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Episode 413: Wins sure do feel nice
84 Plays2 years ago
The Sounders finally scored a goal at home. It only took 405 minutes, but they did and it was enough to snap a five-game winless run. As luck would have it, they also moved up to second in the Western Conference table thanks to LAFC losing to the LA Galaxy, allowing the Sounders to inch ahead on goal-difference.
The goal, it should be said, was very well-taken. It started with Obed Vargas driving forward to find Nicolas Lodeiro, who worked a 1-2 with Léo Chu, who then found Albert Rusnak for a left-footed finish from about six yards out.
Sure, it came after the Houston Dynamo were reduced to 10 men but we are in no position to be questioning goals at this point.
Is everything fixed? Of course not. But it sure is a lot more fun to talk about wins than a scoring drought.
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Transcript
Sounders' Celebrations and Recent Achievements
00:00:00
Speaker
This episode of Nos Arietes is sponsored by Full Pull Wines, a Seattle-based wine retailer and proud sponsor of Nos Arietes since 2011. Full Pull was founded in 2009, is based in Seattle, and is owned and operated by longtime sounder supporters. They offer the best boutique wines of the world to members of their mailing list, with special focus on their home, the Pacific Northwest.
00:00:21
Speaker
Hey, this is Christian Roldan. And Jordan Morris from the Seattle Sounders Football Club. And you're listening to... There's no study at this. Here we go. Come on! Hey, Ocean! Let's go! What a save by Fry! The Seattle Sounders have done it! MLS co-pointers! Here comes Ray D'Ace from the middle to crowd it! The vehicle! And now they truly can't stop the celebrations.
Breaking the Winless Streak and Climbing the Ranks
00:01:04
Speaker
Seattle Sounders, the greatest MLS team in history. This is a tiny f***ing doll.
00:01:34
Speaker
Is that why you young people call twerking?
00:01:38
Speaker
Welcome to another edition of NOS Adietta, sponsored by Full Pool Wines, Watson's Counter, and our Substax subscribers. This is episode 413, and we're recording on Wednesday, July 5th, 2023. I am your host, Jeremiah O'Shan. Joining me today is my co-host, Aaron Campo, and of course, our producer, Lickit.
00:01:54
Speaker
Well, the sounders finally scored a goal at home and only took four or five minutes, but they did it. And it was enough to stamp a five game winless run as long as luck would have it. They also moved up to second in the Western conference table, thanks to LAFC losing to the LA galaxy yesterday, allowing the centers to inch ahead on goal difference. The goal that should be said was very well taken. It started with an OBVID with OBVID Vargas driving forward to find Nicholas Ledero who worked a one two with Leo Chiu, who then found Albert Rusnak for a left footed finish from about six yards out.
00:02:23
Speaker
Sure. It came after the Houston Dynamo reduced to 10 men, but we're in no position to be questioning goals at this point. So Aaron, does it feel like everything is fixed?
Performance Doubts Amidst Success
00:02:34
Speaker
It does not at all feel like everything is fixed, but it feels better than it did about 55 minutes into the game on Saturday. You know, it wasn't a great performance. They didn't play the dynamo off the pitch. They definitely benefited, I think, from going up a man, but they won the game and I didn't think they played poorly. I think that
00:02:58
Speaker
You know, they, they created some chances. The defense looked, I think really solid all nights. They were clearly, I think the better team. It looked a lot like a lot of these games have looked where they were doing everything pretty well, except for actually putting them all into the net and they managed to put the ball into the net and they won the game. They're in pretty good shape right now in terms of the standings. They're not, they're certainly not going to win the supporter shield. They've got quite a bit to do. I think the West is going to win the supporter shield. I think we can say that pretty confidently.
00:03:26
Speaker
The Sounders are definitely benefiting, I think, from the West just being generally quite weak. I think that includes LAFC, who earlier in the year looked like they might be the best team in CONCACAF.
Positioning in the Western Conference
00:03:39
Speaker
They've kind of hit the same kind of struggles that the Sounders did last year after the CCL hangover without actually winning it. So, you know, not as much fun for them, too bad. But, you know, right now in points per game, Sounders are in third place in the West.
00:03:54
Speaker
They're not setting the world on fire. They're in pretty good shape. I don't really have, I think with this one, especially, I don't have any remaining concerns about the missing the playoffs. I think there are signs that they're starting to turn things around a little bit. Winning without Christian was a really nice sign. I didn't run the numbers on how often they've done that this year, but I can't imagine it's too often.
00:04:15
Speaker
And, uh, yeah, so certainly does not feel like everything is fixed. Still a lot of work to do until I can get back to being really optimistic about this team. But you got to beat the teams that you play and they did that. And, uh, you know, hopefully they can, hopefully it's something they can build on. I feel like we said this last time after they beat Houston and they
Vancouver Match Expectations
00:04:34
Speaker
didn't. So hopefully it's different this time.
00:04:37
Speaker
Yeah. And so they're going to be going to Vancouver this weekend, a place where they looked absolutely hoarded the last time they were there. So hopefully that was admittedly on short rest. I don't know if it was after the, it wasn't after the Houston game last time, was it? I guess I could look at that, but I think it may have actually been how they mentioned it.
00:04:58
Speaker
Uh, but yeah, I mean, if they can put together a decent performance, even not even a win, if they can just get out of Vancouver with a tie, I feel like that would go a long way. No, they, they came off a game against Austin actually. Uh, but yeah, if they can at least get a point from Vancouver, which feels silly to say, I feel a lot better about their position, uh, they, and then they have a pretty tough close to the, uh,
Upcoming Matches and Player Returns
00:05:27
Speaker
pre-league's cup window. They're going to be at San Jose on Wednesday. And then they're hosting FC Dallas, which, uh, you know, if they can get, if they can get five points from these last three games, I think they got to feel pretty good about themselves. Uh, I would think there'll be probably no worse than second place at that point, uh, or certainly if they can get five points, they probably know worse than third place, uh, in the West at that point.
00:05:51
Speaker
And you know, you, you go into the league's cup and at that point you're supposed to be getting back your, uh, you know, you're supposed to be getting back Christian rolled on Jordan Morris and you know, hopefully they can actually put something together. Uh, one other piece of, you know, good news, bad news is Alex rolled Don's El Salvador was eliminated from
00:06:11
Speaker
from the Gold Cup and so he should at least be available against
Nicholas Ledero's Role and Lineup Strategies
00:06:14
Speaker
Vancouver. I don't know if he'll start, but as you know, this is a good transition into the next subject or something I wanted to talk about is a play of Nicholas Ledero who I think if you take away the sort of narrative that has been built around him and I think fairly for the most part that he's just been struggling for the last few months
00:06:38
Speaker
His last two games or his last three games where he's been playing on the right haven't been too bad. He's cutting in a lot. He's fighting himself all the way on the left side of the field a fair amount. But we saw how that can even work to their advantage.
00:06:53
Speaker
on the goal where he and Albert Rusnak had essentially swapped positions. And so he was effectively, he was able to go create an overload on the left side of the field. And Rusnak came cutting in from the right. And I have a feeling that with Alex Roldan on the right, instead of Cody Baker, that system, that style could be a little bit more effective and actually might work okay. Yeah, I think so.
00:07:23
Speaker
weirdly playing in a role where Nico has a lot of freedom and he's not expected to do so much in the middle of the pitch, especially like on, on defense. And he doesn't have as much pressing responsibility. I think has given him a little bit.
00:07:36
Speaker
of a break. And I think that that's, that's been effective. And I think that, um, Cody Baker, I think has
Impact of Alex Roldan's Return
00:07:42
Speaker
been good. I've been quite, quite happy with this performances, but I do think that Alex has a lot more familiarity with Nico. They've played together a lot more and it's just the better player at this point in this career, especially going forward. I think the gap in their game is really apparent, uh, going forward where Alex is just has so much more confidence, uh, you know, overlapping and, and getting into the offensive third then, then Cody Baker. Absolutely.
00:08:06
Speaker
And I don't want to take anything away from Baker. I mean, he's 19, but he's defending like a MLS quality right back. He just hasn't quite developed the confidence. I don't want to say the ability because I assume it's there, but he hasn't quite developed the confidence to get forward to the degree the sounders really need him to while playing this style that they're playing.
00:08:35
Speaker
Yeah. And I think, I mean, that's, that's understandable. I wouldn't also be, I wouldn't be shocked if the, the coaching instructions are to stay at home a little bit more just given where he's at in his career. But all that said, you're a hundred percent right that Alex is, I think a better fit for the way the sounders want to play with Nico on the right. And you know, I think that when you're a team that's had as much trouble as the sounders putting the ball in the net have had any little,
00:09:02
Speaker
upgrade that you can get, you've got to be super happy about. And I do think Alex is just a much better player going
Pre-League Break Performance Goals
00:09:08
Speaker
forward. Like you said, so, uh, I wouldn't expect him to start, although I guess we'll see. I mean, he'll have what four or five days.
00:09:15
Speaker
Yeah. He played on Tuesday. So he'll have, he traveled today. So he'll have training on Thursday and Friday. I suppose that's might be enough to get him into the game. Yeah. Um, so yeah, I expect him to play maybe start. Uh, and, and I think that that'll help in this game and obviously going forward, I really think that in this is things that probably don't need to be said, but I'm going to say it anyway.
00:09:40
Speaker
I really do think the way the Sounders go into this break is going to be hugely important. It's not a break, obviously, but breaking and league play. I think that if they can play well in the league, even if league's cup doesn't go great, even if they, you know, don't get deep into the tournament, they can say, all right, well,
00:09:59
Speaker
We were playing well in the league. We're back to closer to full strength now and they can build on that a little bit. I think if they go into the league's cup break on a poor run of form and God forbid that carries over and they get knocked out early and then they've got all this time to
00:10:18
Speaker
Yeah. But also get rusty and think about how they've been playing. It's possible that that's that is actually what they need. And they just need a kick in the ass and some time to regroup. And I'm sure, you know, if they have a long break, they're going to be training pretty intensely and maybe even playing some friendlies, you know, that they can throw together. But it's not the same as playing real games. And
00:10:40
Speaker
Yeah, I just really like to see them. They don't have to set the world on fire, but they need to get the results that they should expect to get and, uh, and go into the, into the league's cup on a high note. And, you know, I think we've said that if they're not going to win the tournament, the best case scenario is get out of the group, but maybe don't go super deep.
00:10:59
Speaker
That's kind of what I'm hoping to see. Yeah, it's it's definitely a win it or go out after the group stage. The worst case is probably one of two. Well, I guess the it's not the worst case. The worst case is to either be eliminated from the group stage and then you have this long break and maybe slightly behind that is finishing fourth because I think the top three spots in the legs cup get a
00:11:25
Speaker
a champions league spot. So there is some value to at least finishing in the top three in league's cup, which, you know, I will say credit to the creators of this tournament for fashioning a way to make the third place game matter, which I assume there must be a third place game if they're going to, if third place is getting something.
00:11:47
Speaker
Yeah, it's, it may be the, is the only competition in history where that's the case where the, where the third place playoff is actually important in any way. And maybe the Olympics. They have some Olympic qualifiers too, that, uh, it feels like, um, those are end up being somewhat important, but I digress. Uh, the other really notable aspect of this game,
Leo Chu's Growing Influence
00:12:08
Speaker
I thought was sort of the degree to which it sort of underlined the degree to which the sounders have become reliant. And maybe I don't know if it's, it's somewhat by design, obviously, but Leo Chu is just an absolutely huge part of the way that they are generating chances right now. And I suppose that's somewhat by design. It also feels a little bit like maybe they're leaning too heavily into this, but to Leo choose credit,
00:12:35
Speaker
He is setting up a fair number of chances. And the one he set up in this one was, or he actually had two really good chances that he set up to Albert Rusnak in this one. And they were both good looks.
00:12:51
Speaker
Yeah, Leo, I think I'm kind of surprised by how well he's handling being the sort of the focal point of the Sounders attack. And I mean, maybe that was the issue all along, right? Is he just needed to be given a bigger role? I don't know. But if you had told me, you know, this time last year that Leo was going to be the Sounders most important attacking piece.
00:13:12
Speaker
I would have been a little concerned, and I guess rightfully so, given the way the season has gone, but Leo is just, you know, he's really outperformed. I think everybody's expectations. He's been great. It would be nice to have some of the pressure taken off of him because he does
00:13:28
Speaker
He does have periods. I mean, I think most attacking players do, especially in the mold of Leo Chiu, have periods of time where they're just not effective for whatever reason. And, you know, if teams are able to mark him out of the game, he's harder to do that with because he's so dangerous in space and either you can keep up with him or you can't. And so that's a huge advantage that he has. But so he's going to get even in games where he's
00:13:53
Speaker
kind of neutralize for a lot of it, he's going to get a couple of chances to hurt the opposition where players that don't have some of the fiscal gifts that he has maybe don't get those opportunities. And he's really good at finding the space to take advantage of those opportunities when they present themselves. And so it does make sense that a team that's had that struggled so much to create chances, a player that is able to create something out of nothing and is able to just sort of
00:14:20
Speaker
make something happen in a way that really nobody else on this team has seemingly been able to, including Raul Rodriguez, including Jordan over the last few months as well. Um, it's been, it's been a real lifeline and hopefully they find a way to take some of the pressure off of him soon. Um, because it's not, you can't be a one man show and be a good team.
00:14:39
Speaker
No, I mean, and I think to some degree, teams know what the centers are trying to do. That's part of why I think maybe they are underperforming their XG, although that's a bigger problem that I think goes beyond anything that this kind of reliance on Lao Chiu specifically. But to his credit, he keeps getting into dangerous spots. He keeps creating dangerous chances.
00:15:05
Speaker
It's a good development. Uh, hopefully the centers can expand beyond that. You know, before you can figure out a bunch of ways to beat teams, you got to figure out one way to beat teams. And you know, the centers are also pitching a whole bunch of shutouts. Uh, they have 11 through, uh, 21 games at this point there. That's over half their games right now. They have, uh, they have shut out their opponents.
Defensive Strength and Shutout Records
00:15:30
Speaker
I don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves, but the MLS record for shutouts in a season is 16. That record has stood since 2000. This pretty rarefied error the Sounders are potentially getting into in terms of other ability to shut out opponents. Nine of those shutouts are at home. They've only given up five goals at home. There's definitely some positives here. I don't want to make it sound like this first half of the season has been
00:15:55
Speaker
really like a disaster. It hasn't been a disaster. It's just been really, really frustrating. And it's not been a lot of fun to watch, frankly. So hopefully we get a little bit more of that. You know, the last player who I really wanted to highlight in this one.
00:16:12
Speaker
is Zhao Paolo, who I don't feel like is being appreciated properly. This is a guy who a couple of years ago was getting a lot of MVP nods. I don't know that he was at like, and yeah, he had more goals and more assists then, but man, if you go through his rate stats, it's pretty remarkable. I just want to share a few of these. This is just like me cherry picking some of the more interesting stats.
00:16:40
Speaker
He's in the 96 percentile among midfielders for progressive passes. He's in the 98th percentile for progressive passing distance. He's in the 97th percentile for progressive carrying distance. So right there, that's a lot of ball advancement that, uh, Joe Paulo was able to do it. This is.
00:16:56
Speaker
you know, this is him being compared not just with other defensive midfielders, but with, uh, attacking midfielders guys that are farther up the pitch whose job is really to, uh, send these kinds of passes. Uh, but then defensively he's 85th percentile for tackles. One he's 97th for tackles for dribblers tackled. Uh, basically teams do not, are not able to dribble pass them.
00:17:17
Speaker
He's 98th for interceptions. He's 97th percentile for tackles plus internship exceptions. And he's in the 99th percentile for recoveries. I mean, this is a guy who is really doing it on both sides of the field. I don't know that the Sounders could possibly be asking any more from him than they're getting. And, you know, he's not getting any, he didn't even make the All-Star team. I couldn't, like he, best I could tell he wasn't even close to making the All-Star team.
00:17:42
Speaker
Yeah, I think that for players on a team to get any kind of plaudits outside of maybe goalkeeper and we're like, I guess center backs as well, you have to score. The team has to be very good offensively and the whole overarching narrative of the sounder season sense. What I guess may has been, oh, they can't score goals and.
Joao Paulo's Underappreciated Contributions
00:18:04
Speaker
that has nothing to do with Joao Paulo. I mean, and like, he's been, I think arguably his best as a sounder this season. I mean, it's pretty high up there at the very least.
00:18:18
Speaker
Yeah, he's been as good as he's been, I think. It's totally fair to say, uncontroversial to say. But that's not translating to goals, and that's not his fault. Creating goals is not his responsibility, although I think he has created more chances than you could have any right to expect somebody playing in his position to have created. He's been hugely important to when the Sounders have been effective counter-attacking. He's been hugely important in that regard.
00:18:45
Speaker
I agree with you, I think, especially Sounders fans, and it makes sense that the focus for with if your team is playing poorly, you're going to be focused on the negatives. But it's I don't think he's being appreciated. I don't think the defense has been
00:19:02
Speaker
We're appreciated enough. No, no defensive players, the only player to make the all-star team for the Sounders is Jordan Morris, who, uh, you know, has, you know, he's not got nine goals that speaks for itself, but I think you could definitely argue that he's only their third or fourth most important player right now.
00:19:18
Speaker
Yeah. Uh, one of the main topics of conversation this year has been, uh, you know, whether Stefan Friday should be benched. And I'm not going to say that he has 11 shutouts. So obviously he's playing out of his mind, but I just don't know how you can look at this team right now and think anything on the defensive side of the ball is the issue. And, um, and you know, Joao Paulo was doing,
00:19:42
Speaker
everything but scoring the goals himself, I guess, because he is creating chances, uh, directly, you know, he's, he's important in the buildup. He's been immense defensively. Uh, and yeah, I would like to see them turn it around. So maybe he can actually get some, some notoriety for, for the performances he's put in this year.
00:20:02
Speaker
Well, one thing I, my theory, one way that potentially they could get a little bit more out of them is if they actually freed up his, some of his defensive responsibilities at least, uh, didn't need them to be so far back.
Should Atencio Play Over Vargas?
00:20:14
Speaker
And the way I think they could do that is maybe, uh, giving Josh attention, a run out over Obed Vargas, Obed Vargas, probably the higher, everyone seems to think he's the higher upside, uh, prospect. I,
00:20:27
Speaker
I think he does a lot right. He's still a little unpolished. I have a sneaking suspicion that part of why he's playing so much is the centers are trying to showcase him a bit. And hey, full credit to that. Nothing wrong with trying to get... They're doing best by themselves and best by the kid, if that's what they're doing.
00:20:48
Speaker
I think there may be some short-term result costs. The guy that they could be playing instead of him is also pretty young and who I think also has some real upside. Josh Atencio is, in my mind, a better defender. He is, right now, maybe even a better defender.
00:21:06
Speaker
uh, attacking player than Obed Vargas is. He's not as smooth. He's not as, uh, pleasant to watch necessarily, but he is a really effective player. And I would love to see Josh attention to just get a little bit more run out. He had a really good game for to come into pience, uh, on the, their last game. Uh, and I don't know, uh, I think it's worth a shot at least.
00:21:28
Speaker
Yeah, I'm a, I'm a big Joshua Tenzio fan. I think that at this point, I don't think Obed has been actively bad or anything, but I do think you have to, if the desire is to give him a showcase, you have to wonder how much, how effective that's been. He looks comfortable, but he does look pretty raw.
00:21:50
Speaker
I think the thing with Obed right now is that you can project a skill set and you can see that he's going to be a very good player, but he doesn't have any standout stuff that he does right now. He's a pretty classical central midfielder who has a really well-rounded game. He has really good technical skills.
00:22:07
Speaker
But there's nothing he does that I think is like at a very good to great level, an MLS, any one skill. And I think attention is a very, very good defensive midfielder. And we've this has been a thing we've talked about a lot over the years on this show, where sometimes if you go to a more defensive look at one position that can open up the offense so much more that can open up the attack so much more.
00:22:36
Speaker
because you give your players so much more freedom. They don't have to worry quite as much. JP is a great passer. He has great vision. If he doesn't have to play as deep or if he can be a little bit more focused on getting into positions where he can impact the attack rather than being as defensive as he's had to be, I think that that could certainly help.
00:22:57
Speaker
And I think that Atencio deserves a run-out given the way the results have been going, given the way the performances have been going. I think you've got to look at changing pretty much anything that you can other than Raoul.
00:23:12
Speaker
pretty much, or maybe Albert or Leo Chu. And yeah, I'm all for it. I think Josh Tenzio is my breakout young player pick earlier in the year. So I would like to be shown to be correct on that.
Trade Window Strategies and Limitations
00:23:28
Speaker
So yeah, I'm with you on it. Well, I think we're going to take a little bit of a break. We have a few questions that I want to get to from our Substack subscribers. And yeah, you're listening to NOS Adiates.
00:23:44
Speaker
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00:24:14
Speaker
Welcome back to no study at this. So we have a few questions from our listeners, had a few other things I wanted to get to. We may as well start with a little news item. The sounders today traded a international roster spot for $150,000 in Gamm, notably 2023 Gamm.
00:24:34
Speaker
And the reason I think that's notable is GAM, as you may or may not know, is sort of a use it or lose it mechanism. And I suppose there's a way where the sounders can use some GAM now and save it for next year. I would imagine that's possible.
00:24:52
Speaker
What I find interesting about this trade is A, it highlights that the centers have done a really good job of getting international roster spots open.
Internal Improvements vs. Trades
00:25:01
Speaker
They've traded now five international roster spots this year. They still have another open one. You're looking at the roster thinking, how is that possible? They have a lot of players who aren't American. The reason is that if you have a green card, you don't count as an international.
00:25:16
Speaker
The international roster spot is basically a designation that I think might be an actual labor law situation where basically if you're a legal worker here, not just a legal worker, but if you're a permanent resident, which is what a green card is, you
00:25:35
Speaker
you can't be treated any differently than other citizens. So the centers have done a really good job of getting green cards. I think that also speaks to the stability they have on the roster. They have a lot of guys that have been around long enough to be able to get green cards. But I do think it's the other thing that's notable about it is that I think that this shows at least some desire to make a move, this transfer window. The transfer window just opened up today and it's going to stay open for about a month.
00:26:05
Speaker
The centers don't have a lot of flexibility, is my understanding, and even to use this GAM, they would need to open up a senior roster spot and they can do that in a variety of ways. Let's just put it this way, Aaron. Is there something you really are hoping the centers do or would you be okay if all they do during this window is basically get back their three internationals?
00:26:33
Speaker
Yeah, it's it's tough because the obvious answer is they need something else in the attack. Yeah. But when you think about the roster that they have, I don't they're certainly not going to be able to upgrade on a bear at the striker position unless they've moved him somehow. And I don't see that happening. And even if they they
00:26:55
Speaker
could free up that space maybe by moving to Javier Iaga. Is that really a great thing to spend the money on? I'm not sure. I think they could use a striker-winger hybrid, just an attacking player that can play wide. I think that
00:27:16
Speaker
I'm fine with Jordan, Christian, Leo too is your primary option at those positions. Um, but I do think that they could potentially stand upgrade a little bit there. Um, especially if it means we never have to see a bear on the wing again or at the 10 again. Um, maybe somebody that can play as a 10, you know, if they want to give, uh, give that
00:27:38
Speaker
look another try, somebody playing sort of that second striker role behind Raul. But beyond just a generic attacking player, I don't know. I'm pretty happy with the defense. I don't think you can ask for a whole lot more. I wouldn't be opposed to them moving Ariaga. I think that opens up a ton of space and changes.
00:28:01
Speaker
a lot of what is possible. But I think it's also pretty nice to have a guy of that quality as your third center back. And yeah, I'm certainly not opposed to them doing anything. But I think that they have the players to get things turned around in house. And I don't think anything that they can do in the trade market or in the transfer window is really going to change their odds all that much.
00:28:26
Speaker
Yeah, I would agree with that. I would love it if they can make a move that is a little bit more significant. And like you said, moving Ariaga would probably be the lever that the most sensible lever that they could pull. I don't know how likely that is, especially since he's going to be hurt until he's probably out until after the.
00:28:45
Speaker
transfer window closes. In fact, he might be out for an additional month after the transfer window closes. So I don't know how moveable he really is, but yeah, we'll see. It's going to be interesting. All right. Well, we have some questions I wanted to get to. This is not necessarily a question, but it's a comment and I wanted to share it.
00:29:06
Speaker
And it's from James Galuso and he says, obviously I didn't do the analysis you did, but just from watching at the bar, Chu was by far the most enjoyable and exciting player to watch. And I just wanted to share that mainly because the sounders have been missing that element a lot lately. We just sort of talked about that in the last segment. And it is nice that they do have a player who is constantly sort of like asking questions, even if it's the same question. Yeah.
00:29:34
Speaker
Yeah, it is. I mean, JP is a lot of fun to watch in midfield, but a defensive midfielder is not going to. It's not going to, you know, get the same sort of get their blood pumping in the same way as watching a sort of.
00:29:49
Speaker
other than you, right? Uh, but I mean, Leo too loves to run past dudes, get to the inline dribble through guys and find a good ball. And that's one of the most fun things to watch. And he's good at doing it. And, uh, knowing that you have a player on your team that can just sort of against the run of play, create something from nothing. That's always going to be a threat to do something with the ball at his feet. That's exciting. I mean, the Sounders have, and have had a lot of very exciting attacking players. Jordan Morris.
00:30:19
Speaker
is super exciting in a similar way, but he's not, he's not a never has been a guy that can below pass guys on the dribble as much as Leo Chiu is. He, you know, he's, he's 10, he tends to be a lot more dangerous getting in behind players and looking for the ball.
00:30:35
Speaker
Leo's not going to dribble, guys, the way that Leo is. Leo can create the space himself. You know, he doesn't have to be played in behind. Raul Reed, he is super fun to watch on his day, but his stuff comes out of nowhere. So there's not as much anticipation, right? It's not like he's I think he's also a little bit more reliant on service. Like he's a lot of fun, but he's and he will create his own shot sometimes, but he's he's pretty reliant on on service.
00:31:03
Speaker
Yeah, which is, you know, I mean, I think normal for a striker. So, yeah, I think that having a guy even as poorly as the Sounders have looked and attack, having a guy that could maybe make something happen is at least a little bit of a saving grace. And I do think he is the most fun to watch player on the team right now. Jordan at his best gives him a run for his money, but
00:31:28
Speaker
But right now, Jordan hasn't been in his best for a few months. So right now, Leo is definitely the guy. Yeah. This one's from Ryan McCabe. He says, given his improvement this season, how long do you think Leo Chu will be around? It looks like he's signed through the end of next year with his current U22 designation.
00:31:47
Speaker
It's a good question because I think he's been great this year. I don't know if I feel like he has done enough to catch the eye of a team that's going to be willing to pay a ton of money for him. I mean, I could see him going to Mexico and maybe fetching a decent transfer fee. I could see him maybe going back to Brazil or South America with a higher level of expectation. He's 23. So,
00:32:15
Speaker
He's not at an age where without putting up MVP level numbers, he's going to get a big offer from Europe. That's not to say that he couldn't get some interest from somewhere, but I don't think it's going to be the kind of
00:32:31
Speaker
thing that the Sounders can't say no to. I think the more interesting question is whether they try to move them for whatever they can get in the off season because they know they don't want to make him a centerpiece of the team going forward or they don't have the cap flexibility and they don't want to let them leave on a free. I really hope not. That would be a huge pomer considering that they've paid a transfer fee for him and maybe haven't gotten
00:32:56
Speaker
uh, as much as they were hoping out of them, despite, you know, how good he's been this year. But I dunno, I, I'd like to see him stick around for awhile and I certainly don't want him to leave for nothing. So yeah, it does start to become a little bit more of a complicated question next year. Uh, especially since I think he would lose his U 22 designation. If you signed a new contract.
00:33:17
Speaker
And his value for the Sounders I think is pretty heavily tied to that. Although maybe, I don't know, I guess maybe if there's a world where he develops enough where you feel good about paying him closer to market rate. I mean, he's getting a decent salary right now. He's getting, I think, $500,000, $600,000 a year. So he might not do a huge raise, but he would certainly hit the cap a lot harder than he hits it now.
00:33:49
Speaker
He is a player I think that you could get a lot of trade value for in this league. I would agree with that. He's going to be a lot more valuable to a team that has a lot more cap flexibility than the Sounders do. I would much rather sell him and get to do whatever he want to with the money.
00:34:10
Speaker
If all things are equal, that's the better outcome, but I think you might get the best return for the future of the team. If it's within the league. Yeah. All right. This one's from Paul bell and he says,
The Significance of the Cascadia Cup in Question
00:34:20
Speaker
does it seem like the players care much about the Cascadia cup? I don't hear that much about it. And I thought it was a particularly relevant question this week because here we are heading into a pretty pivotal Cascadia cup match. And I'll agree with Paul here.
00:34:35
Speaker
I have not gotten the sense that this is a huge, huge deal. Uh, and, and maybe part of that is, you know, you go back to 2021 where the sounders clinched the Cascadia cup. Uh, they did some say it was in Vancouver. They clinched it with a tie. Uh, this result was fine for the sounders. It was enough to get the Cascadia cup. I don't think it hurt their playoff standing. Uh, but it, the tie also put, uh,
00:35:01
Speaker
the Whitecaps into the playoffs and they were celebrating like they had, you know, one MLS cup, it seemed. And here the centers were lifting a trophy while the Whitecaps were just, uh, celebrating getting into the playoffs. And I don't want to say that the Cascadia doesn't matter to the players. I think it does, but I, I do think that,
00:35:22
Speaker
The Cascadia cup is secondary to everything else. And like the Cascadia cup is, and we've sort of talked about this, the Cascadia cup is a, is important in that these are Western conference opponents. Uh, there is some bragging rights to a degree, but like if the centers were to beat the timbers in their last two meetings against them and, or their last meeting against them, and they were to, uh, not when the Cascadia cup still, I think they'd probably take that.
00:35:52
Speaker
Yeah, I do have a much better sense than I do, but I've always gotten the sense that the players care a lot more about beating Portland than they do about the Cascadia Cup. Yes, that's I guess what I was going to say. And I mean, frankly, I do too. I obviously would love the sounders to win the Cascadia Cup every year, but if they could
00:36:10
Speaker
never win the Cascadia Cup again and somehow somehow lose the math worst. Never lose to the Timbers again. I would take that and heartbeat. Yeah, it's I just I don't I have weird feelings about Vancouver. I've kind of talked about this on the show before where I don't even dislike them. I don't really even think of them as a rival most of the times.
00:36:38
Speaker
Part of why it's, it's hard for me to get super ramped up for these games, but even I think at the height of the Cascadia cups.
00:36:46
Speaker
hype and, and, and relevance in, in the MLS era, the Vancouver games were always very much a second billing to the Portland games. And, uh, and I think a lot of the time the Cascadia cup is shorthand for Sanders timbers. Right. Uh, the way caps win it pretty, pretty frequently. I think the timbers actually, or the white caps have the second most Cascadia cup, uh, wins the Sanders, uh, still lead that.
00:37:11
Speaker
But, uh, if my math is correct, I think the sounders would still technically be alive if they get a tie on this one, because they could max out at seven points. And I guess it could potentially come down to tie to a tiebreaker if, if, if they tie this one, but if they, if they lose, they are a hundred percent eliminated from the Cascadia cup. So take that for what it's worth. Um,
00:37:40
Speaker
Yeah. Well, that's, that's that. Uh, thanks to our sub-stax subscribers for submitting those questions. Uh, as a reminder, if you want to help support independent soccer media, uh, you can become a sub-stax subscriber. It's as cheap as $50 a year or $5 a month. Uh, and yeah, you will help ensure the longevity of no study at this and everything that goes along with it. Uh, if you become a subscriber, uh,
00:38:07
Speaker
Uh, that said, uh, thank you to our sponsors, uh, full pull wines and Watson's counter. I am Jeremiah Shen signing off for Aaron Campo and Lickett. This is no Saudi at this. And remember, you will never get alone.
00:39:17
Speaker
We love you. Let's win another one!