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Why Do The Seattle Sounders HATE a Summer Transfer!? - Ep. 117
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The Seattle Sounders transfer window discourse and discussion on the stock of General Manager Craig Waibel. Should Brian Schmetzer be in the running for Coach of the Year? Is a No. 9 actually the best use of the open U22 slot? Then take a look at some of Seattle’s competitors in the race for a top-four spot in the Western Conference.
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Lobbing Scorchers is a Seattle Sounders and MLS focused show brought to you by Sounder at Heart. Hosted by Major League Soccer's Ari Liljenwall and Producer Noah Riffe. Join us as we lob our scorching takes on the American soccer landscape, Seattle Sounders, Major League Soccer, USMNT and more.
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Transcript
Intro & Podcast Updates
00:00:00
Speaker
Well sir, we got a scorcher today. Gonna be a real scorcher today. Quite the scorcher today. Well it's gonna be scorcher.
00:00:22
Speaker
Good evening, everybody. Welcome in to another episode of Lobbing Scorchers. We are recording this on a Tuesday evening, right between the Seattle Sounders 4-0 demolition of the LA Galaxy and their upcoming Match Day 29 clash at Minnesota United.
00:00:38
Speaker
And Noah...
Seattle Sounders Performance Discussion
00:00:40
Speaker
We've got a lot to talk about, including Seattle's historic run of attacking form in pursuit of their first League's Cup title and what's lining up to be another less than active transfer window.
00:00:51
Speaker
So we're going to talk about all of that and more. ah How are you doing? Been a while since we laid one of these down. You've been on Orca's San Juan Island or whatever, living your best life. Now you've joined, rejoined Civilized Society.
00:01:07
Speaker
How it feel? And how's it going? I went from the Zen and the quiet and the quaintness and beauty of Orcas Island right back into the heaps and piles of content. But that's like, that's what we're made to do.
00:01:21
Speaker
That's what we're here for is to be content goblins.
Podcast Format Change & Listener Engagement
00:01:25
Speaker
And I wouldn't have it any other way, Ari. this This is the slop that I live for. And this is the slop that we love to give you.
00:01:32
Speaker
We have a little bit of a new format for the show today, which is cool. We're just trying out some new things. And... frankly, i'm just I'm just glad to be back. I've been literally yelling my Sounders takes into the ocean.
00:01:44
Speaker
Like, there's been no one to talk to about it, so I've just been yelling them into the ocean. You did call into the post-game show from the hot tub, so you got some content in. but ah And we went on SoccerWise.
00:01:56
Speaker
We did go on SoccerWise while you were recording from the treehouse. So, you know, you've gotten the content in here and there. But ah yeah, our first ah official formal podcast in a while. So looking forward to catching up with you fully because, you know, the Seattle Sounders have been on fire for your in entire absence.
00:02:15
Speaker
So that that's, there's a lot of goals to talk about. And then there's all, you know, transfer discourse is always, it's always a good time. So looking forward to getting into it. Like, ah like you mentioned, we're going to try a little bit of a different format for, uh,
00:02:30
Speaker
for the
Promotion & Subscriber Celebration
00:02:31
Speaker
show tonight. We're, we're tweaking this. ah You know, we figure we do, we do so many shows that are game oriented during the week between our post game show and Nico and I on kickoff and then under the lights, I'm usually previewing the next match.
00:02:45
Speaker
So we're going to try a little thing on this episode where we kind of more just based the whole episode around the agenda check, have those serve as our topics of discussion that are a little more broader than talking about what happened in a, in a given game.
00:03:00
Speaker
And we're going to see how that works. if ah If we don't like it, maybe we'll retweak the format. But I think it's going to be good. I mean, agenda checks are most popular segment anyway. And I think it's going to give us an opportunity to go more in the weeds on on broader topics, like I said, rather than ah the nuts and bolts of these games that we already have, like I said, two, three shows in a given week about.
00:03:23
Speaker
So ah looking forward to trying that out. And let's get into it. Let us know. We would love to know. We're just, we're just trying stuff out here.
00:03:34
Speaker
We crowdsource ah suggestions as well. So if there's anything you'd like to see us do with it, feel free to drop us in the comments. We reserve the right to ignore it. Let's get into all that. But before we do so, I do have to let you all know, as always, that Lobbing Scorchers is a part of the Sounder at Heart podcast network. If you want to get the best independent Seattle soccer coverage, consider supporting us by going to sounderatheart.com slash LS. What's that link?
00:03:56
Speaker
sounder at heart.com slash ls scroll down to subscribe and support to get 30 days completely free every sign up through our link help support and grow this show uh did we get any uh how's the road to 100 doing i i don't even uh that's a great question ari i've been on an island of no dis no no an island of despair not an island of despair but uh now that an island of not checking the spreadsheet exactly yeah uh maybe one more I think we got one more. What?
00:04:23
Speaker
um Yeah, we got one today. We got one today. Scott Curtis. Let's go. scott Hell yeah. Is that 99? I'm pulling up the spreadsheet. Drum roll, please. Ladies and gentlemen.
00:04:36
Speaker
That is number... No, that's number 100. Oh, let's go. we did it. The road to 100. Scott Curtis, triple digits. Let's go. Honestly, I did not know that we had the... We summited 100 on that. so That's a, that's a big milestone for us. We've been plugging away at that for, uh, for a while.
00:04:57
Speaker
ah so thank you to all 100 of our subs. We love and appreciate every single one of you. I mean, a lot of you go back to the days where we would read the entire sub list. Remember that? Yeah, I do. That was a great popular segment actually, but I don't care. I would do it again.
00:05:11
Speaker
ah but that's awesome. I, that made my night. Uh, getting us there. I'm walking on air now. Yeah. Uh, and I'm, I'm ready to, uh, to deliver the content. So let's do it. Thank you, Scott.
00:05:23
Speaker
ah Shout out to our sponsors though. Hacks and Ferments, Podium Menswear, Full Pull Wines, My Data Removal. Get our hot sauce that we made in collaboration with Hacks and Ferments. Great, ah great company, Hacks and Ferments. Show them your support ah in any way. Buy our hot sauce, but also get any of their products.
00:05:41
Speaker
Our hot sauce can be found at lobingscortures.com slash ferments. You know, it was at the ah Portland Hot Sauce Expo this past weekend, and it sold really, really well. And there were actually some podcast fans in Portland dashot that that that bought some sauce. So shout out to if you did that. And shout out to our new listeners who found us through our hot sauce. See, this is marketing 101, right? we're on the We're on the up. We got 100 sounder hard subs.
00:06:08
Speaker
We're selling the hot sauce in Portland of all places. i mean, we are infiltrating. the rival territory with our sauce. It's like Catan. I think I've actually never played that game, but don't you like take over territory and stuff? Yeah. Yeah.
00:06:21
Speaker
Yeah. So we are literally Cataning Portland right now. I like that. That's a, that's a good way to frame it. ah Please sub to the YouTube channel. Like the, like the video. If you're watching this on YouTube, like all the videos, subscribe, rate five stars.
00:06:36
Speaker
ah What am I missing? Is that, is that all the shilling? You're missing the content. You're missing the content. All right. Yeah, that's enough intro. That's enough intro. Let's ah let's get into
Transfer Window Talk
00:06:45
Speaker
this. And Noah, like I said, we're going to go just straight into the agenda check.
00:06:50
Speaker
We got our topics written down here. And how we're going to do this is we're going to lay down the agenda's riff for five, ten or so minutes. If we're feeling it, maybe cook a little longer and kind of have that be ah be the crux of the show.
00:07:04
Speaker
And then at the end, if we got other and MLS headlines or anything else we want to talk about, we'll hit that. after the the agenda check. Does that sound good? Does that all make sense? I love it. Let's get into it.
00:07:17
Speaker
All right, let's get into it. And where we're going to start today or tonight is with some transfer window talk, because that is front of mind for much of this fan base right now. As we, ah there's like eight or nine or 10 days or so left in this transfer window.
00:07:36
Speaker
And it is ah very much looking like this one is going to come and go Once again, without the Seattle Sounders making any sort of big, splashy acquisition, ah they have this open U22 spot that it was anticipated they were going to fill in this window.
00:07:53
Speaker
There were rumors abound. No Ohio. That seemed like it was going to happen at one point. That turned out to not... to not happen. And, uh, it has led to discussion of the, uh, the prominent agenda among Sounders fans. And it's called, you know, the Seattle Sounders are broke and unambitious agenda.
00:08:13
Speaker
Uh, and I think if we do indeed, you know, and it's the window's not over yet, but I think the writing's kind of on the wall. Uh, With the no Ohio thing falling through and there's been reports, right, of ah at least one or two other targets, if I'm not mistaken, that also fell through. So it feels like Nico on kickoff said it was 70-30 that they were not going to make another move in this in this window.
00:08:37
Speaker
So that's sort of kind of how I'm thinking of it, is that we're going to have to get to the end of this window and do the do the discourse, on the Seattle Sounders ambition and whether or not they need to be ah spending more money, you know, all that good stuff.
00:08:56
Speaker
ah So I guess to start, Noah, why don't you just ah let let's do a little temperature check. Like, how are you feeling about the notion that we're in a in another transfer window where it looks like a big move is not going to be made? where are you at on on that?
00:09:14
Speaker
I think that because of the state of the team in the last like six games that we have played, eight games that we've played, I think that I'm a little less worried.
00:09:26
Speaker
That said, ah with the news that Ryan Kent is now basically out for the season, 12 weeks, and you have Albert Rusnak out for at least four, if not more,
00:09:38
Speaker
I think i just, I worry, um but I'm not surprised, I guess, is is is my take on the U22 signing.
00:09:49
Speaker
um i think for the Sounders, like generally, they're not broke, right? but they don't have a budget. There is money, but when you have... There's a lot.
00:10:02
Speaker
No, and so when you your budget is very small, is $2 to $4 million, dollars you really don't have a lot of options of players who can step in and actually contribute versus your own youth players to where it actually makes sense to take that spot from a player like De Rosario or a player, you know...
00:10:26
Speaker
Not like Snyder Brunel, but in the same vein, right? And so like I really think, in ah in a way, maybe this is actually good. like and And this is going to sound super controversial, but if the budget is really that low...
00:10:43
Speaker
And there this is going to be a wake-up call to say, all right, like, wow, we we are now, again, the first team, only team to not make a summer transfer. You've got ah Sonny coming in and coming to play for LAFC and changing the entire dynamic of that team, not only, like, culturally, but, like,
00:11:03
Speaker
Like literally like that. Their podcasts are but happy, but sad for that. A Korean dubbed podcast hit 350,000 views in Korea. That's crazy. Like, I think ah this is a galaxy brain way to say that I'm almost glad that they didn't sign some average U22 player and are getting the wake-up call that it's time to spend some money.
00:11:28
Speaker
And so when I will be concerned is if they don't actually pick up the phone that's ringing that says it's time to actually invest some more money. Yeah, I mean, for me, like, I think how like the form that the team is in and how the team looks can inform how you approach it in a given window to some extent.
00:11:52
Speaker
Like, I find it hard to... ah to
Team Strategy & Roster Evaluation
00:11:56
Speaker
crash out about a lack of transfer in the middle of a stretch where the team has just scored 26 goals in eight games.
00:12:05
Speaker
Uh, you've got moose. You got a calculator in front of you, buddy. yeah Is that good? You got, you got moose plan, uh, plan out of his mind. You got Osase on the up.
00:12:17
Speaker
Uh, so just like with that position in particular, no Ohio's a number nine, he's a striker. ah like i feel I feel good about where they're at in that area of the field right now. And we're going to talk about it in another agenda.
00:12:32
Speaker
But like i'm I'm at the point where I want to see more Osaze and a player but like Noah Ohio or someone of that skill set. that would That would complicate that whole situation.
00:12:44
Speaker
And that would mean that... that player is going to take minutes that would be going to Osase. So, I mean, like as far as that, like a forward situation, in the no Ohio situation individually, ah I'm not like, ah I'm not super worried about that as far as the the potential on-field ramifications.
00:13:07
Speaker
I think like, Teams that are super active in the transfer window, it's fun and exciting. It's not always a good thing. It means that you had a lot to fix, a lot that you like really needed to improve.
00:13:19
Speaker
if you are ah if you are If you're in a situation like Seattle where they're in really good form right now at the moment, at least in the short term, I think that at least gives you a little more leeway to be ah more...
00:13:33
Speaker
ah tactical about it. And I would not want them to go sign a player just to sign a player, spend money just to spend money.
00:13:44
Speaker
So I guess like, I don't, ah I don't think like it's the end of the world from that perspective, but I do think like, even if it's not in this individual transfer window, there is going to come a reality where you can't just like not spend money forever. And I think it's pretty clear that ah there are restrictions being placed on the front office for like what they're allowed to spend and like what type of fee that they can drop. And it's not in that, ah that type of bag that's going to get you like a player that feels like more of a sure thing or like a high percentage player.
00:14:20
Speaker
signing like these you 22 spots these are we've talked about it a lot these are fully dart throws it's uh it's luck of the draw a lot of the times there's no guarantee that no ohio would have come in here and uh been a productive player like we saw how it worked out with uh with leo chu so i guess it's a long way of saying that like uh I feel like this this roster is in a really good spot. We're seeing that right now, even with the injuries that you you mentioned.
00:14:49
Speaker
They're playing some of their best ball of the season. So I think the on-field results should inform how you think about these things sometimes. But I think it's more of a conversation about like the future outlook and how they're going to approach this stuff like moving forward as you have to move off maybe some of these older players, find their replacements, and kind of bring a new guard in.
00:15:11
Speaker
You can't like do that on this much of a budget for the rest. It doesn't it feel like that's got it it. It might not be catching up to them right now, but it yeah could eventually, especially because there are teams in this league now, like LAFC who are going to drop $26 million dollars on one player i make that back in Jersey sales in one day. Yeah. So, uh, it just, I guess, yeah, this window,
00:15:36
Speaker
i don't I don't feel super passionately about, but it is like it is something that's going to need to be dealt with in future transfer windows because, I mean, they apparently are moneyballing to phenomenal effect right now, but how sustainable is that, especially as the league pushes forward and you get more and more of these teams who are just going to be dropping these crazy transfer fees that ah seattle Seattle's just never going to drop.
00:16:05
Speaker
Now, ah yeah, I mean, I think that like there's a there's a part of it where Seattle keeps rolling sixes. Seattle keeps rolling sixes. They keep getting incredibly lucky with either situations that present themselves to allow them for this money balling or maybe it's straight just good dealing like that is a possibility.
00:16:27
Speaker
But I do think there's going to come a point where the investment in your roster has gotten to a point where you just do become uncompetitive in the transfer market.
00:16:38
Speaker
And that's what's already happened. Like, it's not that the Sounders aren't a desirable place to be. It's that you don't have a compelling argument because you don't have the money to take to a team and say, we want to throw money at this player or we want to throw money ah in this position group.
00:16:57
Speaker
It's just, hey, we've got one to three million dollars Got to be a player that's able to start. And then that's like, okay, there's two options. There's literally straight up like two people that you could sign, maybe three.
00:17:11
Speaker
And it just, if you can widen your net, you can actually make stuff happen. And that's not to say that like, I'm not disappointed because there was a huge chunk of last year where all I was saying is all you got to do is sign someone. All you got to do is sign someone. I'm disappointed that they're not making a U22 signing.
00:17:29
Speaker
And I think that I'm disappointed in the budget that was set less so than that they weren't able to get a deal across the line because i get it. I get it. You had three options that fit within your very narrow requirements.
00:17:42
Speaker
And that's tough. ah So I feel for Craig Weibel and I feel for them, ah the front office staff in general. Like, I don't think that it's their fault that these deals didn't get done. I see a lot of, ah you know, dollar a dozen commentators on Instagram and whatnot saying like,
00:17:59
Speaker
Oh my God, Craig Weibel. Craig Weibel can't do anything. He can't sign a... He couldn't sign a... I don't even know. What's a good metaphor for that? Someone in the comments, figure out a good metaphor for that. But it's like, that's just not the truth.
00:18:13
Speaker
When you are straight up given nothing and you got to make something out of nothing, sometimes you can't make something. Sometimes you can't. And I think the Sounders are incredibly lucky. at how well they did in the last window, bringing in Ryan Kent, bringing in Jesus for our bringing in Paul areola, bringing in ah all of these different Kim Kihei, who's been playing a ton of minutes, um all of these different deals that they've done that made this roster incredibly deep and kind of injury proof so far.
00:18:42
Speaker
And, and other players coming into their own, like Pedro de la Vega and Paul Rothrock competing for those minutes and Osase coming up and playing. So,
Long-term Competitiveness Concerns
00:18:51
Speaker
I think the Sounders are a very well-rounded organization, and I think they are very smart. But I also do think that they're at just the worst disadvantage in the transfer market because they're not given any money to spend.
00:19:01
Speaker
And so they have to seek alternative routes. They have to look for trades. They have to look for bargain bin deals. And when that happens, one, you're right, like the hit rate is way lower. But I do think they have been doing a good job, and you have to give them props for that, which maybe that parlays into our next agenda. It does, yeah.
00:19:19
Speaker
ah But before we get to that, I'll just say like for me, like my number one concern, it's it's not how much money they spend. It's not ah how how efficient or spendy a roster build the Seattle Sounders have.
00:19:36
Speaker
My concern is, is this team in a position to contend for trophies? Are they in a position to win? And ah if that's if that's the case,
00:19:48
Speaker
and they are winning and they're performing on the field and they're getting results and they're competing for ah for trophies, then just for me, this stuff becomes less of a concern. And how they're playing right now, they very much look like a team that's able and ready to contend for trophies.
00:20:04
Speaker
So I think in that way, kind of how I think of this, it's going to be defined by how how Leagues Cup, the rest of Leagues Cup goes, and how the playoffs go this year.
00:20:15
Speaker
Because if they win, i mean if they win uh one or both of leagues cup or and mls cup this year with this team how it is i personally maybe some people feel differently i personally am not going to care one way or the other if they do or don't make a move yeah this is like what happens on the field what the results are if you're winning if you're contending i think ah it doesn't inform how this gets talked about and how people think of it sometimes.
00:20:47
Speaker
And it should. that's that is why like That's why we're doing this at the end of the day, right? It's too it to compete for and win trophies. ah so like we in And just one more thing on top of that I have to say, and I think you'll agree with this, is that I would rather, if they are forced into a really small budget, I would much rather they...
00:21:11
Speaker
Wait it out and like find the right player in that budget for the long-term ah performance of the team in the club. Because I get it, man. Like you're given no money, sometimes you got to scroll through Facebook marketplace for a few days to find a couch. You know what I'm saying?
00:21:29
Speaker
And I think that's just what we're on, dude. We're on the eBay grind. We're on, we're on the, the, the buy nothing, sell nothing Facebook page, constantly refreshing, seeing what kind of deals we can get.
00:21:39
Speaker
And sometimes, yeah, Sometimes in the summer, people just aren't fucking listing stuff for for for nothing. So I think, you know, I would much rather wait it out, sign someone at the beginning of the next season or in the winter. so I don't know, whatever.
00:21:55
Speaker
and And it actually be a player that can contribute then scrambling because we need to sign someone. And I would like them to sign someone, but I also don't want them to be reckless. And I think yeah the budget that they have, you can easily be reckless.
00:22:10
Speaker
Because there's a lot of players you can spend $2 million dollars on and not get your money back. Ari, as a dedicated fashion expert, how do you do it? Day in and day out, I see you rocking the best fits. I need your help. No, I'm glad you asked. People ask me that a lot, and I can tell you need an upgrade.
00:22:27
Speaker
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00:22:42
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00:23:12
Speaker
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00:23:25
Speaker
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00:23:39
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00:23:59
Speaker
Trademark pending. Yeah. And, um you know, on the flip side of what I was saying, if they may, if if this season ends and ah they don't win Leagues Cup and they don't win MLS Cup and they get eliminated from from these competitions in a way where it's like, man, if they just had like a little more top end talent, they just had if they just spent a bag on one more game breaker, maybe they win that game.
00:24:23
Speaker
And it's not like a situation like last year where you're playing the Galaxy in the conference finals and you you play pretty well. You play them straight up, but they have that one moment, that one game where Ricky Pooge on a torn ACL.
00:24:35
Speaker
But they have Ricky Pooge and you don't. And that's like the difference in the game. and And they get eliminated under so similar type of circumstances this year. ah People are going to be saying like, hey, if you weren't broke, maybe you would have won that game, right?
00:24:50
Speaker
true and And they're not going to be necessarily off base to to say that. So i think I think as far as how this transfer window is perceived, there's a lot riding on this ah on this League's Cup and this playoff run. But ah for me, if they're if they're winning trophies, that's kind of the be-all, end-all.
00:25:10
Speaker
So if if they do that, then it's no harm, no foul for me. But like it's that means that means there is a lot. riding on it. so So maybe they are broke. Yes, broke, but maybe they are not unambitious is kind of where we're landing on this agenda.
00:25:24
Speaker
Yeah, well, and I think the whole ah the whole budget thing and like never dropping a bag, I feel like that's recent in the last year or two. like the The idea that they like never, ever drop a bag and they've just been this money ball operation their whole existence. Ever since De La Vega, they haven't a They haven't dropped a bag since De La Vega. De La Vega was a real bag, though. That was a $7 million dollar bag.
00:25:46
Speaker
Ladero and Rui Diaz, those were both ah seven plus. I think Rui Diaz was like a $10 million dollars bag So they have dropped bags in the past ah just for whatever reason. Maybe it's long. l hop Is on break, bro. Maybe it's long acres. Maybe the frame shop's not doing too well. I don't know. For whatever reason, ah Craig wives is ah he is on a budget right now. That's the fact of the situation.
00:26:08
Speaker
And honestly, this does lead into into the next agenda because ah for all the take that ah Craig Weibel, the heat that Craig Weibel takes,
00:26:19
Speaker
ah Again, we we got to take on-field results into account in this conversation when we're evaluating how the whole front office is doing, right?
00:26:30
Speaker
So, like, where we stand at at this point in the season right now, the on-field results – have been good. They are top four in the West right now. They've won 11 games, uh, and they looked like the absolute best team out of, in either league in leagues cup.
00:26:49
Speaker
They finished first place out of 36 teams in, in in leagues cup and they're, they're doing all the 26 goals in the last eight games. We've seen what, ah this has been one of the best runs of form I've ever seen this team be on like straight up.
00:27:02
Speaker
I don't, I, would you disagree with that? Like as far as the footy that they're playing in the goal and the amount of goals that they're, they're scoring, they're playing out of there. Everyone asked for, This is exactly what every single person at the end of last season and the season before. Us included.
00:27:16
Speaker
Us included. And he's delivered. We were just like, just put a team out there that'll play dynamic, fun to watch, productive offense, and let the chips fall where they may. They're doing that ah right now. So that brings me to the agenda, which we this harkens back to one that we dropped during during preseason. Very unpopular agenda.
00:27:35
Speaker
But I think now, I think now in general, it's we have more information on which to... assess Craig Weibel. So this agenda, this was, this like i said, this was preseason, I think. It's the Craig Weibel is actually kind of a dog agenda, which I think we start we started talking about this, you know, somewhat in jest, a little facetiously around the ah time of the Jesus Ferreira trade, because you and I were both pro that trade. Yeah, we said the that he fleeced them. which he did.
00:28:03
Speaker
We, uh, we were, we were like, to me, especially now looking how it's played out on the field with the form that Ferreira has been in. I'm just like, man, bringing in Ferreira as a non DP. oh That is Leo Chu who doesn't even play in Dallas anymore.
00:28:19
Speaker
Yeah. Who they already moved off. So, but, uh, like there's, there's that, but I think we can judge the totality of his moves more a little and more
Player Performance & Recent Acquisitions
00:28:29
Speaker
now. And, uh,
00:28:30
Speaker
Look, I like, I know people aren't going to ah like this, but like, if if we just go through some of these, ah some of these moves, I don't really see how you can look at it and be like, and not feel like this is, that was pretty good.
00:28:46
Speaker
Like ah let's just take a De La Vega, Ferreira, Moose, for example, those are three prominent ones, right? Those are all right why Craig Weibs moves.
00:28:58
Speaker
Paul Rothrock, uh, that's like an internal uh he like he he petitioned to be on the defiance but i'm trying to give it to him yeah it's just a little different than uh like i'm thinking of guys that like he brought in from the uh outside for for whatever reason and like i was saying at the right at the beginning ryan kent that's that's the one i was missing okay So I was saying at the beginning of the season, like we kind of needed to at least let this season ah get into this season a little more to see because ah going into this season, a lot of people were saying that De La Vega is a bust because of how his season went.
00:29:38
Speaker
Myself included. Yeah. So like, and he had not lived up to his price tag or potential at that point, but there was a whole season coming up for him to change that narrative and talking about De La Vega specifically, you know, it's still, it still is a small sample size of him looking this dominant,
00:29:59
Speaker
Uh, but i for me by the week, every game, every ah next game that I watch him play, the more I'm, I'm like the, the talent and the quality that this guy has in his bag is pretty, i can see what they were scouting up. I see why they spent $7 million dollars on him, whether he consistently maintains this level and is like a game breaking player week in week out going forward for this team that remains to be seen.
00:30:26
Speaker
but I think, I mean, it's pretty, there's no way to argue against that. The arrow for the De La Vega move is pointing way up right now. It took a while to get the arrow to that point. Last year was a lost year for him because of, because of the injuries.
00:30:43
Speaker
But I mean, that is really his first full season. This is his first full season. And I think, you know, and even this season, it did take him a while. It's only been in the last like, what month or so that he started to, to play like this really since he moved to that, ah to that left wing spot, but like straight, like straight up, the guy looks like one of the best players in the league right now.
00:31:03
Speaker
Like in terms of just the stuff he's doing in these games and the production he's offering, the goals that he's scoring, he scored a goal that might actually get nominated for a bus. Cause.
00:31:13
Speaker
Yeah. and MLS will do everything in their power to make sure that that gets nominated for the Puskas. And it won't be unmerited. No, like that. It was that good of a goal. And it's not just that one goal. Like he has been, he's been scoring goals, but also like, even like I'm thinking of things like in the Atlanta game, you know, you're down one zero on the road.
00:31:33
Speaker
ah It's a bad team, but you know a long road trip, a result is not a given. And it's the second half, I believe, and you're down a goal. And he comes through with a finish in a big moment. That's the type of stuff that you pay $7 million dollars for.
00:31:49
Speaker
And then the way he looked in Leagues Cup was absolutely phenomenal. So dominant that he's like becoming the face of Leagues Cup in a way and like becoming... like I don't know. He's doing more media now too. Like there's like, there's this momentum and like almost aura behind him and his play right now that we've definitely never seen. Dude, he looked insanely good ah against LA and that service that he had to Paul. Yep.
00:32:16
Speaker
And I mean, or it was a Paul or Moose, whichever one. it was cute Yeah. He was robbed of the assist, but you know, whatever. Yeah. Rothrock robbed of the, uh, of the goal. but like All this is to say is that,
00:32:27
Speaker
ah De La Vega for a long time, dating back to last year and for a lot of this season, was held up as this like example of like Craig Wabble doesn't like know what he's doing. Why did they sign this guy? What a bust.
00:32:42
Speaker
like I just don't think that that's the narrative right now. And I'm trying to be fair here. like if If there was a narrative that was still permeating like that that I thought was valid, I think we we haven't... We've called out Craig in the past.
00:32:58
Speaker
Well, yeah, or even when De La Vega has not... but glimpse When it's looked like De La Vega is not living up to his potential, I feel like we've been... We pointed that out. So, like, I think you've got to be fair, and if it looks like the move is, in fact...
00:33:14
Speaker
have an arrow pointing up. we should We should give credit for that to both the player and the in the front office and the acquisition and everything. So there's still a lot to be determined with that one in particular.
00:33:26
Speaker
But I think if you if you go down the list that we made, ah moose Moose is looking like one of the best values in the league. And that...
00:33:39
Speaker
and that is also one that got held up as like a, what we what were what was he doing? how could they How could they sign this guy? This is your plan at number nine if Jordan Morris is hurt.
00:33:53
Speaker
Danny Mussofsky is your plan. All that stuff was said. So we if all that stuff was said, when Moose comes out with ah a 10-goal season that he's still adding on to, he's one of the most reliable strikers.
00:34:05
Speaker
like In terms of, ah you know i'm not going ah I won't go into the underlying numbers too much, and i want to trigger you, but ah he yeah if you look at them, he is the... ah most efficient number nine, like in the league for the minutes that he's getting right now in terms of like his goal production.
00:34:22
Speaker
So I just, I don't know what, like, i don't know what to say about that. Like I've, people don't like that and they like kind of hold onto their priors, but that's just like what's happened on the field this year and on, in the, on the box score.
00:34:34
Speaker
So that's another one where like, that looks, that looks pretty good. Yeah. will For me, like, Hey, listen, if I can change my mind about Danny Musavsky, you can change your mind about Craig Weibel.
00:34:46
Speaker
I think that there's a beauty in you don't have to admit that you were like super wrong or anything. Cause I know, I know the, the, the brigaders, they don't, they don't like to be wrong. I respect it. I don't like to be wrong either, but I'm also happy to admit when I'm wrong.
00:34:59
Speaker
And like, I was, I was wrong about Danny Musavsky. I didn't think he had this dog in him, but he does. And for Craig Weibel, you have to admit, you have to at least look at some of these examples and be like,
00:35:10
Speaker
All right, I got it. You got to give it to him. You got to give it to him on that. you you know You can be skeptical. You can be frustrated. But when you look at this, and if you're pretending that all this, and we've got we got two more players to talk about, and we haven't even gotten through the list, and if you're sitting here still saying, nope, nope, nope, not real. De La Vega has done in like two games, whatever, blah, blah. Danny Musavsky, yeah, whatever. like he's He's only good because he has really good service, blah, blah, blah, blah.
00:35:38
Speaker
Still finishes, bro. Still finishes. Like, I don't know what to say. I don't know what to say, man. Craig Weibel. dirt they They could have spent... however many million dollars on on a number number nine.
00:35:51
Speaker
And if that player was producing like Danny Mussovsky is this year, like no one would think twice about it. i would i And that is just the reality of how Moose is playing this year. Yeah. like yeah I would bet that, I'll bet by the end of this season, Moose has more goals than Noah Ohio.
00:36:11
Speaker
He has more in his league. He has more goals than Emmanuel Latte Loth. Trust me. I've been tracking. yeah bro. What's up with him? Like, come on. We should have signed him. That's yeah. Like, the that's the thing, man. Like, uh, I'm not saying like it's impossible to upgrade on, uh,
00:36:27
Speaker
on Moose, but like realistically he has 12 goals, all comps this year. How much more do we like, are we presupposing this alternative would have scored than that? Like you have to like give credit to the production in, uh,
00:36:45
Speaker
in that way i think he's doing exactly exactly what he was signed to do yeah like and and you can't he was signed to do you can't like understate the importance of that either because jordan morris has been injured pretty much all year and i mean we're gonna we're gonna talk about maybe that's a negative against craig weibel you know signing him as a dp and he immediately becomes the man in the world there you go escalators we could The thing about the escalators is that was looking like a cook, too, until Jordan kept getting hurt. Because i was Jordan looked like one of the best number nine. yeah he was I think this system this year, it must be fun to be a number nine in this system. you got more Jordan Morris was scoring goals for fun,
00:37:25
Speaker
whenever he was playing, he's just been injured. Moose has 12 goals. All comps has been playing like a madman all year. And Osaze has also been productive as well. They've gotten like, it's like 19 goals out of the number nine spot this year through match day 28.
00:37:40
Speaker
twenty eight That is fantastic production. Like any way, that you slice it. It doesn't matter if there's a $10 million dollar player doing it or Danny Mussovsky doing it. The goals count the same, man. So like, uh, I think let's talk about Ferreira and Ryan Kent as well.
00:37:54
Speaker
Cause I think those need to be taken, uh, into account. I, I look at the, Forever move. And, you know, people are going to call us bias on this because we were pro the trade the entire time. And then even when he took a while to get going, we were preaching that we thought that it was going to hit eventually.
00:38:11
Speaker
i think that at this point, especially looking at how he played in this last game and the form that he's been in for the last month or so, probably longer than a month.
00:38:23
Speaker
at this point, getting Jesus Ferreira as a not DP, as a TAM player on this team. um It's effectively cheating, Ari. It's effectively cheating. funny. I wasn't going to, ah I was going to save that take and throw it on you another time.
00:38:40
Speaker
But like literally it is, ah it's kind of like that. This is a best 11 player in his career who has been a DP in his career, whether you agree with that or not. Like he has
Team Depth & National Recognition
00:38:52
Speaker
been.
00:38:52
Speaker
and they got him on a team deal. They bought low. And ah look, I don't know how you could watch that last game against the Galaxy, which I get, you know, caveat, it's the it's the Galaxy.
00:39:05
Speaker
But like, why why do you why do you think they were able to do that? Why do you think they were able to, without Albert Rusnak and Jordan Morris, go into a road game, in-conference road game, and absolutely lambast the other team 4-0.
00:39:21
Speaker
One of the reasons they were able to do that is because over the offseason, they traded for Jesus Ferreira, one of the most versatile, adaptable attackers in Major League Soccer. And when Rusnak went down, who has been, he got brought back as a DP and has been one of the most productive number 10s on the stat sheet this year in the league, by the way, they were able to withstand that injury because they got a guy of the quality and experience and adaptability and versatility of Jesus Ferreira.
00:39:52
Speaker
i I really think... really think... My play, Jesus at the 10 agenda, it just continues. I really think the Jesus trade, I really believe it's like it's one of the best interleague trades that I've that i've seen. Well, it wasn't the best because FC Dallas absolutely got their pants pulled down, but it was the best for the Sounders. It was an absolute... Well, that's what I mean. That's the perspective I'm talking about it from.
00:40:15
Speaker
Yeah. And so, like... That's how is that not like a feather in the cap at this point? I understand that there there may be a subset of people who won't give Ferreira credit for anything, no matter what he does.
00:40:29
Speaker
But ah like to me, again, it's about the results on the field. Like what are are you winning games? Are you scoring goals? ah And, you know, are you fun to watch? All that stuff plays in when they're playing like this, 26 goals in their last eight games with Jesus Ferreira, undeniably an integral part.
00:40:48
Speaker
of that Jesus Ferreira acting as the centerpiece of the offense with Albert Rusnak injured. And you're still able to have a ah four goal win on the road. I don't care if it's against a bad team. That's still not easy to do.
00:40:59
Speaker
So that's, ah I don't know. I'm just so glad to have Jesus Ferreira. I love Jesus Ferreira. It's awesome. We've always loved Jesus Ferreira. So, you know what, if you don't like him, haters be damned more for us.
00:41:13
Speaker
I mean, like, i just it's just you have to ah if if he's producing and running the offense in this case, like he did in this last game like that.
00:41:24
Speaker
I just don't understand like where the where the counter argument to that even comes in. That was a fantastic trade. There's none. Yeah. So yeah they're just that that's that's another one where I'm like, damn, I think Craig Weibel actually might have might have cooked there. He might be kind of a dog. He might be kind of a dog.
00:41:43
Speaker
And then Ryan Kent, he got it he's got a long-term injury now, which sucks, but that was looking like a freaking awesome injury. acquisition i know he kind of cooled down for a bit there after the blazing hot start but what i saw from him in leagues cup was just like man it is honestly crazy that you can have a situation where you have like winger injuries like this or you need to rotate and you just have ryan kent to slot in yeah dropping dimes all over the field moss and defenders ah getting in the assist when you're down. It's a league's cup game that you need to take a result and you're down one zero in the second half at home.
00:42:18
Speaker
Who comes through with the assist? Ryan Kent, the guy that they got on a free transfer, like who was a cast off, you know? So that was, that was looking at the injury thing just sucks.
00:42:30
Speaker
ah because we're not going to get... We may never see him in a Sounders uniform. We might not. That's real. like That could happen. But it was still like ah great move and ah really strengthened the roster in way that...
00:42:42
Speaker
strengthened the roster in a way that ah Like that's kind of like pulling a rabbit out of a hat, isn't it? Like it just kind of came out of nowhere. end Yeah. I mean, that's, that is persuading a player to take a chance on the Seattle Sounders again for no, for no guaranteed money, a one year short-term deal with an option, all of this, all of the risk being held in basically Ryan Kent's hands because he's making the decision to come play in MLS. Right. Right.
00:43:12
Speaker
Craig Webble and then co convinced a very talented European player to come play here. It's kind of a cook. Yeah, it's kind of a dog. It's kind of a dog move. He started barking and ah and and and that's that that was the end.
00:43:29
Speaker
And, you know, like I like i said earlier, i think the a lot of these narratives that we're talking about are still yet to be defined because we haven't seen ah how this season ends yet and if they're actually going to be able to parlay this hot streak that they've been on into trophies. And that's tim that's gonna be the that's going to be the tell.
00:43:50
Speaker
That's going to be the tell. Because at the end of the day, like, however savvy your roster maneuvering might be, even given your budget, it doesn't It doesn't matter if you don't win anything from it.
00:44:02
Speaker
ah But I do think... I also think at the same time, like what is a GM supposed to do? They're not coaching the team. there's there's There's only so much that they control and that is your budget management.
00:44:14
Speaker
So like how much flexibility do you have at any given time to be able to adapt your your club ah and and bringing on as much talent as physically possible under the roster rules that we currently have. And you ask any pundit under the sun who has the deepest MLS roster from day one, they were saying the Seattle Sounders.
00:44:35
Speaker
So just under those two ideas, um I'm sorry, man. cra Craig why was doing a really really good job at managing this club well and part of the reason that this topic came up outside of the transfer window stuff I mean this team is getting a lot more attention from the national pundits over the last couple weeks than they usually get in I think mostly because of what they did in leagues cut up they were by far the best team in either league in leagues cup they scored the most goals they finished in first place they were the only team in either league to win
00:45:06
Speaker
all three games so that's going to give you some attention then you throw the puskas de la vega goal in there uh but part of the reason i mean soccer banning too yeah but part of the reason as well uh is because of what happened in this uh in this galaxy game and the reason that the pundits took notice of that is because going into that game they were down so many players albert rusnak jordan morris being the most prominent but ryan kent as well.
00:45:34
Speaker
Jackson Reagan rotated as well. Stephen Fry still not back. So that's that's five big names right there that most times we are so used to seeing in Major League Soccer when a team has an injury report like that and they're going into a road game.
00:45:48
Speaker
There ain't no way they win 4-0. So that drew that a lot of the commentary nationally about Seattle coming off that game. And Doyle noted this.
00:45:59
Speaker
Joe Lowry noted this. ah There's at least one other that I'm missing off the top of my head that was talking about this. But Doyle and Jolo both said that they think this is the deepest roster in MLS history.
00:46:11
Speaker
So I don't even I don't know about that agenda. Like, ah I don't know my like deep in the depth history enough to be able to say that as much as a Doyle might. But if Doyle says that I put stock in that that guy has been following the league obsessively religiously from literal day one.
00:46:29
Speaker
So he's not just going to say that out of nowhere. If he sees this roster and thinks that it's the deepest MLS roster he's ever seen. I think there's some there's some weight to that.
00:46:40
Speaker
And also, I think if it's getting talked about like that, I mean, like, don't you have to like credit who built the roster? You have to. If it's getting that type of coverage and adulation.
00:46:53
Speaker
Well, I think that those people who actually have an idea of what's happening and like can see it from a little bit of zoomed out perspective and not such a personal, this is my club.
00:47:04
Speaker
And so anytime anything goes wrong, I need to find someone to blame set up. Yeah, they're they're like, man, I wish Craig Weibel was my GM. i wish you know like the I don't think people really understand how good you have it.
00:47:19
Speaker
And also, he is legitimately getting praised across the board. think so funny. He might. He genuinely might executive of the year. he might like he genuinely might win executive of the year Yeah, and like again, this is you know us us saying it as people can put however much stock in it that they want, but this is like the national coverage that's been happening the last couple weeks because of how this team has been playing and then specifically also how ah how they were able to ah handle that Galaxy game even with the injury. like
00:47:54
Speaker
You saw the two ends of the spectrum there. You saw a team that has depth And ah and like that next man up mentality versus a team.
00:48:05
Speaker
Greg Vanney, I watched his presser like I always do. ah He literally was talking about in his press conference. ah They were asking, they were like, why didn't you rotate more? You just said the team looked super gassed the whole game and you didn't have anything left. Like, could you have rotated more?
00:48:20
Speaker
And he was literally like, I don't have a team that's deep enough to do that. Like pretty much that's what he was saying. He was like, they do. And I don't. So, I mean, that, that's, that's to say like, it doesn't, it's, it's, that is a unique ability to be able to do what they did and win that game for zero. It's not easy to do.
00:48:37
Speaker
Most MLS clubs can't do it. That's just like the reality. Well, and people, people can say whatever they want about the l LA galaxy. I'm chief among them to make jokes, but they, they have been surging. They have been playing better.
00:48:49
Speaker
And yeah, They were silent. They couldn't do anything. Joey Paintsill was, was nobody last night. It was crazy. The galaxy caveat is, is valid. They're the worst team in the league. yeah They're bad. But for me, like yeah if you look at the ah rest of the schedule that they've been playing lately, they all, they did the same stuff against Cruz Azul and a couple other Liga Mechies teams who Santos Laguna and, and Cholos, maybe not that high high quality. Cruz Azul is certainly considered.
00:49:18
Speaker
They were considered the best team in this tournament. going in. They were considered consider the best non-European team in the world. Yeah, by by some by some stat question of which questionable metrics. Again, a reason not to trust the stats. What have I always said?
00:49:33
Speaker
But like the the point is, like if it was if it was just one game of them beating up on the worst team in the league, I think that caveat would mean more to me, but they've been doing this to every team over the last eight games.
00:49:43
Speaker
So I don't even think you need to caveat it that much. like It's just... Because, like, i mean, even no matter the quality of the team and in in conference road trip like that, when you've just played three games in eight days in in League's Cup, you're youre typically not...
Future Strategic Decisions
00:50:02
Speaker
thinking or planning of a four zero there. That's just not like for me, that wasn't even on my radar, even without team that how the team has been playing the depth that I do know they have. I still didn't expect that ah just because of what I know of how MLS works in those situations.
00:50:15
Speaker
So that's I think that's what it is, man. That's where it stands right now. And Like, again, to me, the deter the real determinative factor is going to be if they win if they win trophies this year.
00:50:27
Speaker
If they don't and they flame out in League's Cup and they flame out in the playoffs and they're sitting on the same trophy count at the end of this year as they were at the at the beginning, then then i think I'll at least feel more like, man, like...
00:50:40
Speaker
I don't know about this money balling. I don't know about like this never doing anything in the ah in the transfer window. But for me, like again, results and winning games, that's that's what the priority is.
00:50:52
Speaker
So if they're doing that, then not the rest of that stuff, it it becomes less relevant the way the way I see it. But like just going i mean going through the... like the big names in the recent record right there, that is an objectively good list. If if you want to poke holes in that list and tell us like why it's actually bad and there's incompetence that's fireable behind that, please, like by all means, write an essay in the comment section. I'm not going to read it, but I'd be interested to see if there even is that –
00:51:25
Speaker
that counter argument because based on production and results, that is what we are judging this by. To be fair, you have to take that into account. You can't just like have your prior and cling to it in the face of whether they're winning games, scoring goals and contending and competing for, uh, for trophies like that, that has to factor into the evaluation. You cannot just ignore that. And that just is what it is. And that is objectively like what the case is. So, uh,
00:51:54
Speaker
We got a couple other agendas to get to. We kind of cooked on that. but ah Do you have anything else on ah on the Craig Weibel discourse? Well, I mean, listen, if you are a a former Craig Weibel hater or a current Craig Weibel hater or a future Craig Weibel hater, the great thing about...
00:52:11
Speaker
soccer is that we're allowed to change our opinions. We're allowed to say, okay, well maybe I didn't like him before, but I can agree that right now he's looking pretty good. So jump on the goddamn Craig Weibel hype train while it's still hot.
00:52:27
Speaker
We, that you know, you've seen the articles, you've seen the articles on sounder at heart that were, that were pumping him early in the season. And you know what? You laughed. You laughed. You laughed in the face. And now, you know.
00:52:39
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. going I'm go um i'm ah all you always come in with the yeah you just have bad taste headline about to throw that headline back at you. You have that word have bad taste. You see how that works. You.
00:52:51
Speaker
Exactly. And by the way, that was always lame behavior because it was only after else. It was only after else. can't respect that. I can't respect that.
00:53:02
Speaker
But like now, like I haven't, I haven't seen you guys like, where you are you at? I haven't seen you dropping that in our chat in a while. Where, where's that at? Where's that I don't know. even write it and we're still defending it. Like, I don't even agree with that whole article, but I'm going to defend it.
00:53:16
Speaker
want stand up for our boy. All right, let's ah let's we got it. We got a lot of other stuff to get to. We're 50 minutes in. So, yeah, let's ah this is a good for see now Now I know it's a good format because we've been cooking on two things for
Coaching & Player Development Debate
00:53:28
Speaker
50 minutes. You ah you added one here. I did.
00:53:31
Speaker
But we can. All right. Yeah. So going we we can we can make this one a rapid fire. Yeah, this one's quick. But going along these same lines. Brian Schmetzer, we've had this agenda for like three years straight and no one listens to us, but maybe this year, finally, it will happen, especially if they win Leagues Cup or if they win MLS Cup.
00:53:51
Speaker
Brian Schmetzer for coach of the year. Well, the right playoff so playoffs don't factor into it. Playoffs don't factor in Leagues Cup, maybe. um Brian Schmetzer, and I've said this so many times, is...
00:54:03
Speaker
Probably the best coach in MLS history, much better than a guy named Wilfred Nancy. We love him. He's a great guy, kind coach. We love him. He's great. He's tactical, but he doesn't have the juice that Brian has. I'm sorry. He does it.
00:54:17
Speaker
He does it. He doesn't have it. How do you take a team this big, this deep, this this intense, pit them against each other and make them play 10 times? This is the best I've ever seen the Sounders play in my entire life.
00:54:34
Speaker
They went to the Club World Cup. Played straight up against PSG, Atletico Madrid, and Botafogo. And from each of those games, they took pieces of the other team's game, implemented them, and are now basically playing an Atletico Madrid, PSG, Botafogo hybrid.
00:54:52
Speaker
And just demolishing MLS teams. They have gone and scored more goals in these eight games that I've seen like basically last season or two seasons ago where they were just like scoring one goal every three games. Do you remember this?
00:55:06
Speaker
Like, yeah, i I remember the bit we were doing. I was thinking about this today. the bit we were doing where it's like, can they score one goal? It's sort of like the one I was doing, like, can they go one game without a red card? Yes. It was that we, the bit used to be, can the Seattle Sounders score one goal in a game and maybe even multiple goals in a game. And the whole thing was like, there was no margin for error because they weren't scoring hardly at all. So they were dropping points because they, if they were ahead at all, it would only ever be by one goal.
00:55:33
Speaker
So if they had like an unfortunate concession, it would always be drop points. Like, That is not the case right now, is it? but No, and just just as I said last year, where Brian Schmetzer completely shifted the identity of the team to be a defensive first team, where, yes, absolutely, people were so frustrated. It was kind of some some tough football to watch at certain points, but it got the job done. It got them all the way to the Western Conference Final.
00:56:00
Speaker
building on the backs of Yamar and and Jackson Reagan and Jordan Morris, who had been surging at that point, but really the rest of the team, had just it just wasn't clicking yet. Now, that's this is a night and day from one season to the next to now he has all of these attacking pieces and he's able to implement this incredible press, this incredible PSG style press where you have your attacking players, your midfield players, your defending players. Everyone is always on the ball.
00:56:29
Speaker
they they They embarrassed the Galaxy. they They made the Galaxy turn over the ball like a thousand times, it seemed like The press is so good right now. It's so rock good. And it's so fun to watch.
00:56:43
Speaker
And so I've said it last year and no one listened. And I'll say it again this year. Brian Schmetzer should be the coach of the year. And I think maybe this year he actually might get what he deserves if he gets some silverware.
00:56:58
Speaker
I'll just, I mean, I'll say like, I think the reason that Schmetz has never won it, I think I saw Doyle alluding to this on Blue Sky, but I think it's something that I think is true, which is that that the reason he's never won it is because for all the winning and success and trophies that the Sounders have had under his watch, they've never had like one of those like,
00:57:19
Speaker
2019 LAFC type regular seasons where they, they don't, they don't win. They haven't won the shield since 2014. They haven't had like a 65 plus point regular season that like the, the teams that of the guy, the coach of the year winners usually have.
00:57:35
Speaker
So I think that's, I'm not saying that that's pundit problem. It's not correct that he's been overlooked for that reason, but that's just probably why. That's where the pundits take it, yeah. And I think... He's supposed to be biased, too. You need to be one of the two, three best regular season teams, I think, to get either that, or sometimes it'll go to coach whose team was insanely bad and then got kind of good the next year.
00:58:00
Speaker
But I feel like in MLS, it's mostly... It goes to like the coach who coached the... the best team or one of the best teams. So it's not really about the coaching. It's never really been about the coaching. Yeah.
00:58:14
Speaker
Yeah. it Like they would never base it on like, wow, he, he benched Rui Diaz and put in bell cow, Paul Rothrock and got Paul Rothrock like so the one to Western conference. Yeah. One of the like best wingers on the team, like that, they would, that doesn't it go. It's like you're,
00:58:33
Speaker
grand point point total in your record and all that. Which maybe this is an argument to take the playoffs into account when you're yeah when you're talking about this. But that what's this season this season, Seattle's game right now with...
00:58:46
Speaker
they're at one point six four points per game right now with 10 or so games left to get that. I think he needs to get it up to like 1.7 to 1.9.
00:58:57
Speaker
And then i think that combo becomes like real as far as like how he stacks up against the other guys that are going to get shine for that this year, especially if he's just put up crooked GD.
00:59:08
Speaker
Yes, which they are right now. So we'll see if they can keep it up. ah My next agenda, Noah, is ah tell me what you think of this one. This is the Seattle actually doesn't need a U22 number nine agenda.
00:59:23
Speaker
So I'm going to start with that. And then there's a second part to it. But I just think like, uh, doesn doesn't the Osase thing have to at least, I'm not saying it means they shouldn't sign a number nine, not saying that, but doesn't it that at least have to change how you think of it a little bit?
00:59:43
Speaker
Doesn't it? Yeah. well I'm not like, I'm literally not tripping that no Ohio is not on this team right now because they have ah like intriguing high upside young forward who is scoring goals that ah there's a lot of potential for.
00:59:58
Speaker
And that's like that. That is the lure of a U22 number nine. Is it not? And then, like I said earlier, like if you do bring in a U22 number nine, ah that is at the expense of Osase. Like it is. That's what those minutes are.
01:00:11
Speaker
So that you're kind of, ah you're sort of cutting off that experiment in the middle of when it looks like it's working ah to bring in like an unproven commodity, you know?
01:00:23
Speaker
And ah i think when you have... assets like moose who is not like a super big money player he's on like a decently big number but he's not like one of your highest paid players and then osaze who's the defiance kid who you brought up internally and you got those guys scoring goals for not a lot of money it's it's not about like uh it's about resource allocation right it's not smart to like spend your budgeted resources that you have on an area of the field where you already have production. Right.
01:01:00
Speaker
So like, I think at least from that standpoint, it's definitely like in my mind that it's that when you, when you have a player like Osadze emerging, it should at least be in your mind that maybe, maybe we don't need to spend those resources there. Like, is that, is that wrong?
01:01:18
Speaker
I don't think it's wrong in a general sense. Like I can totally see where your argument's coming from. And also I have to say like a player like Noah Ohio is going to give you a standard of quality, a lot closer to something that Jordan Morris can bring than what Osase brings right now. Like Osase, but you don't know that.
01:01:37
Speaker
Sure, but I think like what who he is now and what he is and his technical abilities and the things that differentiate him from a player like Osaze, who Osaze is really good at getting into dangerous areas. Jeremiah has alluded to this a lot, and I really like his take on it, so I'm just going kind of parrot it, which is he's not technically gifted.
01:01:55
Speaker
He's trips over himself sometimes. And, you know, he, he's not the best ah on the ball, but he really knows how to press back the defense and get into dangerous positions. And people, if they can find him with the ball, he can put a shot on goal.
01:02:12
Speaker
And that's, that's kind of that holdup play and that attacking play that, that does work with the sounders in the current system that they're going for. But I think, the idea at least for signing a nine ah that Craig Weibel and company have is that you want someone more dynamic for when inevitably this team has to change identities again, because that's just the truth is like, you have to be able to be flexible in that position. And you currently have,
01:02:40
Speaker
Two backups who are very similar in the in this their style of play. I think Moose is more dynamic than Osaze, but it's just kind of like three really big trees in the center of the field and you have really good dynamic wing play. But what if that changes and you need more of a ah creative nine?
01:02:59
Speaker
And I think that was just the idea with having ah different type of nine, a different type of piece to be able to slot in there and ah and a type of player who can maybe play on the wing if needed, or can, can move around and be a little bit more dynamic because you're not putting no size anywhere, but the nine and you're sure not putting moose anywhere, but the nine. So that's kind of, I think where their idea is there. And so I tend to agree with that idea just simply because and then not that I don't like Osaze and not that I don't like Moose and what they've been able to do, but like, you know, there has to be some sort of plan at some point for something, at least a different look. And Moose is on a contract here this year, I believe.
01:03:44
Speaker
um Is that correct? or or Or I'm not sure we'll have to double Okay, regardless, let's say he's he he's in within one or two years of his contract. like And he's probably earned like like a bigger deal. Another team is going to be willing to pay him a lot more money to correct do what he's doing for Seattle this year. But yeah, I mean, I'm definitely... yeah but that's I think that is truly the idea is that... like The writing's on the wall there, and if you can get in a nine that's a lot more dynamic than him, you still have Jordan Morris who can perform in that kind of hold-up play, burst of speed, but also like this kind of just tree-trunk nine vibe. That's my new... that's my me I'm going to trademark that. Tree-trunk nine? Yeah. And then you still have Osaze there as a kind of third option or or similar to Moose option. This episode of Lobbing Scorchers is sponsored by Full Pull Wines, a Seattle-based cellar.
01:04:42
Speaker
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01:05:52
Speaker
Yeah, and you know you are going to have to think about like the life in the era beyond Jordan Morris yeah eventually. i don't even know if he's going to make it back ever again. like i genuine Not as some facetious thing, but it's just like... I mean, it's a shoulder. He busted his shoulder. Yeah, but it's just like, dude, keeps getting hurt. I feel bad for him.
01:06:12
Speaker
Yeah, I tend to hang it up, Jordan. Don't hang it up. I tend I tend like when I look at the year he's had this year, I think it's pretty just disgustingly unlucky. So like like like the the shoulder thing, like what are you supposed to do? and Do anything about that? Yeah, like if it if it's a one of the hamstring muscle injuries, I still think that's probably attributable to bad luck. But you get people are like, oh, hamstring FC, like you can't blah, blah, blah.
01:06:36
Speaker
The shoulder thing, like, it's a freak play where he, like, collides with the goalkeeper and flips over. yeah So, like, I don't think necessarily the year he's had this year is indicative of, like, he's going keep getting hurt continuously, you know, knock on wood.
01:06:49
Speaker
But, like, you are going to have to, like, he's... ah he's you know on the He's past 30, so you are going to have to think about that eventually. But I guess what I wouldn't want them to do is, like we were talking about, like panic sign the U22-9 in this window with that like idea, if it's not the guy that they like really believe in and think that can actually take up that mantle.
01:07:12
Speaker
And I think like planning... Here's the thing about planning on succeeding Jordan Morris with the U22-9. Look at what happened with Dejan Jovalic. they They hit on that. He looked like a centerpiece type of player.
01:07:27
Speaker
ah And then they couldn't afford him. Well, yeah, but that's different because the LA Galaxy are the worst managed roster in the entire league. but all right. So maybe their g their GM should be fired. That's my take. But don't you think there's like a ah ah reality where if if they sign if they sign a U22 number nine and that's how they do it,
01:07:47
Speaker
yeah like Even if that player hits, which is like, you know that's a dice roll in itself. But if that player does hit and they're banging in goals for the for the Seattle Sounders and they look like this like really big hit of a they're probably going to have to...
01:08:04
Speaker
sell that guy. Maybe, but you're, you're still getting a bag and they're still banging in goals and you're still producing and you're going to be able to sign a DP number nine, maybe at that point with the profit that you've been able to generate from your new 22 number nine.
01:08:16
Speaker
I really do think that especially the price point that they were at a player like Noah, Ohio, I think that was a great move. I don't think that they're, if, if they were really truly like, we have to sign someone right now, the world is ending.
01:08:30
Speaker
They would make a signing. I don't think they're going to make a signing there. And if they do, I don't and know if I'm going to be happy with that. Like, I think that that I was all for the no Ohio signing. I thought that that type of, I was too. Like, I don't want people to get it. i don't people, i don't want people to get it twisted.
01:08:47
Speaker
i'm I'm more like talking about how I think of it now that it didn't. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And so that brings to me, that brings to me my second part of the agenda, which is that what if they actually use it on like a, like a centerman, you know?
01:09:00
Speaker
like an area of ah the field that we've talked about a lot this year of, they have two of the top five players, like at their like position at that area of the field, starting weekend week out right now. And it's, and they're not number three.
01:09:15
Speaker
It's yeah. it It's like, uh, it's a phenomenal starting duo but like behind that we've seen kind of what's happened like they have no one to really that they there there's clearly no one that schmetz feels like fully confident in soaking up uh a lot of minutes behind those guys to be able to rest them and rotate them out and the result has been they've been playing i think too many minutes this year like they're they're they we' We've seen them gassing at certain points.
01:09:47
Speaker
Christian, I think in particular, it's like he's playing just so many minutes. It would just be nice to have ah high level player at that spot that can that can spell these guys more. And I think it's but we'll see what happens with Obed, but I'm still anticipating that he's going to get...
01:10:02
Speaker
sold to a a European team. And then at that point, like you, you're going to need to address that area of the field. Anyway, we like what we've seen from Snyder B, but then that's still just one guy, right? So you need depth at that area of the field.
01:10:15
Speaker
And ah also like, I think it could be a fun opportunity to sign that like kind of classic number six that we've been, ah that we've been talking about the JP replacement effectively.
01:10:27
Speaker
Like, what if what if they scouted Which he's still on the club, by the way. Like, he will be back this season. To what effect? I don't know, because he wasn't looking great before the injury. I mean, it's also, like, no matter how he looks when he comes back, it's he's 33, 34. Yeah, exactly that's exactly right. I'm talking, like, future building blocks.
01:10:46
Speaker
yeah So it's going to be a roster need. for For sure. And like I just think that like a pure number six, kind of like the destroyer enforcer type, if you could maybe it's a little harder to find that at ah in a u twenty two profile. I feel like there hasn't been as many of those that have that MLS teams have used that mechanism to sign.
01:11:09
Speaker
But if they found a sick player like that, I almost feel like... that's ah a more prudent use of this resource than signing a nine who I think you laid out correctly, all the reasons why like a no Ohio type signing would have, ah would have made sense.
01:11:27
Speaker
But I just think this is another area of the field that you're going to need to address. And ah kind of fundamentally, I feel like they're showing this year that they can get by at that, at that spot in ways that's not necessarily breaking the bank on it. And I get that maybe it feels like more exciting or maybe you're capping your true upside by not having like a a type of player like that in that, in that striker spot.
01:11:56
Speaker
But I mean, we'll, we'll see if they can sustain it, but I look at it right now and I'm like, this team is scoring goals like, like nothing. You know what they don't have is anyone to spell Christian or Obed that, uh, that anyone feels like super confident about. So i don't know, just an idea food for thought, but i think both are true.
01:12:16
Speaker
i think I think that's the beauty of it is that both things are are correct. like I think that you are very correct in saying that there's a need for depth there, especially if Obed does move on, which like there is a possibility that he stays here one more year if the right deal doesn't come in. And he does. I mean, this is not my take on it. This is Nico's take on it, is that if the right deal doesn't come, I don't think he's in a rush to get out and not be in MLS and not be on the Sounders. Like, he...
01:12:44
Speaker
has his starting role. He knows what he's going to do. He knows he can continue to elevate and ball out like here. It's just, he'll wait, he'll wait for the right deal. And I think the Sounders will as well, because they, they do care about his future and, and making sure that they get a good sell on percentage from him and make sure they do all this, you know, this stuff to what makes sense. Cause yeah, $10 million dollars from T grace or whatever rumors that they don't want that.
01:13:08
Speaker
They want, he wants to go to Europe and that's probably where he's going to go. And if, if, if it's not there, it's not there, but, To the point of the six, like I think that's true too. I think you should sign a nine and a six.
01:13:21
Speaker
U22 or not. I think that's just the truth. Yeah, and I mean, like ah whatever whatever spot they use the U22 on, like they're they're going to make probably signings like for the other one ah regardless. If I was going to panic sign someone, I would panic sign a six rather than a nine, but that's me.
01:13:39
Speaker
It feels like there's like less stakes on that if you miss, maybe. then ah Well, I just think it's it's it more of a
Youth Development Strategy
01:13:48
Speaker
need, right? like You don't need to panic sign a 9 right now, but you sure could use an Enforcer 6 to back up what you already have. Even if it's an interweave trade. That's the reason I kind of, if you found the right guy like a U22 there could kind of cook because it's like you have you have options there already and you don't need them to be like the superstar right away.
01:14:14
Speaker
But you can kind of bring them up and hopefully develop them, right? And they obviously, Craig Wives has said like you know he wants them to be able to contribute right away. So you would need them to be able to do yeah you don't want that.
01:14:26
Speaker
but like It's like you don't need them to like carry the load necessarily right off rib which I think, I think people misinterpret what he's saying there. Like maybe he is, I guess we should, we should ask him.
01:14:37
Speaker
We should get him on the pod. Craig, I know you said you would come on. We'll get you on. um But I think it's less of a we, we want to, put I think they just don't want to play with us to like play for the defiance or has to like really kind of slowly work his way into the team. They want to be able to bring him in and as a sub or bring him in as a secondary option.
01:14:59
Speaker
and not necessarily, but it's not saying that they have to be a player who's going to start and play game in game out. I don't think that's, at least that's not what I got, but maybe I'm wrong. Shit. Uh, all right, let's, uh, let's keep it pushing. We got three more things to, uh, to hit here.
01:15:15
Speaker
ah I mean, this next one should be pretty short. It's just called the let Snyder Brunel cook agenda. Uh, I just, I like what I love, what I've seen from him so far. I mean, obviously the goal, like the goal was one of the best moments of the season so far. That's like, I live for, for stuff like that, man. The, uh, the 18 year old MLS debutant, uh,
01:15:36
Speaker
scoring like right after subbing on celebrating with the other defiance guys, the rest of the team and the whole bench are going crazy. It's like the, the, uh, he gives a speech in the locker room after the game that rocked. That was, uh, that was the best part of that for, uh, was the Snyder beagle.
01:15:54
Speaker
But I mean, don't you think like, uh, he ah to To me, he's looked better than I expected just in terms of how he's like playing within the system and like ah how kind of natural he looks playing with the first team already. like I would have said that outside of the out ah outside of the goal.
01:16:12
Speaker
It's not a situation where he looked like Like, you know, it's it's different because Snyder's quite a bit older, but like Kevin Sullivan has been playing for the Union first team and it has not looked like that. Like he hasn't looked comfortable or like he's ah kind of ready to play with the first team yet. And that's normal. Like a lot of young players.
01:16:33
Speaker
who are just breaking all the Obed Vargas. Yeah, exactly. It takes them. It takes them a while to be able to adapt to the level, adapt to the speed of the game, adapt to playing actual games with the first team, as opposed to training with them.
01:16:46
Speaker
And I just feel like Snyder has looked like he's just slotted right in there. It looks like I like if he had to start an MLS game tomorrow, I would not be like,
01:16:58
Speaker
tripping that hard about that. I mean, I would be like, you know, that's kind of a maybe a question mark because he hasn't done it yet, but I would feel pretty confident that he could do it based on what I've seen so far. So all this, this is all to say that like, I hope he actually gets run, you know, like it's hard to come by on this team. But as we just talked about this area of the field, there is a role there for someone to spell these guys in the, in the double pivot.
01:17:24
Speaker
I would love to see him take it. And ah it's almost like, ah you know, just you're, you're, you're linked to all these transfer rumors with one of them, just bring the next one right up. And he's already looking good. and what What do you, what do you, what have you thought of Snyder so far?
01:17:39
Speaker
No, I think he's looked great. I loved, I mean, he's a secondary assist on the, uh, the goal that will be winning the Puskas. Uh, he came into that game. Exactly. That's a good example of like, uh, how he already, like he helped cause that sequence and he had to like dodge a guy to do it. And like, he looked natural doing it and they got like the best goal in club history, uh, out of that sequence. So.
01:18:05
Speaker
Yeah, that, you know, he scores in the final minutes. And sure, you can say, like, we always like to caveat the game state of both of those games were so far gone that like, okay, maybe, maybe not.
01:18:16
Speaker
But did that that's fine. Him playing and in those moments and actually still performing and building up his own confidence is like the best possible thing for a player, right? Like that's legitimately the dream scenario for a coach and a player to be able to put you in a situation to succeed with first team minutes.
01:18:33
Speaker
And he's done that. And I think he's looked really good. And i and I've loved it. And and i am I am very pro. We're pro Snyder pod. We've been a pro Snyder pod. And it's really cool to see another homegrown, you know, academy kid get run at that DM position, which Sanders are goalkeeper and DM university out here, man. Like, shit.
01:18:57
Speaker
Yeah. And, you know, not to reopen this can of worms, but like, that's another thing that I think you got to credit. And it's not just Craig Wives. Like there's a lot of. Shout out Henry Broder. Yeah, exactly. There's so many, there's so much staff and stuff that goes into ah youth development and the academy.
01:19:14
Speaker
and Tacoma Defiance and all that. But ah seeing Snyder B come up, it's like the, I think just the the Academy and the youth development's in a really good place right now. And ah this is just the latest example. And it also gives you, you know, what if the what if a banger offer does come in for
Player Performance Critiques
01:19:31
Speaker
Obed?
01:19:31
Speaker
If they take that and that ah ah that elevates Snyder into a more prominent role, that, uh, that you can't like cover for it any better than that, theoretically, like than a, than a homegrown player.
01:19:47
Speaker
So, uh, next man are xmen up mentality All right. You had the, uh, the last two topics for us here. So why don't you, uh, why don't you bring us in?
01:19:58
Speaker
Well, I think we can also be quick on this one, but, uh, this is a pervade. This is honestly, I was trying to ag on people to ask you this, uh, in the post game call-in show, which is, Ari looks like the Sounders are fine without Albert Rosnack plan.
01:20:13
Speaker
It's not. It seems like the Seattle Sounders might be just fine with Jesus for air at the 10 and hour snack. Maybe he was a bad DP signing. I don't know, Ari. I, I don't know.
01:20:24
Speaker
I'm being a gator right now for those who know. Well, what I think is funny about this agenda is that everyone who is a purveyor of this should realize something, which is what you're really doing with this agenda.
01:20:41
Speaker
And let's be clear about what you're doing. You're complimenting Jesus Ferreira. That's what you're doing. You're looking and you're like, wow, the offense is still functioning at such a high level. And they scored four goals without the starting number 10 in there.
01:20:56
Speaker
How is that happening? And then, and then the leap they make is, is cause, oh, the current, the the starting number 10 must be terrible. Even though the, the team scored 22 goals in seven games with him starting and playing every minute, almost.
01:21:11
Speaker
before that. And he also has 20 plus goal contributions this season. ah But those don't count after he had 30 plus goal contributions last season. But all none of those count either because they came against bad teams or teams that were down a man in like two cases.
01:21:27
Speaker
ah So like that means that he my my prior that he's bad has been validated. No, like what you're what you're doing is saying like, man, the guy who was playing the number 10 was running the offense really damn well, who is also a guy that this these same people hold up as an example of why Craig Wives is incompetent.
01:21:48
Speaker
So really, you're also backhandedly complimenting Craig Wives as well. it's ah the that has cat no I don't even know how Risenak got in involved in that. like that's that's like ah That's a pro-Jesus Ferreira agenda is what that is.
01:22:03
Speaker
So i I agree with it in that respect. I have nothing else to say. That was your greatest cook in a long time, honestly. Garth, you're cooking. Chris.
01:22:13
Speaker
Chris. Chris. Garth, you're cooking. All right. Yeah, I think that's ah that's all we need to say on ah on that one. How could you look at how Rusnak played in League's Cup? and think anything other than, wow, that guy was on freaking fire. At this point, listen, at this point, the purveyors of the agenda, they're just doing it as a bit. They have to because he's literally one of the best number 10s in the league. So it's like, it's do we should we even... I feel like from now on, like we just don't even have to acknowledge it.
01:22:39
Speaker
Yeah. We still will because it's content. still will because it's content.
01:22:45
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. I have more could on this. Hit it. Say it. Well, it's just like, i think I've said this before, but there has to there has to become a point where sheet production like can't be called fake.
01:23:00
Speaker
Like, you can't... if the If the product, I judge a ah ah number 10 or any attacking player like that on like, are they getting goal contributions first and foremost?
01:23:11
Speaker
If they are doing that at a level that justifies their their status on the team and what they're paid, then that's... Anything past that, like it like it has to be something galaxy brains that I don't understand because i think, I think what it is, what they pivoted to is like, he's, he's lazy and he doesn't play defense.
01:23:34
Speaker
ah But like, that feels like a cop-out. to me because the the stats have become that have been undeniable for a while now but like i guess if you're just if you're going to dismiss the stats uh the goal contributions as fake then you got to just explain like why it is and what you mean by that because it just it literally doesn't stand up to statistical like like what literally is happening statistically you see what i'm saying like Well, they want him to be playing the six now because he's playing the 10 too good. They're like, no no no no no no no, no, no, no. He's not defending. He's lazy.
01:24:06
Speaker
so he needs to, yeah, he's not playing the six. insane in League's Cup. He had three goals that got ah disallowed on like very borderline offside calls. And those count as opposed to the ones who do that don't count. Those count.
01:24:18
Speaker
two ah Two of which were like, remember the one in the, was it the Santos game? It was just an absolute banger off the Rothrock assist. It pains me that that didn't count because that was such a sick goal.
01:24:30
Speaker
And then, dude, the also the one in the in the last game, the Cholos game, where Ryan Kent hit him on the, Osaze was like slightly offside, but it hit Ryan Kent, and then Ryan Kent hit him with the no-looker, and it was just such a good far post finish. Osaze was a tiny bit offside, but man, he was cooking.
01:24:48
Speaker
God, I'm so sad Ryan Kent is now perma out because he was, dude, he was starting to look so good again. yeah I know. I know. It's very. Ryan, this is your, for please get well. We love you. Genuinely, you have been a joy on this team. I would be happy to have him back.
01:25:05
Speaker
Yeah, i would have genuinely. And we would love to have you on the pod
Seattle Sounders' Current Form & Competitions
01:25:09
Speaker
as well. Like you are, you have been my number one this season that I wanted to get on. That would be a good one. We might be able to make that. I heard he might have a little more free time.
01:25:19
Speaker
ah All right, Noah, last last topic of the night, and then we can start to wrap it up here. Beautiful. What ah what do you got? Bring us home. The last and the final topic and truly the biggest question of the evening, the Seattle Sounders.
01:25:36
Speaker
Are they the strongest team in the Western Conference right now? They have been surging eight games unbeaten, eight games with 27 goals.
01:25:48
Speaker
ah I mean, it's pretty undeniable at this point that they can score, they can win, and they can do that just I guess any with any anyone, anyone, any lineup, any team that comes against them.
01:26:00
Speaker
And since the Club World Cup, they have been unstoppable. This is the type of run that we saw last year with it. Just the most scorching down the stretch run you could ever ask for from an MLS team. It's happening again. The Seattle Sounders are cooking.
01:26:17
Speaker
Are they the strongest team in the West right now? So I think to answer that, we we should look at their at their competition. Who are the other, who are the candidates? And then we can talk about how they ah how they stack up a little bit. Because i think we've we've seen the form that they're in right now, and ah and especially with how they played in League's Cup. They're certainly in the conversation.
01:26:39
Speaker
They're also, you know, they're fourth on the table, though. So there's three teams above them. So let's talk about those three teams first. Like, San Diego's in first in the West. right now they're on 49 points they won 15 games they have a plus 18 goal differential which is best in the west uh i i would take seattle's form right now over san diego san diego flopped in the league's cup really bad which to me i don't think that like demonstrates that they're fraudulent or not as good as we thought they were i think that is like uh you know when you're a brand new team
01:27:14
Speaker
like Tournament play is just a different ballgame, man, especially a tournament like this where you're playing Liga and Mequis teams, which you've never done as a club before. like the The Sounders have they've been grinding these tournaments for years.
01:27:29
Speaker
Brian Schmetzer is the best coach against Liga Mickey's team. that's thats He's the only MLS coach that's ever been able to figure it out. Yeah. And like it's that's an advantage that Seattle has going into the playoffs every year. That's why they seemingly go deep into the playoffs every year. They've won cup a couple of times.
01:27:46
Speaker
They've fared well in the CONCACAF Champions League. Famously won it. Yeah. Yeah. So like San Diego, they just don't have that. What's it called? Foundation to like go off of in like their first time ever going into a tournament like that.
01:28:01
Speaker
So I don't really think their, their league's cup flop didn't really diminish their stock in my eyes, but even in league play lately, i would say San Diego has looked more vulnerable lately than they had earlier in the season when they looked like one of, if not the best teams in the league. So I'm still really high on them, but as far as like,
01:28:21
Speaker
current form and who I trust more to actually like come through in a tournament setting, like say in the playoffs, ah I would take Seattle over them right now from that standpoint.
01:28:33
Speaker
But I think you do. I mean, you got to acknowledge, man, like they don't have 49 points and 1.88 points per game, 15 wins for no reason. Like they are one of the best teams in the league.
01:28:45
Speaker
I mean, I don't, what do you think about San Diego? Yeah. I think they're great. I don't think that they're a St. Louis fraudulent team. I think that they are genuinely... Any notion of that is over. They're not that. Yeah, no They are a very talented club. We saw what they could do the Seattle Sounders.
01:28:59
Speaker
And they're fun. They play fun soccer, too. I mean, they beat you hard. And that's undeniable. So I think that if they're... I mean, we'll go through the rest of the list, but I do think that that is their true toughest competition.
01:29:15
Speaker
But I don't think that they're in the form right now that the Sounders are in by any means. No, and i don't think I don't think anyone that we're going to talk about here is. So that's one thing that Seattle has in their favor in this debate is best current form is going to go to that.
01:29:30
Speaker
they are They're in the best current form of anyone in either conference in the league. So like that's ah that is a point in their favor. ah Vancouver's in second, and that's one where I'm like, they have fallen off a lot.
01:29:41
Speaker
they looked like the absolute They looked like one of the best MLS teams ever, honestly, all through the CONCACAF Champions Cup final. But honestly, ever since then, they have come down to earth quite a lot. They sold pied Pedro Vitae to Pumas, I believe, who that's one of their best players. They did bring in Thomas Mueller, Tommy Mule, which I think that is, ah that's ah if nothing else, like a fun move for them and their fans.
01:30:07
Speaker
How many more goals is he going to score than Brian White, though? I don't people might laugh at that question. i think the difference in the amount of goals they're going to score over the time that they're both on the team is probably not going to be as different as, ah as people might think, but either way, it's a good addition. Like they got a good, they got a good attacker.
01:30:27
Speaker
I don't think that that's a good move at all. I've I'm very down on the Mueller move. Really? yeah I think, I think it was for the bag that they gave him seems a little bit silly, man. They spent so much money. They couldn't even afford a billboard. Did you see that?
01:30:40
Speaker
They're literally plastering like a eight by 10 printer printout things all over the city. Cause they couldn't afford ah welcome Thomas Mueller billboard. So they're broke and they're trying to sell their team. They're broke. Who is this? The Seattle Sounders?
01:30:54
Speaker
Yeah, I don't know. But ah no, I think, dude, like bri I'm sorry, Brian. I don't understand. I don't get it. I don't get it. It's All right, here's what I actually i wrote about this. and it's it's It's MLS 2.0 shit.
01:31:08
Speaker
It's MLS 2.0 shit. That's what I'm on about. I wrote about this in my Sounder Heart newsletter, actually. But I think part of what's going on there is, you know, they're dealing with like like stadium stuff.
01:31:19
Speaker
And stuff where, like, I don't think their future in the city is, like, under, like, a ton of flux. But that has been something that's been talked about is, like, if they can't get a stadium deal done, like, what is their future in the city?
01:31:33
Speaker
And then the way that they were playing earlier this year, i think, helped a lot as far as, like, getting them in the in the good graces of the of the city and the fan base and stuff. But they haven't been playing as well over the last, like, month or so.
01:31:48
Speaker
uh yeah so i think i don't know i'm just speculating here i have no like base of knowledge for this but maybe they feel maybe they feel like ah get like name chasing like getting like a big global star that we know people will come out and watch and who also by all accounts is going to be like uh like an upstanding member of the club and leader and all that i could see how they could get themselves to a place where that seems like a good idea ah will it have the on on field dividends of what I think son could have for LAFC?
Minnesota United Strategy & Playoff Viability
01:32:20
Speaker
i kind of doubt it but, either like Thomas Mueller or no Thomas Mueller. They are a good team, but they don't, they haven't had Ryan Gould all year.
01:32:32
Speaker
And Pedro Vitae, you and i love Pedro Vitae. So I think that is like a significant loss for them. I don't know if we've like fully seen how they're going to like ah adjust to that or if you even can replace a player. He's a pretty unique player, right? So ah anyway, they're, they're on definitely the shakiest ground. I think of any of these top teams in the West.
01:32:53
Speaker
Yeah, and i mean, there are therere they're not... they I don't know. I don't think they have an easy path forward. And they're also still playing in that Canadian championship.
01:33:04
Speaker
ah I don't know. That's probably the trophy they'll win this year, which, like, hell yeah, man. That's tight, I guess, or whatever. Like, go beat Forge or whoever play. It's one of three teams. Like, all one of the MLS teams wins that every year. year yeah wasn't it no disrespect all the other like a couple years ago though which was kind of tight don't know they did one of the cpl teams win it i don't think they didn't win it but they got to the final or something kind of like sack sack pub did and yeah sack pub famously yeah yeah uh and then you you got the only other team ahead of seattle right now is minnesota united would we'll find out about that yeah they get to play each other yeah they play each other on the weekend and
01:33:42
Speaker
which I'm going to preview that more on Thursday on ah on Under the Lights. but So for more specifics on that matchup, definitely tune into that. but So we'll find out how these teams stack up. i I've had such a hard kind of ah time, like, gauging how I feel about the Loons this year. I don't know about you, but, like, earlier in the season, going into the last time Seattle played them, which Minnesota United is the only team to win at Lumen Field this year, like MLS team.
01:34:10
Speaker
Yeah, when it lumen field this year is the one L Seattle has taken at home was that three to match against Minnesota United, which fair play to them like they they played.
01:34:21
Speaker
They executed their game plan and played about as well as you will ever see a team coming into lumen and I think their style and their tactics lends itself well to road games, which is why part they're only six four and three at home this year. Yeah, which is where this is it's at only on this next game against Seattle.
01:34:38
Speaker
But they're 6-2-5 on the road because I think they're like anti-possession tactics and set-piece dominance that lends itself well to road games. We saw that in the Seattle game. I still, like going into that last game, I was still in this place of like, man, I know that it's working right now.
01:34:54
Speaker
i know that it's working right now i know that eric ramsey looks like a freaking genius and is probably gonna he's he's gonna be their big hill wing coach of the year probably honestly probably he's gonna be their big uh overseas transfer i think true well they are fielding bids for uh tawny right now though did you know that I did.
01:35:13
Speaker
Yeah. He's there. Tommy scoops. You're getting, uh, yeah, I think Tommy scoops has been on it, but like Tony has been on the radar of, uh, while Liga teams, I believe he's getting all, he's having a fantastic year for them. He has like 10, 10 goals, eight assists, uh, and he's just an awesome player. So that doesn't surprise me, but, uh, eventually they're probably going to move him on.
01:35:34
Speaker
Uh, But either way, I was a skeptic. I was a Minnesota United skeptic. I was like, if gimmicky is the term I've been using. It feels gimmicky. The whole, like, we're going to yield possession at, like, not just a large rate, but a historic rate.
01:35:48
Speaker
we're gonna We literally have the ball for, like, 30% of these games week in, week out. And we just will absorb. that We believe so much in our just, like...
01:36:00
Speaker
ability to stay solid and absorb whatever pressure that you can throw at us and we're so good on the counter right and ah we're historically good on set pieces this is literally statistically in terms of the efficiency with which they turn their set pieces into goals they do that at a higher rate than pretty much there was a while i don't know in the world yeah yeah there was a bit i don't know if it's still true but as recently as a couple months ago they were like number one globally in terms of how many set pieces they score, which is you watch one of their games and it literally, it's kind of crazy to watch. Like they get like one to two rolls of game off this stuff.
01:36:36
Speaker
yeah And like, it's without fail. I bet you they're going to bam on Seattle off a set piece on Saturday. Like I literally, that's just what they do. Eric Ramsey. I don't know what formula he figured out with that stuff, but like it works, but like how sustainable is that?
01:36:52
Speaker
Can you really like not in the top four team in the West? Like, that's my question, man. That's my question. Like, did they even, yeah, they didn't get it particularly close to making it out of leagues cup phase one. Did they, they so tied with club America. They lost to their first, whatever their first match was they lost. And then they won their final. They did win one, but like, that's one example already of it not working in a tournament setting.
01:37:18
Speaker
So I still am skeptical that like they can win. Yeah, they lost to Atletico San Luis. Who the Timbys beat like four to one, right? Yeah. yeah so So like, we'll see. I'm fully like open to the possibility that Eric Ramsey is just the guru.
01:37:32
Speaker
when i last cup like this Until I see them do it, I can't just stop myself from being like, I don't believe in this. it' like There's got to be a reason most teams don't do this to this extreme.
01:37:44
Speaker
But like, you also can't argue with the results they've gotten this year. Like, and, and like, uh, they have 43 goals. That's the same amount of goals Seattle has scored. Like they are a if a better goal differential too. Yeah.
01:37:55
Speaker
Yeah. By a lot by, uh, by five goals. Yeah. So like they've been playing at a higher points per game in Seattle all year. They beat Seattle at Lumen field and they are third in the West right now. Seattle is fourth.
01:38:10
Speaker
So like, uh, Clearly there is something to how they're doing it, but we'll see. I guess my thing with them is just, we'll see in the playoffs. We'll see. They might even win this game against Seattle on Saturday. They're a good home team, although they did just lose to the Rapids at home, but I don't, I don't know if you can win a trophy like that.
Match Preview & Podcast Wrap-up
01:38:30
Speaker
I don't think that they're better than the Sounders right now. That's for sure. To to round that whole section out, i i still take the surging sounders I still take the surging Sounders over Minnesota United, especially in a playoff context.
01:38:45
Speaker
And we will see this weekend. And I feel like that's a really good place to leave. Yeah, exactly. Like, I think that this match is going to feel like a playoff match in some ways because of where this is the two of the best teams in the West dogging it out for playoff positioning. It should be on Sunday Night Soccer. So whoever on Apple TV yo dropped the ball.
01:39:03
Speaker
Yeah, the Seattle Sounders have been getting shine from national pundits, but not that much shine. Yeah, no, no. They actually, and they actually just were on Sunday night. so That's true. But that was like a terrible matchup. So yeah, sometimes like the, yeah, the Sunday night soccer and then priority games. I'm like, why did you guys pick Atlanta United versus Austin FC?
01:39:21
Speaker
why why is that it's because they should let us they should let us run the run the apple tv network i i'm telling you we would get we would up the viewership by at least a hundred thousand uh all right let's uh let's wrap it right there no we went hour 30 plus so i think that's uh plenty of content for this uh episode of lobbing scorchers i thought the new uh format tinkering kind of cooked i liked that i loved it let's uh let's keep rolling with that but uh if you guys got any like suggestions or takes uh feel free to hit us with them we may or may not read or listen to them yeah but uh well you know it gives us the opportunity to do new bits and segments yeah and and again like keeps it more broad and not as like locked in on one game where uh the shelf life isn't always there so exactly uh
01:40:09
Speaker
Good stuff. Good first run of it. Hopefully you guys enjoyed it. ah I'll be back at it on on Thursday with Under the Lights. ah Going to try to book a guest for that. So tune in. Maybe I'll even pop in. Who knows? Maybe. Maybe. You have been known to do that from time to time.
01:40:25
Speaker
7.30 p.m. on the Lobbing Scorchers YouTube. If you haven't done so and you're watching this on YouTube, like this video and like all our videos and sub to our channel if you haven't. ah Like, comment, subscribe, rate five stars, write us some reviews.
01:40:41
Speaker
Share with Sonny. Share with Sonny, new character. Don't share with Muller, though. Don't share with Muller because Noah's was spouting some anti-muller. And, yeah, that's it for us on this one.
01:40:54
Speaker
We'll catch you next time. Until then, we out. Peace.