Transcript
Speaker: Hi, I'm Will Bruin, and I was just recognized as a Seattle Sounders legend. Now I get to do voice reads for the Sounder at Heart podcast network. Here we go.
Speaker: Come on. Hey, O'Shaughness. Let's The Seattle Sounders have done it. MLS Cup winners. The Sounders rule the region.
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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.
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Speaker: Welcome back to another episode of Nos Arietes on the Sounder Heart Podcast Network. I am Jeremiah Shan. It's Friday. i am joined by Nico Moreno for another episode of What We Learned This Week.
Speaker: Nico, been an interesting week, this one. It has been an interesting one, Jeremiah, and welcoming everybody. Thank you for... Listening to our show, the best, most insightful show you will ever find in the damn region because we are the best. Thank you for showing up and and listening to our show. You know that you're getting insightful.
Speaker: great information here with us. So again, as always, thank you for supporting the show. And yes, it's been, you know, it's been a week and it's been rollercoaster. I just, I was talking to somebody within the organization and that's what it feels like. You know, it was really low at one point now with Joe village, you know,
Speaker: He's taking all-time high. Now, we'll see where he goes from there because we have some injury things that we've got to talk about. There is a couple of things that might, you know, put a little rain in the parade. But, hey, excited to share that with our fan base. You know, there's some movements that could happen. We got some, you know, I got some rumors, not necessarily about the Sounders, but, you know, there's some things happening in the Western Conference. So, yeah, man, just happy to share it and talk with with you, Jeremiah.
Speaker: Yeah, it's an action-packed show that we have for you today. So I guess we'll start with ah we may as well start with training. We've kind gone over the Jovalich stuff. We'll get some more into that. But if you really want to dig into... If you're here for Jovalich content, I would...
Speaker: ah urge you to go listen to our previous two episodes in which we spend a lot of time talking about Yovalich. So this is not going to be as Yovalich-y, as Decky-focused as some of our previous episodes. But let's just start from maybe the biggest bit of news that came out of training today. And it was a little bit of a downer, but maybe not entirely unexpected, is Jackson Reagan has a undisclosed...
Speaker: ah small, what do you say? ah small little small crack. Yeah. we Crack in the bone. He said something before that, like the non non weight bearing, non not non weight bearing. There and there you go.
Speaker: Yeah. So this is the, this is stemming from the injury that Reagan underwent last Wednesday or week ago, Wednesday. So 10 days ago against Austin. And if you remember ah going going down memory lane, he went down in a heap.
Speaker: It was it like a non-contact injury. There was some concern. They had the stretcher out and then it's like, he, he starts to feel better. he stays on the field. And then He comes out of halftime. He's still on the field. And then around the 67th minute, he starts, ah you know, showing some discomfort. They pull him out.
Speaker: And then you asked Brian Schmesser after the game about the injury. And he blew you, basically blew you off. was like, no, it's fine. He's he's totally fine. There's no injury. He just hyperextended his knee a little bit, which I think a lot of people...
Speaker: their ears perked up because hyper extending your knee is not a, is not nothing. ah And, and so it turns out to, we hadn't had a chance to really follow up with them about it.
Speaker: It turns out today that, like you said, there's some crack in his knee. Apparently this is something that happened to him before when he was with the U S national team. That was a couple of years ago.
Speaker: And so it's not an entirely new injury, but it is something that they are aware of and importantly, to the point, ah basically what he said is he has to stay off of, it he can't run on it for three weeks.
Speaker: And then after that, he called it a pain tolerance issue. So, you know, that's not, we had heard maybe that this was a, an injury that keep them out somewhere between six and 10 weeks.
Speaker: They're saying it's at least three weeks, but the way he worded it, it it's actually four weeks because it's he's already been out for a week, and it could be easily a couple more weeks until he's recovering, maybe more, right? It definitely seems like more than nothing, though, wouldn't you say?
Speaker: No, it does. it's Brilliant. You know, he cannot squeeze one last minute. He was very sad. I'll give him credit. He was very sad in his wording, and, you know, he goes – three weeks and he goes pain tolerance and, you know, it's, it's, it's a very good way to put it, but look, you're right. I mean, I've heard they could be up to at least eight weeks.
Speaker: And, you know, when you kind of take a really deep look at what he's saying, Three weeks before he can start jogging, he's probably not doing full training until about five weeks. He's probably not supposedly getting back into the field maybe six weeks. So we're getting close to the eight-week mark. And, man, I just – the way he – I don't know, try to categorize that injury as a tiny crack.
Speaker: A crack is a crack. I don't care what it is. You know, this is this is not, you know, the foundation of your home. and This is not like a joist in your roof. This is ah a bone. I mean, you know, if it's a crack, it's a crack. And so, look, it's it's definitely not ideal.
Speaker: I will say that... I didn't ask any further questions, but I will once again reiterate that it it it wasn't at the specific moment, to me at least, reasonable to leave Jackson on the field as long as you left him on the field when he had clearly felt something that was so...
Speaker: potent It was so sharp that he went down as if it was a non-contact injury. A stretcher was brought out. And then he kind of walks off. Sure, he he's saying, hey, I feel good. I'm okay. Let me get back into this game. And that's all right. But in the middle of the game with your adrenaline and and and, you know, you're you're still kind of...
Speaker: your body's hot from playing the game. And that term might not translate as well in English as I think it does, but you know, your body's kind of on a move mode.
Speaker: but once he cools down and it's going to hurt, you got to be able to protect the player from themselves. And that's the thing. i think that's kind the thing. That's the coach's job, right? that The coach's job is to protect the player from themselves. Hey, you want to play this game? I get it. I appreciate the effort. I appreciate the willingness to be out there, but look, Stu Hawkins is here.
Speaker: He's going to come in do the job. Let's get you tested. Let's get you checked out beyond that. um And so it goes back to Brian and, you know, he admitted it today, but, you know, it it really is hard to understand that decision.
Speaker: Even then, because I don't want to talk about hindsight 2020, we asked about it that day. Yeah, cause it was a, you know, very questionable call, if you will. And now ben we're hearing that he's actually really injured.
Speaker: Yeah, it's not a great look. I would say that, you know, I don't i don't want to be too hard on b Brian in this one. I don't know what kind of... we We don't know what Jackson said. We don't know what the physio said. So without knowing that stuff, it's it's hard to put it too much on on Brian, but he...
Speaker: he does seem to be kind of putting it on Jackson saying, well, Jackson said he wanted to play and he's a tough kid. And you know, it's ah yeah now calling it sort of like a, his return is sort of a pain tolerance issue.
Speaker: I don't know. None of this feels like a great look, especially for a team who has struggled with injuries as much as they have. And it's not going to make those questions go away. You know, I will say that Brian, Brian,
Speaker: we've already talked about this, but Brian did address this issue with the whole training staff, which is look, we can't really do anything right now, but in the off season, who knows?
Speaker: And I do think that this is just another you know, data point that says the team is not getting the best advice possible. And I don't want to, I don't put that on any one person's shoulders, but I think everyone that's watching this is seeing the same stuff. They're seeing repeated injuries and players being out longer than it seems like they should. Yay. Mar having multiple setbacks in his path back to recovery. We still don't have a clear timeline. I,
Speaker: Yamar hasn't played since March. I mean, this is a player who up until now had been mostly injury free. And so there's just a lot of examples of players struggling to get back on the field.
Speaker: Once they get back on the field, not being able to stay back on the field. And look, it's, it's a pattern that's going to have to be sorted out. Unfortunately, i don't think it's going to be sorted out anytime soon.
Speaker: We sort of have to cross our fingers that this, this injury epidemic is sort of beyond this past the sounders and they can move forward. And this week we did get some good news.
Speaker: Jordan Morris, Hassani Dotson, and Christian Roldan were able to make it through the entire week, fully in training. Jordan Morris walking off the field today was kind of joking about how he was walking off alone. I don't know if he meant that because he was expecting some of his teammates to be walking off with him, or if it's because he's so used to having a trainer walking off with him and sort of like,
Speaker: coaching him through things. So it was like just him him just normally walking off the field. Like was no big deal. So, you know, hopefully i don't think any one of those three players are going to start, but them being back in training did seem to help lift the mood on top of the result that they got on Saturday ah on top of the Yovlich signing ah rolled on.
Speaker: made some comments earlier in the week that he was going to try angle himself for a start, but it does not look like he's actually going to start, which I think is smart. Give him another week of, of getting back reintegrated. He hasn't played in a competitive game since before the club, the world cup, ah Jordan Morris, again, not, there's no reason to rush him back either.
Speaker: Hassani Dotson, same thing. What do you make of those trio though? And and what do you think we should expect? Yeah, look, unlike other shows and other, you know, media sites, we have boots on the ground every single training. And we're able to tell you guys that, ah you know, both of all three of those guys, they they have been really, really successful.
Speaker: pulling training and and not just that, but it's been, usually you can tell whoever's limited or they are doing specific training on their own. All three of those guys for at least this week, I talked to Hassani Dawson earlier this week and he said, look, i'm I've been full. I'm ready to go. I'm kind of,
Speaker: excited to get some minutes. So, you know, I think three of those guys are going to come in hungry. Jordan Morris today, when he was coming off, he, you know, just looks like a guy that's been working. He looks really lean. He looks really motivated. He was kind of looking back and it's well, by the first one out. Like, you know, i'm trying to get some extra to rehab, but there's nobody behind me. You know, i don't know. I just, i kind of feel like all three of those guys kind of feel like they are,
Speaker: almost needing to prove their worth, right? And it almost looks too big and what the team is going and what they are right now. So that's a positive. The Sounders having guys that are hungry and they feel like their spot is not...
Speaker: you know, secured is always great for competition at least. So all three have looked really good. Christian specifically, i think he's a guy that could provide a lot of real need to this team of having a pivot that understands the system that can give you some defensive measures, but it's really good on the ball and and providing some distribution from that area. He's a leader in the squad. He talked about leadership this week and, uh,
Speaker: Something that's been needed. I mean, even more than, let's say, Jordan Speed, having that perfect pivot, the perfect partner to, let's say, a guy like Snyder Brunel, man, it's it's such a missing component that i think is important. Now, I don't know if he's going to start.
Speaker: If he doesn't, you might get the other role done in that position. But at the end of the day, just being able to see that he is working himself back into this lineup is important. I asked him, hey, you know, how difficult has it been to be out when the team continues to lose and he's like man it's it's extremely hard to just be able to watch your team and not be able to be there but now that i'm available i just want to come in and and make a difference so those are good all good aspects for this team is having guys that want to come in and make a difference and have an impact immediately and that's what this team needs
Speaker: Yeah, you know, I thought the most interesting comments that we got this week from anybody probably were Paul Rothrock yesterday. and you know, look, Paul is a ah relentlessly positive character.
Speaker: He is big into sort of visualizing the future that you want to see. And he is, you know, I wouldn't. I'm sure he's into manifesting and these kinds of things. And look, he says all he's, he's saying all the right things. He's, he's talking about how I really think this is going to be a special season for us. Now. I mean, he said that last year too, and he wasn't, wasn't far off to be, to be fair to him.
Speaker: ah you know, but he, he, he really thinks that ah they've got some real upside left in this seat in this season. And, and look, the reality is that they have 13 regular season games left. They have more than a third of the regular season left. If they go, they don't have to even go on that spectacular of a run but not just get back into playoff position, but to, to put themselves in, in strong position to even be the,
Speaker: have home field advantage in the first round. So it's, it's not that far off. It's not that crazy for them to think that there's a lot left to play for. Now, of course, the the trick is that they can't just talk about being positive. They can't just talk about the mood improving. They can't just talk about the vibes being high.
Speaker: They got it for that to all continue. It's it's really important. You know, ah Jada Evans, the Seattle Times ah beat reporter asked us if she if we think this is a must win game.
Speaker: I thought it was an interesting question because it's it's not from any sort of technical perspective. It's not a must win game. They can lose this game and the season could still be fine.
Speaker: But I do think there is a must-win aspect to this because they have there is so much positivity going right now. They need that momentum to continue.
Speaker: And they're going to have probably the biggest crowd that they had all year. It looks like there's going to maybe be 40,000 people in the stands. They've already started selling a ton of those 300 sections.
Speaker: Apparently, there's going to whole lot of i um ah youth teams in attendance at this game. Robert Lewandowski is supposed to play for the Chicago fire.
Speaker: Day on Jovo, it's obviously his, his sounders debut. Schmetzer told us he was going to start. There's a lot moving forward to get people into the stands, but now they need to perform because it doesn't really matter how good the vibes are.
Speaker: If they don't get a win, right? Yeah. Totally. no and And that's the difficult part. And I said this to you guys, like this would be a must win, but look, Chicago is substantially better.
Speaker: They are third in the Easter conference. They have real star power. They have some really good young attacking players. They have a solid defense. They are a team that's well-structured and they don't have as many injuries as a sounder. So asking them to, you know,
Speaker: Win this game. i don't know. seems like a stretch. And now positive. No, I'm positive. Look, I'm positive because village gives you that much. That's what you get.
Speaker: Whenever you go out there and get a DP, that's proven. That's a plug and play is that it immediately rises your level. It's not, there's no question. There's no, what if no, no, no. The guys up here. And what I've learned this week is,
Speaker: if I may say so myself, is that Joe Village is as advertised. The dude looks... I don't want to be mean, but he looks out of place. Like he looks like he's so much better than anything that I've seen over the last six months. I mean, his movement, he's finishing, the way he gets on the ball, the attitude, the way he attacks his pace. I mean, everything about his game.
Speaker: just makes you be like, man, what has this been? Like, oh my God, I forgot that ah a striker could make two moves off the ball and get rid of the marker and have a wide open header. Like, I'm i'm not kidding you, Jeremiah. that That's what I said this week where i was like, oh, oh man, I forgot that's a basic move for a striker. Like that's literally what it's been.
Speaker: Jovlich beat Stephen Fry twice to the same corner with the same curler shot as if it was just in his head. Like it was just designed. Like it's just, that's, that's where the ball goes.
Speaker: I'm going to open up my hip. I'm going to cut inside. I'm going to put it right in a curler to the, to the left corner of the keeper. And he's going to go in. That's how good he's been, man. I mean, it's, I'm not trying to like oversell it. Like I'm dead serious. It, it has felt almost like he's, I hope he's not feeling like he's going into a team where he could just kind of,
Speaker: It's so easy to score goals, right? And I know that we got Jamar and Jackson out, right? And some young guys. He's typically playing with the starters, no one's on his side. But, man, i just I just think it's been phenomenal because I do feel like this guy is ready to go. Like, he is going to go into the Chicago game, and regardless of how much better Chicago is, at the very least, I feel like the Sunners, they can score some goals.
Speaker: Yeah, I would think that that's the big thing that a number nine gives you is that it's not so much that Jovo Lich fixes everything, but I do think having a striker like him just imbues everybody else with a level of confidence that look, if we can just create a couple chances, we can stay in this game. We can win this game, even if we aren't the best team on the, on the balance and, and being able to steal a result. You know, you just go back to the, the game, the Sounders played against sporting Kansas city before this streak started where they scored that early goal. You thought it was going to be an easy game. And then you have Litch just kind of sneaks a sneaks in behind. He picks off a pass from Christian rolled on and he scores, which is not, it's, it wasn't an easy finish, but he makes it look easy. And that gets a result for sporting Kansas city.
Speaker: And that's the kind of thing that a striker like him can do for you. And it's a reason that I do understand why the Sounders were so focused on making, bringing in a new number nine.
Speaker: And it's, it's something that you look when, when they're creating loads of chances, you can put almost anyone up there and they're going to score goals. The Sounders got 30 goals. from their starting strikers last year between, or I'm sorry, between De Rosario, Mussovsky and Morris. They got 30 goals between them across all competitions. It wasn't because any one of them were superstars. It's just because they created so many chances that those guys were able to finish them. And they were, you know, they, all of them basically finished at their expected level. When you look at XG,
Speaker: And, and, and they just haven't been able to do that this year. They, they haven't had as many chances, but they've also been pretty wasteful. All three of them are underperforming their XG by a reasonably fair amount. And it doesn't, it's going to be shocking to me. Shocking. If you have little, doesn't end up as the sounders leading scorer, even though he's starting two thirds of the season are with already, already finished. So yeah,
Speaker: I do really like this move. i think that you can see the positivity that's coming out of it. ah That said, there that sounds like there's going to be some, some, i don't know, want say fallout because that makes it sound super negative, but there is going to be, it sounds like there's some changes in the works. Yeah.
Speaker: On one hand, some movement. There you go. ah We asked Brian Schmetzer about that today and he was somewhat noncommittal, but if you, you don't have to read too far between the lines to see that.
Speaker: Oh, Sazer De Rosario is probably the odd man out. And from what we're hearing, it sounds like alone is the most likely scenario, most likely within MLS.
Speaker: Is anything else to add to that? No, look, I hate to say it, both you and I, think, are very high or at least higher on Osase than we are on Danny Missovsky. Yes. But Brian, from his lineup choice to the presser, when he said, look, I have Sebastian Gomez on my first season,
Speaker: player off the bench and then I have Osase and almost like rolls his eyes about it. Hey, you know what? It's easy to identify that he doesn't quite rate him. And it's the same thing that happened with Georgie Monungu, where you knew that he didn't trust him to bring him on on the field. And, you know, maybe the same thing as Danny Leyva. Look, sometimes coaches just have their guys and they don't rate certain guys. And I think Osase has fallen.
Speaker: And I don't know whether that is because of attitude or training sessions or effort. I don't know, but whatever it it is, it's very clear that Brian, you know, he can do without Osase and,
Speaker: If I'm trying to loan somebody, which is what you and I kind of know, that the team would like to get these players some playtime, Osas is the younger player, he's better prospect, he has a a name of recognition,
Speaker: He has a ah great frame. Hey, that's a guy that I'm willing to take. I don't know if, you know, 30-year-old Danny Musavsky with the one double-digit goal-scoring season is what I want. So, hey, you know, it makes sense. And so now that we're kind of hearing this coming from the team, it's pretty clear that he could be a guy that might be moving on from the Sounders.
Speaker: Yeah, and and I know people are, their initial reaction to this is going to be, a lot of people are going have a negative reaction to this, and I understand it. Like, look, like you said, both of us, I think, are higher on Osase's potential, but even like his current form. He is a more, I think, a more useful player.
Speaker: He can do, if he's not scoring, he can still provide value. Whereas Danny, if he's not scoring, he's really not providing you anything. He's not particularly good at holdup. He's not a particularly good presser. He's not a good passer. You can just kind of run them the list. And if he's not getting in the box and finishing chances, he's not doing a lot for you.
Speaker: That said, unless you have a trade partner who's willing to give you something of value for Danny Masovsky, and he's got four goals across all competitions, he's got one goal in league play.
Speaker: There's probably not the best market to try to move him. Whereas Osaze, you can just send him on loan. You can potentially get something of value in exchange for that loan.
Speaker: At the very least, you can get him minutes. And that's what he needs. He needs minutes and he needs minutes at a higher level than next pro. He needs minutes at a higher level than USL championship. And so if you can find someone in MLS to just commit to playing him, even some, that's probably better off because the reality is that Brian Schmetzer's your coach. Brian Schmetzer's making these decisions. And he, I think, has made it very clear that his hierarchy has Osaze at the bottom of the four strikers that are currently on the roster, meaning Dejan,
Speaker: ah day on ah Morris, and Mosovsky. And just his, everything he's shown us is that Osaze is the guy he rates the least. So that's the guy you got to move. that's what That's how this goes, unfortunately.
Speaker: No, it is. It is. And look, to be quite honest, it's good for him, Osase. If you can go somewhere where you can get some, you know, relative good minutes, it's good for the club to, you know, move that on and perhaps bring in a winger with that extra additional salary. You could have somebody that could play both, right? I mean, we've talked about Makaya Joyner, who unfortunately didn't fall through as a U22 possibility. But, you know, that's a guy that was...
Speaker: He could play out wide as a winger or he could play a striker. So I think that's what the team is looking for right now. There's no doubt to me that they're probably looking outside of MLS. They want pace. They want a guide that is going to be a proven commodity to a certain extent that can be another presence on the, uh,
Speaker: the 18 that can maybe play in that circuit position. So when you move on Osase, you know that you got a void there. And so, yeah, I feel like that's the way you want to go with it.
Speaker: Sounder at Heart has been around in one form or another since 2009. In 2026, though, we make a pretty significant evolution when we go analog. Yes, that's right. In the year of our Lord, 2026, we are publishing a real life magazine. We're calling this thing 4, as in Sounder at Heart 4.0. But we're stylizing it as IV because we absolutely love Roman numeral. And if you want to refer to it as IV, that's cool too. The first issue has a comic book style cover that was hand drawn by local artist Kevin Newbern. Features by Tim Foss, Susie Rance, and Charlie Boehm. A statistical deep dive by Kat Bush. A Q&A with b Brian Schmetzer. A column by G. Willow Wilson. And photographs by Noah Reif, Max Aquino, Mike Russell, and Jane Gershowitz. I could not possibly be more proud of the work everyone put into making this, and I think you're going to absolutely love it. If you'd like to get your hands on one of these limited edition copies, we're currently selling them for $15 on our website. Get yours now.
Speaker: Yeah, so from what we're hearing, the Sounders are still very much in the market for another player, maybe more than that. They they told us that they are still looking at center mids. They are looking at potentially a left wing back. But the top of their list is a winger of some sort, maybe a winger who can also play a little bit of forward, which helps explain why Osalde de Rosario was even more ah was even more excess than than he already was.
Speaker: What we're hearing though, as far as what they're pursuing and they seem, don't know, I would say they seem reasonably confident that they'll, they'll get something done. They're not guaranteeing anything, but it it sounds like they're looking at both internally, like within MLS. And they're also looking at international players. They do have one open international roster spot. They can potentially open up a second one if they really needed to.
Speaker: i assume they would only do that if they, they sort of fell in love with someone. But like you said, they they had been looking at Joyner from St. Louis. And the impression I get, and I don't know, i don't have hard information on this, but maybe they're looking at other teams, U22s that might be, you know, sort of distressed assets.
Speaker: Anything that you're hearing is that would give us a hint of what kind of player they're looking at to bring in. Yeah, look, ah the the team, and and I asked Brian about it today, they need pace. They need somebody that's going to be good on 1v1 situations, someone that could beat a defender off the dribble. A lot of the things that you were kind of missing would or that you had with Georgie, but now, and I've said this in our last show, in our DP show, is you're looking to...
Speaker: improve on that, right? A guy that has a Georgie ability, but maybe has a better service into the box that maybe has a better finishing quality when it comes to him being part of that buildup and crashing the box late in the 18, maybe closing the gap on that far post. So those are the things that they're looking at. And yes, you got the U22, which is probably the easiest way that you're going to be able to occupied the salary cap that you have left. But I feel like, or I'm hearing that they're also looking external into international players because I don't know how many players with the attributes that this team needs are with the salary that they have, with the limitations of a U22, are really out there, right? You start to really close down and minimize your pool. And so, you know, if there is an international, there are ways to get another international spot.
Speaker: in this roster, they know that. And so, you know, whether it is doing a couple of things within the roster or not, I feel like they are strongly pursuing the best possible player is that they're really not limiting themselves into one side or the other. And I think it just talks again, once again, to the front office, wanting to do more and trying to really capitalize on this jovelish deal.
Speaker: Yeah. And I think that that's the right mindset again. I think that skepticism is warranted. This team has not signed a player from out. This is the Jovlich thing was the first the the first player they'd signed from outside the organization in since 2021.
Speaker: The reality is that they have not even brought in a player from outside of the league since Pedro de la Vega. I don't think. Yeah. Which is crazy to think that they, they have not brought in anyone from outside, sorry, outside of North America.
Speaker: So it's the sounders still have some work to do to to quiet the skeptics. I do think it'll be interesting how this plays out. And, and you know, ah Adrian Hanauer put out a letter this week that talked about, uh,
Speaker: them understanding that people are upset them appreciating that fans are not happy with the, not just the on field product, but understanding that this is a bigger issue, that it's not something that's as simple as you guys lost.
Speaker: eight straight games. It's not as simple as you have lost 10 of 11 games overall. It's much bigger than that. It is a it's a sense that this team has lost its way that has not fulfilled its promises to its fans in terms of the standards that they hold themselves to. And i think that part of that is signing more players. I mean, it's as simple as that.
Speaker: but let's not delude ourselves into thinking that this is as simple as Craig Weibel needs to do a better job of signing players. The team needs to do a better job of hiring people in positions of power to raise the entire thing up from, I have heard so many negative comments about Hugh Weber after he left. I had heard a lot of them before he left, but people were really not losing ah inside the organization and outside the organization.
Speaker: We're not at all upset to see him leave the organization, him leave. It does seem interesting that all of a sudden he leaves. They sign a player almost immediately. They open the 300 section for this game against the Chicago fire and they start making promises about improving sort of customer service and a lot of these outward facing things. So,
Speaker: I think the Sounders do understand that they have a long ways to go to sort of regain the trust of fans. And look, the Yovelich thing was a very, was a first step. It was a positive first step. It's an important first step, but let's also not pretend like everything is fixed. The team still hasn't won a game in more than a hundred days.
Speaker: They still are, ah you know, they're still coming off of a very disappointing season ticket renewal campaign. And, you know, hopefully it all starts to really turn around this week.
Speaker: Yeah. And look, I'll say something very short about this. I will just say that it's it's very clear to me that with Hugh Webber, at the very least, there was somebody holding on to the e-break on a lot of things. And that's now that he's gone, you're starting to release that e-break and you get some of these things going out. But look, I'm with fans in terms of ah it just feels like the statement came out at the wrong possible time. And look, I'm not putting this on, on, on just an Adrian. Cause Adrian, I feel like, again, I'm never going to question his love for the fans, his love for the team. But a lot of times he does things that,
Speaker: are the wrong time or, or he just doesn't maybe trying to make something better and he makes it worse. And that, that's all I'll say. I don't think it's intentional, but this specific statement coming right after the Joe Vlishtin just seems like he takes away a lot of what you did. And he feels almost like, you know, just very, you template-like, and I'm just going to put this out there because I got to put it out there. So didn't love that. I will say that. But I think moving forward, this team is going to be back to
Speaker: believe in in some of the things that they did before. And you're starting to see that just by the way things are happening on the pitch. So, ah man, I didn't didn't love that initiative from the front office. But to your point, I do think that it's moving in the right direction.
Speaker: It is moving in the right direction. And look, until there are actions, all there can be are words. And the first action was Jovulic. The second action was opening up the 300 section.
Speaker: And we'll see what actions follow after that. So they're saying the right stuff. They're making the right steps. But they are not done. And I think that's sort of the point. that they cannot we cannot allow them to rest on their laurels. We have to keep holding them to account. And i can understand how Craig Weibel might feel like some of that statement was a little targeted towards him, where Adrian Hanauer reminds fans that it's like, look, we've got a GM vote that's coming up, and if you don't like what we're doing, i yeah he didn't say that. Yeah, no, he didn't. he didn't, he didn't like totally throw a Weibel under the bus. And honestly, I don't think he wants fans to vote Weibel out. I've heard a lot of speculation from fans that it's like, wow, it it seems like he's almost inviting us to, to vote out Weibel. I don't think that's the case. I think he is self-aware enough to understand that if,
Speaker: Craig were to be voted out, that this is as much, if not more of a commentary on the entire organization than it is on Weibel, because it's not really, it should not be a mystery. It should not be surprising to anyone.
Speaker: that the the lack of signings is in large part due to a lack of budget. And that the reason that they got this signing done was because budget somewhat suddenly appeared and credit to Craig Weibel for being in a position to take advantage of that and to make it happen.
Speaker: I think that I really do love this Jovlich signing. I think it has the potential to be a massive mass, you know, spark ah a significant turnaround. So we'll see how it goes. But again,
Speaker: I just don't want anyone to think that we are satisfied. I hear fans that say like, look, this is the start. and And that's what it has to be. It has to be the start. If the Sounders continue to spiral, if they can't turn this into results, then it was all for nothing, to be honest with you.
Speaker: Yeah, look, Jeremiah, before we move on to the Chicago game, I will say that I agree with you and that – I think Craig Weibel in this press conference did a very good job at illustrating how hard it was and the effort he put in to make sure that he kept on Jovlich and the ownership in Sporting Kansas City to get this deal done. yeah And if you are out there wondering why now, is this a panic buy? Maybe it is. But if you want to know why and you're asking me what's different about this transfer window than the last four weeks,
Speaker: I'm taking a guess here, but looking at the writing on the wall, it feels like the one thing that's different is that a lot of fingers were no longer pointing at Craig Weibel, but as a pointing at Adrian Hanout. Exactly. And came to a point where it was so...
Speaker: embarrassing So obvious. So in your face that, you know, he had to go out there and pull the the wallet out. And if you're asking yourself why another MLS guy, look, as Brian said on KJR, there is some GAM stuff that can go into this. There's some money that can be turned. There are aspects from this move that whether we know the details or not, because I'm not going to go ahead and share those. And and i don't really know the specifics.
Speaker: is easier to get things done within MLS than it is to go out there and get a job a Dejan Jovilić type player In South America or in Europe or in Asia, I mean, it it takes a lot more. It takes a transfer budget. It takes all of these other things. This is a way that Adrian Hanauer can make the best the the most of his money and the most of the resources. So that's why you get that. But I just wanted to clarify that i I'm with you. I love this move. I think that it's important now. Fans could feel any way that they want. That's their prerogative. They could feel any way they want, but I just wanted to go ahead and put that out there.
Speaker: Yeah, exactly. And and the thing is is that the vote is not quite yet. The vote is coming up for, ah is is not is not coming up at least until September. the that was The other big thing that was announced was that the annual business meeting is going to be held on September 26th before the Minnesota United game, which I think is going to be, that's the first time that they've ever had ah an annual business meeting connected to an actual game. So instead of asking you to go to a, a second location or to get online, they're just holding it right before the game from two to four. It's not right before the game, but it's before the game.
Speaker: I love that. It's a way of bringing more people into it. It's hopefully going to give an opportunity to ask some real questions, to put some pressure on the organization, to answer some real questions. So many times the, the,
Speaker: The annual business meeting ends up just being a bunch of PowerPoints and a bunch of sort of like easy to avoid questions. I suspect it's going to be a little harder for that to be the case this time.
Speaker: So, you know, we'll see. We'll see how that goes. But again, these are all good steps. I think it's moving in the right direction. And hopefully they can they can put some real action to it by getting a win on Saturday.
Speaker: Yeah, and look, this is going to be a difficult game. We heard from Paul Rothrock, from Christian Roldan, and from Brian today. This is a good team. Greg Barharter is a guy that whatever – pre-assumption you have of him. He's a very good coach, a 4-3-3 format. He's a possession coach. He specifically with Chicago, he's going to overload you out wide. Goodman is one of my favorite fullbacks in the league. I love Goodman. The way he gets forward is effortless. He's so good with his delivery on the ball. He sets up. If you go back to the Monterey game, he's probably one of the best players for Chicago in that game. He sets up the one goal that Chicago gets. So those overloads are going to be extremely important and difficult for the Sounders to be able to minimize and contain. ah I'm going to kill this name, but Dijon, he is a very good player that is is extremely explosive. He can finish very well. I think he does very good in transition moments. Of course, you got Lewandowski. Yeah.
Speaker: the the The midfield with Soltero is very good. Defensively, they're a team that bends but doesn't break too often. So, look, I think this is a very good parameter of where this team is at today, which, look, if we're to be fair, expectations shouldn't be extremely high, right? I mean, this team still has a whole lot of players missing. i don't necessarily see Christian starting this game. Maybe he does, but still, you know, maybe you get some players in, in this one, but it's going to be difficult regardless of being at home and being important and you having a brand new DP, it's going to be a difficult game.
Speaker: Yeah. ah and the The reality is is that the Chicago fire are a very good offensive team. They have ah also been pretty good defensively. This is not a, a team that the Sounders should take lightly in any sense of the matter.
Speaker: This is, you know, they, they gave all four league MECI's teams, all they could, they could handle. It's a, You know, it's it's it's it's a tough one. But again, if they are if the one thing that's working in their favor, it's that they will be a little bit more.
Speaker: but They might rotate because that they're in they're sort of at the tail end of a very, very busy August. I believe this is the eighth game in August that they all have played.
Speaker: They just played on Tuesday. so you know, that there might be some rotation. Maybe the Sounders can take a little bit of advantage of that. But I, you know, honestly, i wouldn't, i wouldn't get too, you know, I wouldn't get too wrapped up in hoping that there's a bunch of rotation because,
Speaker: They might not need to. And this is this is the it's a good team, like I said. it It is a deep team. I mean, if you look at it, look, let let's say they don't start with what they did against Monterey. Jonathan Bamba came off the bench in this one, right? Pineda came off the bench in this one. Robin Lode, who did he just pick up, came off the bench in that one. So they have a lot of talented, well-proven players coming into this game.
Speaker: And it all goes back to being a very good managed team. team. So they're going to some they're goingnna get everything that they asked for in this one. And Peter Kingston will be out with a accumulation of yellow cards. So he won't be available. We've already know that, you know, certain players like Jimmer Gomez and Grada won't be there. Paul Arriola. So how can the Sounders really be able to manage this? If Christian doesn't start, I'm guessing it's going to be a combination of Alex and Burnell at midfield.
Speaker: Probably we'll see Sebas Gomez again. Rothrock, Look, regardless of I asked him a question that I don't think he liked too much this week, but look, ah I'm um opposite of the narrative. I think I'm ready to just admit that Paul Rothrocks is a he's a starter in this team. And if I'm looking for a winger, I'm probably looking on the opposite side of Paul Rothrocks. So, you know, i don't want Seba Gomez being the starter, due to respect the kid, but that's probably what I'm looking at. I want somebody else to be able to play there. I'm done with the inverted wingers as well. You don't have that availability right now. Go ahead and go with a real straight down the line winger on that side. so Use the width of the field. So maybe that works against a team like Chicago. Yeah.
Speaker: Obviously not right now, but eventually you will. But in this one, I do feel like it's important for you to be able to pin back Goodman and don't allow him to be have a free lane, have a freeway, an I-5 for him to just fly through back and forth. You got to be able to force him to defend. So um Brian seems very optimistic. also heard Paul Rothrock very optimistic on how they could face this team. He said that they have some...
Speaker: you know, deficiencies. And so I hope that you can exploit those. Yeah, absolutely. Well, I think that's probably a good place to call it for now. Nico, it's been a busy week.
Speaker: I look forward to, you know, I'll i'll give you, ah I'll let people know we are a little closer to finalizing plans for unveiling our new show on the network.
Speaker: It will most likely be a live show. We can tell you that it'll be on Do we want to say when we want to it's probably going to be Monday afternoons. Yeah. Uh, so it's going to be sort of like a lunchtime a little late lunchtime activity. If you want to watch that, uh, we are still finalizing details on the cohost.
Speaker: And i think this will be a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to having a live show back on the network again. And, and we're also looking at potentially turning this into a live show.
Speaker: it will be a little different, it but, you know I think that would maybe be ah interesting. So things, changes and exciting stuff coming up for you, I guess is what I'm telling the listeners. Again, i will remind you that August is the most important membership month in Sounder at Heart. If you want to support what we're doing, please consider becoming a member.
Speaker: Plans start as low as $30 a year. And they go all the way up to as much as $500 a year if you really want to get crazy. So anyway, we really support, we really appreciate all your support and just want to say thank you to everyone that has been making this possible.
Speaker: I am Jeremiah Shan signing off for Nico Moreno. This is no Saudi at this part of the sounder heart podcast network, and we'll catch you next time.
Speaker: Let's go at Sounders.
