nico and he has to solve it. He's the coach, right?
00:30:00
Speaker
But do I think that Brandon Vasquez is going to come through eventually and you know maybe kick on more than he is right now? 100%. I think ah this team is this team is his.
00:30:11
Speaker
I don't think it's anybody else's. He is the new Sebastian Drusy for Austin MC. It's not the same amount of talent. Drusy is ah like a whole other level. He's a cam. Very creative player. It's no reason. there's It's no surprise why River Plate paid $10 million dollars for him to get him back at his age, after Austin MC, after his time in MLS, which people criticize so much.
00:30:29
Speaker
Brandon is the new Drusy. This is his team. And whether he likes it or not, He's going to have to continue to work extremely hard to move this team forward. And I think it's more of a it's also a bit of a mental challenge for for him to see if he he he's capable of of doing that.
00:30:45
Speaker
And i think he is. I really do think he is. There's no reason you know there's a reason why they call him Superman, not just because of his looks. But I do see him moving this team forward and taking them into a playoff position, staying in a playoff position, not bouncing up and down.
00:30:59
Speaker
And after we get into the playoffs, hopefully all the other guys around him are going to kick on as well. And, uh, I, I think it's just a matter of them figuring figuring their best positions out. You know, it's funny to hear you describe that scenario of them sort of clashing and taking up each other's space and whatnot when they're on the field at the same time, because it's very similar to what the Sounders have been going through with Albert Rusnak and Jesus Ferreira, who was there, uh, one of Seattle's big off season acquisitions via trade from FC Dallas, uh,
00:31:30
Speaker
it's become pretty clear that Jesus Ferreira's most effective role is sort of in that ah playmaking number 10 role centrally. And that's where they have Albert Rusnak, who's their starting DP number 10.
00:31:42
Speaker
And a lot of the early part of the season, ah it was... not it was just not functioning very well when they tried to play together because it was like they were both but basically they were both trying to play the number 10 spot so yeah similar type situation and ah i've been of the mind i've been ah of ah of the mind in saying that i still think jesus ferrera is going to figure out how to be like a good productive member of this team but i also you know i'll acknowledge that that hasn't it hasn't popped yet in the way that i think the sounders front office and uh and the fan base would like
00:32:15
Speaker
So a little bit of a parallel situations in that regard.
Coaching Appointments and Team Dynamics
00:32:20
Speaker
Although you're, we're talking about two DPs for Austin, correct? Whereas Ferreira came to Seattle on a Tam deal, but it means it's not that different because either way Ferreira was you thought of and supposed to be relied upon as like a big time member, a big money member of this attack. and And it hasn't popped yet ah because of that sort of tactical fit, tactical struggle. So it's a clash of tactical struggles.
00:32:45
Speaker
I wanted to to ah get your thoughts on Nico Estevez because I think this Austin FC coaching hire was one of the more unique I've seen in MLS in recent years in that they literally got the coach directly from their most heated rival. You would say FC Dallas is more heated than Houston, correct?
00:33:05
Speaker
No, I would say i'd say i'd say it's a little bit more heated with with with with Houston. and oh i always say that because I say that because and you know not not i don't want to i i don't want to add any you know i want add any spotlight or anything to it but it's something that happened. It's something that happened, right?
00:33:22
Speaker
in In the early days, there was an incident with the fan bases where they stole a piece of equipment from the Austin MC fans you know that traveled out there.
00:33:33
Speaker
And there was like like a physical altercation. And then recently Houston came over here so Austin. And then, you know, I was told that there was this a situation in a local bar where ah a group of Houston fans were, yeah, a group of Houston fans put some stickers up or whatnot. And,
00:33:54
Speaker
Austin fans didn't like that, took him down, and there was a little bit of an altercation or whatnot and stuff. So that doesn't happen with Dallas. With Dallas, it does it doesn't get you know very verbal, but it has gotten physical. And with Houston, it's gotten physical. So I don't condone violence of any sort, but it's happened with the Houston side.
00:34:16
Speaker
It's funny, it's you you can't manufacture like those aspects of what makes real rivalries. You know like ah you can try try and market it or ah have people ah hope to have people consider it one way or the other, but in reality, like what decides these things sometimes is yeah like the the equipment that gets stolen by the one fan base, and then from then on, it's just like, ah, screw those guys.
00:34:37
Speaker
So that's interesting, though, because I would have ah i would have called it the ah the other way. But either way, it's still and in a big in-state rival that ah oh yeah Austin FC got their coach from. I'm wondering, like, ah what was the reaction to that?
00:34:52
Speaker
just to that among yourselves and among the fan base, like, cause I have to think that maybe there would be some skepticism with that or like, we're like kind of getting our rivals like seconds or or whatever, for lack of a better term.
00:35:09
Speaker
ah like what what do you What do you think of how that came about? And do you feel like it's at a place where the fan base is fully behind it and fully behind Nico Estevez project and experience?
00:35:20
Speaker
Or ah is there still like, does he still have a lot to prove to this fan base? Oh, he still has a lot to prove. He still has a lot to prove. And there's a huge chunk of the fan base that is not on, you know, on the Nico train yet. They want to get on, you know, they want to be like, yeah, this guy's to lead us to the promised land. But the reality is, is that when, you know, when, when, when coach Wolf was in limbo, when you kind of knew he was going to get fired, but you thought it it should have happened last year, just like you mentioned, and you, you, you nailed it.
00:35:49
Speaker
Spot on when you said he should have been let go in 23, still came back in 24. They waited till the to literally the game against Colorado decision day that didn't even matter. Davey Arnaud stepped up as interim coach. By the way, Davey Arnaud undefeated as interim manager for Austin FC, folks. I just want to throw that out there.
00:36:06
Speaker
But anyways, you know, ah there was there was a part – there was a moment in time where the sporting director, Rodo Borrell, was talking a lot to the to the media. He was having press conference. He wasn't just talking out of out of his butt. No, he was having press conference, serious press conferences, and he was addressing the media on what his plans were, what he was going to do, why they had let Josh Wolfe go, what they were going to do in in the future.
00:36:28
Speaker
And he said some things that really got the fan base fired up. And you know fans. When fans hear something, I mean, they're going to take it and run with it, right? Because this is the team that they support some sometimes blindly, sometimes very you know skeptic. Some people criticize the team that they support a lot. And you know rightfully so. you know You got to hold them accountable, especially if you're a season ticket holder, more more than anything.
00:36:49
Speaker
Because these these clubs, man, they want you to be season ticket holders really, really, really bad. And sometimes a product on there is not worth it. But Robo Borel, what he said to the to the media, to the fans, he said that there was about 25 coaches, names that you wouldn't believe that wanted to come coach down here in Austin.
00:37:07
Speaker
What goes through your mind when you hear something like that, especially from a guy that had just won the triple with Man City? I'm thinking guys from maybe not the highest teams in Europe, But I'm thinking maybe a championship coach, a Dean Smith kind of guy, somebody that has a yeah EPO experience, maybe La Liga experience, his connections with Liverpool, Barcelona, and Spain, and all this stuff like that.
00:37:30
Speaker
I mean, names were, and people people were sending me names. They were like, hey, these are my top five. This is my top 10. Who I think is going to come coach Austin FC? how was i like, it would be nice.
00:37:41
Speaker
It would be cool. it would It would be great. But at the same time, that would have costed money to bring in a high profile coach. It would have costed the team some money. And they had just let a guy go who was who was still on contract. They had to pay him out, right?
00:37:55
Speaker
ah The club had kind of, you know, and they didn't necessarily come out and say that they didn't have any money, but we knew that there were situations where, you know, they needed to make a profit. And it just didn't make sense for them to go out and bring in a high-profile manager to me.
00:38:09
Speaker
And so I never thought when that that they were going to bring in Nico. I'm not saying that I guessed it or I predicted it or whatnot, but when he came down to Austin and it hit the news that Coach Nico Estevez was going to be the head coach for Austin FC, I just sat there and I was all like, well, you know what?
00:38:26
Speaker
I'm going to back this guy until he shows us that he doesn't deserve the job. Because I learned a lot of things under Josh Wolf's era. i learned I learned so many things, right?
00:38:37
Speaker
And under Coach Nico, it didn't work out for him in Dallas. You can bring up excuses, injuries, Ferreira, maybe this and that, Areola, a lot of guys that got hurt, Paxton Pomichal, so many key players that got hurt for Coach Nico.
00:38:53
Speaker
You can bring up you know all these things, right? But it also made sense because there's a thing down here in Austin that we call the U.S. West National Team Bubble. And we think we're in it, right?
00:39:04
Speaker
Josh Wolfe, very much in the U.S. West National Team Bubble. He coached at Columbus Crew under Berhalter. And the same president that is down here in Austin was also the co-president at Columbus Crew. I don't even have to mention pre-court.
00:39:18
Speaker
pre court Nico was the assistant coach for the U.S. Sports National Team when he was hired for Austin FC. Then he stepped down from that position when Pochettino arrived. So there's a bubble here.
00:39:29
Speaker
You know what I'm saying? We think we're in it. And Coach Nico just fit that profile of – He's a cheap signing. He already knows what the heat is like down here in Austin, the heat, because he worked in Dallas.
00:39:41
Speaker
And he knows the league very well. He knows what it's like to play in MLS. And I think a lot of people overestimate a coach knowing what the league is like, the salary caps, the dumb rules, not dumb rules, but the very difficult, difficult rules that they put this these teams through.
00:39:57
Speaker
You need a guy that knows what he's getting into. Some of them are pretty dumb. Right. Right. and You know what I'm saying? So, you know, I don't want to keep on going forever, but it just made sense when I sat down and I thought about it.
00:40:09
Speaker
It made sense. And Rodo Borrell, just last thing I'll say, he did say that there was coaches that turned down the job in Austin because they said it was impossible to work and train in this heat.
00:40:21
Speaker
I mean, honestly, as ah someone who hates the heat, I low-key agree, but I mean, it's also like ah it has been done for for many years. So it clearly can be done. ah here none i'm i'm ah we Hernan from ah we Are Austin TV joining the show.
00:40:39
Speaker
I wanted to ask, what was just the Wolf Out era like for you? Because the content that you guys got was incredible. like it would say It was some of the funniest like and MLS content out there.
00:40:52
Speaker
But it was like it was that funny because of how much the team was struggling and how like passionate. like You can tell the fan base down there is incredibly passionate.
00:41:04
Speaker
knows the team and is super plugged in. And if it's not going well, ah they're going to be very, they're happy to be vocal about that. Like, honestly, even if it was going that poor in, ah in Seattle, if we tried to do fan reactions, I don't know if they would be like as good as the stuff you guys were getting, but like, did you ever find yourself torn between like,
00:41:25
Speaker
God, we just got some epic footage and also being like, oh, but I root for the team and wish that these these answers weren't necessary for these people to be giving. All the time, all the time. And especially during that era, I want to give a shout out to my boy B, Brian, you know, he's the one behind the camera all the time. And him and I have been through some moments with this fan base ah and just ourselves, you know, like ah him and I are are together a lot when we're shooting the content and editing the content.
00:41:53
Speaker
And we've been knowing each other since the first day of middle school. Like he was a person that I sat next to because we had, he is a club America fan and I'm a Chivas fan since we were kids.
00:42:05
Speaker
And they're bitter rivals. And I walked into sixth grade math class and he he had that backpack. And although they were my rivals, I was like, well, this guy knows soccer. I'm going just sitting next to him. And ever since then, we've been friends and leading up to right now.
00:42:18
Speaker
But there's been a lot of times where we look at each other and we're like, damn it, man. Especially during that era, we would look at each other. We'd be like, damn it, man, we lost. And then we would be like,
00:42:31
Speaker
fans are going to be, fans are going to be upset. But then we knew what that, were we knew what that was going to bring. We knew that at that time, a lot of the fans from the outside, from the outside, they wanted to see us, you know, kind of like go through this crash out moment. And there was a very famous, famous line that my girl told me one time, you know,
00:42:49
Speaker
um I told her I was like, she knew that it was a big game, like a huge game. And I told her, I texted her, i was like, hey, we lost. And she was like, well, at least the fan reactions are going to be great. And I was like, yeah, but at what cost?
00:43:01
Speaker
At what cost You know what I'm saying? Like, I would give everything for us to be a solid, consistent team that competes for trophies instead of having You know, good fan reactions for that moment, but they were some epic times and, ah you know, shout out to those fans for, for, for always going on there and voicing their opinions because a lot of it at the beginning, we were criticized at the beginning. We were called negative. We were called the cancer to the club, toxic to the club, but we just wanted to give the fans an opinion. We wanted to give them a voice because
00:43:32
Speaker
You know, you we we weve we grew up and ah in a media landscape where it's just the ESPN people talking. It's just the Univision people talking. It's just Telemundo talking, right? But now, you know, fans can have these opinions of the teams that they support and you see and you hear the raw emotion. And that's what we've always wanted to capture and put it in a bottle, which is a video format.
00:43:55
Speaker
the raw emotion coming out of Q2 Stadium when your team just got battered in a very big game and you just you just got out of work and you did everything you could to make it to Q2 on time and you had ah just a demoralizing performance. What does that feel like?
00:44:10
Speaker
Is that cool with you? No, it's not cool with you. You know what i'm saying? And we just wanted to give that fan a voice. But also, we've been there when it's good times. We're not just there when it's bad. We've had some very great moments. We've had some really, really good moments here.
00:44:23
Speaker
And um You know, it's just it's just ups and downs. It's just roller coasters. And I want to give a shout out to Arsenal Fan TV for ultimately being the the the inspiration, I guess, because I really wanted it to kind of take a little bit of the European Premier League and put it into Austin. And I figured that was a good way to do it.
00:44:43
Speaker
And sometimes I get into a little bit of trouble, but I feel like if I could go back and start over, I wouldn't change anything. Yeah, no, everything you ah everything you just said is spot on. I find myself, I guess, not not torn, but i look at it through two lenses of like how I personally want the team to do, but then also just the content.
00:45:05
Speaker
And when things are going poorly, sometimes it does creep into my mind. I'm like, oh, actually, this is probably going to rack some views, though. So it's kind of tough to ah separate those two things. But ah as far as giving a voice to the fans, that's something that's important on our show, too.
00:45:19
Speaker
We do it in like a call-in show format, like after the games. We have we have fans like call into the streams and just like, just we just let them cook for however long they want. which is a little bit of a different spin on it. But like ah the way you guys actually go out on the ground and do it at the stadium right after the game and then edit the videos.
00:45:39
Speaker
ah It's, the it's like a, it's like a great way to, to do it. And ah it it feels like there's just a, ah you've developed like a dynamic where when fans see you guys, they, they,
00:45:51
Speaker
they like, they want to come on and lay down their opinions. And a lot of them are very funny, but then there's a lot of like actual takes as well. Sometimes like you kind of get all ends of the spectrum, but no, I think I like what you said. I totally agree with like, uh, part of what's cool about the, how the, our media landscape has evolved.
00:46:11
Speaker
Like there's negative aspects of it too, but we, ah we can do stuff like it's within our agency to be able to do stuff that actually like gives voice to the fans. So ah that's, that's something that we try and do as well.
00:46:23
Speaker
ah Did you have another take on that, that you want to do? ah and Yeah, no. Yeah. I just wanted to add one thing too, is like, you know, as content creators, right.
Fan Reactions and Content Creation
00:46:32
Speaker
We don't strive to,
00:46:34
Speaker
put just the negative stuff out there, right? But you do, I don't know about you, but I've noticed that when things go negative, people care and they tune in more. And I'm not about making negative content. i'm i'm ah you know I'm about talking good about the team, but I've noticed that when things go bad, people are more interested. And that's not me. That's trends, algorithm, you know the numbers are there, the numbers don't lie.
00:46:58
Speaker
And I've seen when Austin has done bad, worse, people always tune in. And when the team is doing great, Not many people care. And that's not me. That's society. That's, you know, people out there. So, you know, it it's it just really got to me when people were calling us toxic or whatnot. And i was like, hey, I'm just um'm just a highway of information. Like, I'm just posting what people are feeling. Like, we're a reflection of what the fan base is feeling.
00:47:22
Speaker
You know what i'm saying? Like, that's all um it is. And it's funny that people care more about when things are going bad and than when things are going bad. No, I noticed the ah the same thing. And it's sort of like, I feel like people always want to put you in a box of like, oh, you're the negative show or you're the positive show. And my answer is always like, it's based on what happens on the field.
00:47:41
Speaker
Like if the team is playing well, getting good results, winning games and scoring goals, I'm going to cover them positively. If they're not, doing those things, then I'm going to clown on them at times and probably be a little more negative.
00:47:56
Speaker
it's just That's what it's based on. It's not based on whether I personally am like positive or negative, but I think people, they like to simplify it like that and like, oh, you're so negative or oh, you're delusionally positive.
00:48:09
Speaker
ah But then it's like sometimes the team is doing well and so we're covering them positively and people are like, ah oh, you you guys are just so positive. And like, no, it's just the team is doing well. So that's how, ah that's how I'm covering it. And then, you know, we give our opinions on like things as they come, but that's, that's basically what I say to people when they try and hit me with the, you're negative, you're positive. It's mostly people call me like the positive one, I guess.
00:48:34
Speaker
um Like ah the Sounders have like ah given fans a lot of positive stuff over the years. And in recent years, there's been a lot more stuff, I think, to critique them on. And I think we try to do that when it's necessary. So i don't know. It's just a balance. And I think just being like honest about what you're seeing and not like worrying about what's positive or negative per se. 100%. 100%.
00:48:56
Speaker
ah All right, I just got ah ah um one more or two to hit with you and then I'll let you go here now. ah Thank you so much for the time this evening. I guess I just wanted to get your thoughts on this upcoming game in particular.
00:49:10
Speaker
it feels like it's a chance to really continue some momentum for Austin FC. If they're able to go into Seattle ah capitalize on a Sounders team that's got no center backs right now to my knowledge. I mean they have one.
00:49:22
Speaker
They got one center back. But if they're able to go up to Seattle, which is a you know traditionally hard road trip for other MLS teams, and take three points, it would sort of continue this like recent upswing that we've that we've talked about and sort of give another positive mark for Nico Estevez as he tries to, like you said, kind of prove himself to this fan base.
00:49:41
Speaker
ah But by the same token, it's like yeah if you go out and lose, then perhaps it starts the there ah starts to be more questions again as to the direction of the project under the new coaching staff and all that. So how are you just kind of like what would be ah an ideal or an acceptable result for you in this game?
00:50:02
Speaker
And are you expecting Austin FC to be able to ah hang with Seattle here and either take one point or all three points in this game? Well, you know, we do have down here in mind that Seattle might be a little bit tired, could be a little bit sluggish. You know, you know there's there's you know this narrative going on right now in social media where Seattle didn't they didn't have a a good Club World Cup because the numbers weren't there whatnot.
00:50:28
Speaker
But I was watching some of their games and I was watching also LA games, Miami games as well, because I wanted the league to do well. I wanted MLS to have a good face in this club world cup. Right. And people down here were calling me, Oh, you're only supposed to root for Austin, this and that. But was like, Hey, this isn't, this and a worldwide tournament.
00:50:43
Speaker
Everybody is looking at MLS, right? I want them to have a good face. So in the future, players will think, Hey, you know what? Maybe MLS is an option for me. think, you know, yeah it's a, it's a whole domino effect, you know, and,
00:50:55
Speaker
Maybe folks are just not understanding that, but I thought Seattle had a good face in the club world cup. I think they showed a really good fight. There was moments in that Botafogo game where if Pedro de la Vega, I don't know what happened to the lad. If he doesn't scuff that shot,
00:51:10
Speaker
Everything changes for Seattle. I mean, there was it was a game of moments. And we're talking about Botafogo. And we're talking about a team that was supposed to destroy Seattle. They didn't destroy them, right? it it just what What I want to get to is, although Seattle could be coming in in a sluggish or tired form, what I saw in in the Club World Cup, I'm not sleeping on these guys. i don't want i want I don't want this team to take their foot off the gas.
00:51:34
Speaker
And I'm afraid they already have because theyre ah they went through a break. There was players that went to Europe to see their family, like I mentioned. There was other players that went to Disney. They went to the beach. Brandon Bosco was at the beach. Everybody just dispersed.
00:51:47
Speaker
So the two games that they were able to put together, back-to-back wins, now you have a break in the middle of that. Now you play Seattle, who had a good Club World Cup, in my eyes.
00:51:58
Speaker
It's not really a game where you can think, oh, this is a layup. Oh, this is a slam dunk. Oh, we can take care of business. No, I think Austin has to be very cautious they have to take care of their chances when they appear, if they open up for Austin FC, because the Seattle side, we can't really go into it thinking that we're going to have a good time.
00:52:18
Speaker
I can definitely tell you that ah the sense that I get, even despite how the final results of the games at the Club World Cup went, the Sounders players are like definitely like on a high from getting to play in those games at all, but also like the fact that they were... like pretty good competitive games where they felt like they were in it. And even though they ended up falling short, there's just this vibe of like, they're like, damn, that was actually, that was actually pretty sick that we got to like go out there, suit up against PSG, a PSG team that just won UEFA Champions League and was actually had to be going hard in that game.
00:52:53
Speaker
Not like they were in a position where they could be taking it lightly. So I do think that there's an opportunity for the Sounders to sort of ah ride that into the second like stretch run of the season here. But they have to go out and ah take some results and take some wins to to actually do that. So that's sort of how I'm thinking of it from a Seattle perspective is like, all right, you're on this high of having played in this historic tournament.
00:53:18
Speaker
you you did pretty well i think like i've seen some of the same narratives that you're talking about but what's great about it from my perspective is that the narrative that you just said that uh uh that seattle actually showed pretty well in those games that's actually the prevailing narrative that uh that came out of the club world cup because that's actually what happened on the field i think that's the thing people don't understand like We've been getting we I was worried going to the Club World Cup. I was like, all right, if they get rolled six zero by PSG, our comments section, and our chat's going to be a freaking disaster. It's going to be lame. But, you know, it is what it is like. We just have to deal with that. But the but the thing is, the fact that they went out there and did pretty well, we've still had some of those comments and some of those people in our chats saying that stuff.
00:54:03
Speaker
But the beautiful thing is. it's not based what you put in the YouTube comment. It's not based on what you put in the Lobbing Scorchers chat or the the TikTok. It's based on what happened on the field. And what happened on the field was good games, competitive games that everyone saw.
00:54:17
Speaker
So like, if you're saying that MLS embarrassed themselves, the Sounders embarrassed themselves, it's not really like a matter. It's not as subjective as people might think in that way. Like the narrative is actually based on what's happened in the games, like not on a,
00:54:32
Speaker
not on what you uh not on what people say in comments and uh that's also uh the feeling the organic feeling that the players got from uh that high uh that's real for them too like they have the chance to channel that because they actually feel that from how the games went so the internet doesn't define it that's that's the that's what we're plugged into but it's not actually like the real world So anyway, that was a tangent. Hernan, that is all i all I got for you. ah Thank you so much for the time. we We almost went an hour. Hopefully I didn't keep you too It was great, man. All right. great Really appreciate your time. I'm so glad I got to ah connect with you guys because, like I said, myself and my co-host are like longtime fans of your guys' work.
00:55:14
Speaker
ah we were We were locked in on you on your channel in the Wolf Out era because of ah how good those videos were. And hopefully, hopefully like, ah maybe you maybe they're not putting up as good as stats because, like, in the Wolf Out era, you guys were, like, on absolute fire and you don't want to, like, root for the Crash Out content.
00:55:35
Speaker
But hopefully you guys keep doing your thing and just keep putting out those reaction videos because, like, People across the league just love them. I can tell you that. ah But before I let you go, is there anything at all that you wanted to plug or let people know? We got a lot more people viewing now than we did at the beginning. If you want to plug anything you're working on covering the team or just ah where where people can find your guys' work covering Austin FC.
00:56:02
Speaker
Number one, shout out to you guys. Really good, really good ball knowledge. I wasn't aware with your game with Austin FC Lord. You know what's up down here, mate. And... Kudos to you. Kudos to you. Because a lot of people pretend to know about Austin FC.
00:56:16
Speaker
And when they start talking, I'm like, you you just, you don't know what you're talking about, bro. So keep my club's name out of your mouth. You, my friend, you can talk about Austin FC. You can talk about Austin FC. You got a pass down here. Number two, shout out to Ben Bob. Shout out to this chat. He said, this guy know what's up. Hey, mate.
00:56:33
Speaker
I like Seattle. Seattle's cool, man. You guys are a solid team. You guys are a real team at MLS. You got to give respect to the Sounders. So, you know, whenever they were in, when they were playing in this Club World Cup, I made sure to watch, to watch them. And it's funny how the team that was supposed to have the best Club World Cup, LAFC, had the worst.
00:56:52
Speaker
Oh, by far. By far. I've been pointing that out too. mike Seattle didn't do the worst. Didn't do the worst. That's what saying. Did not do the worst. Did not lose to the Tunisian team. No disrespect. That Tunisian team was actually kind of nasty.
00:57:04
Speaker
But still, it was not as hard a group at all as what Seattle was doing. so Exactly, man. Exactly. And in Miami, I always say we don't really claim them. But hey, go do your thing against PSG. You got something or else to worry about. but I mean, they're essentially cheating.
00:57:18
Speaker
They're essentially cheating. That's how I look at it. They shouldn't even be there. They they they should they shouldn't even be there. It should have been the Galaxy and we can we can all agree on that, most likely. Probably so. But shout out to the chat. Shout out to the chat. And no, yeah, you guys can find us at ah We're Austin TV, WA TV Media. The All Star game is coming up down here in Austin. So we're really going to hit that hard.
00:57:37
Speaker
ah We're very excited for that. You know, we already got the credentials requested. we're We're very, very locked in. We're very excited for this. You know, I'm from Austin and I've never had anything like this ever other than the biggest thing down here is like college game day, ESPN. You know what I'm saying? Just to put it into terms. And it's just Pat McAfee coming down here talking loud in front of a microphone.
00:57:59
Speaker
That sounds terrible. you know, for me, as as as as as as as a a soccer kid, as somebody that grew up and in in this culture, the fact that MLS All-Star and also the Liga MX All-Stars are coming down here as well. It's not just the and MLS sports.
00:58:14
Speaker
You're talking about Ramos, James, Rondon, so many players that are going to be coming down here for us, and it's going to be a dream, you know, a dream come true, and I'm excited to... to be able to, you know, put a migraine of sand in there as as well. And if you guys ever come down here to Austin, let me know. We can grab a beer we'll have a good time.
00:58:33
Speaker
Absolutely. I'm ah tentatively making potential plans to go to All-Star, not finalized yet. I'll let you know for sure. you guys ever need us for anything on your show, just hit us up.
00:58:45
Speaker
We're always down to collab. And ah yeah, thanks again for all the time tonight, man. Great stuff. And we'll talk soon. For sure, mate. Thank you for the invite.