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.
Speaker: Ooch of a gooch! All creatures, great and small! Rothrock gonna collect it, he does just about, runs into the advertising order. Low to our left, ball goes in! Oh, what a goal! Where's my copy? got bunch of them How many do you cost them? 50 bucks.
Speaker: I'll deadline you.
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 Adientes on the Sounder Heart Podcast Network. I am Jeremiah Shan. It is Friday, and I am once again joined by Nico Moreno for what we learned this week. Nico, o it's been it's been rough. It's been rough around these parts.
Speaker: It's been a week. It's definitely been a week. Thank you, Jeremiah, as always. Audience, family of Sounder Heart, always a pleasure to be here with you to see what we learned about a grim, dark, frustrating, difficult week with the Sounders. And I'm just, um I'm not going try to have an angle. Sometimes I'm like, you know what? I'm going to be a little positive.
Speaker: Sometimes I'm like, okay, you know what? It's time to just swing the hammer. Today, I'm just a coin toss. I'm going to lead i'm gonna let it be. Whatever we go, we go. And then hopefully I don't get too irate and we can just have a ah good conversation about what happened with the Sounders in a couple of games and what's ahead, of course.
Speaker: Yeah, so since we last recorded, the Sounders played Austin FC. They lost 2-1. And I don't know if this was, that look i don't want to, I don't want to sugarcoat it.
Speaker: Austin FC is a bad team. They looked like a bad team. They probably should have been leading at halftime, but the Sounders did come out in the second half and they probably had their best stretch of offensive play that they've had in literal months, literal months yeah in other than maybe the correct, the road game.
Speaker: where they created a bunch of chances. they Their press actually created a lot of those chances. Snyder Brunel came in at halftime. he looked energetic. He put a spark into the team.
Speaker: And it was I had this odd feeling, though, because it went from in the first half where I had this sort of comfort in knowing that this was a bad team and not really expecting much. And I started getting nervous in the second half because I saw them playing well. And I'm like, man, if they, they play like this and they don't win, that's really brutal.
Speaker: And sure enough, ah really against the run of play, Orlando or Orlando, uh, Austin FC scores first on a really dumb goal. Like, let's be, let's be honest.
Speaker: Uh, it was a well taken shot by Facundo Torres who had scored one other goal this year, the big DP signing. It is sort of a, one of the, the many, many, uh,
Speaker: examples of why it's so frustrating to spend money in this league. But anyway, Fagundo Torres gets allowed to just walk into the penalty area completely unmarked. It was either Snyder Brunel just not following his mark, which is to me most likely would happen there. Or you can also, can, you can put it on Kim Kihei for being so slow to step.
Speaker: Either way, totally clean. Look at goal. He scores. And then they add the Sounders come close to getting an equalizer. I did think we may as well hover on this a little bit. ah Albert Rusnak gets a shot off that.
Speaker: that had Brian Spencer says he scores nine out of 10 times. And I got to tell you, there's a lot of shots that Brian Spencer insists that Albert Rusek scores nine out of 10 times. I don't know that this was one of them. It was a good chance.
Speaker: He forced a decent save, but it was, it was nothing like a gimme shot. I don't know what i thought that was kind of a, it's a funny little turn of phrase that Brian uses saying that guys are supposed to score anything, frankly, nine out of 10 times. But yeah,
Speaker: But then Austin, of course, gets the gets what turns out to be the game winner. Look, and and we can talk about this, too. I think Paul Rothrock is probably guilty of trying to do too much.
Speaker: He dribbles out of the box instead of just booting it away. it turns it over. And then Brandon, Brandon Vosquez, who frankly was bad in this game. I thought he was basically invisible.
Speaker: just throws a blind cross to the back post bureau comes flying in. Honestly, a great goal from the perspective that if they try this play a hundred times, if he puts that on frame five, I think that's pretty high.
Speaker: i don't think that's, that's a about as low probability of a chance as you're going to create, but look, Austin, went for it. They got it. The Sounders get a, get a, a late goal from Stuart Hawkins, which is great to see.
Speaker: They cut it to two one. They, they put a little pressure on at one point, look like they may be able to pull out a tie. But anyway, in the end, it's another, it's an eighth straight loss overall in league play. It's their fourth straight league loss at home.
Speaker: These are obviously club records. I don't know. ah this was This was one of the worst teams in the league, 14th place in the Western Conference. They were they rotated 10 players, including their goalkeeper, who was getting his first MLS start.
Speaker: I mean, they made them work, but just another, another example of a team that just cannot get out of its own way that can't beat bad opponents. You look at the teams that they've played during the stretch, this eight game stretch.
Speaker: ah All but one of those teams was out of a playoff spot when they played them. That team was LAFC who had lost three straight coming into the game. This is not a tough stretch of the schedule.
Speaker: It is only tough because they have been so bad and so injured. I don't know where, where we go from here. I'd said a lot of things. Where do we go from here? Nico? ah Yeah. Like a guy that both you and I respect a lot that we will not name. Then we've talked, you know, i thought said it best. Like, you know, is there,
Speaker: a point like, can we drop enough? Can you fall far enough? I don't know. I don't know if, right I don't know. I don't know if there's a, there's an end to the well, like, you know, you threw the coin and you still haven't heard it hit the bottom. And I don't know if, if you're going to hear the bottom. Right. So it's just, it's difficult to just look at this team and be optimistic about anything.
Speaker: You said it all. Basically you said half of my notes, but what I would reiterate is that, In these eight games that this team has lost, they've lost to the worst from the East in Philadelphia. They've lost to the worst of the West. And now Austin, you give Austin their first win on the road. You have lost Cascadia. You've lost to Portland. You've lost to Vancouver. you Man, there's just...
Speaker: A variety of losses that I never thought that you you'd see from this team. Some has been frustrating games where they looked okay at one point and not the other. There are other games where they just look completely...
Speaker: you know, outperformed and outmatched and almost on uninspiring. So, man, is it's it's been a rough one for for the Sounders. um What I did learn this week was that
Speaker: the team cannot get away from injuries. They cannot get away from easy goals. As you mentioned, look, the the goal that that you give up against one for Kondo Torres that has struggled since coming back into MLS. He mentioned it himself during the press conference I was there. He's kind of asked to do a new role, very different to what he did in Orlando, where he was able to be more free, a lot more in the attacking third. But in that particular goal, man, it's it's all about
Speaker: Being slow in defensive transition, I mean, it's it's a very quick and simple switching the point of attack from Austin. Then there's a very quick one-two with Jaden Nelson that, i don't know, there's just a lot of ball watching. And then you allow Facundo Torres to just stroll, like you said. He just jogs into the 18. Nobody's following the runner. Kim Kihi is...
Speaker: You know, in no man's time, I don't know who he's trying to mark. And Snyder Burnell, he is too passive and too far off the marker. He needs to be yelling at, if he notices that Kim Ki-hee has his back completely turned and is completely unaware that there is a jogging number 11 behind him, you've got to be able to let him know. So this is just, again, more compounding problems of lack of intensity at moments, a lot of miscommunication.
Speaker: And i will say that although the goals didn't happen in the first half, in the second half, I mean, the goals happen in the first half and they happened second half when the Sanchez played their better ball. I was still very confused by a lot of the starting 11. First of all,
Speaker: Love Kim Ki-hee. Nice guy. I think he's a very solid piece. If you needed a guy to come in and help you, um you know, because your starters went out and he could come in and sub in and and at at one point that made sense in the season. But as the season goes along and I don't know the, the possibility of this team really making a run in the playoffs to me, at least looks farther and farther away. i mean, they're close to being cooked to be honest, because of all the injuries and Lucifer, or that's just my take on it. But you should already be looking at guys that are going to be big pieces next year. I mean, that's just the way I would approach yeah So how Stu Hawkins doesn't get the start instead of Kim Kihee, I don't understand. The second
Speaker: thing that I questioned about the starting 11 was Danny Mussovsky. I don't know how you stick with Danny Mussovsky after he had a horrible game, a horrible game against Vancouver. And then you stick with him and and he was just as bad in this one. He had the one opportunity. Sure. He still didn't put it away.
Speaker: So that that's number one. Number two is, look, I never saw it. And I went back and I looked at it. But when Jada Evans asked Brian about, you know, changing formations and things, look, I was surprised that he said that this team played in a four diamond two because I never saw it. Now I know that it had been mentioned in the press box and I thought people were just, I don't know, joking. Cause Look, I went back and looked at it and it looked more like a Dorito. I never saw the diamond. I never saw the two up top.
Speaker: You know, Brian said that maybe it was personnel. I mean, if you're going to play with two up top, play with two up top. Play with both of your strikers. You're giving me this all Rothrock play up there. Come on.
Speaker: Like, really? That's what we're doing? And I don't want to be contradictory because I did say that I wanted this team to try something, but this is not what I meant. I mean, I thought that you were going to simplify the game, right? well When your team is not doing well and you're down in the bottom of your roster with, with what you have available, you simplify it. You don't complicate it. And you certainly don't complicate it one day in, in in a quick turnaround when you had one day to really put it together. Cause you have a region day. I mean,
Speaker: It blows my mind. and And the team looked confused. The press was terrible. they i mean The press was very bad. Austin was passing through them like they were little kids. Like, that you know, when you play with your with your kids' as friends and, you know, they're still 80 years old and they're all just coming at you. It looked that simple, man. So, oh, man, see, already got upset. But...
Speaker: that that That was confusing to me. The game overall was bad ah because that for us was horrendous. Then you kind of put it together in the second half and you you look like you could have probably won that game at one point, obviously, because, you know, Austin ends up asking the ref, hey, man, you to call this thing? I mean, the the the coach for Austin was like all over the fourth official and they wanted the game to be over. But it was a little too late, man. So I just I don't understand it. I really don't.
Speaker: Yeah, I also went back and watched the first half specifically looking to see if I can see this diamond shape. And i guess if you... you can know You can at least imagine that the instructions that... Like, there's semblances of it, but it just didn't... It didn't look any different to me than it looked... and and Like, you you put out the same personnel that you would put out in a 4-2-3-1, and lo and behold, it looks like 4-2-3-1, know? It looks...
Speaker: oh you know All the time, Rothrake ends up being playing almost as a forward anyway. That's sort of the assignment of the left winger in the Sounders 4-2-3-1.
Speaker: So yeah, I didn't really see it, but if anything, I'm with you. I think it confused the press. The press was an absolute mess in the first half and it was a lot better in the second half. That's something that I think you can take away from it is like, look, if you're, and I don't know where this diamond midfield came from either. They've not trained in that almost at all, all year.
Speaker: They have trained in this three, four, three. So why not use a three, four, three? i don't understand that. Um, But there I think what we're seeing is that a lot of players are being asked to do things that they just aren't set up to do. And and to some degree, that is just the fault of all these injuries. and But I still do come back to this idea that it's like, if you look at that lineup, it's not that different than what we would have expected.
Speaker: Sebastian Gomez, no. that We didn't expect him to be a starter. Peter Kingston, no. We didn't really expect him to be a starter. But, you know, a lot of other guys in there are players who were plausibly in this starting group.
Speaker: Albert Rusnak, top of the list. Danny Masofsky, top of the list. Paul Rothrock, top of the list. You kind of go through Jackson Reagan, Alex Rola, not in the defensive midfield.
Speaker: i don't know how I feel about Alex Roldan in the defensive midfield. Let's actually, let's let's stop on that one. this seems to be the default sort of position that they have found themselves in.
Speaker: do you, do you like him being used there?
Speaker: i do just cause I think it's the, most conservative and the one that gives you the highest floor and when team is in shambles and on fire as this team is you need to again be just better on the ball. And I think he does that. He's played, you know, center back before he's, you know, been a guy that, you know, could have some real strong defensive instances and, and contribution, something that this team doesn't have a lot of. I've thought at one point that maybe Tino could do that because he had a decent game, but then the next one wasn't as good and he's younger. So I feel more comfortable asking Alex to do that, but you need to really set those roles. Cause a lot of times people,
Speaker: Again, it goes back to simplifying the game. You cannot play the pivots the way you always play them when you don't have the players to do so. So you just got to be a lot more clearer about who's going to stay, who's going to go. I thought it was funny that Brian said, you know, in the second half, we had Kalani and Kingston, and we told one, one goes and one stays.
Speaker: Yeah. I mean, you know, simplify the shit and it works. And so same goes for the pivots and just tell Alex to just worry about being a disruptor and staying a little deeper and freeing the ball quick. and And, you know, it's just...
Speaker: So to your point, yes, I do like Alex there. I think that he does the the most balanced job to hold that that that that position. So he looked better with Snyder, clearly, than he did with ah Kingston.
Speaker: And I think that has a lot to do with Snyder's more of a one-way player. Like, he you know, he could do both, but but he he's always going to gravitate towards going instincts are attack.
Speaker: Yes, when Kingston is, he can be a guy that kind of drops back. So I think that there was a lot of moments where Alex and him were doing a similar role. And then defensively, he struggled as well because they were attacking the gap in between him and Albert on the left pocket, and they were just cooking it. I mean, they they were going through that side. And I think a lot of that has to do as well with, okay, Albert is just not very good at defending and not good very good at pressing. And so it's maybe unfair to give Kingston all the criticism, but yes, I think I prolonged this answer way too long. I do like Alex there.
Speaker: Yeah. I mean, I think one of the things that we're learning also in this stretch is look, Albert clearly was a o He's never been a great defensive player, but he has been a useful piece. Like he's not so bad defensively that he bogs your team down for the most part.
Speaker: And I think you can look at the last at 2023, 2024, especially where the Sounders were the best defense in the league, even with him on the field. Right.
Speaker: And last year we saw a little bit of that starting to cost them. And this year, and here's the thing. Albert is is their best offensive weapon right now. That's, that's just, that's just facts. Like it's by default on some level, but he, he almost needs to be out there in order to give them any sort of offensive hope.
Speaker: But he has his life. It's got, it's now at a point where, they don't have the horses to cover for him defensively. And so his defensive shortcomings are much more obvious than they've ever been before.
Speaker: And that's look, that's a problem. You know, that's, uh, he is a liability on defense and I don't necessarily blame him for that, but it's a reality. And, and they need guys to cover a lot more ground in the defensive midfield. And they don't. And that's but another reason why i wonder about this, this diamond where,
Speaker: I guess theoretically Gomez, I mean, I guess maybe it was the idea was that was going to like a low sitting, like a three defensive midfielder setup, but Gomez was not really involved in that. I didn't think, even though he was supposed to theoretically be a shuttler.
Speaker: I mean, they, they just don't have a lot of options right now. i mean, that's really what the problem is, is that, and I don't know what they're gonna do against Cincinnati. Like, are we going to see they've, they've been trying to manage Brunel's minutes because he is apparently carrying some sort of knock.
Speaker: Alex Roldan is still coming back from injury. Tino Lopez is going to have to start. I would assume that he was going to start at center back ideally, but he might have to start in the defensive midfield. So we, i don't know. Are we going to get a Kim Hawkins center back duo?
Speaker: which i there's just a lot of bad options right now. And FC Cincinnati is not a team that you want to put out your second choice defense when you're when you're already down to your like your third choice defense to begin with.
Speaker: ah This could be ugly. we We'll talk about Cincinnati later. But one thing I did want to bring up is the whole Jackson Reagan thing, where he goes down with what we later find out is a hyperextended knee.
Speaker: He stayed down for an awful long time. They bring the stretcher out. It looked pretty dire. And then all of a sudden he's up. He's, he's moving around. He stays in the game. Okay, great.
Speaker: And I figured maybe he'll come out at halftime. He comes back from halftime. He gets to the 69th minute. He starts kind of flexing his knee again. And like, uh, I got to come out.
Speaker: And look, I think it opens up a lot of questions about the whole, like, and we know he, we were at least we're pretty sure he didn't travel to Cincinnati. We don't know how serious the injury is. It might just be precautionary, but it,
Speaker: it definitely feels like one of those things where they brought them in or they they wanted to keep them in just to sort of lose the narrative of another injured player. But was that the smart choice? And I realized that b Brian was probably getting advice from his physio team saying like, look, he says he's fine. We can't see any damage.
Speaker: Maybe you're it's up to you, but i don't know. What would you have liked to have seen done there?
Speaker: First of all, I think you're right in terms of, I don't know if it's b Brian's idea that he can, you know, cover the sun with one hand and and and like, we don't see, look, nothing happened here. But it's clear that there was a bizarre answer. I asked him directly, you know, what what what did he go into? Did you leave him in on the field? And I thought he was going to be very...
Speaker: transparent about, look, the player wanted to stay. I listened to the medical team. They thought he was fine. He got the green light and then I'm going in, thought he was fine. But what I would have liked to seen is look, if he did come back in and he did want to play, I'm going to keep him off in, in the second half, right at the half time, I would have put in, um, Stu Hawkinson with how, uh,
Speaker: crazy things are right now and the pandemic of injuries, I might have taken them off right off the bat, but look, I understand the play. want to go back. Fine. Let him go. He finished the half. Sweet. That that is.
Speaker: Yeah. How's money now, baby? How's money? So let's keep him off. You talk to Stu red at halftime. You let him know what you want out of him. You have a, you know, 15 minutes to really work on what you want him to do when he gets on this ah field and then you roll it, but you don't,
Speaker: let the guy just stay in after what happened. And especially if it was a hyper extended knee, man, I mean, wait for it. Right. Cause once you cool down, right. In the heat of the moment and in the heat of just playing, and this is something that lot of players talk about that maybe you don't feel something or whatever. So, okay. He stayed in once he sat down and he cooled down. That's when I would have just said, let's just be cautious. You are my last guy.
Speaker: top player out of like the the the core group of this team. So can we keep you safe? This is a game that is kind of unconsequential. There's, you know, it's zero, zero. It's a rotated Austin is a Wednesday game. I have a game against Cincinnati FC on the weekend.
Speaker: Let me hold you. And he didn't. So that's what I would like to see. And would like to see him put into at halftime. Yeah, ah it felt like an unnecessary risk. The upside is, i mean, I guess the upside is you're going for a win at home and you don't know in the next chance you're going to get a win at home is, but they just can't afford to play fast and loose with injuries.
Speaker: And, and they look, I mean, he's, he's as far as we know, again, maybe, maybe we got bad information, but as far as we know, he's out for this game. yeah Fingers crossed.
Speaker: that's we know for sure I heard that he did not travel, that there was an MRI that was given to him, obviously just to make sure everything's fine. We'll see what that and MRI results are. But for now, he's he's not traveling. i was trying to find out if Christian and Jordan traveled.
Speaker: i I have not heard anything. But because there's no availability today, we're going to just have to... Find out what the rest of you is. Yeah, but but what I will say is that whether they travel or not, it doesn't matter. Jordan's not playing today and Christian's not playing today. Like, I can tell you this right off the bat. and and And it's funny because Christian is the guy that was highest along or farther along than anyone else. But I really don't see them playing today against a very physical, very fast Cincinnati team that loves getting in intern transition, that is...
Speaker: wildly more talented than you are. So yeah, I don't think those players are going to be part of this game. Yeah, it it does feel like it's a basically a foregone conclusion that this losing streak is going to reach nine games, which is you know there's not very Again, every with every loss, they reach more and more rarefied era. I think there was only 13 teams that had lost seven in a row.
Speaker: And I think there's only eight teams that have lost not ah eight in a row. And I don't know exactly how many have lost nine, but it's probably like five teams in MLS history that have lost seven.
Speaker: lost nine in a row. the The league record for what it's worth is 12 in one season and 14 overall FC Cincinnati at one point lost 14 games straight, which bridge two seasons.
Speaker: That is effectively the record that the Sounders are chasing. Is that a, can you chase loss record? I don't know. They're running away from maybe as a better way of, of, of putting it, but,
Speaker: every loss, it feels like Brian is at more and more of his wits end with what to say. And he's, you can see him just trying to hold it together.
Speaker: you know, like I think the, an example of him, his frustration was the way he answered you. When you asked a perfectly legit, fair question, we all watched Jackson Reagan.
Speaker: On the ground, it looked like they had a stretcher out, and then he came out of the game. what you We, of course, are going to ask about it. For him to act as if it was a crazy question, like, no, he's fine. what do you what's the What's the issue here? was the very strange. very straight enough And I wouldn't have asked it if he had not come out in the second half. like Had Jack Zirunga stayed the whole game, played 90, looked like nothing happened, I might not ask that question. you know Because, hey, you know he he was just a quick scare. That was it. Maybe I would have asked, hey, well, goes through your mind because of what's going on with the team. But he came off. He he he ultimately came out of the game. So there was some connection.
Speaker: Yeah, he went out to the ground. And so I love the fact that he makes it sound like there was no injury. No, he's fine. Nothing happened. i asked, is there injury? Well, no, he's fine. Well, why did he come off? Well, you know, the high-pressed standing knee started to hurt. Okay, so that's an injury.
Speaker: I mean, by definition, that is an injury. So he came off. But yeah, I think that you're right. He's starting to kind of unwind and he just doesn't know what to ask anymore. He feels under pressure. And to be fair to him, we have been peppering him with all these questions because we have no one else to ask.
Speaker: We have no one else to ask. And the biggest issue, the the the closest thing to a revelation that he made in this press conference was he was asked about again, ah asked about incoming transfers.
Speaker: And he went on this really long answer where he was sort of hemming and hawing and talking about how like, yeah, I know I said there might be a player coming in and we'll see if that happens. And all this stuff. And he starts talking about how in 2023, we made it to the Western conference semis. And in 2024, we made it to the Western conference final. And last year we won league's cup.
Speaker: And he he's just kind of, he's talking about, you know, maybe we're a, we're a victim of our own success in the way that everyone expects us to be good every year. And it's like, well, yeah, sure. That's fair. ah This would still be bad. Don't you like, let's not, let's not lose that. ah But yeah, you're you're right. And then finally he says, of course I want some new play. Like, of course we need new players, of course.
Speaker: And it's like, thank you. Like, I think this is sort of what everyone has just been wanting him to us wanting him to say, just admit that this team needs new players.
Speaker: And look, will that affect whether or not you actually get one? i don't know, but we want a sense that you are pushing that everyone in the, in the, like we want to know that everyone is doing everything possible to make a signing happen.
Speaker: And yes, it's going to look bad if they still don't sign someone, but guess what? It's going to look bad. No matter what, it will be worse. If it looks like you didn't try everything possible.
Speaker: And you know, the, the good news, I suppose is that there still is hope. There's a you know a little less than two weeks, but there's still time for them to make a signing. But I do think it's fair to wonder, is it too late?
Speaker: Like at this point, I don't know how much of this season can be salvaged. There are still only three points behind the playoffs, but making this be real, making the play. This is not about making the playoffs. They might make the playoffs. They might not make the playoffs, but this is a team that measures itself by contending for trophies.
Speaker: And it's hard to see whether or not like these moves are going to push them into that territory. Unless they do something really bold, who knows, but ah they got to do something for the fans just to show everyone that they are not asleep at the wheel.
Speaker: And also to build for the future. they They need to start laying the foundation for what this team is going to become in this next era of and MLS, which is rapidly changing and taking shape in front of our eyes.
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 Bohm. 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.
Speaker: I could not possibly be more proud of the work everyone put into making this, and I think you're gonna 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, no, I agree. And... It's you know easier said than done, I get it. And whether there's new players coming in or not, I'm gonna reiterate the fact that my expectations have dropped dramatically.
Speaker: Aside from them maybe making the playoffs, I don't know what else I could really sit here and tell you that I think this team can do. This team can do. It's just, you know, with Ferreira missing 8-10, know that they are doing things to figure out if it is going to be 8-10 and no Pedro de la Vega and, you know, trying to figure out how...
Speaker: how much you can depend on Jordan when he comes back and how much can you depend on Christian when he comes back? I mean, it's just, there's just so many question marks that like it's difficult. And, and, you know, when we talk about Cincinnati, I'll tell you the the craziness that I would be willing to do today with the lineup, but, um,
Speaker: I'll say it again. i would be already thinking about next year and what players, this is almost a continuous tryout for next year. Who's going to work out what I'm going to do, who who's going to stay, who's going to go. I mean, it's,
Speaker: something that you have to do as an organization. and And regardless of who's leading this team next year, same coaches or not, same GM or not, I mean, man, you just got to continue to kind of work on on progressively getting better, man. But what I do know as well is that in this particular game,
Speaker: Once again, it wasn't perfect. It wasn't great. But Paul Rothler was one of the guys that was at least trying things. I know that, again, the services into the box continue to not be there all the time. But he's the one guy pushing. He's the guy one guy pulling the reins. You already talked about Albert Rosnack and his inability to you know affect the game. You have no other...
Speaker: players that are going to be able to bring you what he brings you. So he continues to be the guy there, but set pieces need to get better, man. I, I, I cringe every single time that there's a set piece because I know that there is a high percentage that is just going to hit the wall or is just going to go ah beyond the the marker and be beyond the 18 on a, on a, on a corner kick, or it's just going to be an easy clearance or the goalkeeper is going to come out and get it.
Speaker: These are the things that if I'm a team struggling, I need to focus on. Maybe you shouldn't be doing as much time on, you know, scrimmages and transition moments. Just focus on set pieces and try to see if that could ignite something. Look, one of the opportunities that were very clear that I don't know how Brandon Vasquez misses that shot in the first half that...
Speaker: you know Well, i think Jaden Daniels that gives him – Jaden Daniels. Jaden Nelson. Jaden Nelson, yeah. and I keep thinking fantasy football. It's going start happening here. Jaden Nelson is going to – he gives him a bad pass. But it's a quick – it's a very quick restart off of a throwing.
Speaker: and And the team is unaware. And he gets behind him, and it's a quick moment. One, two, three. They're behind you. So all of those things is where you have to be able to – set some sort of advantages. Do the simpler stuff better.
Speaker: Well, I, I will say this in defense, this one small thing in defense of Rusnak. He is, he i mean, he, look, he, he gets the assist on a set piece.
Speaker: He has actually been one of the best, uh, at least in terms of goals. Uh, he, he is one of the better set piece takers in the league this year. um believe it or he really Yeah. It's it's metric.
Speaker: I mean, he's, he's got six assists on, uh, on set pieces five. Sorry. He's got five assists. He's leading the league in set piece assists.
Speaker: He is, uh, there you go. Yeah. He he's among the leaders in creating shots off of, ah set pieces. So, you know, I don't want to be too hard on his set piece taking, uh, even though those are all,
Speaker: ah sit Like he doesn't have any goals. He's not been able to do much in terms of ah shots on set pieces. But, you know, I do think it's worth pointing out that he's been like, that's one area of his game where he's actually been. okay That said, like again, the, the, the, I just doesn't see that, but man, I agree. that I It seems like it's basically a goal or, or bad. Right. But that's sort of also the nature of, of set pieces. ah You know, so I don't want to, I don't want to put too much into that, but I will agree with you that they need to be better set piece defenders. Absolutely.
Speaker: They, they are, they, they are giving up way too many. Like the, it seems like they still fall asleep too often on ah throw-ins on, this has been a thing that's been plaguing them for, ah you know, for multiple years, two years at this point, at least.
Speaker: So I don't know. There's, there's a lot of problems. There's a lot of problems with this team that I don't know if they get fixed with a couple of signings. I don't know if they get fixed ah suddenly when, you know, like, I think there's a lot of hope being put on,
Speaker: on a Christian specifically. Like that's basically what they are banking on is for Christian to come back and fix effectively like the whole team.
Speaker: And I just think that's probably unrealistic. This is, we are at a point now where we probably need to just rebuild. And look, a lot of blame to go around. It starts with Adrian Hanauer, I think, has not given this his front office a budget to work with. I think it i think you got to put some blame on Craig as well. I think the reality is that Craig is going to be in the fight for his life to in this upcoming GM vote.
Speaker: which if you were a season ticket holder this year, you are eligible to vote in that. I would urge everyone to exercise their democratic right and vote if they are eligible in this election, whether whichever way they go.
Speaker: and you know we'll we'll see how it We'll see. But it's there's a lot of blame to go around. i don't know that anyone is is free of it. you know The physio staff probably deserves some blame. The coaching staff deserves some blame.
Speaker: The front office certainly deserves a lot of blame. Ownership deserves a lot of blame. ah it's It's really... depressing that this team that has been so good for so long is in this place where they are. and And I just can't stop thinking about coming out of the world cup where there was so much energy and momentum.
Speaker: that they looked so flat against the Timbers in that first game back. And they have just not really been able to recover from that. And yeah, the injuries are are part of it, but it's, it's everything. It feels like the marketing has not been up to stuff. The whole transition to the new season ticket platform has not been going great. I keep getting calls from,
Speaker: season ticket holders who say they can't get their season ticket rep to return their messages. Like this has happened way too much. And, you know, like the fact that the the president of business left the organization, it's it's none of it is good. It's it's none of it's good. it's It's a bummer. You know, I like we're fans of the sea. We want them to do well. And they are not living up to like their own standards on any level. I don't think.
Speaker: yeah And that's why it's so important to give the fans something to celebrate, something to be excited about. And that's why it's completely
Speaker: fundamental. It is crucial to go out here and get a couple of signings done, which probably segues us well into the next segment. But I want to touch real quickly on what you said.
Speaker: To me, it was sad. It was...
Speaker: Almost shocking to see, even on a Wednesday game, a Lumen Field that was as airless and and quiet as it was at times. At times, so I'm going say it was the whole time, but at times. I mean, it was half-full.
Speaker: The attendance was announced as 28. I would say that it looked like 24, and it felt like 21. mean, it was... that bad and yeah thank goodness for ECS and the group of supporters. I have a video of them still cheering there at the end of the game and you know, chanting even when they're walking off the field. But is if it's not because of ECS, I mean, you would been completely quiet in that game. it felt that dire.
Speaker: um So, yeah. Yeah, I looked it up. So if you exclude COVID games, meaning games where they had a limited attendance due to COVID, This was the third lowest attendance in regular season history.
Speaker: ah The only two others were their second and third game during the 2009 season when they had a lower capacity. So you can guarantee that those games had a lot more people butts in seats. i I don't think it's at all a stretch to say that this was the ah lowest turnstile count. We don't officially get those, but I would be willing to bet that this was the lowest turnstile count in Sounders history. And you can't blame fans for not gumming.
Speaker: You know, like I happen to be able to give my tickets away. i i I have season tickets. I try to give them away to most games. I happen to find someone to take them this time. But look, and and people are saying, well, it's a Wednesday, so it's tough to compare. It's like they've played a lot of Wednesday games over the years.
Speaker: And this was the lowest attended Wednesday regular season game in club history. Like that, i can we can say that definitively. And yeah, I saw brown paper bags and people's did you really? hmm. Oh, yeah. I mean, we're and we're going to start seeing more of that stuff. We're going start seeing more protest signs. We're going to start seeing all kinds of things that feel very foreign, I think, to anyone who is a Sounders fan who has followed this team.
Speaker: And I'm sure there will be some people that say, well, this is a spoiled franchise. You guys have had nothing but success. You should be happy with what you had. And that's just not how it works. No one is happy with what they've had, especially when it's going as bad as it is right now. And the and it just bears repeating. This is not a normal level of suck that they are going through right now. They have lost eight straight games in the regular season. They have lost four straight times at home.
Speaker: These are things that most teams never that most teams never go through let alone the Sounders who have never had never lost more than three in a row under b Brian Spencer.
Speaker: It's wild that we are, we're here, but I don't know. ah Maybe it'll all turn around against FC Cincinnati. Maybe Cincinnati will overlook the Sounders. Maybe it's the Sounders who get to be the, ah the trap game for someone else. Yeah.
Speaker: I will say that FC society is playing their seventh game in 22 days. So they've been playing basically every three days for the last three weeks. They will likely need to do some rotation.
Speaker: Although Evander seems to be an absolute iron man. He has played in every single one of those games. So ay I don't know if how much rotation we can expect, but this is a really, really scary offensive team, but it's also a team that does give up some goals that is prone to some slip ups.
Speaker: They are not nearly as good as their talent would suggest they should be. This is a team that lost six to one to the new England revolution. Uh, They had to barely hold off a CF Montreal team.
Speaker: They lost four to two to a Red Bull team. That is just okay. They have played three, three ties with the Chicago four fire, a four, four tie with New York city FC. Like I said, they tend to give up quite a lot of goals.
Speaker: ah Does that prove create any kind of opening? Do you think for the sounders to sneak into? No. No, it doesn't. No, it doesn't because the Sounders have shown nothing offensively. Maybe at the end of this Austin game ah where, you know, you were able to maybe catch the team by surprise because you kind of switch things up on them. And again, it's a rotated team and no one, no one would dare to compare Austin's roster with
Speaker: right this Cincinnati team. So yeah, no, I definitely do not see that as as a thing. There is the travel, there is the short you know rest in between. There is a a team that I thought played a very good game against New York City, who I consider a very good team in New York City. thought they were good in possession. I thought they were purposeful. I think they are very good at using with The thing that I love about Cincinnati is that for the last three years, they just – I don't know where they find their wingbacks, but their wingbacks are phenomenal all the time. Phenomenal wingbacks. That's what they do. And Shanique is not the exception, man. His overlords are phenomenal right next to venez Venezuela. You have Denke, who is just a guy that looks like he's playing – fighting in UFC. He's so strong.
Speaker: like a freight train coming at you. I don't know how that's going to match up well with some young defenders, maybe some undersized defenders. Cause if you go Alex ah Hawkins,
Speaker: Nuhu, let's call it that. That's going to be problematic. Let's call it those two initially, but with Tino maybe instead of Nuhu. That's still difficult to put out there. ah Momba Diem has been phenomenal for this team. They're quick. They're excellent at just attacking space. They are just difficult to defend. And if you...
Speaker: want to just drop deep and give Evander all kinds of room to just shoot from top of the box? Well, good luck because he's one of the best at doing that. He'll put it away from anywhere. Evander is an MVP candidate right now. Evander is...
Speaker: a phenomenal talent. And, and I just don't know. I don't see how you're able to win this game unless it is on a very lucky break on, on a, against the run of play moment or on a set piece. And then you just bunker and hold for dear life. But this team is just extremely better than you are now. So let me, since we're already talking about Cincinnati, let me give you the wild,
Speaker: 11 that I would put out here and you're going to laugh because, hey, guess what? We need to laugh, right? So I would go 343 and I would put Alex Hawkins and Tino.
Speaker: Okay. Which is going to make you laugh because you're like, so where in the hell is New Who? Oh, yes. Wingback New Who on the left side. Wingback New Who on the left side. It'll never happen. But guess what? You know what? Have him just run at people. Have him just go crazy. I mean, he does it all time. all the time. Just at least get some pressure off of Paul Rothrock. Have somebody just making crazy runs and maybe he doesn't pass it and he keeps the ball. I mean, I don't know.
Speaker: So 3-4-3, the four in the middle, New Who, Snyder-Burnell, um... this is where it gets complicated, right? This is where, where it gets real, real complicated, right? Because if, if I'm already telling you that I'm going to play with Tino on that side, there's no one else to play that side other than Peter Kingston. So fine. You're like, okay, that's not too crazy. Sure. But then you go next. So who are you going play out wide? Well, it's, that that there's no one else to play other than Kalani, right? So now you got Kalani over there and then you got Gomez up top.
Speaker: Um, um, I would go with Osase. And then on the left, obviously, Paul Rothbard. So i'm I'm getting, I'm completely taking, I'm taking out the player that you said we could not live without, right? I'm completely taking him out. But I'm going to keep him as a super sub.
Speaker: Sure. Depending on how it goes out. But I just want to see it. I just want to try it. I want to see what happens there because guess what? This game is not going to go well either way. I want to be entertained and why not just let the train off the rails and off the tracks and just have it go crazy on you.
Speaker: Just to see what happens because this team has no speed. And this is when I get serious about this. This team has no width. They have no speed. Transition moments are dire.
Speaker: You got to make something happen when you don't have the the the the weapons to do so. So I know that is ah far from my ideal. People are going to laugh at this, of course, and you should because it is a little bit of a bit. But that's how.
Speaker: that's how anemic this offense has looked and how, how slow, I mean, it's, it's bad. It's so bad. There was a couple of transition moments against Austin that ended up nothing because of, well, first of all, the the lack of quickness on the passing and it just the ability just to connect, but man, just the lack of athleticism sometimes in the lack of just somebody pushing out wide is insane.
Speaker: Yeah, i almost wonder, the only other option you'd really have, I suppose, in the central midfield there is maybe Mark O'Neill up from defiance, I suppose, if you're looking for just crazy solutions. i don't mind the idea of benching Albert, honestly, at this point. Just put runners everywhere.
Speaker: Yeah. And just try to catch Cincinnati sort of... napping, I suppose, rather than try to go like, you can't really try to match up man for man. You just got sort of throw out a, like a crate, like a, like a gimmick formation almost. I mean, that's almost what this is, is a, it's almost a gimmick formation, but I I think of all the games, this is one where it feels like it's,
Speaker: I hesitate to say house money because look, you're talking about, you're looking at a ninth straight loss yeah down the barrel. Exactly. But, but it's, it's, it's a game where most people expect you to lose. And so you, if you pull out a point, it's a miracle. And if you lose, no one's surprised, you know? So if you lose five, zero, is that really any word? Like, is that really worse than losing?
Speaker: Two to one? i I don't know. At this point, I don't know that it that it does. ah Like, show me something is what I'm, I guess is what I'm saying. It's like, just show me that this is a team that's that's willing to try stuff, that it's willing to go against the obvious solutions. And I don't think your idea is is all that bad.
Speaker: And i don't know, in some ways, watching them lose... 5-0 is easy. like it but What was so bad about watching them get just dismantled by Toluca in that Leagues Cup game, it wasn't the scoreline.
Speaker: It was that they had... That was like their... Those were their starters. though that's their Their best team got dismantled like that. And that's what was so depressing about it. It wasn't that they got outplayed.
Speaker: It's that and if they had pulled out a Defiance lineup and they had lost in a similar fashion, people would go, hey, what do you expect? That's how it goes. And I think what's been so frustrating is that they are just trying the same thing over and over again.
Speaker: And so in that sense, I would appreciate your idea in that, you know, at least it would be something different. Give us something else to talk about. is This is difficult, man. And look, it's crazy because like, if you look at the the the options they have up top, they got Barlow sometimes coming off the, of the bench, you know, they got Ramirez would be a starter in this team, you know, playing out wire or in midfield.
Speaker: I mean, the the the amount of talent that they have in this team is crazy. So you might have to just, wing it ah and and and just try to figure out how you're going to not play just the exact same way, man. I mean, it's, it's insane.
Speaker: It is. Well, I don't think we have much else to say. Hopefully there is some news to report in the meantime. ah I am getting some positive indications from front office people that something could happen. I don't want to get anyone's hopes up at this point because Look, this is that we're at the point now we're so far into the transfer window.
Speaker: The reality is that they should have already had moves done. Everyone else has already gotten something done and everything else from here on out should just be bonus. The fact that we're sitting here wondering if they're going to make any signings at all is wild to me.
Speaker: But that's the situation that we're in. And so I'm not really interested in getting people's hopes up. But look, there is definitely a chance that they'll they'll do something. So we'll see. I don't want to get excited about anything until it actually happens. And I see what they're actually doing.
Speaker: ah But I guess that's out there. But look, they're being proactive. They're making calls. We've put up a couple of players that they've talked to and missed on. Gaspers out of the question that I've been told that that's no longer negotiation. We did chase down the Damien Downs thing.
Speaker: ah The Damian Downs as well, that's not, you know, it's a guy that was targeted, but definitely extremely expensive. People were making themselves believe that that's possible. I've been told that he you could go from the $7 million to the $9 million dollars mark that that team would want for that player. Not to mention that his salary demands would put him beyond the threshold of the U-22 slot. And so, you know, that's just not going to happen. You got to try to incentivize a player that...
Speaker: It's playing in the top of the game and, and, and at 22 years old to come to MLS, it's not an easy task. You could do it. And i dont I don't want to sound terrible or, or get anybody upset at me, but you know, it's, it's sometimes it's a little bit more palatable when it's LA or Miami with messy and all these things, but it's a difficult sell. So that's definitely not a thing. And if it was, then man, we got to,
Speaker: ask Craig Gobble for forgiveness because that'd be a hell of a bring, but this is not going to happen. And obviously people were kind of making jokes that, um you know, that St. Louis U22 that they try to sign. Look, that's the realistic. That's what we bring you. We're not going to bring you the stuff that's unrealistic. We're going to bring you what's really happened, what they're really looking at. And again, you have to understand the limitations that they have on the salary cap. So a you twenty two would be a player that you're looking to bring in within the league because it is very possible and you ah look if you want a dp and that that could be the case and look this is where maybe i get a little bit upset because maybe you should have done this already but you and i have both talked about the possibility of if you want to open up a dp spot without losing a player do you talk to albert rosnack You tell them, hey, you got an option for next year. You extend them beyond that to a couple of years. You drop them off of that DP level and you open one up.
Speaker: And then, you know, maybe you go out there and get a really good DP. But you have to be able to work these things out. There are a lot of moving components. So I wouldn't, I know for sure, and I'm i'm saying this as I've said it,
Speaker: for a month now. I am extremely confident that at least one player will come in. I am a little less confident that two will come in.
Speaker: But the fact is, is that help is coming. Now, is that help going to be enough? No, and I'm just saying that quite frankly, but it's not about today. It's not about this year. It's not about making a run in the p playoffs. It's about showing the fan base that there's a vision to be better throughout the year and be better specifically next year when you have a lot of difficult conversations to have. There's going to be ah a big teardown of a lot of the group players from this team. It it might look extremely different. We might not even have the same medical team, according to you know what Brian said. it's not It's not out of the question, right? I don't even know if if the the coaching staff is going to be the same next year. So it's going to look very different. But the fan base getting something to smile about is worth it to me. You showing in that you're not going yet another summer window without being active is worth it.
Speaker: And again, this is something that you and I have been asking since last season when you, you I think you asked ah Craig Weibel about why not bringing in a player now and and and all these things last summer window. So we've been on it. And now we just kind of come to the point of desperation and anger and and it's no longer funny or ironic. It's it's concerning.
Speaker: Yeah, it is. It is. it absolutely is. Well, you know, let's, think we've said enough at this point. I'll just give a little shout out. I was on, if you want to see rant more about how bad this team is. i went on Cincy soccer talks show called Jersey swap and, and,
Speaker: and He was trying to like bring me up. It was funny. He was just like, no, no, no. Let's give you something good to talk about. It's like, no, don't worry. Don't worry about me. Don't worry about me. But either way, it was kind of a ah funny little exchange that we had.
Speaker: But yeah, let's let's get out of here. Hopefully, you know, we'll see what what we get on the weekend. Hopefully next time we're talking to you, we have something positive to talk about, even if it's not a result. But I am Jeremiah Oshian signing off for Nico Moreno.
Speaker: This is Nos Adietes on the Sounder Heart Podcast Network, and we will catch you next time.
Speaker: Let's go at Sounders.
