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Nos Audietis, Episode 326: We're going on a Loon hunt
70 Plays5 years ago
The Sounders are back in the Western Conference finals. It’s the fourth time in five years and the fifth time in seven years that they’ve been here. That’s something that hasn’t been accomplished since the halcyon days of D.C. United going to each of the first four MLS Cup finals. The Sounders will now host Minnesota United on Monday with a chance to go to their fourth MLS Cup final in five years for a chance to win their third MLS Cup.
Jeremiah and Aaron discuss the 1-0 win over FC Dallas while also looking ahead to Minnesota United.
This week's music: Perry Como - "Seattle", "RVIVR - "Ocean Song", Woody Guthrie - "Roll On Columbia", "Your Journey Begins" - OurMusicBox (Jay Man) (CC BY 4.0)
Thanks to James Woollard, Sounders Public Address Announcer, for doing our sponsor reads. You can follow him on Twitter at @BritVoxUS - if you’re looking for a British Voice to advertise your business or non-profit, please reach out to him.
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Transcript
Introduction and Sponsorship
00:00:00
Speaker
This episode of No Sadietes is sponsored by Full Pool Wines, a Seattle-based wine seller who recently released their first book, 36 Bottles of Wine. The ethos of the book, a highly curated look at wine categories that provide exceptional value right now, should be familiar to full pool readers. But there's loads of fresh content, and since it's not trying to sell any wine through the book, there's a bit more of a sass factor.
00:00:21
Speaker
And there's food. Lots of it. Fulpel's unique writing styles applied to recipes like leftover Thanksgiving, turkey, schmaltz-a-ball soup, and pregnancy nachos. This book can be purchased through Sasquatch Books.
Guest Introductions: Roldan and Morris
00:00:32
Speaker
Hey, this is Christian Roldan. And Jordan Morris from the Seattle Sounders Football Club. And you're listening to... There's no study at this. Hey, Ocean! Let's go! Jordan Morris getting in behind Florian Youngford. Jordan Morris! Scores!
00:00:49
Speaker
And how's this for a save from Steph and Fry? Here come three deers through the middle to crowd it for Seattle. What do the Tigers dream of when they take a little Tigers in? It's the Sounders, M-N-S-Cup. I feel a lot better than Bob.
00:01:17
Speaker
The bluest skies you've ever seen are in Seattle And the hills the greenest green in Seattle Like a beautiful child growing up
Episode Introduction by Host
00:01:35
Speaker
Welcome back to another edition of NOS Adietta, sponsored by Full Pool Wines. This is episode 326, and we're recording on Friday, December 4th, 2020. I am your host, Jeremiah O'Shan. Joining me as usual is Aaron Campo. Lickit P. will be producing this episode, but we're not doing questions because we frankly forgot to ask you for them. So it's just going to be a kind of a mini episode today. But we wanted to record because
Sounders' Path to the Finals
00:02:03
Speaker
a reasonably big occasion. The Sounders are back in the Western Conference Finals. It's the fourth time in five years and the fifth time in seven years that they've been here. That's something that hasn't been accomplished since the Halcyon days of DC United going back to the first four MLS Cup Finals. The Sounders will now host Minnesota United on Monday with a chance to go to their fourth MLS Cup Final in five years and a chance to win their third MLS Cup in that same amount of time.
00:02:29
Speaker
The latest win, their post shootout record seventh straight in the postseason was a 1-0 nail biter over FC Dallas. Frustrating as that match was, I found myself encouraged by it because it was the exact kind of match the Sounders hadn't been winning this year. Is that a fair read, Aaron, to be in a year where the Sounders have kind of made it a point of blowing out their opponents that their first 1-0 victory of the season is actually, in some ways,
00:02:59
Speaker
more encouraging of their long-term, long-term being two weeks away prospects? Yeah, I think it's, I think it's definitely the right read on that game because I think teams are going to get more conservative the deeper you get into the playoffs. The Sounders have shown a little bit of difficulty breaking down teams this year at times. It's, it's always difficult to break down teams that are, that are bunkered in. And if you're in the Western conference finals or the MLS cup finals playing at home you're, you're probably going to face that kind of
00:03:28
Speaker
kind of defense. So not to say that FC Dallas was bunkered in necessarily, but they were difficult to break down. And, um, I think getting a set piece goal is, is nice and
Analysis of Key Matches and Strategies
00:03:38
Speaker
encouraging. Um, especially that kind of set piece goal, that very Alexi Lawless, uh, kind of set piece goal. Um, not, you know, like, uh, Lidero banging in a free kick from, from 25 yards or whatever, but, you know,
00:03:52
Speaker
Rui Diaz, hitting a 16 yarder on his back foot. Right, exactly. Just, you know, a center back, jumping over somebody and scoring on a header. They don't, they don't score a ton of those so that was very nice to see.
00:04:08
Speaker
Dallas, this was an interesting game and we kind of talked about this before we started recording. It's tempting to look at this game and say, you know, that this was your very typical sort of cynical playoff game that ends in 1-0 with the set piece goal and that
00:04:25
Speaker
you know, everybody's playing very defensively. Nobody wanted to take any chances, et cetera. And I don't really think that's true. And I think, you know, we're sort of in alignment on this. I think that both teams wanted to attack. Dallas was certainly more conservative, but they're playing against the much better team on the road. Like you would expect them to be conservative. It would be malpractice for them not to be. And so
00:04:49
Speaker
you know, they, they tried to attack. They did so reasonably effectively. I mean, they had a couple of very good chances. They were all sort of bunched together into one larger chance, I guess you could say, but, um, you know, they, they created some opportunities on the attack. Um, and they did so in a way that the sounders have at times struggled with this year. I mean, I think the FC Dallas basically tried to play against the sounders the way that the timbers typically try to play against the sounders and the timbers have had
00:05:17
Speaker
a fair amount of success you know the planning of the sounders so um you know it was good to see the sounders uh
00:05:25
Speaker
be able to break that down to get a goal of their own. Um, and to do that without just resorting to hardcore playoff cynicism style, um, style soccer, very nice to see not something they've necessarily been great at, probably something they will have to do to some extent against, um, Minnesota. And if they're lucky enough to get their, uh, New England, is that who they would host? Uh, they would host New England. They would go to the crew. Yeah. Yeah. So they're probably going to have to win two more games like that. If they, if they want to,
00:05:55
Speaker
when the MLS Cup, assuming they end up hosting the MLS Cup. So it's good to see, good to see a blueprint for them to do that. Yeah. And I thought the match was reasonably open. It wasn't, it wasn't wide open and it wasn't like both teams were creating a ton of chances, but it was a match that featured a fair amount of transition opportunities. And I think both teams ultimately defended well in their own box. There was a ton of block shots. There was something like,
00:06:21
Speaker
I think there was 10 block shots in the game. The Sounders blocked, I think a season high, six shots from Dallas, which to me suggests that it wasn't like the game was getting clogged up in the midfield, which you see so often in these kind of dull one-zero affairs. It was a match that had some end-to-end action and there was some, you know, there was, you know, good play
00:06:46
Speaker
on various, in various parts of the field. And I thought it was, you know, it was an interesting match to watch. I think Dallas deserves some credit for setting up well. I think they came up with an effective game plan. I just think that the talent gap was ultimately too big, but
00:07:02
Speaker
Dallas did a good job of limiting the danger that Ladera, Ruiz, and Morris could provide. They were very close to opening that game up. It felt like, especially after Dallas had that scoring opportunity, which came after the Sounders goal, that it felt like the Sounders were on the verge of really breaking the game open, and they just couldn't do it.
00:07:30
Speaker
Yeah and I think that at times this season we've seen games like that where they were unable to break games open and they would get frustrated or get a little too casual defensively and give up an equalizer or at least make the game a little more interesting than it needed to be. I think that at a certain point the Sounders sort of recognized the game state, recognized what they were likely going to have to do to win
00:07:56
Speaker
And we're comfortable shifting into that pattern while still creating some pretty decent chances late. And I think that's what you want to see. I think that's the kind of professionalism you would expect from this team that maybe has at times been missing this year, just because I think in large part because they are so talented that they rightfully so because they've demonstrated an ability to do it. But a lot of the time
00:08:19
Speaker
I think they're maybe a little too aggressive trying to put away games late when they could just sort of sit back and, and see them out. Um, and nobody wants to see that during the regular season, you know, like if you're, if you're tuning in on a Tuesday night at four in the afternoon to, to watch them play the code, like the, I dunno, what's a bad East Eastern conference team. There you go. Um, you want to see them go for the throat because you're not, you know,
00:08:44
Speaker
You're not postponing dinner for an hour to watch them grind out a result on the road. But in the playoffs, that's just kind of what you have to do, especially against, I don't want to say FC Dallas is a good team, but against capable teams, against
00:08:59
Speaker
you know, teams that can punish you for not sort of seeing the business. So, yeah, I mean, I would have loved it if the Sounders had gone out and blasted them 5-0, would have been a lot more entertaining. But, you know, you can't win every game like that in MLS or anywhere. And as good as I think the Sounders are, it was probably good for them to have a reminder that teams are going to try to
00:09:25
Speaker
beat us by playing in a way that they know we have trouble dealing with. And we've got to demonstrate that we can handle that as well.
Playoff Experience and Strategies
00:09:33
Speaker
You know, that was one of the things I contended last year was that if LAFC had a weakness, it was that they hadn't been tested a ton during the regular season. And that really the first big test that they got where a team wasn't, was willing to kind of
00:09:51
Speaker
The Sounders didn't just pack it in against LAFC, but they definitely, I don't think you could argue that they came out with the idea that they were just going to go blow for blow with them either. And LAFC has continued to show some weakness when it comes to these tight playoff type games. And that's the one thing Bob Bradley for all the success that he's had at LAFC, I think they've only won one playoff game in their three seasons.
00:10:21
Speaker
And there was a similar problem that the Sounders had early on in their MLS. The Sounders didn't win their first playoff game until year three. They didn't win their first playoff series until year four. So it's not a huge indictment of the organization, but I do think it's something that teams collectively have to figure out how to win, even if you have some individual players that can figure it out. I think as a collective, it's sometimes tough to win those games.
00:10:51
Speaker
And this year's Sounders I think we knew based on this being in the core from last year knew how to win these kinds of games but they hadn't been winning these kinds of games this year. And so I think it was it was an important mental block maybe for them to get past the show to themselves that
00:11:09
Speaker
even when a game isn't going the way you want it to go, even when an opponent has come up with a really good game plan for you, that you still can figure out how to how to advance. And and if they're going to win a third MLS Cup, I think that they're just going to they're going to have to do those types of things. And it was encouraging that they got a goal from, you know, an unsung player. And I wanted to talk about Shane O'Neill a little bit. I want to say it was after the Galaxy game where
00:11:39
Speaker
our frustration with O'Neal, and I'll put myself in the same category, probably was at its height. Like it was really starting to look like, you know, maybe he's not only is he not, uh, do I, do I prefer Ariaga over him, but he may actually not be very good, but I think these last two games, he's been at least passable. Uh, has your opinion of Shane O'Neal started to shift at all? I,
00:12:09
Speaker
I would say that enough people whose opinions I trust have told me that my verdict on Shane O'Neal is overly harsh, that I definitely think
Player Performance Debate: O'Neill vs Ariaga
00:12:21
Speaker
that's probably true, that there's probably some truth to that. I still don't think he's good. I still don't think he's a good player. I still think Ariaga is clearly a much better player going forward in the future, et cetera. He's been fine the last few games
00:12:37
Speaker
he has not been playing against the lead attacking teams in the past few games, I think is fair to say. He scored a goal, it was a great goal. He is decent at set pieces. I think that the issue that I have with Shane O'Neill, and I think it's an issue that I've had with a fair number of Sounders players in the past, is that
00:13:03
Speaker
Ariaga has made some mistakes. I think it's fair to say he's made some very high profile damaging mistakes that really stand out. And I think that it was reasonable when he was making a lot of those mistakes all in a row and all at once to say, you need to sit for a while and get your head right because the mistakes were clearly mental. They were clearly compounding. And so I understood that decision to sit him.
00:13:31
Speaker
Matt Doyle said that Shane O'Neill has consistently outplayed Ariaga this season. And that is an absolutely crazy thing to say. It's just, there's no planet on which that's a reasonable thing to say. And I know that the pushback against that would be, well, Brian Schmetzer starting him in the playoffs and that's fine. Brian Schmetzer has forgotten more about soccer today than I will ever know in my entire life.
00:13:56
Speaker
But coaches like veterans. They like options they see as dependable. They like players where they know what they're going to get, even if what they're going to get is less than what they could potentially get from another player. You know that Shane O'Neill is going to go out, and he's most likely not going to make any heinous mistakes. If he gets beaten, that's going to be that he gets beaten honestly.
00:14:23
Speaker
And so I understand that the predictability is a big deal. Um, but he gets beaten a lot more than Ariaga because he's not as good of a player and he certainly doesn't provide in the attacking phase when Ariaga provides. Um, I think it's completely understandable why he's getting starts in the playoffs because he's been playing down the stretch. Ariaga was unavailable for international duty. Um,
00:14:45
Speaker
Messing with your defense is maybe not the smartest idea, you know, when you've got a defensive parent that looks comfortable together, where you can sort of game plan around a reasonable expectation of the level of performance you're going to get. So I get all that. I just think, I mean, it's the hot take factory, I know, but I think just this idea that
00:15:06
Speaker
Shane O'Neal is playing in the playoffs. Therefore, Brian Schmetzer trusts him and thinks he's much better than Ariaga. Therefore, he's a better player than Ariaga and has outplayed him. It's crazy, man. That take to me is much, much, much crazier than my criticisms of Shane O'Neal. And I got a fair amount of heat for those. So yeah, I don't know, man. I mean, it's entirely possible that I'm very stupid in this and I'm missing something, but I just
00:15:37
Speaker
You know, I think my initial verdict of Shane O'Neill was that he was a below replacement level player. I think that was definitely too harsh. But I think he's, he's certainly a below average in a less center back. And I think our Yaga works and all has the potential to be one of the better center backs in the league.
00:15:57
Speaker
I'll add that I think one of the, the arguments that the Shane O'Neill is better, uh, rest on one of the, the platforms that that argument rests on is, is like you, you mentioned that Brian Spencer has chosen O'Neill over Ariaga consistently. And I think that's overstated by a lot, uh, because first of all, like the two playoff games, Ariaga was straight up unavailable for one of them.
00:16:24
Speaker
And he was only back in training for two days before the other one. So like, it's not exactly a, it wasn't like he had a fully fit, fully trained up Ariaga available for either playoff game.
00:16:40
Speaker
And then you look at his, you know, when Ariagas played. And for the most part, he's only sat when he's not available. He, you know, he was gone for a month during basically towards the end of the season, which is when O'Neill got a fair amount of run out. Also happened to be when O'Neill got the most exposed was when he was having to play.
00:17:01
Speaker
week in and week out. And then other than that, he's been playing most of the time that he's been available. And if anything, him and O'Neill have done some rotation, but
00:17:15
Speaker
I don't know. I don't, I don't know that, that Brian Shmentor has shown this clear preference for Shannon O'Neill that it, there seems to be this perception of him. I mean, they both made the same number of regular season starts. Uh, you know, Ariaga didn't play off the bench as much, but I think that speaks to his availability. Uh, because I don't, I hadn't gone back and looked at how many times he didn't play when he was even available on the bench, but I would suspect that most of the times he didn't play when he was available off the benches.
00:17:44
Speaker
Uh, because he hadn't really trained a bunch and they just maybe didn't need him. But yeah, I mean, I, I don't, I don't buy that part of it. I think reasonable minds can disagree as to who's been, who's the more reliable player, who's the player that's more likely to help you win your next game. I don't think reasonable minds can disagree.
00:18:05
Speaker
on the idea that one of them has been so clearly better than the other that it just that it that it kind of ends the conversation or that you know i don't even think you can say that o'neill has won the clearly won the job over ariaga ariaga that's just
00:18:21
Speaker
I don't see a lot of evidence of that. And I think that I remain convinced that Ariaga offers a much, much higher upside, and that I would be shocked if assuming this is the same three centerbacks coming to training camp next year, my assumption is going to be that Jaymar and Ariaga are your starters. And I think that's the smart way to go, frankly.
00:18:48
Speaker
Even even allowing that ariaga is going to you know miss some time for international duty, but it's I will say this is that I think my assumption, and I think it's a defensible decision is that.
00:19:06
Speaker
O'Neill is probably going to start for the rest as long as, for as long as the sounders are still going. If only because I think Schmetzer is unlikely to change a lineup that seems to be working. And what's maybe more, what I would be more, it will be more intriguing in some ways is to see who starts between Alex Roldan and Kelvin Leardham and whether or not Gustav Svensson is able to get back into the lineup.
00:19:34
Speaker
Uh, but we don't know when he'll be clear to play. Uh, but in terms of Rolled On and Lyrdom, I think we would probably both agree that Lyrdom is the better overall player, but man, I've been consistently impressed with the, how much smaller the gap between him and Alex Rolled On has gotten to the point that I think there is at least a valid argument to make, to keep playing Alex.
00:20:01
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I think that a fair amount of that is declined from Lyrdom. I mean, he's getting into that decline phase for sure, age-wise. But I think a lot more of it has just been improvement from Alex Roldan, and we talked about this a lot on the last episode, and we've talked about it a fair amount this year.
00:20:21
Speaker
As we've said, you know, and those, those situations, a lot of that is because it's, it's been such a surprise, I think to everyone, except maybe Alex rolled on, um, and probably Christian too, I guess. But, uh, yeah, I mean, I agree with you. I think that for me, I think that it's the kind of thing where. If you're asking me to pick one of them to start one game, it's, it's almost certainly weird. Um, but I would probably, I would probably pick Ariaga too. Um, I also understand the.
00:20:52
Speaker
perspective of this is working. I don't want to screw with it. You know, I think that that's a
00:20:58
Speaker
I don't know that I think it's a reasonable position or, or the right position, but it's also a losing battle to try to fight with a coach. I think like that's just kind of, you know, it's like, it's like getting mad about NFL teams punting when the numbers say they shouldn't. Right. Yeah. I agree. Like they should go for it. They're not going to do it. So why, why care? You know, it's like wishing my mom wasn't a Republican. Like it's just, it's who they are.
00:21:25
Speaker
Well, and I think in this case, it's it I think coaches across sports are much more sensitive to the idea that they don't want they don't want to make it easy to be second guest. And you know, whether it's going forward on fourth down or changing your center back pairing deep in the playoffs, I think it's a lot easier to say, well, I went with what
00:21:50
Speaker
was the was the easy decision as opposed to what was going with the the hard decision and I think that's you know I think you can argue that that worked in the center's favor last year I think that's probably why Roman Torres started most of the games that he was available over Javier Arriaga is because
00:22:07
Speaker
he was just kind of the proven commodity at that point. And even if Ariaga offered the higher upside, the Sounders were going to be a little bit more reluctant to make that change because Torres had kind of been there and he was the more reliable option. And like you said,
00:22:27
Speaker
Spencer knew what he was going to get, even if what he knew was he was going to get was maybe not as good. You know, I was talking to Jeff Wilcox, who goes by Relio on on Sounder at Heart, and we were having this conversation in offline. And one of the things that Key pointed out that I thought was that was fair was
00:22:49
Speaker
At the end of the day, who starts between Ariaga and O'Neal is probably not going to determine how far the Sounders go this year. They should be the favored team, no matter who they play, no matter which of those two players starts. And so especially in a situation like that, I think it's easier to go with the player who's less likely to make a mistake that's going to burn you.
00:23:16
Speaker
I think it's, you know, like if you start Ariaga and you lose, it's a lot easier to be like, well, you blew it. Whereas if, and so I just think it's a, it's not the right decision, but it's an under decision I get.
Coaching Decisions and Player Selection
00:23:31
Speaker
It's a decision. Exactly. And I think, I think too, like you have to keep in mind, like what's good for Ariaga's mental state, because I think it's pretty easy to tell him,
00:23:43
Speaker
Hey, it's not your fault that you were gone on international duty. And it, you know, like it's, we just have so little training time. I don't want to mix things up, but next year you'll, you know, you're, you're going to be the guy versus playing him and having him be the guy that becomes the scapegoat. You know what I mean? So it's, I get it. I don't, I don't love it. I think, but I do think that it is a,
00:24:13
Speaker
more than a coaching problem. It's a general people, not really being great to think critically about situations problem, including, you know, in some cases, those guys, those coaches, bosses, what have you. So I do get it. Um, but in, in terms of overall done and, and near them, I think that the, even more so than with O'Neill and Ariaga, you know, I think that, that, um, Jeff's position applies there where I do think the gap is reasonably small enough that
00:24:41
Speaker
going with what works is eminently reasonable. There are different players too, which I think is a reasonable thing to keep in mind that they do just approach the game differently, have different styles of play. And I definitely think
00:24:59
Speaker
This shouldn't be a reason you make a decision like this in the playoffs, but there is, I think, a benefit to continuing to see how roll down can handle the position, handle the responsibility, handle the pressure.
00:25:13
Speaker
before you go into the off season and have a decision to make about Kovalenthear Dom. Yeah, I mean, I think that's a perfectly relevant point there where I think if, let's just say you win MLS Cup with Alex Roldan. Wow. I mean, that's, even if you got to give him a raise in the off season, he's still going to be low, you know, in the, you know, he's probably going to be making a salary that starts with a one.
00:25:38
Speaker
Whereas you might, you know, if, if you feel like you need to bring back Kelvin Lirdham, I mean, he's on, I think 500,000 or more dollars, even if you get them to accept a pay cut, it's a significant, it's going to be a significant difference. So there's something to be said about finding out if Alex Roldan is a potential starter for you. And if he wins you an MLS cup, I mean, he's, I think that says a lot, uh,
00:26:04
Speaker
And along those same lines, I think it's the difference of going into your off season next year with Alex Roldon and some other, you know,
00:26:15
Speaker
MLS quality, but not necessarily starter on your roster as opposed to, you know, having to spend a TAM salary on your right back. And if you don't have to spend TAM on your right back, that, that frees up, you know, that's huge. That's a huge bonus. And similarly, you know, uh, new at left back, I think is, as at this point, I think he's your starter. Like I think Brad Smith in a vacuum,
Defensive Changes and Strategy
00:26:40
Speaker
is probably a better option. But, man, Nuhu's been great. I don't know why at this point you would not start Nuhu. And it's interesting that the sounders are looking at the possibility of starting four players along the back line during this whole playoff run who didn't start for them
00:27:01
Speaker
during last year's playoff run, which is kind of an amazing transition. And it speaks well to the longevity, at least thinking that this core roster has another year or two on them before you have to really start making some big changes.
00:27:17
Speaker
But looking ahead to Minnesota United, I have to admit, that was the matchup, you know, before the game, that was the matchup that I wanted.
Western Conference Finals Analysis
00:27:25
Speaker
I think even after watching them, I'd still say that it's a...
00:27:31
Speaker
good matchup for the Sounders, but only really because it's in Seattle, whereas they would have had to go to Kansas City. But I was impressed by Minnesota. I don't know what I wasn't super impressed by what they did to the rapids, only because it's hard to know what to make of the rapids. But Kansas City was not necessarily a great defense this year.
00:27:53
Speaker
But, um, I mean, they, they, they took their, their, that 15 minutes stretch in, in, uh, in the first half yesterday and they made the most of it. And Ray knows so is seems like a pretty impressive number 10 Kevin Molino is in great form. I mean, they're going to be a handful, I think. Yeah, they're a tough team. They're, they're, uh, MLS is so weird in the way that for so long since they joined the league, they were
00:28:24
Speaker
borderline laughing stock. And without really changing their approach, I think it's fair to say just making better signings, having a cohesive group, uh, signing Ozzy Alonzo, I think, you know, was, it was important to that as well. But, you know, not becoming a team that was going out and signing big name, big money players, not, um, not going the FC Dallas route and just going now all in on youth, but just getting better at what they were doing. They've turned into.
00:28:54
Speaker
a very good team and what looks like a sustainable model. It actually reminds me a lot of the model supporting KC is used to have, I think a fair amount of success considering their budgets and what they're spending and things like that. They're a very tough team to play against.
00:29:17
Speaker
Um, I'm, I am very concerned about Ozzy Alonzo with a chip on his shoulder. I mean, I think that it's, it's clear. He has not even the, at this point, not even the player he was when he left Seattle, when he was very clearly not the player, he wasn't as prime, but he's also sort of adjusted to, um,
00:29:36
Speaker
to compensate for that and it's just become definitely more of a one-dimensional player, but he's very, very good at that dimension. And that dimension is a dimension that, you know, gets people hurt sometimes. And I'm certainly not saying Ozzy's dangerous.
00:29:51
Speaker
player or a dirty player. I mean, he's he's a little dirty. I think everybody can kind of admit that. But he's you know, he's not he's not Roger Espinosa or anything. And Aussie with the chip on his shoulder, you know, kicking guys is a little scary, I will admit. So, you know, I'm not looking forward to the game, I guess. I think the Sounders are favorites. I think they should be the favorites. They're very, very hard to beat at home. Minnesota does not.
00:30:21
Speaker
have the talent to, I think, be considered a favorite. They just don't. The talent edge for the sounders is pretty vast, but they have a system that works for them. They're talented enough to pull it off. I would say they probably are a tough matchup for the sounders stylistically. So yeah, we'll see. I think that it's likely to be a fairly comfortable sounders when I think the
00:30:50
Speaker
Again, with the MLS media hot taking machine, I think that the reaction to the game in Kansas City was a little overblown. And just to the regular season in general, total aside to this topic, but the fact that a lot of people, not only in MLS media, but also just MLS fans in general are
00:31:10
Speaker
Pretending like we had a normal regular season and making these grand pronouncements based on the fact that teams played the same six teams like 12 times. Yeah. It's just baffling to me. I mean, like the Philadelphia Union are not the best team in MLS. I'm sorry. They're, they're not. It's just crazy. And it's crazy to think that, um, and, and, you know, Minnesota did fairly well in the regular season. Look at who they played. Um, New England, same deal. It's Columbus, same deal. It's just.
00:31:41
Speaker
It's fine, we're doing the best we can with what we've got. And I'm not complaining about the structure of the playoffs. I think it's about as good as you were gonna get the structure of the season, etc. But it's just not the same thing.
00:31:57
Speaker
It isn't and it's it is funny because you look at the strength of schedules and I and I think you and I are probably inclined to say that the sounders played a relatively tough schedule because they played the timbers and la fc a ton and at least.
00:32:12
Speaker
You can you can look at those teams. And even if the records didn't say they were among the best teams in the league, I think you can look at them and say, like, no, they were among the most talented teams in the league and they were they were very good teams. And and it's and it's really rests really on what you think of the quality of opponents that these teams play. Like you can make an on paper argument that Kansas City, for instance, had a tougher schedule than the centers. I don't know that you can look at it like.
00:32:41
Speaker
honestly and say like, no, that's a tougher schedule than what the Sounders played. Uh, and you can kind of go around the league and make that make those choices. Like, I think it's fair to say Toronto C had a tough road because they, because they had to play away from home essentially all year. But who did they play? I think it's a, it's a tougher, like how good were the, they played the impact in the white gaps a ton. They played, you know, they, they,
00:33:06
Speaker
They only played the Union and the Union and them only played twice. Whereas, you know, teams in the West were having to seem like they were having to beat up on each other a little bit more. And is that tougher or is that easier? I don't know. But it is like I don't.
00:33:23
Speaker
I think it is tough to drop grand conclusions from the regular season and that's also what makes these playoff matchup so much more interesting because they are really like they end up like the centers are gonna end up playing.
00:33:38
Speaker
potentially three teams in the playoffs who they never played during the regular season. The crew are the only team left that they have played this year and that was seemingly a lifetime ago back in March.
00:33:55
Speaker
You know, it's just an interesting, it's an interesting year to look at. I can't imagine that a lot of organizations, I would, well, some organizations I guess have done this, but I don't think most organizations are gonna try to draw grand conclusions from this year, but at the same time, like a year's a long time in the world of professional soccer and you can't just not, you can't just like skip over a year and say like, well, we're gonna act like that didn't happen.
00:34:23
Speaker
But anyway, it's gonna be an interesting close to this season. I like the Sounders chances against Minnesota United. I like the Sounders chances if they get to MLS Cup against either one of the teams that they'll play. I think I'd probably prefer that they play the revolution if only because
00:34:40
Speaker
it would mean a game in Seattle. But I don't necessarily think, I think the Rebs might be a more talented team in some ways than the crew. And so much of their success is predicated on having their stars available, which they haven't had. Carlos Heal was not available for a lot of the season, and now he seems to be back.
00:35:01
Speaker
So that'll be fun. I also like the idea of Porter falling flat against Arena in the conference finals. So I don't know. It'll be interesting. I don't really have much else on this game. Do you have any other thoughts to close it out?
00:35:20
Speaker
I don't think so. I mean, I think it's going to be tough. MLS playoff games are almost universally tough. Minnesota is a tricky team to play against. If the Sounders lose, something's gone wrong somewhere. Either they've had some very bad luck or they just didn't come to play or the tactical plan wasn't there. I think that the second two are very unlikely just based on the professionalism of the team and how well prepared they tend to be. So, you know,
00:35:49
Speaker
Then it comes down to luck and that's the nature of playoffs and hopefully they have decent enough luck.
00:35:56
Speaker
Yeah. The one thing I was thinking about as far as the centers go is that if they don't win this, I'm not sure it changes how I feel about the roster at all. No, not at all for me either. Yeah. Like, I think there's some change. They have some decisions to make. I think they got a big decision on Leerdom. I think they probably have a big decision on Svensson. They might have to, you know, they might want to bolster their center. Like I don't expect Roman Torres to be back.
00:36:20
Speaker
you know like there's decisions on the on the outskirts of but i think the core of this roster you bring back without even a second thought i think and spenson's a good is an interesting one because i think we have kind of seen since he's been out um for reasons i think we could probably guess at this point um yeah it's uh the sounders haven't
00:36:46
Speaker
He's a great player. The Sounders are better with him. I wouldn't say that they've looked like they've missed him a whole lot. And so I think I kind of assumed he would be gone after this year anyway, which sucks. I would have loved to for him to be able to have an actual send off. I think it makes that decision a lot easier. And I think what it looks like to me going into next season shaping up
00:37:10
Speaker
that the sounders are going to be able to go into the year with a lot of flexibility going into the secondary transfer window. And we know Garth loves having flexibility going into the secondary transfer window. And we've seen why in the past. He usually comes up with something pretty good when he does. So you can go into the year with your DP, your core in place, and then you can see what you've got and then address sort of the, I guess, secondary core, which I don't know if that's the thing.
00:37:38
Speaker
you know, those sort of like very good players that maybe aren't key to the team's identity.
00:37:44
Speaker
in the secondary window. And maybe you don't have to, you know, which is, which would be great. Well, yeah, I mean, I think, and not to get too far ahead of ourselves, but to me, the big, the big decision the Sounders are going to have to make next year is my suspicion is that they open with Xiao Paolo and Christian Roldan as you're starting defensive midfielders.
Future Midfield Decisions and Transfers
00:38:01
Speaker
And then you give yourself half a season to look at if that's, if you think that's a, if that's your, your core midfield. And if not, then maybe you decide to move Roldan up to
00:38:12
Speaker
the back to the wing and you look for another player in the defensive midfield or you go out and you finally get that high priced winger that we've all been certain, you know, the, the centers have been looking for all along. But my suspicion is that that's a, that's like a classic example of a decision that they probably get to put off until the summer.
00:38:33
Speaker
Yeah. And being able to do that just is, it's invaluable. It's definitely valuable. I totally agree. All right. Well, that's a good place to call this a show.
00:38:45
Speaker
Really appreciate everyone hanging with us for all this time. A special thanks to Fullpool Wines, who has been such a great sponsor, especially this year. I am Jeremiah Shan, signing off for Aaron Campo and Likert P. This is No Study Yet This. Remember, you will never get alone.
00:39:07
Speaker
Green Douglas, where were the waters cut through? Down to wild mountains and tangents you flew. Canadian Northwest to the ocean so blue. It's Roll On, Columbia Roll On. Roll On, Columbia Roll On. Roll On, Columbia Roll On. Your power is turning our darkness to dawn. Roll On, Columbia Roll On.
00:39:44
Speaker
We love you. Let's win another one!