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Nos Audieitis Mailbag: Is Ryan Kent the answer?
392 Plays7 days ago
Jeremiah and Aaron field questions ranging from a potential change to two strikers, how the Sounders might use their U22 roster spots, what’s going on with Cody Baker, how well the Sounders managed their fixture congestion and what they think of rumored signing Ryan Kent.
As a reminder, all these questions came from our private Discord, which is available to all subscribers at the Supporter ($75/year) level or above. If you’d like to upgrade your membership, you can do so here. If you’re already a Supporter or above and want to join the Discord, shoot us an email.
***
Nos Audietis is the flagship podcast for Sounder at Heart, which became a reader-supported website on Aug. 21. You can support us by becoming a paid subscriber, learn more here. You can also watch many of their shows on YouTube.
Aside from becoming a Sounder at Heart subscriber, you can also support the show by using this link to purchase MLS Season Pass or checking out our merch table to buy various shirt designs.
“Diversions” audio provided by Sounder at Heart subscriber Lars; find more of their music here.
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Transcript
Introduction and New Roles
00:00:01
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.
Sounders' Latest Achievements
00:00:11
Speaker
Come on, A.O. Shad, let's I saw you, Bob Fry!
00:00:15
Speaker
The Seattle Sounders have done it!
00:00:54
Speaker
This is a tiny dog. Nice work on your little yacht thing. What was the thought process in terms of who you decided to use and who you didn't?
00:01:06
Speaker
It sounded horrible to commentary that we didn't take over seriously.
Sponsor Spotlight: Full Pull Wines
00:01:18
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.
00:01:32
Speaker
They offer the best boutique wines of the world to members of their mailing list, with special focus on their home, Pacific Northwest.
Meet the Hosts
00:01:43
Speaker
Welcome back to another episode of Nos Adiates, part of the Sunder at Heart Podcast Network. I am Jeremiah Oshan. Joining me today is Aaron Campo and our engineer, Lickett.
Sounders' Recent Challenges and Player Updates
00:01:56
Speaker
This is the mailbag episode for March 2025. And we got a lot of stuff to talk about. We got to get we had it just had a game on Saturday. The Sunder's tied 0-0. Very frustrating result.
00:02:11
Speaker
as most scoreless ties are. That one was, that was frustrating. Uh, there's a good, nice little rumor though, that we have to talk about Paul Areola, uh, not great news, but Paul Areola had his surgery. It was successful. That's great.
00:02:26
Speaker
But he was also put on the season ending injury list. And we'll be talking about all this stuff, but Aaron,
Personal Insights from Aaron
00:02:33
Speaker
how are you doing? How are you
00:02:36
Speaker
You know, I'm chilling. I'm doing chilling, I suppose. Uh, Yeah, you know it's another lovely day in March in the Pacific Northwest. so Today was lovely, though. Today was actually lovely.
00:02:50
Speaker
It was. It's supposed to be terrible tomorrow, but today was beautiful. Got a nice five-mile walk in and you know wo so soaking up the vitamin D. you know That's a good walk. not bad Where do you go walking, Aaron? When you go for a walk, are you going?
00:03:08
Speaker
I'm usually going to stroll up. i don't want to dox myself too much, but I stroll up Proctor and I live on the south south end of Proctor. I'm not one of those bougie types, but I stroll up Proctor and then usually take a right at 6th Avenue and it just kind cruise down 6th Avenue and okay you know pop into the record store maybe if I'm feeling froggy.
00:03:28
Speaker
and There you go. Yeah. It's nice. You know, I'm getting I need to mix it up a little bit. I'm getting a little a little bit burnt
Reflections on Past Visits
00:03:35
Speaker
out of that route. So I might I might switch back to walking up all the way up proctor to up to like 26 or whatever at some point. But yeah, but that's my current my current route takes me down six. Usually I'm realizing I've never visited you at your house in Tacoma. Sure.
00:03:51
Speaker
It's true. Well, you didn't visit me at my last house either. You did once, I think, actually. So it's seen and in a Skyway. That's right. Yeah. I did visit there. she come up You came over once. You did come over once. At least one.
00:04:06
Speaker
I came over every time I was invited, I think. That's probably that's probably true.
Podcast's Approach Amidst Political Climate
00:04:12
Speaker
Well, you're definitely invited to this house since it's not 600 square feet.
00:04:17
Speaker
Okay. Well, ah I may take you up on that, Aaron. We don't really do banter on this show, but today we apparently we're feeling bantery. i guess so. I guess so. Yeah.
00:04:29
Speaker
ah You know, anything to distract ourselves from our crumbling democracy that I don't want to get too into. But um let's get into it. I don't know. Can you imagine? Can you imagine?
00:04:41
Speaker
Just pivot to a politics podcast. Yeah. I know we've been steering clear of politics for the most of the last 15 years, but what if we just dive in today? Yeah.
00:04:55
Speaker
Good times. Good times, Aaron. So ah we got some questions.
Sounders' Strategy with Strikers
00:05:00
Speaker
We do. Do we want to do we want to get into those? Might as well. and First one is from MCB.
00:05:08
Speaker
The Sounders regularly played with two strikers in past years. Why haven't we seen it yet this year? Well, I guess it depends, right, on how you're defining two strikers, because the Sounders have rarely, if ever, played with two, like, high strikers where they were sort of, like, tandemly moving, high it's keeping high lines.
00:05:28
Speaker
They did do that kind – I mean, I guess you could kind of say they did it with – when they Raul Ruizia – yeah, Ruizia and Will Bruin for parts of 2021. But even then – but even then Bruin dropped in a lot and was sort of acting as almost like a second playmaker.
00:05:46
Speaker
So I don't know. they I guess I bring this up because they have played with Morris and Ferreira on the field together. Some. And I think this question did come in before.
00:05:56
Speaker
you know, we've been taking these questions for almost two weeks, frankly. And I think this one may have come in before Jordan got hurt. But maybe not. Maybe he's talking. I guess now I think back, he might have actually been talking about Herp Ferreira and Masofsky playing together. And they played a little bit with them together. And it might help. Like, I will say that I think Nico asked Brian at training today about that possibility or someone did.
00:06:28
Speaker
maybe Maybe it was Jackson. And Brian admitted it might help. But I don't know. I don't I don't I'm not of the mind to think that that's really the main problem.
00:06:41
Speaker
ah Because I think even if Ferreira had a second striker on the field, it wouldn't necessarily mean that he's going to stay high. He's going to that's just means that he can drop in and play it more naturally. They don't have to. They don't still have to strike or to real. Like, are you going to play Masofsky and Morris together, even if they're healthy? That doesn't I don't think that's what this person is asking for. it Right.
00:07:01
Speaker
Yeah, I don't think so. I mean, i think a lot of the two striker setups we saw last year, in addition to, as you alluded to, the fact that they were really more it was kind of like a throwback to the the early, early days of the MLS Sounders with Jaqua and Montero, you know, where got one more of a target forward, one guy who's kind of playing in behind.
00:07:22
Speaker
um But I think that was as much to do with trying to keep Raul in the lineup long enough to let him play his way out of the lineup while also, you know, trying to get um Jordan in more dangerous areas rather than ah really like a purely tactical decision.
00:07:45
Speaker
And I think I just, I think it's like you said, I think if you you play Masavsky and Ferreira together, more often than not, what you're going to end up with is Ferreira sliding back into that 10 role that he seems more comfortable in.
00:08:01
Speaker
and Musavsky playing higher. And we've got a more in-depth question about Musavsky's performance so ah so far this year coming
CONCACAF vs. Open Cup Debate
00:08:08
Speaker
later. So I don't want to, you know, give away the story with yet just yet with that one, but I don't think anybody is really under the illusion that Danny Musavsky is going to be the guy that,
00:08:18
Speaker
unlocks this yeah yeah so yeah i mean i i think what's so frustrating is that the sounders look pretty good offensively through six games they had 13 goals through six games in all comps and then then they had the the loss to crucisul where they had the injuries and then they haven't scored in the two games they have since then so they've been yeah sort of it's ah hard you know It's hard to balance, I guess, what are the genuine struggle. like Is this roster just not well-constructed?
00:08:53
Speaker
Is the offense not good? Or are we sort of like trapped in a moment of time where things just aren't really clicking? And then once guys get familiar with one another, things will start to come together. I'm a i'm inclined to want to believe that.
00:09:07
Speaker
I don't know if I... I'm frustrated, is as everyone is right now, with the Sounders' lack of scoring. But I i just don't... I guess what I'm saying is I agree with you. I don't think Danny Masofsky is the key to unlocking this current struggle. Right.
00:09:22
Speaker
ah Yeah. And I will add before I ask this question that all these questions come from our discord community. And if you want to get involved in our discord community, you can do that by becoming a subscriber the $75 year level above. That's supporter level. Yeah.
Join the Discord Community
00:09:38
Speaker
supporter level Of course, we love our backers as well. That's the $25 level. But you don't get access to the Discord, unfortunately. This is sort of the perk of getting in.
00:09:49
Speaker
One of those perks are getting to ask questions. We also do AMAs, which we're lining up one right now with ah Frank McDonald of Washington Legends of Soccer in case you need more reasons to join us on Discord. And if you are a so supporter the $75 a year level or above, I would urge you to like join the Discord and check it out.
00:10:09
Speaker
It's pretty fun, even though we sometimes get heated in there and it's little wild. It can. It can. it can. All right. This question is from 509.
00:10:21
Speaker
ah The price is heavy and the rewards are few. Can we opt out of the CONCACAF Champions Cup from here on out? I'd much rather see us in the open cup. Uh, no, we cannot do that. I don't believe, uh, if we could and chose to do so, i think there would be a ah riot.
00:10:37
Speaker
Um, well, let's just say hypothetically that we could like, I think you're right. I don't think this is a, I don't think this is a genuine option that the Sanders have, but let's just say they did. Would you rather the Sanders compete in the open cup than the champions league? No, essentially championship.
00:10:52
Speaker
No, I would not either. And I understand there's a lot of challenge that, that come with this tournament and we learned it this year, big time. But I want to keep competing in it. i think this is I think there's a lot of truth the idea that this is an important tournament. like We're going to be able to gauge the progress of MLS more accurately and the Sounders, frankly, more accurately through this tournament than any other tournament MLS competes in.
00:11:19
Speaker
I think the idea of let's not do this because it's hard is the complete antithesis of what you want from your sports team. Like, yeah, it's, it's hard, but, the but it's also the, the highest, most important competition the Sounders can play in And I am including the club world cup in that. Like it is the most important, most prestigious competition they can play in them. Winning it was maybe the best moment of my life as a sports fan.
00:11:47
Speaker
I, Yeah, I mean, it sucks when guys get injured. um i do think that maybe the... I don't really think they get injured anymore in in the Champions League than they do in any other competition.
00:12:03
Speaker
i think if if there's a calendar switch, that's going to help a lot because I think yeah guys playing a lot of minutes early in the season... can't really help.
00:12:14
Speaker
I think that's really that's really the challenge. And if you go back to 2022, the year of the Sounders won this tournament, One of the big things that happened that year was and MLS was able to work their schedule so that they had a lot of bye weeks while they were competing in Champions Cup.
00:12:31
Speaker
That's not something the calendar allows for them to do anymore because, frankly, of League's Cup and because it's just a much more crowded calendar now than it ever was. And so you could move games around, but it would just be so much more you're you're really robbing.
00:12:47
Speaker
Paul to pay Peter. I don't know. Peter to pay Paul. I don't really know that how that saying goes. I don't even understand it. But it's, you know, ah it's just they don't whatever reason they don't they don't let them move the schedule around the They don't give them the same flexibility that they gave in previous years. And that that's a that's a challenge.
00:13:09
Speaker
Yeah, that's a challenge. But um again, just because it's a challenge doesn't mean you shouldn't be trying. Yeah, I agree. ah Next one's from Ken w Are we likely to fill any of the open U22 spots prior to the end of the current window?
Filling U22 Roster Spots
00:13:24
Speaker
Positional priorities in the event we do?
00:13:27
Speaker
i don't think that's going to happen. ah i i get the sense the Sounders are sort of fine with waiting on that, which is a little frustrating, I'll admit, because the the argument is that they aren't these players aren't going to come in and compete right away.
00:13:45
Speaker
So you may as well wait. But of course, that means that they're probably not going to compete late. like The longer you wait to bring them in, the longer it's going to take them to bet in. right And i i don't know. It'll be interesting to see what the Sounders do with these spots. like I have heard that they've been looking around intraligue to sign someone from another team with like a cash transfer, which would be an interesting move.
00:14:11
Speaker
I'm not sure how many guys out there I'm dying to get. I honestly, I don't, I don't know what the Sounders are targeting, but the question really was, what do we, well, what do we think they're going to do?
00:14:23
Speaker
i still think looking for a forward makes the most sense, but I would be totally lying. If I said, I knew that's what the Sounders were targeting. I think it's a, I think the Sounders are so still sort of assessing what they need.
00:14:38
Speaker
Yeah. I kind of go back and forth on it because, forwards or just attacking players in general make more sense for some reason, for I think a lot of reasons, but there's also the fact that defensive minded players tend to peak a little later.
00:14:56
Speaker
And so I think, you know, you can probably get like defenders or defensive midfielders little bit more cheaply that have a little bit higher upside um because the attacking players are getting a lot of attacking players by the time they're 19, 20, 21 years nineteen twenty twenty one years old who are going to develop into really, really good players have already started playing regularly, you know, competing for first team minutes and in good leagues.
00:15:22
Speaker
And so that means they're either going to be really expensive and there's a limit to how expensive they can be with a U22 mechanism, um, or they're going to be really, really raw and it's, it's kind of a crapshoot.
00:15:32
Speaker
And so I do wonder if maybe the ceiling is higher with more defensive minded players, but, uh, i don't you know It feels like a best player available to me. right It feels like a guy that they identify, who you know they think is a good cultural fit, who they think has a high ceiling, who they think you know maybe they're prioritizing contributing sooner than later as well, whatever their criteria are.
00:15:57
Speaker
I just think it's going to be whoever the best fit is regardless of position. Yeah, it's not the most satisfying answer, admittedly. No, it's not. i mean, it's... I do think, though, the U22 mechanism is something that people are more excited or and were worried about, I guess, than think is really justifiable on the merits of it.
00:16:18
Speaker
Yeah. i want them to try to do something with it, but I think anything that happens, like, I kind of think you're playing with house money almost. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, Backfield did, I think it was Backfield, did it, or maybe it was even Brian McKay who writes for Sound at Heart as well.
00:16:33
Speaker
But there I'm pretty sure it was in Backfield that there was a story that looked pretty extensively at the success rate of U-22s. And it basically found that it's a crapshoot.
00:16:45
Speaker
These are not yeah players that are hitting at a particularly high rate. And the players that do hit oftentimes are players who are signed from within the league and and elevated into those positions.
00:16:58
Speaker
It does sound like the Sounders are going to use... like i will say it's a littlera it's definitely frustrating that Sounders have three open U22 spots. And they're talking as if they can only use one.
00:17:10
Speaker
ah like almost openly. And I think that means because they're going to probably sign one or two players internally to you 22 constructs, but it's, it's not the most, you know, uh, imagination inspiring.
00:17:27
Speaker
It's not, it's not the most fun way of running ah using the roster mechanisms. Like these are kind of hope casty spots and the centers aren't giving us a lot to work with there.
00:17:38
Speaker
which is you know kind of unfortunate. ah This is from wood bushery. This Cody Baker has been on the bench or a bunch so far this year, but he doesn't seem to have made an appearance.
00:17:49
Speaker
How does Cody get on the field this year? And do you see him going back to defiance for minutes?
00:17:55
Speaker
Uh, I, I just, I don't know where he's going get a lot of those minutes unless a spot opens up.
Cody Baker’s Playing Time Chances
00:18:04
Speaker
Um, I think that if he were likely to be high in the pecking order for minutes, Areola getting hurt means he would have probably been getting some um and and he hasn't really. And I think that that kind of, I think that says a decent amount maybe about where he is is in the pecking order right now. um You know, I think that when Leagues Cup comes around, there there are going to be minutes to be had, um unfortunately.
00:18:33
Speaker
ah so i you know, I wouldn't be shocked to see him get some minutes there. But i I don't know. I mean, i don't know what he gets out of going back to Defiance, really, um other than staying sharp, I guess, which is, you know, there's yeah certainly a benefit to that.
00:18:47
Speaker
um But yeah, I don't know. I mean, it's. He's not he hasn't aged out of relevance or anything like that, I don't think. But it's starting to feel like maybe it's it's not going to happen, at least as a regular in Seattle. So.
00:19:05
Speaker
um yeah He's still he's still only 21. So I'd say there's yeah some ah is is a player who in a previous era would be considered a young MLS player who is just kind of coming out of you. You know, he'd likely be coming out of college this year.
00:19:22
Speaker
So it's not like he's old, but I agree with you that I think it's. tough to see a path forward for him at least at right back where it it sure seems like Kalani Kosarienzi has passed him on the depth chart. i mean, he has. He clearly has. He's yeah played multiple games. He's started multiple games.
00:19:41
Speaker
Baker has not. And, you know, Cody's and a nice player, but he's sort of also a little bit of a throwback player. Like he's a defense first fullback. Now, could he maybe work out as a right center back or even a left center back? He had played left back previously, sort of in a and new who style role.
00:20:02
Speaker
I think that's possible, but I don't know how high he is. on the depth chart there either. You know, he's, he's not, I i don't think he's ahead of Stuart Hawkins. He's probably not, he's surely not ahead of Kim key. He, so he's got competition all over the field for him.
00:20:17
Speaker
And I, I think he will get some minutes at defines just to keep him sharp, but you know, he he's, yeah i think he may have played a little bit more if the sounders were protecting more leads.
00:20:31
Speaker
Cause I think that's kind of his role right now. But you know Reed Baker Whiting is getting – he should be available this week. And he seems to be behind him as well.
00:20:42
Speaker
So there's just – he just – there's not a – it's tough. I don't think there's a pathway. I don't see the path forward for him in terms of getting real minutes here. I would think he's a good candidate for maybe a loan out somewhere, which maybe transitions us into this this next question.
00:21:01
Speaker
Yeah, it's from from South Sounder, and it's it's a similar question about a different player. Stu Hawkins hasn't yet received any playing time. Is having him on the bench hurting his development, and might the Sounders actually loan him elsewhere so that he can continue to grow, especially once Kim
Stu Hawkins' Development Plans
00:21:15
Speaker
Kihee is fit?
00:21:15
Speaker
I think he has played very briefly since this question was asked, if I recall correctly, right? ah Just to hallucinate that. I think he played he played in the Open cup So maybe that's what you're thinking of.
00:21:28
Speaker
He did start the open cup. He played 45 minutes in the open cup for the defiance, ah not for the first team. And, you know, I really like Stuart Hawkins. I think he's going to be a very good player. i think he probably needs to ah like If he was going to break into the first team, i think that period, we're through that period where he there was opportunities to play him and the Sounders didn't play him for whatever reason.
00:21:56
Speaker
I think it probably does make sense to send him on a loan and it probably makes sense to send him on a loan outside of the defiance because the he's proven that he can... play in MLS next pro. He was one of the best center backs in the whole league last year as an 18 year old.
00:22:12
Speaker
He needs to be tested at a higher level. And if that means sending them to someplace like Sweden uh, I don't know, Denmark or something like Belgium. i don't know if they can get it. Like these are how realistic these, but if they can find a loan like that for him, i think that's a great option because I think yeah those, he needs to play against adults on a regular basis and he needs to play in meaningful games.
00:22:36
Speaker
And I don't know that he's going to get those with the Sounders for like for better or for worse. so Yeah. I, I wonder, I wonder what the Canadian premier league is like in comparison to MLS next pro.
00:22:49
Speaker
i I don't know that it's that big of a... like Yeah, it's dwayne it's probably like... Oh, God. Sorry. I was going to say, like I look at Osase De Rosario, who was one of the top young players in Canada and then came to MLS Next Pro as his sort of hope to get more noticed.
00:23:07
Speaker
So i don't I don't think he's going to get... I would be kind of disappointed if he got loaned to... to the Canadian premier league. I w I would hope it's like a first foreign for, you know, outside of North America of situation. I mean, and that's, that's a really valuable experience for other reasons, just the level of competition as well. Yeah, exactly. I mean, he's the guy who I, as far as I know, still lives at home.
00:23:30
Speaker
i which, hey, and he's 19 years old. I don't begrudge that at all. But in terms of like becoming a pro athlete, sometimes moving out of your comfort zone is ah is a good thing. that You hear people talk about that all the time.
00:23:45
Speaker
and But this is one of the drawbacks of ah my playing in MLS Next Pro versus the USL Championship. In the USL Championship, you could maybe justify playing him there. And i don't know, maybe that's where he ends up getting loaned.
00:23:57
Speaker
USL Championship, probably a better test, I would say, than the Canadian Premier League. But yeah, even then i would, i don't know if you're raising his profile, like, cause ideally going to send him someplace where you not only make him better, but you're also raising his profile a little bit. And you know, in the, on the yeah chance that he's not going to play here. um Yeah.
00:24:16
Speaker
That's a great, that's great job. ah Next one is from, oh go ahead. i was going to, is it, I think it's me reading it, right? Oh, it is. right. Gosh, sorry. That's okay.
00:24:27
Speaker
This is from DoubleCubed. What, if anything, would you have done differently to manage the schedule? The players look gassed against Cruz's soul, and I think we believe too many minutes contributed to Morris's hamstring.
00:24:40
Speaker
I believe that, but I don't know if it's like, I think they probably did, but I don't know that you can credibly say right? right um guys that are fresh hurt their hamstrings all the time.
00:24:54
Speaker
um I think that playing the starters as deep into the game against Antigua is like the biggest guess criticism I have. um Because when you look at the other games, they rotated a lot against RSL.
00:25:09
Speaker
They rotated a lot against LAFC, which was the game that preceded the Cruz Azul one. They did. um And i just, you can't, you can't throw away league games entirely, especially against LAFC. Like, yeah, they could have started, an all, you know, bench guys and, and defiance loanies line up against LAFC, but that's not a good thing to do.
00:25:34
Speaker
you know? Um, And I don't think Pedro's injury didn't look like an overuse injury to me necessarily. It just looked like he kind of twisted his, his. Well, and they were also, I thought they did a good job with Pedro too. Like they weren't playing him a ton. And, and Morris, like, I will say this about the, to defend the Morris situation is he had been really healthy. Like he'd been remarkably durable since his second ACL injury. You know, the last season that he was playing,
00:26:06
Speaker
um He started basically every game regardless. that like He was playing on short rest all the time. And maybe it was too early in the season to push him as hard as they pushed him. And I think it's easy in hindsight to say that's the case. And and that might be true.
00:26:20
Speaker
But on some level, I i kind of trust the the technical staff to or the physical staff yeah to to know that stuff. Yeah.
00:26:33
Speaker
Yeah, another great segue. Actually, I'll just I'll stop you right there. there You go next one because there you go this one's from Spencer. There have been a lot of justifiable ah justifiable and parents comments last questions about minute management.
00:26:46
Speaker
I'm thinking specifically about Morris's heavy load relative lack of Ferreira and even the slow ramp up of PDLV last year. How much of the lineup subs with regards to fitness is an art versus a science? My assumption is that the team is doing all sorts of tests between coaches, physios,
00:27:00
Speaker
And we should apply some Chevron deference because it's a data thing. Or is it more subjective and therefore more critiquable? I think it's critiquable because it's sports in the and you get to yeah to talk about the results that are separate. Like we get to, right? That's the the glory of sports is that you get to the debate the results even if you, as much as you can debate the process, even if the process was sound, it's not going to lead to the results you always want.
00:27:27
Speaker
And, you know, I'm inclined, like, I think I agree with this person that there is some deference that you pay to the the analytics that are feeding their their decision-making process in this case. Now, who knows? maybe Maybe the physios were throwing up red flags and telling Schmetzer that they they needed to hold off and not let Morris run as much as he did.
Injury Management and Player Fitness
00:27:55
Speaker
i If that's the case, i that's news to me. But as far as I know, they were in alignment. As far as I know, Schmetzer was following the guidance of the physios.
00:28:07
Speaker
And it's fair to criticize it because it didn't work out. But i I think they practiced mostly reasonable caution. I think there was one game where they probably could have rotated out Obed and Christian when they they played them you know back-to-back games one time where they probably could have rotated that.
00:28:29
Speaker
Morris obviously started, i think, ah all but one game in that stretch. Yeah. Maybe you could have and the one but like the for one game. He didn't start. He played 45.
00:28:40
Speaker
Right. ah The Ferreira thing. i don't know. I think that they probably were being appropriately careful. I mean, it like he only played 90 minutes for the first time on.
00:28:52
Speaker
On Saturday and. You know, i I tend to trust that there was a reason for his minute restrictions. ah You know, and that's a tough one.
00:29:05
Speaker
I don't know. Yeah, it's it is one of those things where. um I know that I know very little about the Sounders and Turtle Analytics, but I know that they put a lot of effort into them.
00:29:19
Speaker
They have a really well-respected analytics department and that a lot of their analytics are around fitness data. And so I do, like you said, I trust that they are doing the best that we could possibly expect them to be doing with fitness data.
00:29:36
Speaker
And i know that Schmetzer has talked in the past, sometimes with feigned, maybe annoyance, ah about adhering to the data and the recommendations of the of the training staff and and the the you know what the data is telling them. So I think that there's a tendency of of sports fans to think that their teams' injury struggles are uniquely bad. And I actually think the Sounders have been a little luckier than other teams in that regard, which seems hard to believe because they've had high-profile injuries.
00:30:11
Speaker
They've had these bad runs that coincided with injuries. But you know in general, like it feels like it's been a while since they lost a key player for the season. i guess Pedro last year, but was he really a key player last year? i don't know.
00:30:27
Speaker
um So I, I don't know. It's, it's frustrating. The timing of it is certainly frustrating. The fact that it it has happened last year is certainly frustrating, but I really do kind of trust that they're making the best decisions that they, they can based on the information that they have, you know?
00:30:45
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Well, another question about the the fitness. ah This is from Kenny and he says, I've been surprised by Schmetz's apparent reticence to play Jesus Ferreira at the nine and slightly disappointed JF's contributions on the whole to date.
00:31:01
Speaker
What have you heard about and how he's how he's been training and what his coaches and teammates have made it him?
Jesus Ferreira's Role
00:31:07
Speaker
Yeah, ah um I don't have any insight into how he's been in training or or what his coaches and teammates have said about him. That's really more your department, but I think that um there' there's definitely there two schools of thought about Jesus Ferreira and his positions.
00:31:24
Speaker
And one of them is that, look, he had couple of great seasons playing as a nine. He played in a World Cup as a nine. There's no reason to think he's not still that player. And then there's the other school of thought.
00:31:36
Speaker
And I increasingly kind of find myself in the school of thought. That is, he has changed. His game has changed. He's had some injuries. And FC Dallas had that guy and decided not to play him as a striker last year and played him as more of a 10. And kind of have to wonder why they made that decision, right?
00:31:58
Speaker
Like that's, ah I would say, a you know, a striker that could put in goals the way he did earlier in his career is a little more valuable than the player he was as a 10 last season.
00:32:10
Speaker
So I wonder if there is a reason for that. And similarly, if there's a reason that Schmetzer seems, you know, like Kenny says, reticent to play him at the nine. Yeah, I mean, i I would guess that Schmetzer, when he's season nine, he wants someone who's going Body defenders and be physical, and that's not, you know, that I guess that wasn't really Diaz's game, and so maybe that's unfair,
00:32:36
Speaker
but I think the Sounders have sort of adopted, have worked their system a little bit more around Jordan's game right now. And it's pretty obvious that best you could say all you all the nice things you want to about Rara, but he's not the same.
00:32:52
Speaker
He's a different kind of player than Morris. Like they just fundamentally want to play the position differently. And. I think in that sense, it like i can see why the owner i can see why Brian specifically would like to play with Jordan at the nine as opposed to Ferreira.
00:33:09
Speaker
So, I don't know. i'm not I'm not totally shocked by... his reticence to play him there in part because he's actually looked pretty good as a 10. Like he's got good feet. He's got good vision. He, he sees plays.
00:33:24
Speaker
Uh, it's just, you know, he's not, but the, you know, this the last two games, he's had two shots or no, sorry. He's had one shot, uh, And total.
00:33:35
Speaker
And so, you know, that's, you know, that speaks to an inability to get them into positions where they want to get them. So I don't know. ah It's going be an interesting to see how that evolves. Cause I think we're going to see them at the number nine, at least for another game or two.
00:33:48
Speaker
And, you know, we'll see how how it works out. Yep. Thank you for listening to the sounder at heart podcast network, which now includes no Sonny at this lobbing scorchers and the cooler guild.
00:34:02
Speaker
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Speaker
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00:35:15
Speaker
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Second Half Performance Insights
00:36:22
Speaker
ah This one is from almost cool. Why do the sounders always play better in the second half of games? Or I guess was your question, but I'll ask it anyway. Is it just down to coaching and adjustments?
00:36:34
Speaker
Uh, yeah, I guess, gosh, we're just doing a bad job keeping track tonight. Yeah. I'm not sure that I agree that they always play better in the second half of games. um I thought they were actually better in the first half against Houston.
00:36:46
Speaker
um I thought that they were much better in the first half on the road against Cruz's old than they were in the second half. ah I do think they tend to make good halftime adjustments. They they definitely do.
00:36:59
Speaker
They definitely do. I do. I do think that when they do have those games, like against LAFC is a great example of that, right? They looked like a different team in the second half. um And so I think when the initial game plan hasn't really gone the way they wanted it to, or has gone the way they wanted it to, and they were just trying to get half to halftime to make the adjustments, I think that it is down to tactical adjustments and personnel adjustments in the halftime. But,
00:37:23
Speaker
um I guess I just don't think it's an always thing. right I think it's ah you know a little more evenly spread out than that. Yeah, I don't know what... If I had to choose, would I rather have a team that starts strong and struggles in the second half or a team that struggles a bit in the first half and then finishes strong? I guess I'd probably rather have the one that finishes strong, right?
00:37:46
Speaker
but For sure. Ideally, it's both. I also... It is. it is. i also think there's something to the idea that the Sounders are playing against teams who want to play in a low block and and just play for a point lot of the time.
00:38:02
Speaker
And it's hard to do that for 90 minutes. I mean, it should be. It's not always. it wasn't yeah it wasn't that hard for Houston to do. But I do think that that can kind of contribute to that to that perception. It's just it takes a while to break down teams sometimes.
00:38:16
Speaker
Yeah. ah This one is from Bill Jones TRPT. If First and Goal somehow agreed to change the plane surf from turf surface from turf to national natural grass, what would be the ramifications
Implications of Switching to Natural Grass
00:38:30
Speaker
for them?
00:38:30
Speaker
Would that mean limiting what kinds of events they could lease the building for, i e no monster truck rallies? Would the maintenance costs be prohibitively higher? Can you discuss the negatives for First and Goal as well as any potential benefits?
00:38:43
Speaker
So I think we can safely say that if they were to decide to put grass in permanently, that that would limit the number of non-sporting events that they have at Lumen Field. maybe Maybe entirely. like it's like There might be a ah concert or two or something that happens in the short period of time between the Sounders and Seahawks seasons.
00:39:08
Speaker
But i I would imagine that it would make it very difficult to have events during the season and i think there is a real challenge i think to even maintaining it for the seahawks like there aren't a lot of nfl stadiums don't know there are any nfl stadiums that host soccer games that share a field with the soccer team and play on grass like i don't i'm not
00:39:39
Speaker
I don't know if there are any, at least in like the, I think the best example is like Brentford, I think is the team that's in England that has a rugby team and, and Brentford and they do, ah they have a really nice pitch. It's a hybrid. They even host some concerts in the off season.
00:39:58
Speaker
But there's just not that many good examples. So yes, I think that that's the that's the first trade-off is that there's going to be fewer events there. And I think the maintenance cost is probably higher.
00:40:12
Speaker
like i don't want to make it sound like it's it's an easy decision. like There's a good ah pretty valid reason that... knew that first goal is not put in grass and i think it's that and's ah there's a host of challenges like even when they bring in so they're going to bring in temporary grass this summer for the club world cup i don't know how long it's goingnna be there that'll actually be an interesting test but it's not goingnna but then next year they're going to have grass real grass in and
00:40:45
Speaker
i as far as i know like the sounders might not even get to play on it frankly which is so there's so fun yeah like there's a possibility the sounders might have to like open the season not playing at home and then when they come back the grass may already be gone like it's it's going to be interesting to see how that they manage that but yeah i mean i guess there's the the the answer is there's real challenges yeah there there definitely are i mean i think that i think that concert so would still largely be okay i mean like
00:41:15
Speaker
they probably could figure that out and you generally concerts are at soccer stadiums you know big ones um but they're also not sharing you know the grass with ah nfl teams but i think the like the most plausible scenario in which there is ever grass at luomen while both the seahawks and the sounders are playing there is a the nfl players association succeeds yeah and winning the right to to play on grass which i don't know how big of a priority it is for them but it seems like it's much more of a priority than it used to be
00:41:49
Speaker
um and it's the thing they talk about and yeah they do they do i'm guessing that's a bargaining chip more than anything else but probably not you know maybe they maybe they deeply care about it and i think also lumen would have to be remodeled extensively and they would probably put in some kind of growth you know tra system yeah yeah like to have an arizona or what have you um and maybe maybe they even have it you know doublesided where put it grass for sounders and turf for the seahawks if although they wouldn't do that if they
00:42:21
Speaker
the nflpa wouldn't let him i guess but maybe you have two grass surfaces right maybe you have two trays one for the sounders one for the seahawks and that pays for itself and in the you know reduced maintenance costs i don't know but i it just seems far-fetched to me um for for a lot of reasons and i guess what the bill brings up a fair question what are what are the benefits like there's aesthetic benefits the sounders would like it there may be a you might be able to attract more
00:42:51
Speaker
highprole soccer games but it probably doesn't there's probably no way to justify it from a dollar and senses way um there's no business justification for it the justifications are entirely the athletes prefer it and that's it um and you know i mean ah the argument against that is who cares it's a publicly funded stadium um making first single goal as much money as possible should not be game right and i agree with that
00:43:23
Speaker
but too bad right so yeah it's ah it is what it is cool it would be cool it'd be really cool yeah um right this is from aria ah silly but no pyro during the national anthem anymore curious thanks yeah i think that they have just kind of done it with pyro generally right and they're just using drones and and leds and stuff um that yeah that might yeah i think
00:43:54
Speaker
i i do i suspect that the led d thing is but i guess there's no reason they couldn't do both yeah but yeah they they got they did a lot more leds this year i don't know how expensive like i don't know if that's even a cost cutting thing like that might just be they may have made an aesthetic choice that they liked and stuff other than pyro like i don't know maybe they werere getting a complaints site i'm sure some people were relieved and have fireworks not going off i'm curious if they do if they do it for the hawkston or not but they they've done a lot of stuff
00:44:25
Speaker
presentation- wise yeah if i remember correctly all of the fireworks for the hawkses have been replaced by drones i believe oh really yes um well i don't i could very well be wrong about that if i am please don't get mad at me um but i know they were doing drone shows last year a lot so okay interesting and that is me that's way preferable to fireworks yeah that's fair i think the for the sounders they have seemingly done away with
00:44:56
Speaker
more of the presentation elements like i know they i want to say they stop doing the march ah supporting the march like during covid and they never brought it back i'm not one hundred percent sure on that but i feel like that that's true like they never brought back the pre-game rally which is kind of a a shame yeah and that is i think that kind of speaks to sort of a thing we've harped on over the last year or so about there's just elements of the of the presentation that have just
00:45:28
Speaker
diminished whether you like the pyro and pregame or not i think the reasonable minds can disagree but there's just less there there's less meat on that bone
Game Day Presentation Changes
00:45:39
Speaker
and i think that's sort of made the whole event feel less like a big event and i and i remember saying ah few years ago like how great the sounder' presentation felt like every game felt like a big game they'd have these big you know the flags and do all this like some of which i could give her and don't unless i love every element but just that they did all this stuff
00:46:01
Speaker
made it feel ah grandiose and big yeah they they treated it like a big deal and and yeah it so like ah this one's from the joshua if we get aate and this is a great ah great opportunity for us to talk about the oh the answer to this question which ended up yeah being answered before before we got a chance to answer it if we get a replacement for power paul ariola would they get a short-term replacement i imagine we still want to keep paul for next year yeah i think they are looking at paul as a
00:46:33
Speaker
as a keeper you know like the they keys sign for i believe at least two more years after this one so i think whoever they bring it now the the rumor is that they're talking to ryan kent who is a player who i was not familiar with admittedly before this came across my desk but he's an interesting player he you was very good for rangers for a period he went to fenerbachi on a on a free transfer but he had basically i think he his last season at rangers was cut short by a knee injury and then he
00:47:07
Speaker
went to fenerbatchi and he kind of fell out of favor with jose marinno and then he had to go through like a he threatened i believe like a ah court case to get out of his contract because he was felt like he was sort of being held against his will in turkey and anyway he's an interesting player but my understanding he's twenty eight my understanding is that the sounders are only signing him to guarantee on a guaranteed deal through the end of this year they're talking about they haven't done anything but they're talking about
00:47:38
Speaker
bring him in just for this year and then he' would have an option for next year and i think that makes sense because they don't want to get overcommitted to you know a player who is ostensibly replacing someone who they expect to be back yeah makes sense i mean he's he's definitely
00:47:57
Speaker
a like for like player but also different enough i think that's ah you don't feel like you're it's he's duplicative once once or yeah yeah and yeah he's a winger like a real winger whereas earlier was kind of more of a a wing back but right i don't is it i looked at his highlights his highlights like he's the kind of player you can put together a really compelling highlight realel of because he's very drily he has a lot of dynamic actions he's a pretty good passer you scored some cool goals i don't
00:48:28
Speaker
i've never watched him play ninety minutes so i'm not goingnna sit here and and say i know a lot about him but like i watched a highlight real just of a gaminggainst dortman and champions league and he was like tearin them up yeah he i mean he's definitely a player who was exceptionally talented who for whatever reason just didn't live up to that potential um it happens a lot and you know sometimes those guys just lose it completely and then they can't stick anywhere
00:48:59
Speaker
and sometimes they just lost a little bit of it and and they you know can be really effective flares and in a league wayl less so um i don't i think the potential upside is like a guy like johnny russell right who could be ah cornerstone piece on a really good attacking team i don't think that's the most likely outcome necessarily but um yeah to me this is an exciting signing four the kind of signing it is right like it's a guy who's all upside who i think it's pretty reasonable to expect is going to be able to at the very least eat some minutes and give you decent performance
00:49:37
Speaker
and and has some real real attractive potential if if you know he's he's a good cultural fit and if it was really just down to him not being comfortable ah in turkey so i'm i'm all word i hope it i hope it gets over the wine yeah i will say if you compare him he's a similar age to john russell johnny russell was twenty seven when he came to mls he was coming from darby county who was in the championship and russell had put up some
00:50:08
Speaker
decent seasons not necessarily great seasons he was you know two years removed at that point from his last really good season and you know he i would say he can be that's a good comparison actually this is ah i would say he has us so a broadly similar profile and russell had a lot of really good years in mls like whether or not you liked him personally i was not the biggest fan of his necessarily but he yeah he he put up numbers
00:50:40
Speaker
certainly he yeah killed the sounders a few times yeah he did he definitely did and ah you know i mean obviously it's been a while since he was that player that he was and you know that ten goal season for for rangers um but you know i mean range rangers are a weird club i think going from scotland to turkey turkey is ah could be a challenging move for sure and especially when you're playing for josie marinio so um
00:51:12
Speaker
yeah i i think it would be about as exciting as a oh god one of our key players just got hurt let's go find somebody to sign and think this is about as exciting as one of those signins could be right yeah i mean i think that's the thing is that people have to sort of jes except that he was a sort of different like this is not this is not the player that they're signing to be the permanent like this this is not a traditional
00:51:45
Speaker
ah big time signing like that's not what this is supposed to be right is someone who we need a guy right exactly and you know what they needed a guy last year and they didn't go get him so that's an improvement big time for great yeah if they can if they can actually get them signed right yeah all right ah this is from
00:52:11
Speaker
ben w zero zero zero one are the tactics in a squad right very i think the tactics and the squad when the squad is close to full strength are ah great fit for each other i loved the way that they were playing earlier in the year and unfortunately in mls that's kind of the best you can do right you you can say this is how we're going to play and if guys get hurt um
00:52:41
Speaker
now obviously if key players get hurt and they're out for the whole year yeah you're probably going to need to change things or if you know your star designated player striker completely falls off a cliff you you might need to to change up your tactics but i think that um you know jordan and and pedro are going to be out a few more weeks i think said earlier today too and pedro's case and three in jordan's case um before you know before they're back so i think it makes sense to
00:53:12
Speaker
largely keep things the same try to do as best as you can to to keep the tactics that cool approach ah the same and tell those guys are back with you know some tweaks here there obviously um because i do think that the way they were playing against l a fc <unk> charlotte even though they only got a point out of that game um was a great fit for but yeah i think that's one thing i would like to not lose sight of is that if assuming jordan and pedro can come back in relatively short order when that seems to be the indication team should be
00:53:46
Speaker
in decent shape like they are not too far off i guess like we've we've seen them beat l a fc five two you know two weeks ago yeah so it's ah it not that long ago like they've they've looked good um yeah but ah go ahead ah next one is from ian mitchell how are the locker room vibes right now you know i think they're okay i i think this is a locker even last year as bad as things got
00:54:18
Speaker
players seemed to be sticking together like there was this sort of ah notorious locker room or players only meeting but i think that even then is just a sign of players who did believe in each other and had each other's back and and sort of saw each other as as pushing in the same direction but you know it was a i think it's still like i don't i don't get any sign i've seen no sign at all frankly
00:54:49
Speaker
that the vibes are bad in the the lock that's encouraging ah all right this is from coffee ipa beards two ah six ah can you give an analysis of maovsky's performance this season and how you see him being utilized during and after the injury period you see him getting a lot of playing time when jordan returns if he is playing exceptionally well
Danny Musovski's Role Amidst Injuries
00:55:16
Speaker
i think he's been fine um you know he's he's not going to score a ton of goals but i think the things he's been asked to do um so so certain spaces um you know be a physical presence up top when duals um provide some hold up play he's he's been pretty good at and i don't have any real complaints um the thing about maovsky is that he is a third choice striker who
00:55:47
Speaker
has gotten a lot of secondch choiceice striker minutes last few years and um i think last year i don't really think you could fall us for construction too much because i think people expect growwell to be a little better than he was he'd clearly lost the step but he he didn't show any signs and in twenty twenty three of being ah total black hole like he was in in twenty twenty four um
00:56:18
Speaker
and so can't fall through us construction too much this year i mean if ha zous can't be that guy that can be a reliable secondch choiceice striker i think that then it is fair to criticize the roster construction because you kind of knew what you had in moovsky and i think it was pretty clear that wasn't good enough to be your second choice striker you know all the best sounders teams have had reliable goal scores that they could count on that weren't the starters kenny cooper chad be
00:56:49
Speaker
wilbur and yeah you know all guys that ah could provide you something off the bench and they just don't have that right now and i think if you know his performance continues to kind of be where it is and hausus doesn't click as as that second striker i think that's a clear opportunity to upgrade um you know in the in the second the the summer window so ah if he's playing exceptionally well at some point if he starts playing exceptionally well sometime in the next two three weeks
00:57:21
Speaker
um you know i think that that is great and it maybe brian trusts him to give him some more minutes to see if he can keep that up i just think that's a pretty big if i think we kind of know what danny mosatsky is which is ah perfectly serviceable third choice striker yeah and i understand the frustration because it would be nice if the senatorers were getting more production out of that spot and it feels like he is sort of doing the same thing that aber did in twenty twenty three and so i
00:57:52
Speaker
i get it but i'm i'm with you i feel like you sort of have to remind yourself this is the third choice player here now maybe they could have tried to upgrade that position and maybe they did i don't know i don't wouldn't be surprised if they did try to upgrade it but three hundred fifty thousand dollars that you know striker is like you're getting kind of what you pay for there's just not a lot of sure things at that level i guess you could argue go out and get kai kamara sure
00:58:23
Speaker
who's currently out of contract but you know i don't know its it's a tough one ah but if i guess the question this person actually seemed to be spinning it positively and saying like well what if he is playing well how much should we expect them to play when everyone one's healthy and i don't know and probably not a why frankly yeah like i mean if he goes nuts in the next couple of weeks and he is finishing all of his chances and and just look way a different player maybe that means brian is a little more comfortable pulling jordan at seventy five minutes
00:58:57
Speaker
and giving him you know giving him a rest or maybe he feels more comfortable rotating although there's really not and you need to rotate until until weeks cup but he's not going to be starting i don't think yeah no i don't think there's not a world where the sounders are shoehorning him into the starting lineup like they're not going to go to ah three five two so they can get jordan in and moofsky on the field together i guess sort of yeah like that's the question
00:59:27
Speaker
all right last one is from dorca ah jordan has fought his way onto the mls sounders mount rushmore is there any way christian can knock off anyone from up there and take a place himself and i'm going to expand on this and say what is your sounders not mount rushmore because i don't like the mount rushmore framing ah so we'll go with your four pillars of heaven and i'm not going to explain what that is the one person that is listening to this that knows what that is is having a great time right now um but yeah
Sounders' Mount Rushmore Debate
00:59:58
Speaker
but who who are your four guys and sound history well i'm going to stick with mls era only and frankly i think that probably is what it should be like i think if we're being honest like the best era of the sounders is yeah molaer so it's steph fry's got to be on their right yeah man i guess so um mean he's like started sixty percent of their games go ah ah yourlonzo has he on there
01:00:31
Speaker
i don't does he maybe he doesn't okay nico leddero nikcola darrow has to be on there right yeah nikco and stuff have to be on there right eco and step have to be on there
01:00:42
Speaker
jordan i think i jordan it's jordan or raul or maybe jordan androwell
01:00:49
Speaker
ah maybe maybe i mean i think i think i can i'm okay with putting them both over there over clint i think i'm oh both yeah because clint wasn't here that long oba definitely wasn't here long enough freddie i don't i think they're better than freddy yeah maybe so i think so it's like i think the the last two of these three probably need to be on there ausie raul and jordan and i would put christian over ozzie
01:01:21
Speaker
okay so i would i guess that ah was ah great player in the period of the sounder' history where they really didn't ever have a great team yeah well i think you could probably argue so like i think a good way of looking at this is that you want players representing different things of those four so i think it's probably a competition between rawell and jordan frankly and and ah competition between christian and ouszzie ah so yeah if you look at it that way
01:01:53
Speaker
i think you got to he's got to do something to push him past aussie and maybe you already if you already if you're convinced of that maybe he's already on your mount rushmore i don't know i mean i think christian at his peak is a better player than auss age' peak just in an absolute sense right not think he was more important to the sounders when he was at his peak than christian was but i think christian's a better player and auszzie won the the four open cup
01:02:27
Speaker
ah he won the supporter the the shield he won the twenty sixteen moco um christian ah didn't win the shield ah hasn't won an open cup but has one everything else with the team i think it's i think it's close man i i would not blame anyone for saying it's clearly ozzy but i think it's close ah really do i mean i think it's an interesting comp that we could probably do a whole show
01:02:59
Speaker
yeah and i think raul is is is interesting too i mean jordan is all-time leading goal score and that that has to account for something um but he's had a lot more time to do it he's had right you know has ups and downs but he's a homegrown guy he's still got you know several good seasons ahead of them hold you kind of almost have to have a you got to have at least one local guy right you do you do i don't know it depends on how you want to put together your i think it's an interesting conversation it is
01:03:29
Speaker
this i mean i think the pink rollle ears are clearly better than peak morris years but the peak role years aren't that there's not that many of them that's the thing is that you was really good like two thousand and nineteen was really the only year that he was here all year right i guess you could say he was here all year during covid but you know raul like here let me just put this through two thousand and nineteen was the only season that he played
01:04:02
Speaker
ah whoops no okay so in two thousand eight he only played twenty two heing made played twenty two games in two thousand and nineteen his highest the most he ever played for the sounders was ah twenty six games in twenty twenty one he had seventeen goals yet that year so that was his best production year he didn't have any assists like he and he he also had a few you'd see how many pens did he have that year
01:04:34
Speaker
yeah had five penalties that year yeah or four sorry four penalties so i don't know i think roleland the thing with rawell is that so many of his best years were his best performances he came up in the best like he had so many big game performances and the playoffs and you know he scored it has out some i mean he's he's scored some some big goals in playoffs as well but clearly yeah i'm just saying that that's that i think sometimes we
01:05:06
Speaker
ah conflate peak role with like ah twenty goal score and he never even came really that close to scoring twenty ah no and i mean we we definitely had conversations on this show about how streaky rael was yeah i mean it was you know it was something people complained about i think that the really the the arguments are between jordan and raul and christian and azzy i think there are really good arguments for both of them i'm going jordan and christian just because i think
01:05:39
Speaker
they we're around for more of what i consider the best years of the team i think the twenty nineteen mls cup was a ah more impressive season i think obviously the champions league won um you know was ah was the p um so that's why i put christian above bob ozzzi and i just like jordan more than i like role i mean it's really sometimes it is that simple right like i just i love raul ra was one of my all-time favorite sounders but jordan is my alltime favorite sounder and i think that that
01:06:12
Speaker
and has sick out for something so you know so guess who played played more games for the sounders between ausie and christian bold christian yeah i didn't know they just honored him at the on so on oh that saturday it's having the most gains lady i wasn't ovi i wasn't pain i wasn't paying that much attention to that game i was i was hosting a dinner party you're right but yeah that's an interesting it is an interesting little tidbit it's going to come for something it does have to count for something i think
01:06:43
Speaker
it's it's i think christians in the conversation i think that's what we can say three times as many more than three times as many goals too all those i mean he's a more balanced player for sure
01:06:55
Speaker
what's funny is i think if you would ask this question in twenty fifteen like brad evans would have been on there oh yeah i mean it's interesting i think the other thing ah iss interesting about this conversation is i think you are invariably there's a lot of recency bias or your yeah i'm and think these conversations always have some recency bias um but i think what's tough is that the sounders are the nature of mlas is that the league is is getting better and so the best players now are usually better than the best players in the previous era
01:07:26
Speaker
and for the sounders who have been consistently competitive all this time that's especially true so you can say like oh well moreol says this peak was better than nicoladero i don't people aren't really saying that but ah i think that those are you know it's tough to compare eddie johnson to ral rui diaz even if well i guess maybe these aren't like like
01:07:57
Speaker
the sounders had some really great seasons before the nikcoladero era but it's like i feel like the nicola dera era really defines what the sounders are now like and so it's maybe not it shouldn't maybe it's not unfair to have everyone on the team on this mount on this four pillars or whatever we're calling it ah be relatively recent players yeah i mean i don't know it' i think it's really it is an exercise in what is the most important thing to you and
01:08:29
Speaker
i yeah for me like ah there are so many people who the twenty fourteen sounders were the peak of their fandom and their answers are going to be a lot different than and i think but i i mean i think one of the realities is that that team just wasn't together very long and so none of them like their best players just not like dempsey was the longest tenure was ah sent well i guess fry is still from that era but of the when we think of that team we think of oba and clint and oben clint only played something like forty five games together
01:08:59
Speaker
or something like that ah it's kind of crazy like they they were sort of just a ah flash in the sounders' history but we remember them very fondly i think in part because it was such a short thing and we and was cut off earlier than we were ready for it to be cut off and it's kind of that plays into it all as well whereas jordan's been around forever christian's been around forever and so we have mixed emotions about them because of because of them yeah but that's no that's fair
01:09:31
Speaker
so like fair anyway ah this good one good mail bag ah thank you to everyone who's listening i did want to share a little bit of of ah sort of housekeeping with stuff that's going on sound at heart we recently as you may or may not if you're a paid subscriber you probably haven't noticed any of this stuff cause it doesn't really affect you but if you aren't a paid subscriber you've probably noticed a few maybe annoyances things like we've ah we've we've installed some systems that have created like a metering of how many stories you can read for free
01:10:05
Speaker
we're still trying to figure out what the right number for that is ah we are also giving more prompts to become a paid subscriber we're giving more prompts to become a free subscriber there's just more stuff so hopefully you find this to be not too annoying and it's you understand that it's for the purpose of just trying to cheap sound heart growing and and moving in the right direction and i think we keep trying to add new features to the site you know we i've started doing more videos
01:10:37
Speaker
we are doing a ton of more podcast content which i get comments on all the time ah both obviously from us but also from lobbying scorchers and and nico morereo has been shown up all the time so we're doing all this new stuff and in order to make this new stuff happen need to keep bringing in new subscribers ah we have a new partnership ah new so ah sponsor that we're going to be rolling out next month and hopefully people find that to be not you know ah it's someone that aaron has used
01:11:09
Speaker
in his ah his own life oh we't get into that all right now i i went this morning i went you went this morning oh you know we you have to lean into your ah into your testimonials on these things but anyway we i'm just telling people we're we're going we're trying to figure things out if you have feedback for us please do share it we want to hear what is working for you what's not working for you we want the site to be accessible but we also want it to be sustainable so we're trying to find the right balance um
01:11:40
Speaker
thank you of course to our longtime sponsor full pull wines if you haven't bought wine from foolpo lately i would suggest doing it that's always helpful ah but we're we're probably also gonna start putting some more ah programmatic ads into this podcast which will which will not be on the the the unified feed so if you're a subscriber and you want to listen to ah ah version of this that has less ads you can always go to that
01:12:11
Speaker
ah feed but anyway i guess that that's ah that's my spiel aaron got anything you want to think you no i think you did great right well ah thanks of course to aaron my co-host thanks to lickett ah producer thanks to you our subscribers and and everyone else that is listening i am jeremiah shan this is no saat test and we'll catch you next time
01:12:57
Speaker
are
01:13:13
Speaker
i expect ah ah laffc who is motivated ah to prove themselves at home to prove to their fans that that they're capable of winning in this league and it's up to us to really brewing the party you guys like that and a what awkward joke dad joke right there huh