Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Grading the Seattle Sounders season so far
0 Plays2 seconds ago
After a hectic road-heavy start to the 2026 campaign, it's finally bye week time for the Seattle Sounders, making it a good time to assess the squad's performance through 5 league matches and the Concacaf Champions Cup Round of 16. We'll dish out letter grades for position groups and overall performance, then dive into some Concacaf Champions Cup coverage, including more thoughts on Seattle's blockbuster quarterfinals matchup with mighty Tigres UANL.
Follow Lobbing Scorchers:
SPONSORS
Haxan Ferments - Specializing in unique, small-batch fermented hot sauces and vinegars, Haxan Ferments is handcrafted in Georgetown and made with the best local ingredients from across the Pacific Northwest. Use Code LS for a FREE Hot Sauce w/ purchase!
Sounder at Heart - Our network host and biggest supporter, Sounder at Heart covers the Seattle Sounders, Seattle Reign, and MUCH MORE! Subscribe and Support to the BEST independent Seattle Soccer coverage.
Podium Edmonds - Located at 114 4th Ave N, just off Main Street in the heart of Downtown Edmonds, come shop and explore the best menswear in the Pacific Northwest. Tell them Lobbing Scorchers sent you!
Full Pull Wines - Founded in 2009, they the best boutique wines of the world to members, with special focus on our home, the Pacific Northwest.
MLS Store - New year, new gear! The 2026 MLS jerseys are here, and MLSStore is the ultimate destination for every fan. Every purchase helps support our show!
Lobbing Scorchers is a production of Just Once Media.
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.
Contact: lobbingscorchers@justoncemedia.com
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Episode Context
00:00:00
Speaker
This episode of Lobbing Scorchers was previously recorded and streamed live on YouTube.com slash at Lobbing Scorchers. If you want to listen or catch these episodes live, see the video, and see all the rest of our content, go to YouTube.com slash at Lobbing Scorchers or LobbingScorchers.com slash YouTube.
00:00:22
Speaker
Well sir, we got a scorcher today. Gonna be a real scorcher today. Why the scorcher today? Well it's gonna be scorcher.
Episode Topics and Seattle Sounders Overview
00:00:44
Speaker
Good morning, everybody, and welcome to another episode of Lobbing Scorchers Kickoff. I'm Ari, that's Nico, and we're going to be hanging out this morning talking some Seattle Sounders and Major League Soccer. We got a lot to get to.
00:00:56
Speaker
We're going to be getting Nico's takes on this riveting 0-0 draw at Minnesota United that we witnessed yesterday at Allianz Field. And then we're going to be dishing out some grades for the 2026 season so far. The Seattle Sounders finally have a bit of respite.
00:01:11
Speaker
from the road show, from the fixture congestion, from all these games, they're going into a bye week. They don't play again until April 4th at Houston. So i figured it would be a good time for a little stock check, see where we're at as far as position groups. We're going grading each position group and giving the team an overall grade through seven all-competition matches, five league matches and two CONCACAF Champions Cup matches. Maybe talking a little bit of USMNT on the back end. And we're also going to be talking some ah CCC. Seattle's playing Tigris pretty soon in the quarterfinals, which is obviously a big deal. So do a little preview action of that as well. So, Nico, lot to get to, man. How are you doing here this morning? Thanks for tapping in.
00:01:55
Speaker
What's going on, Ari? Love is just family. We are back here on a Monday morning. Maybe not feeling as great as we've had over the last couple of weekends. The Sounders get in a um kind of a bleak performance there in Minnesota. Maybe a little toothless, but still they come across with with with a point. So I am um curious to hear from you guys and see where you guys stand about
00:02:26
Speaker
this particular game, you have a two week period, right? it Two week break where you're not going to have any Sounders action. And maybe that can influence how strongly you feel about this Minnesota game. But I love the outline. I love what we're going to be talking about today. Of course, that's credit to my man Ari. So yeah, man, let's get to it.
00:02:51
Speaker
Two weeks without a Sounders game. It's kind of weird to say that, you know, it's been just, So many games, so much road travel, and it feels like, you know, it doesn't stop sometimes, but now we actually have a chance to catch our breath, recalibrate, lock back in. So yeah, let's ah let's get into it, Nico, before we do that. Shout out to our sponsors, Hakes and Ferments, Podium Menswear, and Full Pull
Game Analysis and Reactions
00:03:15
Speaker
Wines. and keep an eye out for some exciting sponsor news regarding this show that we will be unveiling at the start of next month in april uh like comment subscribe on all platforms uh follow the youtube and if you're watching on youtube like the video uh all right nico i wanted to give you the floor to start it off here because you know i did the whole post game show after this Minnesota United game yesterday. So I think all my takes are pretty much out there at this point. I don't know how many takes there are to give after a pretty nondescript 0-0 draw, but I did want to hear what you thought of it because, you know, it was a 0-0, and a 0-0 is never the most exciting thing in the world. I don't think anyone's ever come out of a 0-0 and been like, yeah, that was an awesome 0-0, except for the 2016 MLS Cup Final, now that I think about it.
00:04:07
Speaker
That was a zero zero where I was like, hell yeah, you got the zero zero. That's exactly kind of actually how I wanted you to be playing that. But it's pretty rare that you say that. But, you know, on the flip side, they do get a point on the road against a a Western Conference opponent in the middle of a crazy congested portion of the schedule schedule where they also have about 27 injuries, no center backs. So I think there are ways to look at this 0-0 as maybe not the worst thing in the world. But Nico, what do yeah what did you think of it? 0-0 at Allianz Field against a Minnesota United team that I don't think any of us think particularly highly of. But again, you know, circumstances could suggest that was actually a pretty good result. So what did you think of both the performance and then also just the final result of getting out Allianz with that draw?
00:04:57
Speaker
Yeah, look, i have mixed feelings about the game, like probably most people do. On one hand, I want to not sound um irrational when it comes to the expectations of the team.
00:05:12
Speaker
If you look at what the Sounders have been able to do over this road of visiting games and and and just road trip, basically the overall performance and the overall results have been great. You know, maybe better, better than anyone would have thought.
00:05:31
Speaker
But when you just put this game in a vacuum and
00:05:36
Speaker
I feel like the Sounders left some some points on the road. I mean, look, this Sounders team was better than Minnesota. And although I totally understand that perhaps a lot of the rotations that were brought into this game by Bryant Smetzer and having Georgie start and having Petkovic start might have something to do with, you know, made minutes, maybe health.
00:06:06
Speaker
for the future. and and then, and then I'm again, I don't, I don't even know how much I believe that because Jesus has been, hasn't had a 90 minute game and you have been pulling him off pretty consistently. i don't think he he looks tired. He played a whole lot of minutes last season. So that one was odd Snyder Brunel.
00:06:27
Speaker
Sure. He played on Wednesday, but he is also another player uh, It's young that you brought on. I mean, i remember Ovid playing a whole lot more minutes when he was even younger than Snyder Burnell.
00:06:43
Speaker
So it seemed odd because by having the two-week break, you had the opportunity to take momentum into that break, really get an even better look at your, I guess, number one best starting eleven And then you had time to let those guys rest. So, you know, I believe the guys are going to have three days off this week.
00:07:12
Speaker
Why not? Why not start your your best team to guarantee you some points at Minnesota? Now, the the the the contrast of that is, you know, you want to get to see what you have out of Petkovic. want to get to see what you have out of Georgie Benungu. You're utilizing your depth. But the reality is, know,
00:07:32
Speaker
Ari, La Beach Coaches family, that without Ferreira on the field, the creativity of this team took a big hit.
00:07:43
Speaker
And the Sounders had a lot of possession with a lot of purposeness. They didn't look dangerous. They didn't look goal dangerous. There was nobody putting through balls.
00:07:54
Speaker
Georgie Minungu had moments. But I think he needed to be fed behind the back line. now There wasn't a lot of space behind the back line. I get it. I understand it. I know that Minnesota plays that way. But there just needed to be a little bit more creativity on both the attacking movements and at times forcing the ball to certain spots in the pockets.
00:08:18
Speaker
Mid-range shooting was nonexistent necessarily. ah George Minungu tried it a couple of times. There was a couple of block shots that that came across in in set pieces. But there was just a lot more need for a an attacking player. And when you don't have your most influential, most productive attacking player on the field, I mean, you shouldn't be surprised that the team looked pretty bleak, pretty anemic when it came to their offensive strength.
Defensive Performance Praise
00:08:48
Speaker
I do not want to dismiss how good this team has been defensively though, right? ah When it comes to set piece defending, when it comes to just, you know, overall um
00:09:00
Speaker
their overall ability to just have a lot of numbers behind the ball. and And that's something that takes effort, takes quality, takes discipline to keep your shape, to track back adequately, to not get caught up a little bit too high. so Also, huge game for Andrew Thomas when his number was called. A couple of huge saves that keep this game at a zero. But there just wasn't that level of dominance that this team has had. and
00:09:33
Speaker
Christian Roldan talked about this team not controlling games after the Vancouver game. Can we say that they were in control of this one? Perhaps if we look at possession, if we look at certain things, but I know for a fact that this team went into this game thinking this is a winnable game.
00:09:51
Speaker
And because of that lack of offensive power, in my opinion, you left some points on the road because this team was,
00:10:03
Speaker
had enough to win this game at Allianz. One like on the video chat. That's unacceptable. I'm going to need everyone watching right now to go ahead and drop the like on the video. If you're watching on YouTube, come on, come on. What are we doing? Let's pump it up there. One, one. like on know Guys. get some Likes.
00:10:22
Speaker
Let's get some likes going. Nico, Noah wants to get you your take on Georgie. He was, he was saying this on the post game last night, but he's asking your opinion on He says, I don't get it. I don't get the whole hype. We were talking to it through on the post game show, talking Georgie's performance. ah You know, I thought he did. It was a mixed bag.
00:10:41
Speaker
Like it, it has been a lot at times with Georgie. I did think he generated Seattle's two best chances of the game. He had, The one where he hit Christian rolled on with the famous cutback and Christian had a shot that got deflected and then went off the woodwork. And then the ah the one that really could have been a goal, I thought, was because the Christian ones, that that's ah that was close to scoring, but it's not exactly the highest percentage chance I've ever seen. But then he had another one later in the game where he was looking for Osaze at the far post. He puts in a really nice cross. Osaze is crashing. He's about to get a tap in. And then Drake Calendar dives, gets like a fingertip or just gets his hand. to it before Osase can get on the end of it and no goal was to be scored. But ah two decently high quality chances. But also I think we were talking about too, it's about the consistency. Sometimes you know you get these moments, one or two a game, where he does something like that, he generates a good chance. And he is obviously very good at winning those 1v1s and creating those chances. I think we've all seen the metrics at this point that show how good he is at that type of chance generation.
00:11:49
Speaker
But you could say it was just not the kind of all-around, ah consistently dangerous effort that you would want to see. So ah what did what did you think, Nico? What did you think of Georgie in this one?
00:12:02
Speaker
I thought that he had moments, and I thought that he was the one player that looked dangerous off the dribble. I understand why that might not look as clear because Georgia has a very unorthodox way of handling his position, but it doesn't mean that it's not effective. And there are moments that he's he's kind of in two minds. He wants to be patient with the ball. He wants to drop back in. He wants to keep possession. And then he has that instinct to want to just get to the end line and have the type of of crosses that he did a couple of times to create opportunities. Yeah.
00:12:39
Speaker
But Georgie Menungu is a type of winger that needs the system to be working for him a bit and working at its best. And I think we can all look at this game and say that whether it was in transition or in possession, this team looked a bit off. They they they did not look insane. There were passing patterns that at moments, as always, every single game this season, remind us of what they can do in possession when everybody's moving the ball adequately. But it was just a bit slow.
00:13:13
Speaker
And
00:13:16
Speaker
A lot of that, in my opinion, once again, has to do with the lack of creativity. And although Albert Rosnack has been fine playing that number 10 position, I do believe that he's gotten used to having a guy like Jesus Ferreira that's going to be tracked going a little bit deeper, picking up the ball in certain pockets, being the guy that...
00:13:38
Speaker
puts line-breaking passes, and Georgie benefits off of that. A quick switch of of the point of attack, that's what you want to see out of Georgie Menungu. You want to get him isolated with a defender. I will say that Jefferson Diaz and Duncan did a good job by just bracing him a bit and not allowing him to get on the ball comfortably. And you saw times where Georgie Menungu wanted to go and that he saw Jefferson Diaz kind of backing up the defender that he's working with, and then him just kind of dropping back, passing that ball negatively. So I do think that there is a credit to what Minnesota did to limit Georgie Minungu.
00:14:22
Speaker
But I do understand the the criticism because at times you want that winger to have more influence in the game and not have to be played for or been given, been needing to have certain moments.
00:14:41
Speaker
But that's what you get out Georgie Minungu. That's the reason why he isn't necessarily your you know your starter. And I think he he has been growing. I think he's been learning. But but I wouldn't say he had a bad game. i thought that, as you mentioned, he was – Probably the the most dangerous player On the field you might not see that in the Stats because in order for him to get To certain positions you have To force balls you have to make a bad pass you have To get beat off a dribble not every single time Because there was a couple of very easy giveaways By Georgie Benungu in this particular Game but
00:15:14
Speaker
Again, it's the good with the bad, and it's how much can you get on those good moments from Georgie. But I don't think this was about Georgie. i think this was about an attacking third that just wasn't clicking. I think also Rosario had another difficult game in this one. And without other players being able to get behind and being a lot more defiant on the ball,
00:15:42
Speaker
It almost puts this big magnifying glass on Osase, which at times can be unfair because of the work that he does, but it's just not good enough. And that's the reality.
00:15:54
Speaker
Yeah, with Georgie, it's one of those things where, you know, he and Osase are literally 0.2 inches from Lincoln up for a goal on that one. And if they had linked up for a goal on that one, I think the conversation is probably totally different. We're sitting here saying,
00:16:10
Speaker
ah You know, they they've linked up for that probably would have been the game winner. Honestly, if they had linked up for that, we would be sitting here saying, wow, they got the game winning goal like Georgie stock up. Oh, Sazze finally. So, you know, I don't want those 0.2 inches to kind of dictate how we how we think about it. I think that, you know, the performance can be thought of relatively in the same way. Honestly, if if they had scored that, even though they didn't score that, you So, yeah, but I do understand why people want to see more consistency there. And hopefully he gets enough run. I still want to see him get enough run, maybe in this super sub duty to see if he can get there. I still think he's a developing player and you do see the exciting flashes. But, you know, it does feel like.
00:16:56
Speaker
I get it. It does feel like the same conversation over and over where we say, oh, we see the exciting flashes. Let's see more. Let's see if we can get it more consistently. And it feels like it it hasn't quite got there yet. But he's also a guy who still, frankly, hasn't gotten a lot of minutes. So, ah yeah, mixed bag. Rob says... yeah so but yeah
Midfield and Individual Player Analysis
00:17:13
Speaker
ah but Before you throw that one up, I just... I wanted to remind the audience about something that ah thought, and I love this from from Freddy Juarez, that he always wants to...
00:17:25
Speaker
provide some of that insight and knowledge of the game. And if there's something that stuck with me about one of the press conferences that we had prior to the Vancouver game was that he mentioned how easy it is to have reference on white players when you have a five-man back line.
00:17:42
Speaker
And that's why you want to play a little bit more in the pockets, ah maybe use those inside channels. And I feel like in this one, you saw both Paul Rothrock not be as effective as he typically is, and George Jimenoo would not be as effective as he typically is. And I think a lot of it had to do with the setup. And that's why I thought that you needed more from a pocket-type winger. And that's not Paul Rothrock's forte. Paul Rothrock is a guy that's going to
00:18:13
Speaker
want to get behind the defense. He's going to give you a lot of that push on, on, the on the outside kind of hug, hugging up against that, that, that outer bound line. And by him playing the left side, that per Brian's mentor is more of his pocket winger side.
00:18:30
Speaker
I don't know if he was as effective as he wanted. ah Paul Rothel tried with a lot of crosses, but they weren't very effective. I think that he got one of six when he came through his crosses. He wasn't really allowed to get inside much as he wanted. He wasn't even able to cross the box that necessarily in the particular dangerous manners that he typically does. So I do think that there was a lot of More needed from Albert and Petkovic, who once again is another OK performance and OK, just doesn't do it for this offense that depends so much on their pivots. um And Kalani, who, you know, he he tried. He was really in there trying to do some of those electroal di ah Alex Roldan type movements when he does get into in those inside channels with more of an underlap. But it just wasn't.
00:19:21
Speaker
It wasn't clinical enough. It wasn't sharp enough. And you need to be sharp when you have a team that is as good playing deep as this Minnesota team. Rob says the draw was fine. It was up to Minnesota to come out and entertain their fans and snatch three points. They weren't interested in doing any of that. So we sat on the ball and kept it away from them. ah Yeah. Nico, were you surprised at all with the how Minnesota United played it? You know, Rick Ramsey's not their coach anymore, ah but they, after getting six owed by the white caps, they came out at home and were basically, I think,
00:19:58
Speaker
saying to themselves, we're not going to get six owed at home. And whatever means that we have to employ to not get six owed, even it's bringing back some of the Ramsey ball, we're going to do that. And, you know, as as we were complaining about that on the postgame live last night, because, you know, it kind of, it kind of felt like the playoffs Last year was just just like old times complaining about Ramsey balling Minnesota United. We did it. We already have at least one Minnesota United fan who crashed our comments section, which which is par for the course. And they said something like, you know, you know, keep keep crying, keep crying. You're just mad that yeah ah you can't score on it.
00:20:38
Speaker
And I read that and i was like, I mean, Yeah, that is that is why I'm crying. But I also don't particularly like watching that. So I don't i don't know. Did you think that they ah that they were going to mix it up a little bit? Because I thought the whole thing the whole thing this year was they were trying to evolve... Yeah, sorry.
00:20:56
Speaker
but it seems like what's happened is they were kind of trying that wasn't going that well and then they got six ode and so now they're like back to their roots do you think that's a ah a fair way to put it or are we being ah are you being like overly critical of their style and their tactics I mean, you can be overly critical and that that is yours and and and the audience's prerogative. If you don't like a certain particular type of soccer, shoot, say loud, say it proud. ah But the reality for me is that ah someone who is a little bit more involved like within the the the the coaching and and and and have been able to see the necessity ah of certain coaches go into a specific roster and go away from their own
00:21:45
Speaker
soccer module because of the way that the roster is structured. That's what I see here for Minnesota. You can want to play with the ball and want to be more offensive, but when your roster has specific characters of players that would benefit out of playing a specific style, which is the style that they were playing in, you got to play to their strength.
00:22:08
Speaker
And so when I look at this, this roster, I see what, works and it does feel like being a more pragmatic team would benefit this team to get some wins. And that's that's the coach's job is just to get results. So whether that frustrates the opponent or not, it doesn't matter. Whether that entertains the fans or not, nobody's getting paid on entertainment.
00:22:31
Speaker
Everybody gets paid on results. and And that's why I wasn't surprised that they were – as deep as they were. Obviously, Brian wasn't either. i think they expected this game to be very cagey, and that's what happened here. ah the The difference, and and this is going to sound funny, because Ramsey, although he was playing more tours that...
00:23:02
Speaker
against the run of play type of soccer, he looked more dangerous when he did get on the attack because it it was so well-structured and it was so prepared. What I feel like Minnesota is now is that they're themselves having an issue of how they want to play. And so they're not as elite on the counter and they're trying to defend and it doesn't look as clear and it doesn't look as as elite as it did with Ramsey. But that's kind of the...
00:23:28
Speaker
the way they're able to get some points. So when you look at a team like Seattle that wants to play a certain way, that wants to get get the the ball wide, that maybe has been struggling to get their nine involved, I just focus on that as a coach. And I think that they did that pretty well. I mean, Osasa touched the ball 14 times. And although I'll go back to the Sounders maybe not having those guys that can get Osasa involved on the field, I do think that there was a credit from the coaching staff in Minnesota saying this is the way we want to play. We're going to frustrate this team and we're going to get on the attack. And they did that a couple of times where if it's not for that, you know, maybe strong touch that goes over Andrew Thomas and then Tino Lopez kind of getting that ball out, that could have been a goal. When James Rodriguez came on the field playing more of that,
00:24:24
Speaker
Playmaker 10 for this team. you like He created a couple of moments. They pushed Seattle a bit back. I think if those moments happen, that's what Minnesota wanted. We're going to play good defense. And in a couple of moments on the ball, we're going to get the result. And then we're definitely parking the bus because they're looking for some confidence. They're looking for a win. So I totally you understand it.
00:24:48
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I hear what you're saying. They got to play however they think they need to play to get results, I guess. I still think that coming out there and playing at home like you would play on the road.
00:25:04
Speaker
ah You know, if you if that's what you think is best for you to get a result in this in this given moment, have at it, knock yourself out. I'm frankly more on Rob's page where if they want to do that in this situation and kind of just give Seattle the zero zero Seattle's in the middle of crazy fixture congestion and balancing CCC. And, you know, you got to be able to grind results on the road in situations like that. And part of that is grinding out ugly draws. So, hey, I'll take it from that perspective. But was I don't know. i feel like if you're talking about the ah future prospects of Minnesota United, at some point, at some point, you're going to have to learn how to play with the ball.
00:25:45
Speaker
But, you know. Yesterday was not that day. And we'll see if it ever becomes that day. I will say, like you like you alluded to to, be fair, i thought they looked they looked i thought they looked quite a bit better after Hamas came on. What did you what did you think of Hamas? Your guy, your boy, he he got out there.
00:26:03
Speaker
And and and like you know we've been kind of skeptical, I would say, Noah and I, of the Hamas thing on this show. He's 34. don't think he, when I was looking at his track record in Liga Mechies before he came over here, It was fine. It was solid, but it wasn't incredible. I wasn't looking at it like, wow, this guy's about to light MLS on fire. And it also just, it kind of felt like we've been talking about it, how it feels like a fitness stop. Like he's just trying to get his cardio up before he goes and plays for Columbia at the world cup. So I still think there might be truth to all of that, but, but you know, if I'm, if I'm being fair about it and I look at how he actually played yesterday, he generated two really good chances for them. Their best two chances of the game came through him after he came on the field. And overall, I would say that,
00:26:50
Speaker
I was kind of surprised by how both he and Timo Werner looked just as far as motivation and buy-in, you know, like so far. Those are two guys that I questioned with that. Like Timo Werner, it felt like, all right, your career is kind of stalled. You're trying to resuscitate it. How bought in are you really going to be? I thought he looked ah pretty motivated and bought in against Seattle. And then James, he generated a couple of good chances.
00:27:13
Speaker
And also, you know, he was ah he was getting animated with the body language a couple of times. It looked like he kind of... He looked like he cared about being out there. I don't know if he actually did, but he kind of looked like he did. so But, yeah, what did you ah what did you think of Hamas? He looked better than I thought.
00:27:30
Speaker
No, he looked the part. He looked like Hamas at the club level. Look, Hamas is always going to be the GOAT for Colombians, and and I heard from a lot of my Colombian fellas when I –
00:27:46
Speaker
Criticized a little bit or a lot of the the Minnesota United acquisition of James Rodriguez. And I mean, everything I said has kind of come to fruition, right? I mean, James has played, what, 40 minutes since...
00:28:02
Speaker
he was signed, uh, hasn't necessarily been a player that's been influential. I mean, he came in in a cameo and a zig zero game that was well over. He comes in, in this when he does some things, uh, he's a very talented player and his legacy is always going to go through the national team level. Although he had a very successful club career to a certain point, but the truth of the matter is, is that,
00:28:34
Speaker
As soon as he came into MLS, you knew what you were going to get out of him and you would understand that his objective was always going to be getting to the World Cup healthy, being able to to play that World Cup with Colombia. mean, he's close to retirement, to be honest. i don't see James going too many years because he struggled so hard to stay in a specific club and he's he is difficult for him to i don't know if he's get motivated or be as consistent as he is at the national team level so as I mentioned when I heard that he was coming to MLS he's gonna have big games he's gonna start two three games where you're like man this guy is unreal cannot believe that Minnesota had this player but it's gonna be three games out of a
00:29:21
Speaker
32, you know, 40 game season, all comes or whatever. It's just not enough of what you're getting out of that brilliant player. But specifically in this game, he came in and was Thomas Rodriguez with the attitude, with the presence, with the ah through balls, a couple of dangerous set pieces. And the more you give him minutes on the field, the more you're going to see that he's going to be a guy that's going to have a couple of bangers from mid range. He's going have maybe at least one free kick that he puts away. He's going to have a couple of moments where he's just putting balls on a dime and maybe Jaboa gets a score. So he looked the part in this particular game. He had a couple of moments, just not enough minutes for him to maybe put his stamp on the game, but you could tell how the game changed as soon as he came on the field. The Sounders also did a good job at just having a lot of numbers back, not allowing Jaboa to get going. I thought that they also did a good job on Pereira. So ah for what it was, ah
00:30:16
Speaker
Thomas didn't create some problems, but nothing that the Sounders couldn't handle. Nico, before we get into our position group grades and team grades here, ah let's do a little bit of Albert Rusnak discourse because that ah that has come come back to the forefront over the last few weeks. The brigade is out in full force over, I think, over kind of his form over the last...
00:30:45
Speaker
two or three games. Now I think we are we all generally in our little orbit, like Albert Rusnak as a DP, we think he's been a a good to sometimes great, honestly, DP for this team.
00:30:57
Speaker
ah But you know I will say there have been multiple instances over the last two, three games where he's kind of been killing me. Like there was the wide ass open shot in Vancouver where he could have put the series away in like the third or fourth minute. There was a bad giveaway that I think might have led to a goal. ah there was There was a couple other instances that i'm not I'm not thinking of off the top of my head where it was I was temple massaging, which I think is you know it's pretty out of character. We really have not talked about Albert Rusnak.
00:31:31
Speaker
in the in this kind of red hot discourse kind of way in a while, which I think that's that's kind of nice. Like, that's kind of what I like about him is I feel like, especially over the last year or so, like, you just don't have to worry about him. He's going to give you his his production. He's a guy that's going to get you 10 and 10 every year. And God knows on a team that has as many injuries to designated players as this team does, at least he plays every week. But I was doing a little thought exercise last night, Nico, and then honestly, it got to the point where I think I have to do an entirely separate show on this. So we don't need to get into the nitty gritty of this.
00:32:06
Speaker
But I was just looking at his stat sheet production compared to some of the other DPs in the league right now that are at his position. Just because I wanted to get a gauge on how it compared relative to those other guys. Because for me in this whole thing, the number one thing that I judge a DP number 10 on is stat sheet production. I realize stats aren't everything and there's more to the game than just your stats.
00:32:33
Speaker
But like when you are a DP centerpiece number 10 attacker, I think at least baseline number one thing is you've got to be producing on the stat sheet. Coaches can talk about the all around game and he brings leadership and he brings this and that. But if you're not scoring goals and getting an assists, then that's an issue from a DP spot. And obviously Seattle's got multiple injuries to DPs right now where they're not getting anything from those spots. But I was just looking at Roosnack compared to some of these other guys. ah So and like his numbers for his career, 79 goals, 56 assists games. He's played MLS games between Seattle and Rialso Lake. So he's been at it for a minute goals assists in games.
00:33:16
Speaker
ah thirty seven goals and twenty seven assists in one hundred and sixty nine games if you want to just look at his seattle production So I was going through, i was looking at it compared to guys like Evander, Haney Mukhtar, Ryan Gould, Christian Espinosa, David DaCosta. That's just like the first few names on my list here. And like I said, I want to do a whole show where I actually go through and talk about how he compares to those guys. Uh, but what I, what I found is that there are, there are a handful of of these guys who have higher volume stat sheet production than he does like Haney Mukhtar and, uh, Denny Bawanga. Other than that, he compares pretty favorably. He's at least in the same ballpark or better than a lot of the other guys. So that's just, you know, data point number one that I was looking at when I kind of, I was trying to assess, you know, are they are they really getting their money's worth? Have they been getting their money's worth out of all Albert Rusnak? Purely statistically, okay? Like, I understand the pivot argument is that he's lazy or whatever, but put that put that aside for a second and just looking at the... At the stats, 37 goals, 27 assists and 169 games for this team, which, as I as I found, was pretty much similar or better than a lot of the guys that were judging him against. But then also there are there are a few guys that ah do produce at a higher volume than than he does. So anyway, Nico, I guess my question is, ah i think either way, we can all agree this has not been the greatest two, three game stretch for Albert Rusnak. But for now, I'm kind of considering it a blip on an otherwise really productive run with this team. And like, you know, again, consistency, durability and availability. That's he at least has been providing that. OK, so I will say that. But Nico, what do you think of Albert Rusnak's form right now? Are you are you concerned?
00:35:07
Speaker
about Albert Rusnak because for me, when I look at it, i'm I'm actually really not concerned about this right now, but the brigade is out. Some people are concerned about this. What do you think?
00:35:19
Speaker
I'm not concerned. um Albert Rusnak has never been a player that I thought was going to take over the team, put the team on his shoulders. He's always going to be a DP that his biggest value is being another amplifier on the team. And the best thing about Albert is that he is pretty open about it. He's never said, this is my team. I'm the face of the franchise. He is a player that does his job very well. He's a connector. He's going to get people involved, but he needs that team.
00:35:57
Speaker
Co-stellar group around him and That's why it's not Hard to see the games where he does Perform at a top level When he does have those guys around him um So you know He's 31, going to be 32. Is his overall performance going to start to drop? Sure. mean Father Time is undefeated. he's going to That's the whole point with Albert Rosnick is that at some point, once this contract is up, I would not mind having him back as long as it's not a DP contract. And so...
00:36:31
Speaker
particularly to this to this game, and maybe what we've seen this season, is that he's had moments. And that that ah miss in Spokane, that that's a bad miss. And he's had a couple of other misses where he knows that he wants it back. Is that particularly his game?
00:36:46
Speaker
I mean, he he does a great job at running late into the box and putting himself in those positions. But, you know, I don't think anybody, any of us have thought... about Albert Rusnak, this guy is going to put every single ball away. he His best ability is being a guy that is giving you creative moments.
00:37:04
Speaker
And in this new role that he has this year, or ah you know having the ability to have another creative player like Jesus Ferreira, I think he gives them more of those moments and in this particular game by him being on his own i think he he put in he might have created a couple of chances and maybe put three or four through balls that that were interesting but just not having that other partnership next to him does hinder his game it does handicap him and I know that's not what people want to hear when it comes to your DP because your DP needs to do this your DP needs to do that but when you look at the numbers you see what he's been able to do so
00:37:42
Speaker
I'm not concerned. i think that Albert, if anything, is consistent with his play. I think that he's going to continue to get better. And once Jordan Morris comes back, which we got to see a cameo of Jordan Morris finally back from injury, I think that's going to help him even more because there is a level of comfortness that I believe Albert gets by having a type of profile of striker that is in Jordan Morris or that it was with Raul Reedy is, that feel like it's going to benefit him. So I'm not concerned. I think that the production has been as expected. And I do understand the criticism of wanting UDP to be a more influential player.
00:38:29
Speaker
But it just goes with his game. And if you followed him as long as we have, I don't think you're surprised at where he's at in game, what, five of MLS play? And I think that he's going to continue to get better as time goes along and as he gets those partnerships on the field. The Jesus Ferreira on the right, Jordan Morris up top. A guy like Paul Arriola I feel like goes really well with um a guy like Albert Rosnack. Even at times when you get Paulie on the left, I feel like that works a little bit better with him. Albert Rosnack particularly because Albert does gravitate to the left pocket. That's where he's supposed to be. And I feel like in this particular game, he just didn't have a lot of that. And you can tell the difference of those games where he doesn't have those partnerships in the field. But I'm not concerned. I think that he he'll be all right.
00:39:19
Speaker
James coming in with the $2. He says, career four goals, one PK and zero zero old primary assist in the playoffs. I thought he was good in the playoffs last year. i don't know. Maybe you remember that differently. I thought the goal that he scored in Minnesota in the last game of the season was one of the best goals anyone on the team scored all year. And I really thought the whole offense after they brought Muson in the playoffs last year looked a lot better. I thought Rusnak looked a lot better. And the team ended up scoring seven goals. Rusnak scored one of them. So the idea that he like ghosted in the playoffs, I don't I don't think I agree with that. Yeah. And then ah real quick, Gianni says highest paid player on a team should probably be able to put a team on their back from time to time. I do think we have seen there have been periods of time where he has put the team on his back. I was looking when I was going through his numbers and his career. The best season he's had for this team, I think, was 2024. He had 12 goals, 16 primary assists, all comps that year. And I don't like, um again, maybe this is something that I just remember differently than some people. But 2024, that team had nothing going on offense until Albert Rusnak and Jordan Morris kind of started doing this Batman and Robin thing. They had a really good one-two punch going. and This was like the early, early Lobbing Scorchers days, I remember, because we were talking about how much the offense was struggling and then Albert and Jordan got hot. And really they, they, I remember we, we were doing content about how they were like the hottest one, two punched in the league type stuff. And he was on, he was on fire at that time. Like he was getting, you can go back and look at the game logs of 2024 And you'll see that he was carrying the team and 12 goals, 16 primary assists is, I mean, 28 goal contributions, all comps pushing 30. That's where you want your DP to be at. And then last year he had 14 goals, nine primary assists. And I think there were periods of that season too, where he was very, very, at least central to the success that the team was having. So I don't know. That's kind of just how I see it. Do you have any thoughts on that, Nico? Yeah. Yeah, the reality is that you guys are throwing numbers at each other. And the thing about numbers that you could see him and you could almost tilt him any way that you want for the most part, not all the time. So I had goals and assists are are clear. They're pretty clear cut. like but But it's not, though, because you you can go with stats as they are, but
00:41:46
Speaker
when it comes to you putting the team on your back, that there is a level of like, I've never looked at Albert and, and, and seeing Nico Ladero type of performance or season where it's not just about the stats. Cause there probably is a, a level of stats that are better on Albert than it do on Nico, but Nico's ability to just influence the game in other aspects and really put the the team on his back and,
00:42:10
Speaker
do certain things on the ball and really, you know, his first season with, with the Sounders, Nicolás Adéros, where he just kind of broke the mold and he put that team on his back in the playoffs and, and and everything that he did, it just, it feels different. And, and,
00:42:25
Speaker
For someone like me that is all about the eye test, I think it's a lot easier to see it because if you go back and you look at stats, I mean, you can go back and forth on things. And, you know, that the whole thing about the playoffs with James, James loves the stats and he uses them to his advantage. But I fall in the middle.
00:42:43
Speaker
I don't think that it's fair to look at those stats and say that, Albert Rusnak has been ah zero when he comes to playoff time or when he comes to big performances, even going back to the Conqueror Champions League tournament. I forgot to mention that, but like ah he was playing the eight.
00:43:01
Speaker
Yeah, he was playing the eight. It was a big reason that they won CCL that year. The the goal he scored in the and NYC series was one of the biggest goals of that whole tournament, I would argue. So so that that's exactly it, right? And you're not going to see the stats particularly for that season.
00:43:15
Speaker
ah tournament, but he was a huge part of it, helping out Nico, helping out Obed, Christian. I mean, you know, those are the things that, you know, I feel like Albert, a lot of times gets wrongfully criticized for. and now And now I wouldn't go on the other side either and say that he's been this player that just put the team on his back, but he has had great stats. And that is part of what he does because he is a productive player. and He does, does his job adequately. And he does it beyond of what most players do it in that particular position. And that's the DP level stuff. You, the DP level stuff is for a lot of that,
00:43:56
Speaker
added clinical moments that that that you do have in a lot of times, but it's not all of it. So going to Albert Rusnak right now, has that maybe took a little bit of a hit? I mean, it's probably going to. You know, if you if you look at him right now and and the issues...
00:44:15
Speaker
that I see so far in, in, in, uh, 2026 set pieces as having been really good. I mean, uh, specifically for this Minnesota game. I mean, they were bad. I mean, my dad watching the game with me and he was upset. Like what, what are we doing? What are they doing? Um, so set pieces were pretty bad at in this one. So there are, there is room to criticize certain things, but anytime that we have these hyperbolic takes, in my opinion, I mean because everybody can have opinions, but I don't like hyperbolic takes because of that. I think that Albert Rusnak has been a well-deserved DP. I think that numbers are part of it. I think that the eye test and some of the other things that he does for the teams ah are fitting of that DP level. and And now moving forward, you are having to assess that. But I think that both of you guys are throwing numbers and you could see both sides of the coin, which to me just says that the reality is somewhere in the middle, maybe in the middle tilting towards you, Ari, because I do think that Albert Rusnak has been a really good player for this franchise.
00:45:18
Speaker
Yeah, I guess I just kind of continue to see it as a ah as a non-issue, but that's just me. It's not an issue. I don't think it's I mean, yeah, like you know at least he's playing. you know That's more than can be said for ah some of the ah some of the other DPs on this team. So, ah yeah, but that, I mean, you know everyone's got their own opinion. And everybody can have bad games, Ari. I mean, that's the other part. you know in In Spanish, we use this term, reultaista which is just doing takes on just...
00:45:47
Speaker
specific moments and results, kind of being a um a slave of the moment of, you know, just kind of, oh, if Albert puts that away, he's the best soccer player on the planet. Oh, if Albert doesn't put that away, he's the worst. Well, not necessarily. I think that that's why there's a body of work that goes to things.
00:46:04
Speaker
And I do believe that there's going to be moments just like the one you had in Spokane where Albert's going to put that ball away. So, you know, in this particular game against Minnesota, he had that one where he tries to flick it to Jordan and he kind of falls on him and he just kind of smacks it looking for something. If he puts that away, we're talking about Albert just being this savior of of the game. And that's why I don't like to just completely be caught up on on a specific moment, a specific goal. And it's more about the body of work. And I like Albert Rostak's body of work. I really do.
00:46:36
Speaker
Yeah, the one that I forgot to mention earlier was the the one in San Jose where the Cody Baker goal got waved off because he didn't get back onside. So, now i mean, there were a couple of those moments where he was like, Bert, killing me, killing me. But I'm not worried about him. I'm really not. Bad Sequel is coming in with $1.99, and he wants to know, Nico, what is your hesitancy on Nikola Petkovich? Why don't you take this one, and then we'll do these grades to close it out.
00:47:02
Speaker
ah Well, I have a lot of a lot of them. um Let's start with the with the number one. And it's the one that I'm looking at in his aspect of it showed me enough to um decide whether for better or for worse, I would be willing to keep him at his price tag? And the answer is yes. I've seen enough to say that he's not worth the price tag that he came with. And I don't mean ah ah what what the Suns are paying right now because they got up on basically a free right he's like a free rental. But what he would be worth, right, or or you know having a player that's
00:47:42
Speaker
Let's put him at a high TAM level. I just, I wouldn't pay necessarily. I've seen enough to to feel comfortable that a Peter Kingston, a Hassani Dotson, a Snedeker Nail, absolutely, are going to be better options there. So I've seen enough for that.
00:47:56
Speaker
But particularly in his game, I just think that it's very inconsistent. And even when Brian is saying that he had this great game and and all of these things right after the postgame, I don't see it. I really don't. i think that he was fine and he opens the ball up well and he distributes pretty decently. But he's also dribbling right into...
00:48:16
Speaker
Pressure so many times, silly yellow cards and fouls where they don't need to be. There's also bad passing moments that he is hindering transition moments. I mean, there was ah there was a play that ah is a turnover by him in the right before the halftime, the first 45 minutes, where he just dribbles straight into pressure. He creates a moment for Minnesota to...
00:48:43
Speaker
We have an opportunity. And it's just those very simple, almost naive moments on the ball that that I just questioned. um A lot of his passing at times it's is forceful. And and sometimes it it it works, sometimes it doesn't. And I don't want to sound um inconsistent because there are those things that I value when it comes to Jesus Ferreira. But it's where in the field you're trying to put those balls through where – If you're a a guy playing at center midfield a little bit deeper and you have a bad turnover, you're way more vulnerable than you are if you're higher up the field and you give away that ball. So for this specific system, I think that...
00:49:28
Speaker
that The dribbling isn't isn't quite there. The passing is okay. The defensive effort and defensive productivity, effectiveness is a better word, is not really there. So I just don't see it. I think he's okay, and that's where I will leave it. I think he's an okay player. I just don't know if he's a guy that I would, in my opinion, rank higher than Snyder Burnell and certainly not Peter Kingston of what I've seen so far. I mean,
00:49:57
Speaker
It just looks better or Hassani Dotson for that. Hassani Dotson has a particular set of skills that elevate him to a certain point that you're like, hey, if you need that guy to be strong and come in with challenges and and and do this and that, I feel like you bring him in.
00:50:12
Speaker
I just don't know if Petkovic has enough of that special qualities to, you know, feel like I want to keep him on this roster, but but he's okay.
Playmaking and Player Contributions
00:50:23
Speaker
Interesting. Yeah, I'm i'm higher on Petkovich than you are so far. I think the – I really like what I've seen with the with the dime dishing. I think his way of dime dishing is ah sort of unique to what Seattle has at that position. Like, the i really like the long passing, and I like how he can switch the point of attack. And I think that ah when he has hit these through balls, it's look it's looked pretty good. I just think he's a really good facilitator – And I do think that there, ah you know, he doesn't really fit the profile of that position that you usually see Brian Schmetzer like, you know, Schmetzer likes the Christian rolled on Hassani Dotson Snyder B type at that spot.
00:51:03
Speaker
ah But I do think there there could be some value that we find in having a guy who has his attributes as a facilitator that I think are a little different than the other guys. So I think, yeah, like his vision and his passing, I think have been really good, better than I expected. And there is stuff with the sort of all around game that you're talking about that ah I agree you would like to see get honed and get better. But i've I've admittedly been kind of grading it on a curve because I had pretty low expectations for the signing. It just seemed like he was a he was a crown legacy FC cast off. And if there's a team that's willing to make an interleague loan for a guy that they spent that much money on, I'm kind of raising my eyebrows. There's got to And I see why. Yeah, there's some kind of reason for that. And I think you kind of, you do see why, but I think you also, I think you've seen evidence that they might've made like a bad call by, by doing that. And that Seattle could have been right that like, you know, if we. Not on that salary.
00:52:00
Speaker
Yeah, well that's, and that's what. I mean, you had this exact same thing in Danny Leyva for. have that price, if not more than have that price. And that's the irony of it, that Brian wouldn't play Danny Leyva as much because he was Petkovic. I mean, it's's it's wild to me. There's a certain irony that all these things that you're just talking about, him being a good distributor, moving the ball, that was Danny Leyva. And you always talked about lack of dynamism and lack of defending. And, you know, Petkovic...
00:52:28
Speaker
definitely doesn't have that. I would argue that that the Danny live at the left here was a more dynamic, better player than Petrovich. So that's, it's not a bad take. Uh, but I still, I still maintain that. I, I think he's been quite a bit better than I expected, but we'll see what happens. Like, it seems like they're, they may, there's, this is enough an investment. You 22 spot that there looks like they're going to give them some run. And, you know, I don't think Schmitz would be giving him run if he didn't like what he was seeing. So we'll see what happens with it. But, uh, All right, Nico, to ah close it out here this morning, we got about like 20, 30-ish minutes left. Let's go let's get into our 2026 grades for the Seattle Sounders so far this season. The Seattle Sounders threw seven matches, all competitions going into their bye week.
00:53:14
Speaker
They are at five wins, one loss, one draw record, 10 goals scored, three goals against for a plus seven. And they are also into the CONCACAF Champions Cup quarterfinals, beat Vancouver Whitecaps on aggregate. So we're going to grade the totality of that body of work so far. And the first thing I want to do, Nico, is just go through the position groups and we're going to give them just ah letter grades for how we think they've been performing so far through the season. And again, this is not just league play or just CCC. I'm taking all, all seven, all competition games into account with these grades. So Nico, let's get to it. And we're going to start with the strikers, the number nine group. and Let's give them a letter grade.
00:53:58
Speaker
It's been the Osase de Rosario, Danny Musavsky show so far. George Morris obviously gets injured in the season opener, just got back in the last game at Minnesota. So he hasn't really been in the mix. Uh, Osaze has been the starter. He won the starting job in preseason and they have been running him at the start of pretty much all these games. And, uh, Moose was the super sub for most of this time. Now he's off with North Macedonia, but, uh, you had, you had Moose get in there in the last, uh, Vancouver game in CCC. He scored a goal. Nico, what do you think of how the, uh, the strikers have looked so far? If you had to give them a letter grade, what would you give them?
00:54:37
Speaker
i is kind of a so kind It's a tough one. It's a tough one because I don't want to be unfair. And, you know, i mentioned this yesterday on um on another show and There is a level of of of quality that I really appreciate about Osase. That, you know, his his strength, his fortitude, you know, is that yellow that he forces in against Vancouver like two minutes in. a lot of that hold-up play that he does. i feel like it's moments from being unlocked. Like he he wants to unlock the the wingers. and And it's almost there, but he just there it isn't either –
00:55:15
Speaker
A pass is intercepted or maybe he misses a read, but then he's had other moments where he's slipped players to and created a, if not an immediate goal, he created a transition moment that led to a goal. And that I can appreciate. I appreciate the pressing. I appreciate that that the dual winning. I appreciate all of these things that he that he does. ah So because of it, and even Danny Mussovsky for what he does, what he does come in and and he ah almost monitors his energy to only particularly put all his strength into running into a specific ball or pressing when he feels an opportunity or goal. There's a quality level of that that I appreciate. yeah.
00:56:04
Speaker
I'm going to leave it at a at a C-. That's pretty bad. That's bad. ah well but Well, leave it at a C. Leave it at a c little it as As a solid C. And I only say that because obviously what you want out of your strikers is at least some productivity on on on goals, ah being goal dangerous, creating more shots, creating more opportunities. And even in a system that maybe you're doing a lot of more of that hold-up play, I wanted to see more engagement and...
00:56:33
Speaker
better quality chances so i'm gonna leave it at a solid c maybe c- is too rough yeah let's leave it at a solid c yeah i was gonna i was gonna say like b minus and i won't argue with a c i think that is about right i think with osaze the preseason was honestly so electric like remember how dominant he was he was absolutely taking over those games and you know we gave all the necessary caveats at the time we said it's preseason this isn't necessarily guaranteed to translate But it was hard not to get really excited about what the potential could be. And the fact that they were running him as the starter going into the season made me feel like, all right, there's like an actual chance for real breakout here. And that hasn't happened yet. I do think Osase is, like you said, he's been doing a lot of good stuff. Like, I do think so. I think he's a good all-around player, and he brings a lot of hold-up play, you know, with the with the pressing and the link-up play that you mentioned where he starts the sequence that leads to a goal against Colorado. So I give him credit for that. Like he definitely, it's not like he's been bad or liability out there. I think some people might say that he was in the second Vancouver game. But I think on the whole, it's not like he's been bad or detracting from the team. It just hasn't like, it just hasn't popped like it looked like it might. in preseason so that's that's that's why i wouldn't give him give the group an because also with moose uh you have moose who's kind of getting into the mix like as the super sub and he has the he has the one goal at vancouver he did i think moose i've been saying i think moose has been playing well so far too as far as what moose does with his positioning and getting in those poacher spots You know, he had the near equalizer at Real Salt Lake that obviously it got disallowed. But I think that was still example of Moose doing the stuff that made him so effective last year. So there's been some good stuff in there. But, you know, at the end of the day, think, I mean, you got one goal between the two of them.
00:58:29
Speaker
So you need more goal production from that spot. And that's partially why I think it's good. It's great to see Jordan Morris coming back. Cause I do think I trust him to, to give that and sort of like, I've been kind of talking about him as the, come he's the combination of Osaze and, and Moose, which is what they need from that spot right now. So I think that's exciting. And I think Osaze and Danny have done a ah a solid job,
00:58:51
Speaker
holding it down. They've done a solid enough job to where the team's five, one, and one all comps. And they have scored 10 goals. Someone in chat was saying that Seattle's 23rd in the league in, ah in goals scored right now. But that's why, that's why I'm looking at all comps because I think that's what, that's what I'm judging them off of because I think CCC is the most important thing going on right now. And they got five goals in the Vancouver series. And that's that's all I could ask for. Five goals against that Vancouver team. So if you look at their if you look at their record and their stats and attacking numbers with CCC factored in there, it looks a lot better. So you could say like that doesn't count and that's skewing it. But I disagree. Like I think you have to count that. CCC is really important right now. And a couple of these league games, it's like, you know, it's the road show. They've been on the road playing rotated lineups with 27 injuries. So I honestly, I give them credit for grinding out the one zeros, which they, they weren't out there lighting up, scoring goals, looking like the Harlem Globetrotters, but they got the results. They got a couple of road wins. And they scored the goals that they needed to. So I think that's something that I i see actually as ah as a positive sign, even though you would like to see them lighten up the score scoreboard a little more. but no but but But that's a good point, though, Ari. And and I'll finish with that. I think that the reason, it now that we're kind of talking back and forth about it, that the biggest conclusion about why I would give them a ah C grade is because
01:00:23
Speaker
Now you had two guys battling this position for seven games, and all Jordan Morris has to do is come in and do something seem just a little bit better, and he's going to get the the the position. So, you know, neither guy won the job when they had the job open, and that to me is the – Conclusion that you need to have neither guy won the job and whether you know one is missing a little bit of what the others giving you because I do feel like Danny Wysowski has forced more saves he's looked a little bit more a lot more dangerous ah in the box and on the opposite end a
01:01:08
Speaker
Osace has done a lot of other stuff off that 18 and being more of a connector and done more of that hold-up play. So, yeah, it's the inconsistency of both that is going to allow, in my opinion, Jordan Morris to just walk in and take the job.
01:01:23
Speaker
Nico, let's move on to the attacking midfielders. So you got Albert, you got the Pauls, you got Georgie. I think that's pretty much the the main group that we're talking about here. For me, ah i really like Jesus Ferreira too as well. So ah for me, I feel like But there's there's got individual guys in this group that deserve A's, A-pluses, like Paul Rothrock, A-plus so far. Paul Areola, he's just coming back from injury, but he looked fantastic in the first leg in Vancouver. I would give him an A so far for how he played just in that game, especially, you know,
01:02:06
Speaker
just coming off an ACL for him to have a game like that. I thought that was great. ah We just talked about Albert. i would probably put his individual grade more in the C range so far with what we talked about with some of the unfortunate mishaps that have ah occurred over the last two, three games. He did have a fantastic game in the Season opener against Colorado. So I think that's fair to point out that Rapids team. Also, people were just kind of taking it as a given that that game doesn't count because it's the Rapids. And we talked about how they look pretty bad in that game. They've actually looked kind of good since then, Nico. They've won three games and they've looked like ah actually a team. They look like a team that's going to make the playoffs.
01:02:46
Speaker
this year So I think you could argue that Rusnak's goal contributions in that first game actually do count. He contributed on both the goals that ended up being the difference in the game. ah But, you know, he's had he's had a couple miscaps the last two, three games. So maybe that bumps the total grade down a little bit. But like the Pauls, I give i give an a And Jesus, I give an absolute a A plus. Like, I think he's been absolutely excellent so far. He's been getting on the stat sheet. I do think when I was i was looking at ah the totality of Albert's attacking numbers, but I looked at Jesus as well.
01:03:20
Speaker
And he's he has a bunch of assists now at this point. i do think that... ah it It would be nice if they could get him scoring at least kind of closer to the clip that he was at FC Dallas. I get that his role is more of a playmaker on this team, but the fact that he's sitting on no goals and only has five goals in 55 games, all comps, maybe you could dock him a little bit for that. But I think he's been so elite as a playmaker so far, and that's kind of what his role is in the system on this team right now. I give him an A. So honestly, if you want to if you want to say B plus for this group because of Albert's slow start, I think that's about fair. But I think a lot most of these guys that have been supposed to carry the load like the wingers, I think you got to give them an A. What do you think?
01:04:05
Speaker
Yeah, this is a tough one in a positive. You know, my first thought is is A, ah because they have been running the show with without this group.
01:04:17
Speaker
The Sounders are going nowhere this season. They, at least on the offensive end and even defensive end, I feel like they've done a really good job at pressing those a particular triggers that the Sounders have been so very good at creating opportunities. And, you know, with Brian Smetzer, you always defend from top to bottom.
01:04:36
Speaker
Everybody, including Albert Rusnak, has been better at just being very active and and defending and forcing teams into turnover. So you mentioned Jesus Ferreira. I think that he has been an A-plus type of guy when he comes to this group.
01:04:53
Speaker
because of everything that the passing and distribution, the opportunities he creates, the defensive effort. I mean, just in this game against ah Minnesota, he comes in and he immediately picks up a ball and and defends and and and presses and and and gets a a turnover and creates a moment of transition. Now he wasn't perfect in this one. ah I don't think he's a sub type player and you could see that he came in a little cold. Some of his passing wasn't great. And, I think I attribute that to when he came into the game, but that mentality, he is without a doubt, the most influential attacker that the Sounders have right now, both creativeness and, and passing wise. So for me, I'm
01:05:39
Speaker
going to, I'm going to give him B plus and, and only because maybe a couple more goals from, from this group. And we're talking differently about,
01:05:51
Speaker
some of the lack of goal from those striker positions. Albert Rusnak has had the most, he leads the, again, i'm not a stats guy, but apparently he leads the team on, on target opportunities. So he he's created chances. He's, he's there. He's coming in where he needs to be. They just haven't been able to finish. I think if Albert puts at least two of those opportunities away, easy opportunities that he's had, I'm giving them an a but I'm going to give it a B plus. I also want to,
01:06:20
Speaker
Co-sign what you said about Paul Arriola. I think that he's looked excellent. I think that he's going to be a guy that could provide you a lot of positive moments on offense. And Paul Rothrock, who, whether he's off the bench or starting, he has the ability to change the game. He's he's a game changer. He really is. And he needs to be given that ability.
01:06:42
Speaker
attribute that that that, you know, let let's give him do flowers because he is a guy that's come in for this team. It has been a difference maker. So because of that, I would agree that maybe not an A for me, but a B plus is where I'll leave it.
01:06:57
Speaker
Gianni saying that Jesus is secondary assist against the Rapids ah doesn't count, but If you you can take away the secondary assist against the Rapids and he's still got four or or five primary, he has a lot of primary assists this year. So like I've been I've been excited to see that it's actually paying off on the stat sheet so far this year more than it did last year. He only has one primary or one secondary assist this year. He's definitely not inflating or merchanting his total number ah off of that. And so I think that he, I think he's off to a good start to like, you know, you, you always talk about the eye test. I think like, if you look at the Ferreira eye test, man, like his chance generation, I think has been very, very good so far. And I love to see it. I hope he can keep doing that. I do think that,
01:07:46
Speaker
at some point At some point, they got to get him scoring more. like it' ah He shouldn't be scoring not at all. This is a dude that has, so i was looking to this up last night, 60 MLS goals to his name. So I think that is something that I want to see, but I have been very encouraged and excited by what we're seeing from him as a playmaker and a facilitator. all right And let me just tell that comment that is just as...
01:08:09
Speaker
when, let's say, Obed Barkas was getting all those goals of far deflections, like, do do does that not count? Because, I mean, you've got to create those opportunities, right? You've got to be able to shoot to put the ball in the back of the net. Same thing as a passer. That's why I think he's the most daring passer in the final third, and that creates opportunities for this team because he's willing to thread the needle. He's willing to put those passes. And so whether it deflected or not, that is absolutely an assist because you – are willingly putting the ball into that particular space to create that opportunity. So completely disagree, but you know opinions are like gnosis. We all have one, and and that's totally all right. But I think um it is impossible to deny that Haysworth has been the most influential
01:08:57
Speaker
The secondary assist against the Rapids was 4G chess, guys. i I already broke this down. He intentionally missed Rothrock and made him run into the ad board so the defense would let up, and that's what gave Rothrock the space to get in the assist to Rusnak. That's called... soccer IQ, but ah all right, Nico, let's ah let's move on to the CDMs. the You got the Christian rolled on, Snyder B, Nikola Petkovich, Hassani Dotson group here. Maybe throw Pete Kingston in there with his emergence, and seems like that's where they were playing him. Hassani Dotson obviously has been in concussion protocol. I think you could say that maybe he got off to a bit of an uneven start. There's a couple, there's like the giveaway, right, that led to the goal in Salt Lake. It kind of looked like he wasn't fully acclimated yet. ah But man, I kind of, I feel like I would give these guys in a, I think Christians and a, as always Snyder B, i mean, a plus love what I'm seeing so far and I'm higher on Pekovic than you are so far as well. So I think I actually, I give positive weight to the Pekovic thing because I kind of expected that to be a zero. And I think he's actually been pretty good so far. And I think that there's potential for growth there as well. So yeah, no, I continue to be happy with this group. I want to see Hassani get integrated more and just kind of look more acclimated. Once he is back from concussion protocol, that would be like the, uh, the note here for this group. But I mean, Christian rolled on pretty, I pretty much got no notes ever. I think he, maybe the first couple games of the season wasn't full, full Christian yet, but I think like yesterday I thought was his best game. He's kind of looking back to that form. So, uh,
01:10:38
Speaker
I'm pretty happy with this group. I think I'd give him an A. Would you give him lower than ah than an A? ah Yeah, I'm going to stick with a B+, plus um simply because
01:10:51
Speaker
I got to see somebody, aside from Christian Rodin, take over that other position. And as of right now, we haven't seen it. Snyder Burnell is the one we're all calling for, ah but that just necessarily hasn't been the...
01:11:06
Speaker
um the product that we've seen out there just yet. I mean, ah obviously Brian is doing a good job at at rotating and trying to figure out what he has out of each and every single one of these midfielders. um I think that Christian is a clear A. I think that Snyder Burnell for the time that he's had, he's a clear A without a doubt. And then from there on,
01:11:29
Speaker
I think that we can go with Bs and Cs. Hassani, obviously not enough data there, not not enough time that that we've seen him to really grade him. But so far, you know, C plus maybe is where I would leave it at.
01:11:46
Speaker
I think Peter Kingston has been really, really good. but a for such a a for P. A for P. Well, yeah, but but then you also got to take, you know, he his semester, I guess, if was a teacher, he he just came in. He's a transfer from another school that I'm just starting to see. So, of course, you got to see it in a bigger product. What I've seen so far is that he's really, really good. And and again, I have him higher than Petkovic because of what he could provide and what what he's what I've seen from him, some of those dimes, some of that effort, that that coolness on the ball. He doesn't turn the ball over as much. I just, I really like Peter Kingston, but I just don't think I'm ready to give all that many A's. I think I'm pretty hard on my A's. And the only reason why I give Snyder Brunel an A is because he has been,
01:12:33
Speaker
head turning when he's been not, not like Peter has in moments, but it feels like a more consistent product. Right. And so that's why I think Snyder Bunnell gets an A. So for me, overall, this whole group, not being high, Petkovic, all of that, I will give him a B plus. It looks like people are saying they feel like Christian has started the season kind of slow. I, I, what ah do you, do you agree with that? I think,
01:13:01
Speaker
I think it's definitely true in the first like three, four games of the year. There was more kind of, he had more like giveaways than usual, like in the RSL game. I think you could say that. And so I definitely agree. I away. yeah, maybe, maybe his individual grade would be more of like a B, B minus so far by his standards, but like the standard he set is so high. The standard he set is the best player in the league at that position. So if he needs a few games to ramp up to that, ah if there's one guy on this team that's earned a mulligan on a little bit of a slow start, it's Christian Roldan. The guy plays every goddamn minute of every goddamn game for this team, every single week, every single year. So I'll give him some grace on a slow start, especially because I do think like ah I was thinking to myself during the Minnesota game yesterday. All right, he's looking. This is looks more like Christian
01:13:53
Speaker
again but if people want to say that it's been a bb minus start to the year for him i wouldn't necessarily argue with that yeah it's it's a fair thought but that's exactly what I was thinking, what you just mentioned, but i would add that you have to give him some grace because he's having to completely shift his his role. He's trying to figure out the way he's got to act with certain players and that can affect some of those things. So I would agree that he has been
01:14:26
Speaker
less accurate on the ball. And he's had some some, some, some pretty bad games when he comes to turnovers and things like that. But the overall body of work, what he's doing is without Christian, you have no soliditude in that midfield. He is the motor, the engine that, that, that keeps that,
01:14:44
Speaker
part of the field running. And if this team hasn't conceded a lot of goals, a lot of it starts with Christian Roldan's effort and what he does there at midfield, directing traffic, pushing back, doing all these things. So that's why I give him the particular A, but it's a fair criticism and and observation.
01:15:03
Speaker
On that note, Nico, let's grade the back line and the goalkeepers to ah close it out. What do you think of this defense so far? We're talking about New Who, Jackson. Yamar is obviously injured right now, but he was the starter to begin the season. Alex Roldan, KKR, the whole the whole gang. I mean, Nico, I think...
01:15:25
Speaker
Honestly, man, for me, like A-plus for this group so far. This was the biggest area of improvement that we all, I think, wanted to see going into this season. This group gave up 48 goals last year. They got knocked out of the playoffs not because they couldn't score goals, but because they couldn't stop giving up goals. So that was that needed to change this year that needed to get better that they needed to get back to the 2024 levels of defense.
Defensive Strength and Key Players
01:15:50
Speaker
They needed to combine the 2024 defense with the 2025 offense. That's what they needed to do. And so far, I've I've loved how this defense is playing. They have been in.
01:16:03
Speaker
Very adverse situations. They've had a ton of injuries. There's been sequences of these games where there's been bad turnovers by the midfield or even by the back line, and they've been under a lot of pressure. There have been some good chances that they've arguably gotten away with. So you could say all that stuff. but The way that they're absorbing pressures pressure and managing to keep these clean sheets, getting a couple of these road games to 1-0 and then actually being able to hold the lead and not concede the equalizer. God, that was music to my eyes to see that music to my eyes. It was just phenomenal to see them be able to actually close out these games with the lead and not give up the lead. And I'll say this too, man. I really think Jackson Reagan...
01:16:45
Speaker
is leveling up and playing at a defender of the year caliber clip right now. I think he's going absolutely off. You know, I was talking to a Michael McCall of AFTN a couple weeks ago about the Whitecaps before that series, and i was I was telling him what I was seeing from Sebastian Berhalter and how Berhalter came out this year. kind of just with like playing like he had a point to prove and he's just got this kind of crazy look in his eyes in these games where it looks like he's playing with a purpose and he's trying to show everyone that he's the best in the league at this position. I kind of feel like that's what the type of stuff that Jackson is on right now to start the season too. Like he's, he's like flying around. He's jumping for every single header, clearing everything out of the box. He's throwing his body around, make blocking shots off the goal line. He's playing, he's playing CB at about as high level as you could hope for in MLS. So I think if he continues to play at this level and do the stuff he's doing out there, you're going see him start getting those best 11 defender of the year type consideration. uh great stuff from jackson and with the with the yamar injury and all the injuries that this team has had to like having to play alex out of position i think kkr has been fantastic so man like i think this is the thing i'm happiest about is the fact that i'm i'm able to give this group an a or a plus what do you think yeah this group gets an a plus and it's on both sides of the ball it's the the
01:18:09
Speaker
There hasn't been a game this season where we haven't talked about how quickly, how many numbers the Sounders are putting behind the ball. And a lot of that has to do with the effort from this particular group. um Said piece defendant has been outstanding.
01:18:25
Speaker
I totally co-sign everything you said about Jackson Reagan on defense and offense, getting the ball out of the back, creating opportunities. Nuhu, I forgot. Sorry. i Being the guy that that provides. Shout out Nuhu. Nuhu's had a great start to the year, too.
01:18:36
Speaker
Yeah, and that's that's where I was going to go next is Captain Nuhu. He looks like a different person. His attitude, he's um performances, they just look better. And he has been outstanding. I mean, he's a guy that you talk about defending and, and you know, a big shout, maybe getting a um a call up for, you know, defender of the year type stuff. I mean, he's been really, really good. in the defensive components of that left back position. And then on offense, a guy like Kalani has been so good on offense, pushing forward, moving around, creating opportunities, creating goals. Alex Roldan, his emergency defendant has been outstanding all season long, being a guy that just got slotted in there at center back.
01:19:23
Speaker
Maybe that's not fair because he's done it before and he's worked at it pretty consistently, but he looks the par. Tino Lopez coming in and and being a guy that immediately fits in, that's saving opportunities that to me looks like a guy that if, you know, Stu and Kinky He and all these guys don't get healthy quick, he could be still in their minutes and and and and positions moving forward because he's been that good. so All in all, ah in in every facet of the game, this defensive group has been phenomenal. So they definitely get A-plus for me. And let's not forget about the goalkeepers.
01:20:01
Speaker
You've got to get Andrew Thomas so much of a just high grade because of the the saves that he's had this season, when his number has been called, um such a great shot stopper, putting his body on the line. i think he's gotten a lot better at commanding The box when it comes to set pieces and corners and all of these things, I think he's gotten better at. um Stefan Fry coming in being that substitute for CCC. He's been phenomenal. The same guy that we're used to seeing and that feels like he could, you know, if you needed to, he was going to step in and do the job.
01:20:43
Speaker
He has not missed a beat. So for me, This whole group, center backs, left backs, full backs, all of it, goalkeepers, A plus, no doubt. Yeah, agreed on the goalkeepers. That was going to be the last one. But i would give them and a solid A so far. Honestly, I think Andrew Thomas has looked ah pretty much like he did last year so far, which was the part of an MLS number one. He's made some crazy saves. and uh that's been good to see and then steph fry who i think you know we all were we weren't necessarily sure how this was going to work between the two of them this year or how much steph has left in the tank but they chose to start him in ccc which i was kind of like all right you know schmetz is doing his uh i have two number ones thing that's fine uh but then steph fry came out in vancouver and had a fantastic game he had a absolutely insane save on uh Matias Laborda in that game. So the goalkeepers have definitely it has not been a situation where the defense has never been under pressure and the goalkeepers don't have to do a lot like there's been a lot of situations where they've had to step up and make saves in a couple cases, some pretty crazy fast reaction type saves and they've been up for it. So that's been great to see.
Conclusion and Future Coverage
01:21:55
Speaker
but ah all right nico i gotta get out of here so we're gonna call it right on that uh thank you all so much as always for tuning in to lobbing scorchers kickoff if you've not done so already please like the video uh subscribe to the channel follow us on instagram uh like comment subscribe rate five stars write us review lobbing scorchers.com lobbing slash sauce lobbing scorchers.com slash kit and uh we're gonna be at it for bi-week coverage we're gonna we're gonna still be grinding no sounders game for a bit but uh we'll be doing we might you might be doing some usmnt stuff uh and uh other league-wide coverage we'll uh i'll let you guys know what's up but for now thanks for uh tuning in appreciate y'all and we'll see you next time love y'all peace