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Jordan Morris is Unstoppable - Ep. 51
75 Plays1 year ago
It’s yet another Dub Pod as the Seattle Sounders have once again emerged victorious, this time with a 1-0 victory at Austin FC in Matchday 26. With Noah sidelined due to sickness, Ari lays down a solo pod recapping the win at Q2 Stadium. It was also a banner week for the Agenda Check, as Paul Rothrock and Obed Vargas each picked up an assist on Jordan Morris’s game-winning goal – his ninth in his last 11 games.
Later on in the solo pod Ari gives his take on the USMNT’s firing of Gregg Berhalter, the flawlessly executed work from CONMEBOL at the Copa America final and winners and losers from Matchday 26 in MLS.
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Transcript
Introduction & Sponsorship
00:00:00
Speaker
This episode of Lobbing Scorchers is sponsored by Full Pole Wines, a Seattle-based seller. Not only are they a local company, but they've been supporting independent Seattle soccer media since 2011 and are run by Sounders fans. They offer the best boutique wines in the world to members of their mailing list with special focus on their home, the Pacific Northwest. Their model is simple. One, they email compelling offers. Two, you request bottles that sound appealing. Three, your wine arrives at their Soto warehouse and is ready for pickup or shipping. Their Soto tasting room is also open to the public.
00:00:29
Speaker
If you're interested in joining their mailing list or learning more about them, visit fullpoleones.com. What's going on,
Host Announcement
00:00:37
Speaker
everybody? Welcome to episode 51 of Lobbing Scorchers. This is Ari Lillianwall, and I'm not going to have producer Noah here with me today. I'm flying solo for this one. Noah is sick. He was traveling all week before this, and then we were trying to record remotely. And folks, the battle with technology,
00:00:59
Speaker
was unfortunately lost. We came to the conclusion that it would be easier just for this one for me to solo cook this and then Noah will be back with his co-hosting duties on the next one after the game on Wednesday. So just
00:01:16
Speaker
bear with me i've done a solo one before it actually i thought it came out pretty good so uh... you're just gonna have to listen to just me talking today unfortunately i know that's not not the greatest outcome but we have to make do what we have right now and that's just me flying solo
00:01:33
Speaker
On
Seattle Sounders Victory Recap
00:01:34
Speaker
the positive side, it is yet another dub pod, as the Seattle Sounders have emerged from match day 26 in MLS with a 1-0 victory over Austin FC. Folks, that's our fifth straight dub pod, fourth straight win for the Seattle Sounders in league play, and fifth straight across all comps, including their open cup victory at Sacramento. They're climbing up the table. They're now 9-7-7 with 34 points and are in seventh place in the Western Conference.
00:02:01
Speaker
But that's just four points shy of the Colorado Rapids for a top four seed in the West, which is very much in play at this point. And this team is one of the hottest teams in MOS right now. There's a couple of other teams that are flying high, but Seattle's flying just as high as any of them. So really just a stark contrast in vibes from earlier in the season, isn't it?
00:02:23
Speaker
I got a lot of other stuff I want to talk about today. It's kind of going to be a jam-packed show for this solo episode.
Greg Berhalter Firing Discussion
00:02:30
Speaker
We hadn't recorded this since Greg Berhalter got fired by the US men's national team, so I'm going to give my take on that. I'm not going to spend too much time on that because we basically recorded a whole episode already where we gave our thoughts on what could and should happen, if that were to take place.
00:02:47
Speaker
Now that actually has officially taken place, I did want to touch on that a little bit and give a quick take. We also had the Copa America final that took place in Miami last night, which really went super well. It was really like a masterpiece in logistical planning for a big event like that.
00:03:07
Speaker
Conmeball did just a great job. Nothing bad happened. So we're going to talk about that. And then there
MLS League Results Highlights
00:03:15
Speaker
was a lot of stuff went on with the around the league this week. The Columbus crew absolutely slammed LAFC. That was a notable result. Charlotte FC went to FC Cincinnati and absolutely punked them in their own building. There's a few others too. So we're going to get to all that in the winners and losers section.
00:03:33
Speaker
And I'm going to get to your questions as well about the Sounders game. So yeah, like I said, jam-packed show. But before we get into all that, I did want to let you all know that Lobbing Scorchers is a part of the Sounder at Heart podcast network. If you want
Supporting Lobbing Scorchers & Promotions
00:03:46
Speaker
to get the best independent Seattle soccer coverage, consider supporting us by going to sounderatheart.com slash L-S. That's sounderatheart.com slash L-S. Scroll down to subscribe and support to get 30 days completely free. Every sign up through our link helps support and grow this show.
00:04:03
Speaker
On that note, as always, I really wanted to give my utmost thanks and appreciation to all our paid subs. We love and appreciate you guys so much, especially those of you who have made the migration with us over to Sounder at Heart since we launched our partnership with them. We really appreciate the support and that's what keeps us going. So thank you.
YouTube Channel Milestone
00:04:24
Speaker
And lastly, if you're listening to this and you have not done so yet,
00:04:28
Speaker
subscribe to the Lobbing Scorchers YouTube. We have summited 260 subscribers at this point, I believe, and we're seeing some good growth on there. I think we're reaching a lot of people outside of our normal listener base, which can be a positive and a negative, but I think ultimately it's a positive. We've summited 10k views on there, so thank you to everyone who has supported us on there and hope helped grow our presence on that platform.
00:04:56
Speaker
Okay, enough of that, though. Let's get into this dub pod and talk about this Sounders match at Austin FC. It was a really good win, so I'm looking forward to talking about it.
Match Recap: Seattle vs Austin
00:05:05
Speaker
We'll do my lineup reaction first, as we usually do for these game recaps. This was a heavily rotated lineup, at least in the attacking end of the field.
00:05:16
Speaker
coming on short rest you had Jordan Morris and Albert Rusnak start this game on the bench Pedro de la Vega got the start at the 10 so that was exciting I believe that was his first start in MLS games since he came back from this hamstring injury that's kept him sidelined for most of the season he was flanked by Paul Rothrock so you already know that we support that on this show
00:05:35
Speaker
and Leochu, and then you had Moose up top. So pretty rotated front four there with Jordan and Albert starting this game on the bench. They would go on to Selva in the second half. The back six was pretty much your standard back six. The one other note was that Christian Roldan stayed back home awaiting the birth of his baby, which is coming any day now.
00:05:59
Speaker
So congrats to Christian on fatherhood. What a good milestone in his life. But your back six was JP and Obed and your double pivot and then
00:06:08
Speaker
your standard back line of new jackson reagan yam are and alex rolled on uh... so this is a classic kinda emilis game where you're playing on a short turnaround you've got a rotated lineup out there these games in emilis are all about just grinding it out staying solid at the back hopefully keeping a clean sheet at all costs so the worst case scenario is a zero zero uh... but ideally poaching a goal for three points or
00:06:36
Speaker
getting a 1-1 and taking a road point home. I think that would have been an acceptable outcome in this situation, but Seattle got all three points. This was a really excellent
Seattle Sounders Goal Breakdown
00:06:45
Speaker
result for Seattle. They did just enough to keep the clean sheet. If you know, I think if you're nitpicking, it got a little nervier at the end than you probably would have liked. I thought they managed the game in the second half with the lead pretty well until the very end when Austin really could have equalized a couple of times, even though they were down a man.
00:07:02
Speaker
uh... they had a couple really close opportunities at the end stephen for i made some good saves and they had at least one chance that i can remember off the top of my head that did not miss by very much in the end seattle does get the clean sheet and with that they get the win because uh... they got uh... their goal in the sixty first minute i believe just after the our mark uh...
00:07:25
Speaker
This was a great goal for, you know, for the Seattle Sounders, but also for lobbing scorchers. This was honestly one of my favorite goals of the season. So I'm looking forward to breaking this one down. Jordan Morris and Albert Rissenach, like I mentioned, they subbed on at the half and that paid immediate dividends. They both looked excellent once again. Great sequence that led to the opener. Let's talk about this whole sequence. One of the great goals in lobbing scorchers agenda check history.
00:07:52
Speaker
Okay, so Obed Vargas, once again, a regular character on this show. He had the run that created this whole thing, actually. He was just dancing and weaving and gliding through Austin FC's whole defense. They did not really, they didn't step to him very well. They gave him way too much space to make that run, but still, I mean, he has to make and execute that run and execute the pass. He lays it off to Paul Rothrock.
00:08:16
Speaker
I thought this was a good example of what Schmetz was saying about Paul Rothrock. I think a week or two ago is when he gave the quote when he was saying, you know, he's just like a really smart player, you know, and I think what he meant by that is like, you know, it's kind of the same stuff that I think
00:08:31
Speaker
We all sort of notice about Paul Rothrock, which is that it's not like there's this abundance of elite level technical skill or physically dynamic athleticism, but he's just a very intelligent player. He understands the game. And I think you could see that on this sequence with
00:08:50
Speaker
his body positioning where he received that pass from Oben where his body is positioned as such so the defender is pretty much fully shielded off the ball and Paul Rothrock has just an easy lane to lay that ball off to Jordan Morris.
00:09:07
Speaker
Jordan Morris takes the ball from Rothrock. He does some dancing in the box to shed his defenders and free up that space. And then just a clinical finish with the left foot. Great finish in the box. So just a great team goal and that would be enough to see out the win. Austin FC got a red card in the second half.
00:09:25
Speaker
Um, and they almost tied it late. Like I said, Seattle was hanging on for dear life a little bit at the end of the second half, but they do end up getting the shutout. They end up getting all three points. Um, and they moved to nine, seven and seven 34 points still seventh in the Western conference, but
00:09:42
Speaker
they're climbing right now they're climbing right now i uh... i've put i wrote down somewhere the uh... their record over their last like twelve matches or something and uh... like i said i mean if you're just judging it by the results this is one of the hottest teams in mls right now so i'm just gonna rapid fire go through my uh...
Player Performance Focus
00:09:59
Speaker
my takeaways
00:10:00
Speaker
from this game after watching Seattle beat Austin FC at Q2 Stadium. First takeaway, isn't it nice just just on a base level to be watching competent, dynamic, and productive MLS offense? I mean there's so much of this season where it was such a slog in the attacking end of the field where
00:10:20
Speaker
I pretty much resign myself to like, OK, this is what life is going to be like this season. We have a team here that has some underperforming DPs, just guys that aren't producing. Even when they are getting good chances, they're not finishing them. The backup striker is an XG merchant, again, but isn't scoring goals. The DP number 10 is not putting up the numbers you need.
00:10:47
Speaker
the US international forward slash winger isn't putting up the numbers you need. The $10 million or whatever number nine is scoring penalty kicks and occasionally insane bangers from distance. That's about it. And that's just where we're at this season. That's kind of how I had come to
00:11:06
Speaker
accept our collective fate. But over this last stretch, this run of form that Seattle has been on, it's just been fun to watch a team again that is getting out in transition, executing these counterattacks really well, clinical with their chances, great combination play.
00:11:24
Speaker
really dynamic one-two punch formulating to lead the offense. And then you also, you're seeing the depth of this team, which is something that I'm going to talk about in another takeaway. The Jordan Morris and Albert Rusnak duo is
00:11:40
Speaker
I think it's the hottest duo in the league right now. I mean, you know, this is the team that I watch the most, but I follow the whole league very closely every week. And there are some, I mean, there are some attackers that are hot right now. Don't get me wrong, but I don't think you could name a duo that's been as statistically productive as this one over the last
00:12:00
Speaker
I guess eight to 10 games of the season at this point, including the open cup games. Uh, specifically referring to this game, Jordan had one of the best shifts honestly, that I've ever seen him play. Like that second half cameo was electric. And frankly, I think Seattle should have had more than one goal to show for it based on him, how him and Rusnak played again.
00:12:21
Speaker
Um, and I think, uh, someone asked a question to this effect, so I'm not going to get too far into it, but I think this is arguably the best form that he's been in in his MLS career. I mean, he's had heaters before, but nine goals and 11 games. Come on now. Man's on fire. And speaking of that, Rusnak was cooking again.
00:12:38
Speaker
Absolutely cooking. He subbed on just for the second half, and he should have had at least one goal and one assist, two more goal contributions in that time frame. He set up a really great chance for Leo Chu on a counter attack, where Leo Chu missed the shot, but I mean, he's absolutely wide open. He hit it right at the goalkeeper. Basically, if he hit it anywhere else on target other than where he hit it, that's probably a goal. Rusnak gets another assist.
00:13:06
Speaker
Um, and then this one pained me that this wasn't a goal. Um, he had a free kick from the top of the box that was just absolutely dead eye and just smashed the crossbar. It looked, it looked like it hit the crossbar in a place where sometimes when it hits the crossbar in that place, it will, uh, it will deflect down like into the goal. Um, but he was not so lucky on that one. But I mean, that just, I mean that I thought that free cake really shows just how locked in.
00:13:33
Speaker
this guy is right now i mean he hit that so nice and that's just how good his set pieces have been lately has been so
Sounders Offensive Analysis
00:13:42
Speaker
nice to see because that was one of the things that i was most excited about when seattle signed him because i watched him on rial salt lake for years hit free kicks like that and i just feel like that element of his game has not fully
00:13:54
Speaker
surfaced during his time in seattle uh... but his set i i really think like watching as much of the league as i watch his set pieces over the last few weeks have been the best in the league they've been that he's been the best in the league at that time
00:14:08
Speaker
at that set piece delivery and just his delivery into the box in general uh... he said there's been a couple of other corner cakes that he said to yamar where uh... the goalkeepers have had to make insane saves to prevent goals i mean and if you if you throw in some of the uh... like near misses that he's been he's been part of his stat line could look
00:14:29
Speaker
even better than it does right now. I mean that's the kind of form that he's in and he deserved a goal for that free kick and he deserved an assist for that feed to Leo Chu. Jordan's first 20 or 30 minutes of that half after he subbed on were insane and that's where I get to the story of Brendan Heinz Ike in this game which was
00:14:50
Speaker
a tragic story he my guy my guy had a rough one so he was in the vicinity on the goal that jordan scored he was one of the guys that would have been tasked with stopping it and he unfortunately for him could not do that um but he also got two yellow cards and sent off both on plays where jordan absolutely cooked him they were both plays where uh when you get beat by run in behind
00:15:16
Speaker
And if you don't commit the foul, it's very likely going to lead to a dangerous chance. And so Brendan Heinz, Ike got beat twice on plays like that, pulled Jordan down both times, and earned himself two yellows and ascending off for it pretty early in the second half. Austin FC had to play quite a bit of this game down a man, which is like, what are you, the early season, 2024 Seattle Sounders getting ill-advised red card? What's going on?
00:15:45
Speaker
He got sent off, and I just thought it was the manner in which he got sent off was pretty funny. I mean, he, Brendan Heinzeich was no match for Jordan Morris in this game. That was a mismatch. I wanted to give my takes on De La Vega's start. I thought it was solid, if unspectacular. You can still see these glimpses of it. He's very clearly a talented guy, very clearly a talented guy.
00:16:09
Speaker
I think it's just mainly good to see him healthy and playing and I'm gonna withhold like any sort of definitive judgment until there's more of a sample size but based on what I have seen not just in this game but as he's worked his way into action here I am still very excited to see what he can do
00:16:28
Speaker
I think there's pretty good reason to believe that he can be a difference maker that really elevates this team in this attack like he was supposed to be that when he was signed and like we all hoped he would be going into this season. I did think this was a good showing of the type of depth that this team was supposed to have going into the year and looks like they do have now you know like
00:16:51
Speaker
It's a pretty big luxury to be in a situation where you need to rest, Jordan Morris and Albert Rusnak. You can't play them full 90 minutes in this game and you can just plug in De La Vega at the 10. And then even a guy like Leo Chu who has taken a lot of heat this season, I think in a game like this where you're rotating, this is like
00:17:14
Speaker
that's kind of the value that he has on this roster at this point is when you do need to rotate or rest a guy or you have someone pick up a knock like he's a good guy to be able to plug in there and soak up those minutes and I thought Leo Chu I know everyone's on him for missing that shot but he got himself in a great position on that play and overall I think his last couple appearances
00:17:41
Speaker
Have been better if still if still ultimately unfulfilling The last thing I wanted to mention here is that the national pundits still really aren't talking about this I mean like I mentioned Seattle has been one of the hottest teams in the league for I mean it's been
00:17:56
Speaker
It's been about 10 games now where they've been one of the hottest teams in the league and they're in the semi-finals of the Open Cup But like have you heard a single national pundit talk about the Albert Rusnak to Jordan Morris connection? No, and you know, honestly Fair enough to this point. I mean Seattle
00:18:15
Speaker
hasn't done all that much this season until recently to merit a lot of national attention. And you know, to be fair, you know, I work for the MLS website and we actually did do some Jordan Morris content, but it still was not, certainly not like a prevailing storyline compared to some of these other teams that get all the attention. And then even if you tune into a MLS season pass, Bradley Wright Phillips was on there and once again talking about how it's like fake and he doesn't believe in it.
00:18:44
Speaker
not getting any respect from b w p and just kind of in general flying under the radar right now which i think is fine but i do think that if they keep up this type of run formed it's gonna come to a point where the national pundits are going to have to they're gonna have to take notice
00:19:00
Speaker
They're gonna have to take notice, but I just I do think it's interesting that it's now been a relatively sustained sample of this type of form and They're still not talking about it. So I'll be keeping tabs on that without a doubt Let's get into the agenda check and then I'll take some questions I have four written down for the agenda check this week Paul Rothrock agenda
00:19:22
Speaker
Strengthened strengthened another assist and like I said like a really good assist He just makes stuff happen His soccer IQ is so high. He plays with energy. He plays with intensity that this team has Has really needed He's really he's only gotten like a few hundred minutes this year and he's got three goal contributions two goals and
00:19:47
Speaker
one assist. I think there's honestly plenty of reason to believe that if he keeps getting run, he'll keep contributing like that. I think Seattle just might have found a pretty good MLS player here.
00:20:00
Speaker
So definitely not a week where the Paul Rothrock agenda gets diminished in any sort of way when he gets the game-winning assist. I mean, come on, what are we talking about? Obed Vargas, same thing. Strengthened again. I mean, these two, they strengthen it every single week. Like, usually there's some fluctuation with the agenda check, not with these guys.
00:20:21
Speaker
Just such a such a good run To set up that goal that sequence doesn't happen without that run. It's a huge play He gets the secondary assist so he's up to one goal six assists this season which I'm very I'm looking forward to seeing what his stat line looks like at the end of this season because
00:20:43
Speaker
I mean, getting numbers like he's putting up like this from a guy who's been playing in your defensive midfield for most of the year. I know there's that brief period where he got the run at right mid. But he's been a demid for most of this year, and he's got six assists. I mean, that's excellent production. I mean, that's exactly what you want to see. And especially for a player that is still just 18 years old and is ostensibly not really that close to his ultimate ceiling yet, just a great, great year from open and another great play in this game.
00:21:13
Speaker
Um, the Andy T should start agenda diminished and frankly on life support, uh, and teetering towards dying altogether. It's not even because Andy T looks shaky in the open cup. It's just that Stephen Fry has been back to being stuff and fry the last couple of games. And like, honestly, man, if you ask me, like,
00:21:36
Speaker
Who do I trust more in a single game, in a playoff game, or in an open cup final, anything like that, between Andy T and Stephen Fry? I'm still taking Stephen Fry all day, every single time. I mean, the track record is just too proven for me to really feel any differently about that. And to be fair, I was never all that much on the Andy T should start agenda. A lot of people were.
00:22:02
Speaker
I got I got sucked into that briefly for a little bit I would say but in general
00:22:08
Speaker
I've never really, I never really felt like goalkeeping was all that much the issue with the struggles this team was having earlier in the season. I really personally attributed most of those struggles to the lack of production on offense, even though there were, I think Stefan Fry himself would probably tell you, there's been a few goals this year that he wishes he could have back. He probably should have saved, but I think this game once again showed why he's still the number one in between the posts. Then I had the moose agenda.
00:22:38
Speaker
Written down here, this agenda diminished, sadly. I mean, I think whenever you have an agenda with a backup striker. Thank you for listening to The Sound Rithart Podcast Network, which now includes No Sonietes, Lobbing Scorchers and The Cooler Guild. We've been independent since August of 2023,
00:23:07
Speaker
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00:23:30
Speaker
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00:23:53
Speaker
It's basically fully predicated on whether or not they score goals. So if they're not scoring goals or if they're not, you know, helping generate like crazy good chances or, you know, just doing stuff that's really undeniably of no in attack.
00:24:10
Speaker
backup strikers unfortunately always their agenda is always going to be diminished until they start getting on the score sheet I mean that's what you need to be doing as the backup number nine so unfortunately with another scoreless appearance we have a diminished agenda there
00:24:26
Speaker
Um, all right.
MLS vs Liga MX in Leagues Cup
00:24:28
Speaker
Uh, let's get into questions here. Aaron asks, should I care about the league's cup? Um, I mean, you don't have to, a lot of people don't, or a lot of people say they don't and then probably watch it anyway. A lot of people think that it's a money grab. Here's what I would say about the league's cup is that
00:24:43
Speaker
I really believe, you know, I'm not chilling here. I really think that our teams, MLS teams, getting as many reps as possible against League MX competition is good for their level. And my evidence to support that would be what I watched when Seattle made a run to the League's Cup Final and then went on to win CONCACAF Champions League the following year. I really believe that the reps that they got against those teams
00:25:10
Speaker
that got them prepared and it helped them in Champions League and I just think playing teams at that level it makes you better it makes you better you're playing against a lot of these teams that offer just as high if not higher opposition than the best teams in MLS and
00:25:29
Speaker
And when you play better competition, that makes you better. So I personally am fine with a setup where MLS teams are getting this much run against these League of MX teams. I think it's a great way to up our team's levels.
00:25:47
Speaker
That's how I see it and I enjoy watching the games because it's high level competition. I was honestly, I didn't think I would care at all about League's Cup during that year that the Sounders made the run to the final. I was not as exhilarated as I was during a Champions League run.
00:26:06
Speaker
But by the end of it, especially at the final in Vegas, which I went to, I was locked in and I was all about it. So that's how I feel about the League's Cup. I know a lot of people don't agree with me on that and think it's just a cynical money grab and it's not a real tournament or whatever. That's not how I see it. I'm looking forward to it. Peter asks,
00:26:29
Speaker
Wasn't a T believer Andy Thomas believer but Fry's two monster saves won us this road game. Can we put him on the bench for open cup? I mean, yeah, I just touched on that in the agenda check, but I completely agree. Steph Fry was
00:26:44
Speaker
Like, they don't take all three points in this game without his heroics. So he's definitely solidified his case as the number one on this team. Ryan asks, whose form is most improved from the start of the season? Jordan or Albert? That's a good question and a really tough call. I mean, I think the honest answer to that is they've pretty much both equally improved in incredible amount.
00:27:12
Speaker
I'll tackle that though from the perspective of who's been like whose improvement has been more impactful and I think the answer to that is Rusenak because Jordan's he's been playing as a number nine and he's in great form his finishing is really good right now. He's making dangerous runs but like
00:27:33
Speaker
The number 10, Rusnak, that's like the engine that makes that go, right? Like, if you don't have the attacking midfielders that can combine with Jordan and find him making those runs or set him up with those chances, like Obed and Paul Rothrock did, then a number nine that's in good form doesn't mean as much. But Rusnak, I mean,
00:28:00
Speaker
He's, he's ping and balls all over the place. Um, he's being gold dangerous himself. Like I said, his set pieces are lights out right now. Like honestly, some of the best free kick taking I've seen on this team since, uh, Andres even shifts. You guys remember him? Uh, that guy, I always like whenever I saw anyone ask me who the best
00:28:21
Speaker
dead ball player that's ever been on this team. I mean like there's been a lot of really good ones like Clint. Clint was really good on free kicks. Ledero a lot of people said Ledero was bad at free kicks but honestly like a lot of his dead ball service was very good. He just would hit like a couple corners a game that would
00:28:40
Speaker
go like way out there but Ledera was a good dead ball player but Rysnak I mean this run he's on with these free kicks just really good stuff I think he's been like them if I had to pick one out of the two of them which I think they're really both carrying the load right now but if I had to pick one I would say
00:29:00
Speaker
his resurgence in his form lately has been more impactful because, like I said, he's like the engine behind the whole thing. And then finally Kenneth asks, best form of Morris's career? Yeah, so I was gonna get to that, but yeah, good question. I think you could argue that it is. I think you could really argue that it is. I mean, I don't know if it is statistically. I mean, the stats are lights out, nine goals in 11 games. But I don't know if I can remember
00:29:26
Speaker
in 11 game span where he's been this productive playing with this much confidence where his finishing has been this on point he's making those classic runs in behind defenses like we've seen him do for years and he wasn't doing as much earlier this year or at least he wasn't getting found
00:29:45
Speaker
those spots now he is and he's making like it feels like every time he gets an open look he's finishing it right now so I'm sure there are other heaters that he's been on that you could put up there with it but I was thinking about this exact question and I think this is this is some of the best ball that he's played with Seattle
00:30:10
Speaker
Alright, let's jump to around the league stuff. Quick news item before we jump into a couple of the news items that I wanted to hit. It's been confirmed that US Soccer requested RBW for the U20 CONCACAF championships, but the Sounders rejected it, saying that he'll be needed with the first team.
00:30:29
Speaker
No national team duty with RBW, which I think that as people watch the Sounders every week, that's a dub for us because RBW is a guy who we're finally getting to see get consistent run. And we're seeing some of that tantalizing upside that has been talked about with him for so long. So with that news, I'm excited to keep watching him play. All right, I had two news items before we get into winners and losers.
00:30:59
Speaker
honored to talk about uh... the uh... the big news with the u.s. men's national team which is that greg burr author officially got fired uh... like i said i'm not going to go too long on this but uh... i did want to give just my thoughts on that now that it's actually happened uh... and i'll just start by saying i just think it's kind of funny that like
00:31:17
Speaker
The performance from the team at the Copa was so bad and so Embarrassing and indicative of such an egregious lack of progress from this player pool That they actually like felt like they had to do this because fan sentiment was so negative Burl through had one of the longer leashes honestly that like if you asked me before the Copa like
00:31:40
Speaker
what coach at the Copa or just what coach in general has the longest, like the most job security, like Baraltor would have been one that I would have mentioned just because, um, they kind of, they stuck their necks out for him to rehire him after the 22 world cup. And they had, remember the press conference that like, uh, Matt Crocker and them gave and they were like, they were like,
00:32:06
Speaker
Okay, like a lot of people are going to have stuff to say about this hire, right? But the amount of data that went into this, it's the most data that's ever been used to make a hire. We dove into like, like the science, the science behind this is, it led us right to this guy that we already hired previously. It's the data. Like he kept talking, Matt Crocker kept talking about data.
00:32:30
Speaker
So it looks not good to tout like your genius scientific data-driven process And then have to fire the guy like pretty soon after that rehiring in like the biggest tournament that you're gonna play in before the World Cup in 2026 that's hosted here and then you have to fire him because they have a performance that's frankly embarrassing like
US Men's National Team Critique
00:32:56
Speaker
So I mean, I already given my take on who I want to see replacing my first choice. I mean, my first choice, I guess, would have been Jurgen Klopp. But like with the knowledge that that was never really happening because he basically like he's leaving Liverpool because he wants to like get out of the game for a while. So that was never really happening. But it seems like Steve Terundolo is the one the name that's been floated the most as like an obvious front runner.
00:33:24
Speaker
like he seems to be the one that's the the front runner as far as i can tell um i don't know how functionally different that is than greg burr altar and honestly steve terrendolo if you listen to the show for a long time you probably know but he's kind of the example that i bring up like uh for a coach where i can't tell how good he is because he's been given it's his first mls coaching job and he was given
00:33:49
Speaker
one of the best rosters if not the best roster in the league when he was a head coach of las vegas lights and had no roster he didn't have them punching above their weight they were terrible so i'm not saying he's a bad coach at all i think he's actually uh... he's shown that he's a pretty pretty good coach maybe even a really good coach but i just i think it's just pretty hard to assess because of the talent level that he's been afforded at la fc makes it makes it harder to judge
00:34:15
Speaker
My first choice would still be Wilfred Nancy because I think he showed at CF Montreal that his ideas and understanding of the game can get a roster that's not very good and doesn't have a lot of talent to punch really far above its weight. And now we're seeing what happens when a guy like that moves to Columbus, gets a really good roster, and now they're lighting up the league. They're probably the best team in the league.
00:34:37
Speaker
right now. I mean, they won MLS couple last year, went to CCC final this year. And I've been, uh, if Seattle's not the hottest team in the league right now, like Columbus is. So I'm a Wilford Nancy guy, but you know, I know there's different schools of thought on this, but I guess the last thing I wanted to say on this was that no matter who the coach is, um, I really think that
00:35:03
Speaker
Ultimately the onus come it falls on the players to change this the couple was a debacle because of Pretty much primarily because of a really just idiotic stupid mistake by Tim wea that just like can't happen the fact that that happened is mind-boggling to me and frankly until
00:35:27
Speaker
shown and proven otherwise this is not the US men's national team this is the US men's national fraud squad that's basically what I think of them that's what I consider them based on like
00:35:43
Speaker
We always talk about how talented they are. We always talk about the golden generation. And then you look at the results, what they've actually put on the field, like what they've done. Yeah, they've won some concrete. They've won like Gold Cup and Nations League, but like they got in the Copa and completely embarrassed themselves.
00:36:02
Speaker
And they really, if you size it up, they're not getting any really that much better or different results than when it was Clint Dempsey, Landon Donovan, Tim Howard, and a bunch of MOS grinders. In fact, they've gotten worse results. They've gotten, this Copa was, we got grouped. We got grouped at the Copa. The Golden Generation got grouped at the Copa. So until, like I said, until proven otherwise,
00:36:31
Speaker
this is the u.s. men's national fraud squad and it's incumbent on the players to change that no matter who the coaches there's some stuff that doesn't really have to do with game planning or tactics or x's and o's not getting dumb ass red cards is one of those things that's happened like four times in the last like year uh... i went longer on that than i meant to but uh...
00:36:53
Speaker
That's what I think about that.
Copa America Final Chaos
00:36:55
Speaker
My first choice to replace Greg Berhalter would be Wilfred Nancy. OK, and then I wanted to hit on the Copa America final debacle really quick. Argentina beat Colombia in the Copa America final last night. But that got completely overshadowed by what was really devolved into a complete disaster.
00:37:19
Speaker
at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami the security for the Event of this scale was clearly not Sufficient at all and you had really good from the videos. I saw thousands upon thousands of people basically storm in Hard Rock Stadium like it's the US Capitol like they They stormed the field
00:37:45
Speaker
they were all over the place in the end like what happened was people who didn't have tickets like thousands of them got into the stadium and they were sitting in seats for people who did have tickets so it was like a huge mess it was a huge safety issue as well you had people fighting with cops you had people who were clearly like
00:38:01
Speaker
dehydrated and passing out and stuff it was like a stampede in there just absolute chaos so what I wanted to say about this was it's just an example of like human greed creating a situation that doesn't need to happen conmeable the Federation that put on this event like they easily
00:38:27
Speaker
could have spent the money to create a security plan that would have been sufficient to handle this event. It could have been done.
00:38:37
Speaker
But the people who run it are cheapskates, and they're greedy. And they clearly were trying to cut corners and get the cheapest security planning that they could possibly do for the event. And obviously, that's going to backfire, especially when it comes to a game like this that's got national teams with two huge and very passionate fan bases. Could have seen it come in a mile away.
00:39:09
Speaker
It just didn't need to go down like that. And you guys realize with the amount of money that these people have,
00:39:21
Speaker
I was wondering, what are they doing with that money? They're keeping it. They're spending it on, I don't know what, rich people things. Every time I see something like that, I just think about how easily preventable it would be if rich people just spent the required amount of money that it takes to avoid the situation.
00:39:47
Speaker
And I don't know, it just boggles my mind. So that's what I wanted to say about that.
MLS Team Performance Review
00:39:53
Speaker
All right, we're going to get into winners and losers from around MLS this week, and then we're going to get out of here. I have four winners this week. I usually do three each, but there's a lot going on. So I threw down four here. The first one, I'm going to do it, folks. I'm going to do it. Seattle Sounders, fifth straight win across all comps. Here's the stat I was referring to earlier. 8-1 in three, I have a mat over there, last 12 across all comps.
00:40:22
Speaker
um that's a good pace one of the two or three hottest teams in the league right now if not arguably the hottest which like i said it's just been it's just been fun to see them playing as well after what a grind and what a slog it felt like earlier this season um next winter columbus crew i mean i just talked about wolford nancy but this this was an interesting result folks this was interesting
00:40:46
Speaker
So the Columbus crew are playing away. They're playing away at LAFC, at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles. And in the lead up to this game, it was billed as this. I mean, we were hyping it up on the website. MLS Cup rematch could be an MLS Cup preview again for this year. That's how good a form both these teams are in right now.
00:41:08
Speaker
We really build it as like Goliath versus Goliath of MLS right now. And you had a lot of the pundits, the national pundits picking LAFC to win this game because LAFC as hot as Columbus have been, as hot as Seattle have been. I mean, LAFC, they're the other one of those teams that were just that hot.
00:41:27
Speaker
So, a Clash of the Titans it was billed as, a Clash of the Titans it was not in practice. I mean, the crew absolutely steamrolled LAFC. I've never seen LAFC get worked like this. They lost to Seattle in the playoffs in 2019 in the Western Conference Championship, famously, but that game was competitive. It was only decided by, I mean, it was 3-1, but it was a competitive game.
00:41:51
Speaker
The crew beat LAFC 5-1. 5-1. They hung 5 goals on them in their own house. And they could've had more. I watched the whole game. They could've... Like, the first 10 minutes of the game, the crew absolutely looked like the home team. They were all over LAFC, dominating play.
00:42:07
Speaker
The only reason they didn't score a couple goals within the first 10 minutes was because Hugo Loris made a couple crazy saves. But then the dam broke, floodgates opened and Columbus just absolutely smashed on him. So I think it was definitely a statement from the crew.
00:42:24
Speaker
Like you know, I'm over here talking about how Seattle has been playing like one of the better teams in the league LAFC have been getting attention Recently as the best team in the league the crew after their Champions Cup defeat in the final They weren't getting talked about as much in the couple weeks after that But I think this was the crew making a statement like we're the best team in the league Kucho Hernandez in Diego Rossi and
00:42:54
Speaker
They're the best one-two punch in the league. I would put Jordan Morris and Albert Resnick's form at the moment, like in their output at the moment up with them. But honestly, like if I'm being real about it, if I was ranking the best one-two punches in the league, like it'd be hard for me to not say Kucho and Diego Rossi. So I mean, the crew were already back, but God damn, I just, like I would not,
00:43:22
Speaker
If I predicted 100 outcomes for this game, either one of these teams beating the other 5-1, I would never predict that. I really thought that...
00:43:33
Speaker
you know columbus could win but i i i thought it was going to be a competitive game and it just was not kind of through throws a little cold water on the uh... on the old stevie c to the u.s. mnt talk doesn't it we'll see how pan that that pans out uh... unfortunately uh... unfortunately for a lot of our listeners i'm gonna have to uh... give the portland timbies they're due this week uh... they won three zero uh... but
00:43:57
Speaker
over a very really good rsl team that's been top of the west basically all season and is contending for number one seed even they're in the rsl is in the shield mix that's how good they've been this year um in portland boat raced him and really honestly uh it's funny like seattle and portland have had like mirror image
00:44:20
Speaker
seasons, but just in a little bit different ways. They had the exact same kind of middling record in points per game to start the season. But Seattle's problem was they couldn't score. Portland's problem was they were scoring a shit ton of goals, but couldn't defend it all. They were giving up even more.
00:44:41
Speaker
Um, but now it seems like Portland has short up that defense a little bit. Um, and honestly, I mean, I don't want to like, I don't want to upset anybody, but they're front four with Capacito and, uh, Evander, uh, and Felipe Mora. And, uh, you know, they got Eric Williamson and, uh, Santiago Moreno, like,
00:45:07
Speaker
That front four with Moreno, Jonathan Rodriguez, Evander, and Felipe Mora. Pretty nasty. That's one of the better attacks in the league over pretty much this exact same stretch that Seattle's heated up.
00:45:24
Speaker
So Cascadia on the rise, because the Whitecaps had a big win this week too. And so there was a while where it wasn't looking so hot for Cascadia, but all three teams are coming off big dubs this week. And then my last winner, Charlotte FC, this was almost, if not more, intriguing of a result as the Columbus one.
00:45:50
Speaker
because you know the crew, the crew steamrolling to a victory, they were already considered one of the elite teams in the league, even if they, even if you wouldn't expect them necessarily to do that to LAFC, but Charlotte FC, they really, the national pundits have not talked about them all that much, even though they're quiet, kind of quietly having a pretty damn good year under their first year head coach, Dean Smith, not the Tar Heels guy, but a British guy named Dean Smith.
00:46:15
Speaker
They went to FC Cincinnati, who are a supporter shield front runner. Another one of those teams that's considered among the very best in the league, rightfully so. And they absolutely, they punked FC Cincinnati 3-1 on the road. And this was just a really good game. So Charlotte FC scored two goals early to go up 2-0. Lucio Acosta had a really sick goal to make it 2-1. And then FC Cincinnati won a penalty.
00:46:42
Speaker
where Lucio went to the spot and could have made it 2-2. And if he makes it 2-2, I mean, I'm probably picking FC Cincinnati to win that game every time. But the Charlotte Goalkeeper, Christian Kalina, I believe his name is, he made one of the
00:47:00
Speaker
one of the like penalty saves of the year so far. Like when you combine who he was going against last year's MVP, who's in Albert Rusnak type form right now, uh, you have him at the spot for an equalizer in the second half on the road and he denied him.
00:47:18
Speaker
He stuffed Lucio from the spot. That must feel so good. He's probably been walking on air ever since, because FC Cincinnati didn't score again in the game, and Charlotte FC ended up taking a huge result on the road at FC Cincinnati.
00:47:37
Speaker
Alright, let's get into the losers and then we'll call that a wrap here for this solo pod episode 51.
Underperforming MLS Teams Discussion
00:47:45
Speaker
I mean, I got LAFC. Like I said, they didn't just lose to the crew at home in front of their home fans. They got clowned on.
00:47:55
Speaker
They got clowned on. This was probably the worst performance from them I've ever seen. And I'm including the CONCACAF Champions League final in that. They lost that pretty badly and decisively over both legs. But even that was like more competitive. Like this really looked like a team that
00:48:19
Speaker
This looked like the best team in MLS playing against a team that was playing soccer like for the first time in their lives. Like that's what it looked like for most of the game. And I really like, I'm just not used to seeing LAFC like that. I'm really not, but they'd been the hottest team in the league, arguably going into this.
00:48:41
Speaker
And to put up a dud like that, even against Columbus, is surprising. And it's kind of funny. I think everyone knows that we on this show always take happiness and enjoyment whenever LAFC struggles or has a poor performance. And this was probably, I mean, Steve Terrendolo,
00:49:01
Speaker
pretty much called it their worst performance that he's seen, at least at home. So I don't really think that it changes my long-term outlook for them. I think if I had to guess, that's probably just a bad day at the office more than anything that is gonna mean anything for them long-term. But for this week, I thought it was funny. I enjoyed watching it. I watched that whole game.
00:49:29
Speaker
The Philly Union have done it again. It was more of like I guess a normal loss quote unquote this week. Like pretty much for five or six weeks straight leading up to this, the Philly Union have made this section of the show every time and each week it's escalated in hilarity and just kind of craziness in how they managed to lose these games. I think most notably when they Chicago fired against the Chicago fire,
00:49:58
Speaker
It just blows my mind because the three or four weeks leading up to the Philly Union's Chicago Fire against the Chicago Fire, I had already been talking about how they were finding new and creative and amazing ways to lose that I didn't even know were possible for three or four weeks.
00:50:19
Speaker
before that game. And then they went out and went 3-1 up against the Chicago Fire. And Chicago fired it and lost 4-3. Giving up both the equalizer and the game winning goal really late in the game. I think the equalizer was scored in the 88th maybe, and then the winner was in stoppage time. So just absolute crater shows.
00:50:45
Speaker
they lose a way to Toronto FC and it's gotten to the point where this is a large enough sample of the Philly Union looking like this where it's starting, it's kind of past the point of writing it off as a blip and they're just going to go back to the Philly Union of old. This like just might be like where the Philly Union are at right now, which that is surprising. That's surprising. Um, they've been one of the most consistent teams of the last
00:51:14
Speaker
four or five years at least you know so I don't really know what to make of it man because I mean they sold Carranza but that was already after they were torpedoing but like a guy like Daniel Gosdog was at one time
00:51:30
Speaker
one of the more prolific attacking midfielders in the league. They were always like a really, really good, really solid defensive team. Andre Blake has been goalkeeper of the year like six times. Glessness is a really good center back, you know, and then all their home groans.
00:51:49
Speaker
I just don't know what to make of the downfall of the Philly Union. It's interesting. I'm curious to see if it continues as such. The LA Galaxy lost 2-0 at FC Dallas, which I feel like I've been kind of leading the LA Galaxy bandwagon.
00:52:12
Speaker
You know, as someone, I'm leading the LA Galaxy bandwagon as much as someone who isn't a fan of and is not invested in the LA Galaxy can be, because I still, I think they're my favorite offense to watch in the league when you have Jovalich healthy, which he hasn't been. But when you have that front four of Jovalich, Joey Paints, Ricky Poosh, and Gabrielle Peck, who've been tearing it up lately,
00:52:40
Speaker
That's like, I exclude inner Miami from these discussions. Um, like inner Miami aside, that's, I think that's the nastiest front four in the league on their day. Like when they're healthy and they're firing and they're informed, I think that's the nastiest front four in the league.
00:52:57
Speaker
And even when they take these bad results, I still believe that because I've seen them play at that year enough this year that I believe in it as who they are and sustainable. But then they come out with a result like this and undermine me. FC Dallas has been better the last few weeks. And they quietly have a guy, Peter Armusa, their number nine. He's kind of low-key been one of the hottest. He's been Jordan Morrison lately. He has.
00:53:26
Speaker
like 12 or 13 goals, I think this year, maybe even more than that. He's been really hot. So I get that FC Dallas, especially at home, isn't necessarily as easy a matchup as it might seem like earlier in the season when they were legitimately one of the worst teams in the league, but like, and also I don't think the galaxy have had Joe village for the last like few weeks. And I don't think like, I don't, I think they're backup strikers like Miguel Berry or something. So,
00:53:53
Speaker
That's not good. Like that's a big drop off there. That front four with Miguel Berry or whoever they're rocking, whoever they're starting there right now without Yovlij, like that is a huge drop off. Um, but they still, I mean, they still concede too many dumb goals and, um,
00:54:12
Speaker
It's just disappointing because I've been trying to lead the bandwagon and they keep undermining me with stuff like this. And then finally, last loser of the week, Chicharongo of Real Salt Lake suspended for, yeah, we had this news item drop on the website today, suspended for violation of the league's anti-harassment policy.
00:54:32
Speaker
and no further details beyond that. So I honestly have no idea what he did, but he got four games. What's funny about this suspension is that they're including the all-star game in it. So he's missing one league game or two league games, the all-star game and a league's cup game. But why is the all-star game included in that?
00:54:57
Speaker
Like you're, you're suspending him for it's an effect. It's an exhibition match. It's an exhibition match and he's, his suspension is covered by it. So anyway, if anything comes out on what he did, uh, we'll give you an update as that comes. But, um,
00:55:15
Speaker
That's all I had folks for winners and losers this week. So with that, I think I'm just going to get out of here. Keep it short one under an hour for this episode. Um, I did want to say, I wanted to say, uh, you know, sorry that this one's coming in a little bit late. Um, we had a little, uh, trouble getting our schedules aligned. Noah was traveling, then he got sick. Then we had a battle with technology. So, uh, we should be back more on our normal schedule after this.
00:55:39
Speaker
appreciate everyone bearing with us through that and uh bearing with me while i went through this solo pod i thought it went pretty well so um as always really appreciate everyone for tuning in um like comment rate subscribe sub to the youtube sub to tiktok sub to anything on social media subscribe to it um until next time we out peace
00:56:09
Speaker
you