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Lobbing Scorchers: Seattle Sounders Soccer is about to be Electric
362 Plays3 days ago
The Seattle Sounders’ preseason is officially a wrap after a pair of scrimmages against Louisville City FC. With just one week left until the real games start, we hit one last preseason game review and dive into our broader takeaways from an impressive training camp that saw the Sounders score 19 goals.
Elsewhere in MLS, we have an exciting blockbuster trade as the Lucho Acosta-Evander saga has officially been resolved, giving FC Dallas a new superstar and leaving the Portland Timbers in a tough spot.
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Lobbing Scorchers is a production of Just Once Media.
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
Introduction & Studio Renovation
00:00:00
Speaker
Well, sir, we got a scorcher today. Gonna be a real scorcher today. Why the scorcher today? Well, it's gonna be a scorcher.
00:00:21
Speaker
What's going on, everybody? Welcome to episode 83 of Lobbing Scorchers. This is Ari Lillianwall. I got producer Noah here with me. Noah, we just spent about an hour and a half renovating the Lobbing Scorchers studio. yeah We've got it all set up and we are T-minus one week away from being done with the offseason, being done with preseason and having actual games to cover. How are you feeling?
00:00:48
Speaker
I mean, I've been begging, I've been begging for games and we took our own pre-season, which was the last three hours it felt like to set up this new studio look. We've got a new studio look. We've got a new live stream look. 2025 is going to be not only a big year for the Sounders, but a big year for the boys here at Lovings Gorgers.
00:01:08
Speaker
Yeah.
New Season Excitement & Preseason Performance
00:01:09
Speaker
I got clowned on a little bit. I got clowned on, uh, deservedly for, uh, what was the word? Polish lack of polish with my live streaming set up. And you know, we don't stand for lack of polish here. We decided to solve that right off the bat. Shout out to the commenter who point it was fair points. It was fair points. We have, uh, taking steps to amend that. We have a new setup, new studio setup. We got some new lighting that we're going to toy around with. it's ah We're on the up Noah. We're on the up. The season's actually starting in a week. I'm feeling pretty good and we've got a big show tonight ah starting this at 10 30 PM on a Wednesday. The dedication of the craft. We have got a a game review to get to the Seattle Sounders actually played two, if I'm not mistaken, two separate matches against U.S. outside Louisville a City FC Louisville City FC. ah They won four zero in the first game and three zero in the second game. A lot more goals. We're going to break all that down. We are going to grade the Seattle Sounders preseason
00:02:14
Speaker
We had an episode a few weeks ago where we graded their off season moves. Craig wives, we're going to grade their preseason after this and slate of exhibition games has now wrapped up. um And we've also got some major MLS news to hit later in the show. The Lucho Acosta Evander saga has officially been resolved and the Portland Timbies lost their best player.
00:02:38
Speaker
That's pretty funny. Lucio Acosta, a league MVP has a new team. It's a seismic move. It's been a pretty dramatic and eventful off season for a lot of these clubs who are getting infused with their star players. And now we have, like I said, um a league MVP player pretty much still in his prime. I would say as far as his ability to produce in this league.
00:03:01
Speaker
ah He's going to FC Dallas and the Portland Timbies have any Vander sized hole to fill as he is off to FC Cincinnati. We're going to talk about all that and more. But first, I do have to let you all know that lobbing scoreters 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 sounder at heart.com slash LS that sounder at heart.com slash LS.
00:03:26
Speaker
scroll down to subscribe and support to get 30 days completely free. Every sign up through our link, help us support and grow this show. Thank
Subscriber Acknowledgments & Merchandise Promotion
00:03:34
Speaker
you to all our sponsors. We love and appreciate you. And thank you to all our subscribers. Noah, do we have any new subscribers? Oh, are we, we have quite a few new subscribers to thank here. Are you ready for me to go down me the list? Matthew Derland, Will Munslow, Tony O'Nains, Mark Kovarik, Fred Olson, Mark Thorrington, Alex Mezzie, Brad Pizzi.
00:03:55
Speaker
Pausing Pausing ski. Sorry. but Sorry Brett Jake Smith Dylan Albrecht and Kenny Thank you all to our new subscribers If you want your name read on the pod and want to support the pod loving scorchers or sounder at heart comm slash LS we weren't born It's preseason form. Yeah, it's yeah weren't you supposed to thank your mom?
00:04:17
Speaker
Oh yeah. And to my mother, my beautiful mother, Lori Rife, thank you so much for supporting the show. My mom subscribes to thanks mom. Yeah. She was, my mom was upset that I didn't hit the, hit the thank you. So you gotta thank the mom. Uh, new sounders kid is that right now. If you want to pick one up, go to lobbing scorchers.com slash MLS store. If you, uh, order your new kit through that link, then it supports us.
00:04:45
Speaker
So it's a win-win. Uh, we did some test kit discourse, uh, on our last live stream, which was pretty fun. It seems like people really liked the kit. I liked the kit. I like, I was talking about this on the live show, but I'm not as passionate into kit door discourse as a lot of people are, but I thought it was pretty sick. And it seems like, you know, sometimes a kit drops and there's a lot of outrage and negativity. Yeah. Does not really seem to be the case since this kit leaked in a now that, and now it's dropped.
00:05:13
Speaker
Yeah, I didn't really see anyone upset about it. I mean, not a lot of people. Yeah, which is that's a good thing. You know, I'm excited to see it in person. We're recording this in advance, obviously, so we haven't seen the full thing. It comes out tomorrow, but everyone's seen the everyone's seen the list and it looks cool. So
Sounders' Preseason Analysis
00:05:29
Speaker
I'm stoked for it. And you know what? It it can't be any worse than the ah than some of the worst ones. That's my that's my take. That's a good way to put it. yeah All right.
00:05:39
Speaker
Let's get into this. It's a dub pod. It's a dub pod wait's the first dubpod of the year. Well, I mean, we've, there's been a few pre-seed, a couple of other preseason dubs, but true ah this is a double dub pod. Technically and there was two games played against Louisville today and Seattle took a four zero victory. Like I said, in the first one, a three zero victory in the second one, a bunch more goals. So we're going to, we're going to recap this real quick and then we're going to grade Seattle's preseason.
00:06:08
Speaker
4-0 victory in the first game that included the first choice lineup I think I think that was pretty much how they would line up minus Albert minus Albert exactly It was it if if it was a league game or a big game of any sort That is I think how they would line it up. They've been drilling this 3 5 2 during the preseason and But this, the 4-2-3-1 that they ran today ah with De La Vega on the left, Ferreira on the right and Morris up top. I think that's probably the first choice formation and they'll run the 3-5-2 in maybe different match ups or when there's different personnel at their disposal based on rotation and fixture congestion. and i We're gonna see that look this year. They're not drilling that for no reason. true But how they lined it up today is how I think they're going to line it up when CCC starts and the season starts.
00:07:04
Speaker
Four more goals. Pedro de la Vega, a brace, two more goals for him, bringing his total for the preseason up to a team leading four. Christian rolled on, found the net, assist to Jesus Ferreira, and Yymar. Yymar got in on the fun 39th minute rebound header. off of ah Off of a beautiful bicycle kick that Pedro de la Vega had saved by the keeper and just pawed away and immediately Yymar was up there.
00:07:32
Speaker
rising up like a salmon, smashing it in the back of the net. De La Vega looked great again. We're going to talk about that. I think that's one of the biggest takeaways, not just from this game, but through ah for all of this preseason for Seattle, a three zero victory in the second scrimmage against Louisville.
00:07:48
Speaker
ah There's a Stu Hawks goal. That's kind of cool to see. Stu Hawks got on the score sheet. There was a moose goal. Not good for your agenda. Don't think that happened. yeah It might've been AI. It might've been AI. Might've been AI, but we were told that moose scored and there was an own goal. So that's a combined seven zero on aggregate victory over Louisville. um Let's grade the Seattle Sounders preseason on the whole. No, I'm going to hit you with some numbers. Okay. And then we're going to talk about our takeaways from all this.
00:08:15
Speaker
um The Seattle Sounders wrapped the 2025 preseason with a record of four wins zero losses two draws 19 goals scored if you count the second Louisville game, which I am that counts it can't why would that not count 19 goals scored eight conceded for a cool little plus 11 goal differential um Team leaders in goals You had Pedro De La Vega leading the way with four. You had Jesus Ferreira with two and then like 15 guys with one. Jordan Morris have two though. I feel like Moose had no, no, I was, I went through this all today. He had an assist. He had an assist, but he, this was his first goal of the preseason. De La Vega led the team with four. Ferreira had two.
00:09:02
Speaker
Morris, Roosnax, Niederbrunnell, Alex Roldan, Christian Roldan, Paul Rothrock, JP, Trevion Sosa, Obed Vargas, Yymar, Stu Hawk, and Moose all had one. ah So, I mean, that's a diverse group of goal scorers to get to that 19 total, which I think is a good thing.
00:09:19
Speaker
um Assists, you had Jordan Morris, JP, Jesus Ferreira, Christian Roldan, all with two, De La Vega, Josh Atencio, Paula Areola, Moose, and Georgie with one. um So here's what I wanted to talk about as we take stock of the Seattle Sounders undefeated preseason, 19 goal preseason. I came up with a few topics that we can debate and then I guess we can assign our grades.
00:09:46
Speaker
ah But to me really I'll just I'll lay down the criteria for what I was grading on Going into the preseason and then we can talk about how Seattle measured up to that so to me I think the whole storyline this preseason and with this team right now is Have they meaningfully improved?
00:10:05
Speaker
this offense from where it was last year to where we can non-delusionally hope and expect that they will exceed last year's goal total of 51, which is not enough goals. The Jesus Ferreira and Paul Areola moves got made. Obviously, the Jesus Ferreira trade was the number one biggest move to address that concern.
00:10:28
Speaker
um And I got to say after seeing them run that three five two to the effect that they did and scored 19 goals. I mean, they had a five goal game this preseason, a four goal game, this preseason, two, three goal games, two, two goal games, all multi-goal games.
00:10:47
Speaker
these are preseason opponents but the teams that they were playing in Spain were not bad you know and Louisville City there's a pretty big gap between ah between Seattle and them but the point is like playing against this competition to rack up 19 goals. That's good. That is what you want to see. And they weren't just like bum goals either. Like today specifically Pedro's second goal was disgusting. I mean, just, just an absolute nasty strike top bins, perfect on the stride.
00:11:23
Speaker
just, I mean, it was, it was splendid. It was splendid, Ari. It was splendid. So that's a good segue into the next thing that I i was looking at as I ah took stock of and graded and assessed this preseason, which is the performance of Pedro de la Vega specifically.
00:11:40
Speaker
I think we've talked about ad nauseum, how important him taking a pronounced meaningful step forward is this year for the ceiling of this team. He still has to do it when the actual games start. But I mean, you really like, you could not have hoped to see anything more than we've seen from him yeah in preseason in search of that breakout.
00:12:02
Speaker
I mean, he has been on it. He's looked sharp. His finishing has been excellent. um The way he's combining with other players, specifically Jordan Morris and Jesus Ferreira just looks night and day. I think compared to last year, yeah he looks fit. He looks motivated. I don't want to jinx anything. Like I said, he's still got to prove it and he's got to stay on the field.
00:12:24
Speaker
So those caveats notwithstanding, I mean, he has been the best player on the team this preseason, which is great to see. Yeah, no, I've been. I listen, I have been a ah doubter, perhaps in the past, and maybe that was, you know, i think I think a lot of people have. And I know I don't think it's a unfair based on what we what we saw last year between the injuries and then how it looked when he was playing. Yeah. I mean, and he, you know, he is a certified practice God. So I think there is a caveat of let's see him do it in the real, this feel difference though but this, yeah, I was going to say this, like this game specifically, if you go back and watch it, this feels like his best game I've ever seen him play in his career.
00:13:10
Speaker
Like, and and I'm, I'm so so, I know you're playing against a USL championship team. It's a good USL championship team. one of the better ones And you know, he played in Argentina, like I'm guessing the skill gap between like a good team and a bad team in Argentina is like, okay, I'm not even going to get into that. Cause I don't know, but I think that what what that's to say is like you do see a different player and I think that ah Jeremiah asked Christian about this at training today and I was asking him you know what's different about Pedro de la Vega and all the guys are saying there's nothing different there's nothing different about the way he's playing it's just that
00:13:50
Speaker
He's healthy. He's healthy and he's confident and he's in in the space to actually perform now. So I think that not only is it him having this full preseason, like I think both of us were kind of talking that he needed, but he's in a new formation where he is a center ah center in an integral piece and he's just healthy. He's he's not injured anymore. And will he stay healthy?
00:14:17
Speaker
We'll see, but it's very promising. He looks primed for a big year, still has to go do it, but that's exciting. um the last kind of The last major thing that I was looking at is ah the integration of Jesus Ferreira and Paul Areola. I think primarily Ferreira, we're high on what Paul Areola can bring to the table, ah but Jesus Ferreira and his skill set, that is what this team was hoping would be a big addition that could ah help push them over the top in addition to Pedro De La Vega taking that step forward and early returns there all positive. um Two goals to assist this preseason and I think just mainly by the eye test it looks like he's hit the ground running as far as establishing that chemistry with De La Vega and building on the chemistry that he already has with Jordan Morris from the US national team.
00:15:12
Speaker
That seems to be a good fit so far, um based on ah the attack being as looking as dominant as it has so far in preseason. um Again, he still has to do it when the actual game starts, ah but based on what I've seen, I feel decently confident that he's set to do that. What do you think about how Ferreira's looked so far? I think he's looked great. I mean, he was coming into preseason seemingly unfit, so that was an interesting little wrinkle. and I mean, according to us soccer, who who knows, what right? I mean, I think he even admitted though that it was preseason and you know, he had been coming off of an injury and a trade and all of that. I mean, moving and all of the culmination of that is just going to lead you to maybe not being ready to jump and play 90 minutes, which is fine. Uh, but he's looked great, man. And I think that.
00:16:05
Speaker
It's interesting to watch him play in such an unselfish manner as well around this team and he seems to really be integrating well. I do think though, I think the under is going to hit. If you guys don't know what we're talking about on the soccer wise podcast, me and Ari were featured on Jeremiah and Jeremiah.
00:16:23
Speaker
not going to forget about our, our, our overlord, but, uh, we talked about this and, uh, Andrew, Andrew, we be set a line, correct? yeah And, uh, under over for goals and assists for Ferreira and we picked the under, you can go listen to all of that there, but I think the way that he's playing, it does seem like he's more of like a facilitator in a way. I don't know if you've seen the same thing.
00:16:44
Speaker
Well, I mean I haven't watched the game been I haven't been watching these games live Admittedly, but I have been ah I have been pretty consistent in saying that I think one of the most underrated parts of this move is ah You know when people think of Jesus Ferrer at FC Dallas, they think of the goal scoring Yeah, but he is a very unselfish player right assist numbers throughout his career have been good but just from watching him play he um he puts as much effort and energy into setting people up as he does scoring himself. That's part of what makes him so dynamic and so versatile and has made him such a force in the league when he's been informed is the fact that he's multifaceted like that. Like you can get his
00:17:29
Speaker
But he's very, he's very unselfish and he's very good at setting people up. I think that's just what we're seeing. yeah And I think, uh, I think I had to take at one point too, that, um, one of the things you might see with him playing on this team is that is his assist numbers go up. And I then goss said that as well on soccer wise, that he was hitting the over on that because he thought his assist numbers were going to go up. Uh, I think, yeah, 21.5.
Offensive Expectations for the Season
00:17:53
Speaker
I said I said under because it was in league play but I think in all comps I would take the over right like pretty well and you know secondary assists do count and I think that is really where he's gonna thrive like if if I remember correctly you know a lot of the goals were set up either by passes that he made or off ball movements and things like that. One of the things that really stood out to me and Marbella when they were playing out there was his ability to kind of like open up the field of play with his speed and vision and then kind of like hang back a little bit and wait for that second ball you know like
00:18:31
Speaker
Obed shoots the ball right it gets stopped or deflected and he's there to collect and then first time outside of the box ripped one and scores this banger goal right and I think that that kind of that's been missing from the Sounders right like when they attack It's been this build up, build up, build up, build up, break down the defense, build up, build up, build up, break down the defense. Cause when they give up the ball, they know they're going to just have to absorb the pressure. And what it seems like now is there's this like total flipping that on its head where
00:19:04
Speaker
The Sounders want to take as many shots and chances as possible and then press really hard on that second ball and pressure the defense when they have the ball to force turnovers and Hazers-Verz has been great about that. Jordan Morris has been amazing at that. ah Obed Vargas as well. There was one goal that was completely started by Obed Vargas just stripping a defender when they were playing in Marbella and I don't know this just like this seems like a different team man and I think I really do think that integrating Jesus Ferreira and you know we'll talk about Paul Ariola has completely changed the way that this team is able to play.
00:19:43
Speaker
for you.
00:19:47
Speaker
really it's fantastic and you you can tell you know this guy his dad was a ah longtime columbia national team player played for fc dallas for a long time played pro soccer for over twenty years yeah he just stopped playing like five or six years ago. He was playing like down in Columbia. He was playing, I think wait after Hey, Sue's had gone. no I don't, I don't know if that's actually true, but like when you grow up in the game like that, you know, and you have yeah ah a parent that's that good at this sport, like teaching you the ropes, you learn those little tricks, right? Like he, uh,
00:20:24
Speaker
he can kind of like anticipate what a defender he's in the defender's head and like knows what they're going to do before they even do it. And then that gives him like such a leg up on what he's going to do. And I don't know. I've just been watching like so many of his highlights and I'm, I'm just like struck by just the, uh, the little things that he does to like give himself an edge. You can, you can tell he like grew up in this game and has been like from birth, like taught how to play this game.
00:20:53
Speaker
Um, all this is to say if I'm giving a grade for the Seattle Sounders this preseason, I give it an a man. I give it an a minus. I'll tell you why I give it an a minus because, uh, the other criteria that an a plus or an a would have been getting through with no injuries. And Albert Rusnak has this hip thing that he apparently, uh, he tweaked and he's going to, it's like a little, this like reoccurring, he's been taking shots. I just don't like having this thought in my head of like, Oh, is this going to be like one of those things that drags on and he's like in and out of the lineup. I'll say I'm not like trying to put that on him. It's just like for me to, for me personally, for this to be an a plus pre-season, I would need to not have ah that even in my thinking.
00:21:42
Speaker
which I know it's a lot to ask to make it through an entire training camp without any like injuries, but that's why an A plus is it's a very difficult to attain grade. But as as far as ah how they've looked on the field, it's everything that I wanted to see. I think like I can't think of anything that I would want have wanted to see that I haven't. I think they've looked sharp. I think the new formation they've clearly applied themselves and taken to that right away. I think the new players ah look like they're fitting in very well, both on and off the field and de la Vega has looked freaking awesome. So what, um, what's there really to complain about other than, uh, other than this root snack injury, which is that's a, that's a bit of a nitpick when you consider that, um, like I said, it's training camp. You're probably going to have something like that. So, yeah, I mean, it's frustrating that, you know,
00:22:34
Speaker
I think it's frustrating in the larger context, right? Where you find out that this has been a pervasive issue that he's been taking, you know, some shots or whatever potentially to, to kind of help him with his recovery on this persisting hip issue and to give him this DP contract and what, you know, the discourse will keep discoursing around Albert. rosni It will never stop chronic injury, which is what it seems like it is.
Injury Concerns & Team Resilience
00:23:01
Speaker
I mean, we just have, we have to see how much, if any, like it's going to limit him. Right. But I do think it is interesting because we are down a DP. We are down the most productive DP last year from last year.
00:23:19
Speaker
And I don't really see anyone saying that the season's over. Like I think that that's such such a testament to the depth of this team. Like the Sounders don't ever come out of preseason or the first few games without an injury, without someone who's just like, that you know, that's just like,
00:23:36
Speaker
Sounders trademark right there right someone's blown out their hamstring or Achilles or whatever and I think it's it's interesting this season Maybe I don't know how you feel, but I haven't heard like anyone complaining saying oh my god the seasons over we lost albert rosenac who is our DP and Yeah. I mean, I think you're right. It is a testament to the depth of the squad. Uh, the national pundits have noticed this. Um, Doyle, he used the term like injury proof at one point. in One of his columns, uh, when referring to the Seattle roster, I don't know. if Be careful what you wish for buddy. I wouldn't want to use that term, but that is a term that got used by a national pundit. Um, Noah, uh, if you had to give a grade for this preseason, would you, uh, would it, would it be different than my grade?
00:24:23
Speaker
You know, Ari, i I'll be a little bit more ah more negative since that's my new moniker. ah I think that I would give them a B. I really do like what I've seen. I think that they are an incredibly interesting team this season. And from the very few additions that they did make, they were highly effective. And I really do think that Jesus Ferrer is the best player on this team now.
00:24:50
Speaker
and you know, call me crazy. Um, and I just think that's from, from a versatility perspective, from what he's allowed this team to change or kind of build around and open up everyone to be able to play in a position that's more friendly for them. Uh, but I, I will say like I'm interested to see.
00:25:10
Speaker
how many goals that they leak when it comes to league play because this kind of, you know, three in the back, that communication might not be set up yet. you know i was playing They're playing so aggressively, yeah which i I don't know if that is just preseason. We're like trying stuff and it'll be a little more scaled back in an actual game.
00:25:32
Speaker
um But I do think, we were we have talked about this a little bit, like I do think that ah assuming that that aggression is a part of part of the identity and tactics of that 352,
00:25:47
Speaker
I think that's going to come with like more concessions. I'd be surprised if it didn't. They would have to like perfectly strike that balance for, to maintain their defensive level and also play that much more aggressively to where I just don't know if that, that, that, that is very, the degree of difficulty on threading that is very high. It concerns me, you know, because I think like while we see that they're scoring in preseason, I have the horror, the like the PTSD in my brain of watching the last two years of sounder soccer where there were just stretches where they just couldn't buy a goal. And, you know, there's an interview with Christian today where he's like, yeah, I'm going to be needing to rely on new who to come up and defend in the midfield more.
00:26:35
Speaker
while Obed pushes forward because he's going to play more of an attacking role and I'm just like in my head I'm like alarm bells are going off thinking of new who out of position constantly and tracking back and all of it like it just it's I believe Brian is going to make it work but I just there's I don't know. I give it a B because I think that's going to be a little bit rough. And then I agree with you the Albert Rusnak injury. That's, that's, that's a rough person to, to have not. That is one of the most important players on the team already with a right hip injury. Right. Which no scenario where that's ideal. Let's be honest, Ari. The sounders are not very ah forthcoming with the reality of injuries, at least Brian Schmetzer.
00:27:21
Speaker
Yeah, no, I agree with that. I think the new who um the new who in the three five two thing I'm I understand like the concern about
Aggressive Strategies & Season Targets
00:27:31
Speaker
that. i I would hope that he play plays the position differently. I think this position in that in that setup suits his skill set a lot better than wing back. Yeah. And I just think his position like you were saying like you were saying on the stream the other night like he bombs forward too much to play that position. Theoretically, I think he won't be doing that. like Yeah, for sure. that is But, but you know, here he's playing that, if he's playing the third CB role, the same as he's playing the wingback, then like that would not be, I don't think that's what he would have been coached. Right. I just think, you know, for me, it's a little bit concerning when I hear Christian say new who is going to push forward to help me defend in the midfield as like a, you know, my backup and knowing new who and kind of his
00:28:17
Speaker
I would say his biggest downfall is kind of that tracking back or sometimes he can let a man slip in behind him. And at that point, you know, you might have two defenders. It might be three on two on a counter attack, especially if you're playing a team like, you know, LAFC or something like that, where they're going to counter attack. They're going to, they're going to hit you with that. And.
00:28:41
Speaker
I'm not saying that they're not going to be able to score against a team like that, especially with like high pressure and whatnot. It just like, I don't know. I want to see it in MLS play before I'm like completely sold on an A rating. So I'm going B, B it's better than what I would have gotten in school Ari. So, you know, they're already off to a better start than I would have suspected. Did you think that they were going to look like this coming into this? No. And that's part of why I'm giving them an A. Like, I think if you, like, uh, you could argue, I think for a lower grade two, based on the fact that they have had, uh, you know, eight concessions, there was the game where they had it to zero and they conceded twice to draw to two. They had a three, three draw, which is that's probably never the, that does not indicate a great defensive performance. Right, I'm just not as concerned with that coming off a season where they had the best defense in the league I'm all pretty much all I was focused on this preseason was the offense which has looked fantastic and it's looked meaningfully better than it did last year, which is what we needed to see and What I was hoping to see and I think we saw that so that's why that's why I'm I'm more a than B because like
00:29:58
Speaker
They need to score more than 51 this year. We're going to be, I'm going to be tracking that. The the road to 51. It's going to be the road to 52. The road to 52. Road to 52. We should get a little chalkboard. We can put a little chalkboard. I want at least, at least 61 this year.
00:30:16
Speaker
Based on what I've seen all comps, this pre-season league play league play. 51 is what they got in league play last year. 10 more. I think that should be like a baseline. Like yeah the expectation should be at least 10 more ah goals than they scored last year. And I think more is golden boot. I think they're at least set up to do that. um And to get to that goal, like you got to, you got to have the foundation, which I think that's what they've done. They've done a good job of laying that to my eye.
00:30:45
Speaker
Do you think I have to ask do you think that this is this is it like? Indications like you know how like when ah when people are looking at stocks with the little like candlesticks or whatever They look to see an indication for a rebound and I like it's gonna go up to the moon Do you feel like that's what it's looking looking like for Pedro?
00:31:05
Speaker
Uh, I think it is. And that's a good segue into our first agenda check, uh, of 2025. Let's, Oh, that's, yeah. Yeah. Oh my God, guys, it's been a, it's been a year since we've done agenda check. It's been a minute. It is our most popular segment on the show. We're looking for a sponsor for it. You know, if you want to, uh, sponsor the agenda check, hit us up. Um, it it would be, uh, that'd be like, it's like an honor to sponsor that we're doing the sponsor a favor at that point. I'm just kidding. um First agenda check of 2025, you wrote this down. yep Pedro de la Vega stock at an all-time high. um I mean, I would say based on everything that we just talked about, that that agenda is very much strengthened.
00:31:49
Speaker
You know, I don't want to go too crazy and have people saying that we're like guaranteeing that he's going to be in and MVP candidate. But I think if you've, i've I've just been watching the highlights this preseason and even from those, like you said, it is a different.
00:32:06
Speaker
player. yeah Like it's a healthy fit and motivated player who's in great form and who's played he played out of his mind in these exhibition matches for whatever that's worth, which I honestly think coming off the season he had last year, to me it that is worth something. I know a lot of people are going to say it's meaningless because it's preseason. Like I don't think so. I think he needed a preseason exactly like this. And it's honestly like even beyond what I would have called a good preseason. He led the team in goals. The assist he had to Jordan Morris was excellent. So this, ah this agenda is honestly skyrocketing with the knowledge that it could come crashing down when the, when the games actually start. Yeah, he could definitely Icarus, but like, I don't think that that's going to happen.
00:32:53
Speaker
like I'm just gonna go out on a limb here and say that like he's gonna score a lot of goals and he's gonna be really good and I think the only thing it obviously hinges on is like we said if he can stay healthy and ah he doesn't look fearful anymore I think that was something that I really took away from this was like you could tell he was ah he was hesitant when he was playing after he came back from his injury. It was in his it it was was clearly in his head. Well, the injury was in his head, but I think also the weight of expectations was in his head.
00:33:26
Speaker
right and it's like you can't bomb any harder you already bombed you know like people already feel how they feel about you so fuck it play your game ball out i think this agenda is is super strengthened and uh i'm excited to see what he does because like man it's you know he could really truly be the next Evander. I really like, you know what I mean? You have a, you have a bum season and you turn it around and then maybe he's going to be going to another club. Who knows? Uh, Jeremiah said that, uh, according to his Intel, the player that, uh, clubs globally contact Seattle about the most is still de la Vega, which
00:34:07
Speaker
I wasn't i like, I wasn't familiar with his his pedigree. wasn't familiar with I wasn't familiar da le vgo wasn't familiar with his game when he was playing in, uh, in Argentina, but he was a very, very highly rated prospect there. And, uh, I think, uh, a bounce back season, like we're hoping for, and his name suddenly does shoot back into those conversations.
00:34:31
Speaker
um The Sounders attacking soccer is back agenda. What is this your personal agenda or your general agenda? This is just like, you know, we've been on the era of the Sounders defensive team two years back to back of the best defense in MLS.
00:34:47
Speaker
Sounders attack his back agenda? Are we gonna be an attacking club? Is this gonna be less the defensive club of the year? I think so. I think Sounders attacking soccer is back. People have called, the you know, you've heard this. People have called the ball of the last two years boring, uninspiring, slow, you know, just not fun. I think it's gonna be different this year.
00:35:14
Speaker
I think that narrative I see what you're saying. I think that narrative in my opinion that narrative got a little overblown. It was totally deserved and merited for the first like few months of last season where I mean we recorded how many shows about it like There's a lot of L-Pods, aren't there? Well, there's L-Pods, but it was also even even when they got results, it felt like pulling teeth. yep They weren't scoring a lot of goals. ah And i I think what happened is people ah latched on to kind of that narrative and the feelings that got elicited during that era, which
00:35:53
Speaker
I'm not like I get it. Like we were as disillusioned as anybody, but I think a lot of people stuck to that narrative when the reality is down the stretch of last season and into the playoffs, they were playing at a two point, whatever points per game pace.
00:36:12
Speaker
not, they weren't a 2019 LAFC, but they were, they were scoring goals at like a respectable rate for an MLS club. And then they combined that with an elite defense and made a legitimately good run into the playoffs, almost made it to and MLS cup. So I think like the idea that they're this boring defense first team that didn't know how to score goals,
00:36:34
Speaker
I think that's a little overblown. I think that was more true at the beginning of last year than it turned out to be at the end of last year and into the playoffs. um That said, I do think that there is at least reason to hope based on what we've seen so far in preseason that this attack can take another set even from where it got to near the end of last year. And they can, like, I would love to see them have the type of season, you know,
00:37:02
Speaker
Maybe they're never there. They might never have a season where they put up like 70 75 roles or something like that but like a season where they're like They're racking up stats like the Dempsey Oba days and they like remember how just electric they were to watch Yeah in those days It was like appointment viewing watching those two guys every week if either one of them got her hurt Then it became or like was out for whatever reason became a different story. Yeah, but when those two guys were on the field It was the most fun team in the league to watch. Like I think everyone is just like itching and hoping for something like that this year because like, uh, you know, it it I think that that narrative was overblown, but there was definitely like reality to it at the, at the first, like two, three months of last year.
00:37:50
Speaker
Yeah, it was, I mean, I don't know if I necessarily, I mean, we've talked about it a million times that it's okay to enjoy defensive soccer. We both do. There's a little bit of a different layer to it. It's not as exciting, but it is still fun and interesting, but I really want you win with it. I don't really have an issue. Yeah. It's like you're grinding out.
Western Conference Contenders & Roster Stability
00:38:12
Speaker
You're grinding out wins. I think that like,
00:38:14
Speaker
I saw some people say that, you know, if you score five goals and still lose, it's way more entertaining. I agree. I tend to agree with that. I don't, I don't want that to happen though. I don't want it to be a complete flip flop. Uh, but I think that like, regardless of what's going to happen, getting some attacking soccer is going to be a breath of fresh air. And and I do think that agenda is to the moon right now.
00:38:40
Speaker
best in the West agenda. Uh, I feel like that's also, uh, on pretty good standing right now. Uh, outside of how Seattle has looked this preseason, uh, preseason, there's just a lot of question marks, I think going around the West right now. I think what's going to happen is like an unexpected team like Minnesota or Houston or something is going to turn out to be a lot better than we think. And that's going to throw a variable into it. I was saying San Jose, but they lost like five nothing. I think the quakes thing is its excitement with Bruce, its excitement about Chicho. I think the reality of a turnaround like they're trying to embark on right now is that
00:39:23
Speaker
It just typically doesn't work like one off season with the new coach, even Bruce Arena, like all of a sudden you go from literally one of the worst and MLS teams of the last 10 years into a playoff contender. um but I was talking to this about yeah with Nico on the live stream.
00:39:44
Speaker
they, they ah gave up 80 goals, almost 80 goals, 78 goals last year, which is just crazy. So not to ah get on a quakes tangent there, but what were you talking about? Oh yeah. that's in the west Yeah. There's like, ah there's question marks surrounding ah both LA clubs, frankly. I have very little doubt that particularly LAFC are going to be elite. I think they're going to be in elite club, even with the turnover that they've had. I think the galaxy are honestly in an even dicier situation than LAFC. But again, I find it hard to believe that they're going to fall off all that much. But then you get to Salt Lake, Houston, Minnesota, Colorado, Vancouver, Portland.
00:40:32
Speaker
It's anyone's guess on how good or not good any of those teams are going to be. so There's just been so much shuffling. I think the Seattle being the best in the West agenda is a good agenda right now more because of the question marks around everyone else than even anything about the Sounders.
00:40:49
Speaker
Well, I don't know if you saw but that chart that we talked about last time the percentage of minutes returning ah Well, the rankings have updated since there's been more transformers and the sounders are now second in returned minutes just below Toronto still and I think that that's like people I saw the dumbest pundits out there you can fill in the name because I'm sure that you know who it is talking about oh This team is so boring and all they do is just bring back the same people over and over and over again and like nothing ever changed That's actually like not a bad thing sometimes I'm I I love a transfer you love a transfer. I love a transfer. I'm all about I'm all about a transfer
00:41:33
Speaker
But you don't need to turn over your roster all the time to be successful in this league. Well, the point I was making about that is like you don't want to be that team necessarily. No, no. The teams that are having a lot of turnover in like changing their entire rosters and doing all these transfers. I mean, shit's not hitting. It means, yeah, it means it's not hating. That's why you have to do that. you know So ah you know transfers and roster movement like are super exciting, but I mean, you're right. like It's not always a sign of like ambition or like a good thing to have to be doing that stuff.
00:42:10
Speaker
at Atlanta United's a perfect example in like San Jose to everyone's praising their off seasons and talking about how they had the best off seasons ever I've been saying that I love you Atlanta United's offseason The reason they had to do that is because they were bad. They were very bad and San Jose insanely bad Atlanta very very mid below average compared to be what they bill be messy but like re that was the cry That was the crown jewel beat messy Realistically, like Atlanta has not been what they build themselves as for like five years. yeah That's why they fired their sporting director, brought in Chris Henderson, and blew up their team this offseason yeah because they were bad. yeah i it' like Frankly, it's all to say, like
00:42:52
Speaker
There is, I think it's between the Sounders and l LAFC right now. I think the galaxy might be a little bit of a dark horse. Here's, here's my guess. Cause you were talking about, you know, some random teams going to pop up FC Dallas. So save that saving wrapping that up.
00:43:09
Speaker
Holding it. That's a that's a topic for the around the week section. But uh, okay last agenda and then we'll move on Yeah, Craig weibull cooked agenda i that I'll let you take the floor here. Like what is your He's tossing me the bone. He's like, Oh, I know you were critical. well I was just trying to get some good discourse going, but I mean, I can give my, give my, no, I'll go first. I'm not a coward. Um, you know, I was critical. I've been quite critical. Uh, and, uh, I, I will eat my crow. You know, I, I loved the, uh, the Jesus Freire thing and I've been praising that. So I won't eat crow about that.
00:43:47
Speaker
And um Paul Arriola, I was a little bit like, you know, I don't know. He's turned out to be a much better player than I think everyone gave him credit for. And he's just integrated with this team really well. And um I don't know. I haven't seen Kim Ki he play, but he's there. He exists. He's an extra piece. And like what I have loved another superstar. Yeah. But like that's probably going to happen in the summer when you get another U 22.
00:44:13
Speaker
So like, I gotta be honest, like I still don't love the Alberos snack re-signing. Jordan Morris being a DP, I'm like kinda like, you know, it's kind of fine at this point to me. But like, yeah, what are you gonna do? You can't just like let Albert walk. I mean, you could, but then it's like, it makes this whole, anyway, that's all to say, given the circumstances, given what like we've all kind of learned as like the budget, so the you know, the sounders are very budget oriented,
00:44:42
Speaker
They're being talked about as like one of the best built teams, not just of like this year, but of all time in depth and in like flexibility and the ability to get essentially five DPS. They may not be your Kucho or, you know, your Bwonga, but they're like five serviceable, really good DPS.
00:45:04
Speaker
When you only are using you know obviously three DP spots I think it's undeniable that he cooked with the Ferreira trade. Yeah to be able to get Ferreira on Tam I Mean it's a great trade. and It's a great trade ah We're I think we're gonna find out exactly how much he cooked When the game start But I guess I guess the thing with the Ferrera trade is that what I would say about it is that even if it doesn't work out the process was sound and Yeah. And that's, I i think, uh, you know, you hear turn up season, you twenty five you hear, uh, you hear GMs and coaches talk about this a lot though, process over results. The results oftentimes are out of your control, but if you are convicted in your process, um, you're convicted in your team's identity and you know what types of players will work with your club and all that stuff.
00:46:03
Speaker
Uh, then if it does, if you, if you are convicted and on all that stuff and ah an acquisition doesn't work out, then you can at least, you at least know that your process was sound. yeah So I think it's one of those situations to me where it's like, you know, it could be a total bust. Maybe Jesus Ferreira like forgets how to play or yeah like he goes out there and ah starts picking the ball up because he doesn't know how to play for a team. That's not FC Dallas. I don't know. It could be a bust, but I would still understand the process entirely, even if it is.
00:46:36
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, it's listen, it's not. And I even said this, I think, on another podcast, like if you want to go and have a billion signings every summer, like go be a fan of another club, like it's very clear that that isn't.
00:46:53
Speaker
what this team is anymore and that's like doesn't make me super happy all the time and like i'm gonna chirp about it so like obviously i think everyone else should chirp about it but you know bringing shit back in hindsight kind of taking a full preseason into into consideration will be able to uh bring up or down this agenda throughout the year but I think you're, you know, I gotta say Craig, Craig's got, he's like the undertaker right now. He's sticking his hand up out of the ground. And I don't know. I think a lot of haters are going to have a lot of things to contend with. Yeah. Um, Obed Vargas transfer walk, walk, walk, Obed
Player Ambitions & International Matches
00:47:35
Speaker
Vargas transfer. Cause he's walking out the door. are Obed Vargas transfer watch. We have an update. It looks like, uh, yeah, purse, founder and heart.
00:47:45
Speaker
Obed Vargas says that if he moves abroad he says it will be to Europe. He listens to the pod. He literally listens to me. Quote, I want to make sure it's the right offer. If it's going to help me develop, that's where I want to play. Europe is the place I want to go. This is newsworthy because there had been discussion as to whether he would go to Liga and Meccis or go to Europe. You were saying that going to Liga and Meccis was a terrible idea. I think the points you made about that were sound, but I think you do have to, you did have to take into account the fact that um Obed has a lot of loyalty to Mexico. He plays for the Mexican national team. Now his dad is a diehard L tree fan who mean means a lot and played for the academy that Rui Diaz in the league. I make his club that Rui Diaz played for and all that stuff. So the possibility of him going to league, I make his definitely did seem to be real
00:48:41
Speaker
Apparently he's saying that when he does go it's gonna be to Europe, which is what you wanted Yeah. i I mean, I wasn't surprised. Honestly, it's, you know, I understand. I had even said to you, I think that like, if he goes anywhere, he's going to go to Europe. Like I, it doesn't make any sense for him to go to Mexico. Like I understand his connections there and his quality. Obviously he could dominate, but at this point, like, I think there is a real conversation to say, what Mexican club are you going to go to that will give you an opportunity to grow?
00:49:16
Speaker
that like is any different than just staying with the Sounders. Do you know what I'm saying? like Even if you go and play for Rayados or Club America, like what's the difference? like i mean Seriously, they're playing in the same competitions. They're playing against essentially the same teams. like You're going to get to play that Mexican competition if you're playing in MLS, but you get to be... you know and like A place you've lived for longer. it just To me, if you're if you were if he was going to make that jump, if he wants to be a staple on the Mexican national team, he's got to play in Europe. And he clearly wants to play in the World Cup. He should play in the World Cup. So he's he's probably going to go to Europe and in the summer. Some people might argue that a club like Club America has
00:50:01
Speaker
More status I guess than any any and MLS club that you could name but even if true it's not like Club America has ah Has anywhere near the type of status as some of the clubs that Obed has the potential right that that are gonna have eyes on him That we think are gonna have eyes. Oh, he's he already won. He's already won club or he's already played in the Club World Cup and He's about to play in another club world cup. He's won champions league. yeah He's won MLS cup. He's been to the final of leagues cup. He's won, uh, you know what I mean? Like what what, what else could he need from North America? Like I'm saying, if you're just looking at it as like a professional.
00:50:44
Speaker
There's nothing that Liga and make use is going to be able to offer him. That is frankly, any different from staying in MLS, which is just, it just seems like that would be easier in general. Yeah. Um, sounders have learned their league's cup opponents. No, what's going on here with this? Well, we will find out and tell you, we have to take a break, Ari. We have to, we have to advertise. We'll be right back.
00:51:14
Speaker
Welcome back from those beautiful ads. I hope you enjoyed them. You better go, Patreon our sponsors. And if you skip the ads, ari. We know. Don't skip the ads. Don't skip our ads. The Sounders have learned their League's Cup opponents. The Seattle Sounders will face Liga and the Keysides, Cruz Azul, Santos Laguna, and Tijuana. All three matches will be paid at Lumen Field. Cruz Azul July 31st, Santos Laguna August 3rd, and Tijuana on August 6th. And there will be no MLS games during those three matches.
00:51:48
Speaker
How are you feeling about that? I mean, three pretty, I mean, I wouldn't say they're the highest tier League of Mickey's teams, but like, they're pretty, pretty good. You know, like a crucial school is good. That's a good club. Yeah. Um, well, I think that, uh, first of all, it's not a popular opinion, but, uh, uh,
00:52:11
Speaker
I'm pro league's cup. I'll just say it. I'll just say it. I'm pro league's cup. Uh, because I think basically here's how I look at league's cup. Like the way I look at it is that any reps that you get against legal and Mackey's competition is an opportunity for you to play outside your comfort zone, play against clubs that you wouldn't normally play. But most importantly, like I think these games make you better. Like I'd make that i there's so much anti anti leagues cup sentiment out there. I get it. Like, uh, people like the open cup better. People think that it's a, it's a cynical ploy or, or what, what have you. Uh, but
00:52:57
Speaker
I truly believe that one of the reasons that the Sounders won Champions League is because of the league's cup run in part because of the league's cup run that they went on the the year before so for me like I think this is a this is a good trio to face as measuring sticks measuring stick opponents and ah these are the type of games where if you if you take them seriously and And you go hard, like you can get a lot out of them. Even I, like, I wouldn't say I care that much about winning it, but I do think like these are good games for the teams to be playing in, whether, whether it's playing league, I make ease in champions cup or leagues cup. I think there's a, there's a lot that you can get out of these games.
00:53:41
Speaker
I think it's undeniable that, uh, we would both be more excited to win a league's cup than an open cup. Is that, I mean, am I, am I reaching here? Yeah. I mean, a lot of P I would be, I think us too, us too. Yeah. Like I'm sorry. Like I, I love the open cup. Anyone who says that they would, uh, is honestly trying to say that they value the open cup as more significant. I think you're just, you're being disingenuous.
00:54:10
Speaker
I am a pro open cup guy. This is it. The podcast is over. We're going to get shut down by the, by the, by the pro rail for USA fans. It's over for us, but realistically, like What is so like, I just don't, I don't really understand what's, what's all of this love and affection for, you know, a tournament that we've won four times. We've won it four times. I mean, it's the history. It's the memories. It's like, I love it. It's the novelty of it. It's the s**t Housery. That's, that's what it is. great I get all that. Um, but I mean, I don't know. It's just like, let's, let's be honest here. What is more valuable to the sounders in this moment? Is it playing Louisville city at star fire in front of, you know, 10,000 of us sickos, or is it playing crucial soul in front of probably a sold out lumen field in a real meaningful match that can qualify you, you know, for, for champions league.
00:55:14
Speaker
I just want to say, ah you know when we were taught when we were talking, we were kind of having this conversation on a previous show.
Leagues Cup vs Open Cup
00:55:20
Speaker
And I was explaining why the oligarchs don't they don't like the US Open Cup, which I was not. a you know A few people said that I was defending the oligarchy. Shout out Sounder Naves. I was not defending the oligarchy. I was explaining how the oligarchy thinks. yeah I was taking you inside the mind of an oligarch.
00:55:42
Speaker
Once you understand the mind of the oligarch, it explains like how and why these things work the way they do. The reason I was explaining that is because people act mind blown by it. They're like, why? Why would the higher ups choose?
00:56:00
Speaker
league's cup over the open cup. This is an outrage. It's once you understand that the oligarchs soul obsession is with the bot, their bottom line under and nothing else. Yeah, but that's how those decisions. i made That's what I was explaining. You can kill the messenger if you want, but it is literally what everything I said is literally a fact sounder names.
00:56:24
Speaker
I will be watching every single Open Cup game, so like, you can shit on me all you want for my takes. Like, I am very excited that the Sounders are playing in League's Cup versus Open Cup. I think there's such a value in having Open Cup. I think it's super fun to watch. I actually think...
00:56:39
Speaker
the way that MLS is doing it where they're kind of giving the shittier um MLS teams an opportunity to go play for a trophy that they could potentially actually win is way more meaningful because you're gonna get an opportunity for U.S.L. clubs to still play these, you know, and MLS teams but have a chance to actually upset them. And for me, my agenda, Ari?
00:57:01
Speaker
I want to see New Mexico United lift that goddamn trophy. Oh man. Do you know what I'm saying? I mean, that would be one. Yeah. So that's why I'm pro leagues. That would be one of the ah greatest days of my life. I do want to ah clarify one more thing on this topic before we move on before we get canceled guotines before we got on a ah tangent here. I definitely don't ah see it as a situation like where, like I don't want the sounders to never play in open cup again. I think like for this year, specifically with the club world cup and CCC in there, it makes way more sense um for them to do it, how they're doing it, where defiance plays an open cup for this year. And then you like, you, you take it case by case year by year, right? Like right if based on, they were going to like if based on the competitions next year, yeah hell yeah. Put the first team back in open cup. Like I, and I understand why some people might've thought that I was saying that they shouldn't, should not play in the open cup anymore. That is not like necessarily my contention
00:58:06
Speaker
I think for this year though, I think for this year, the setup makes sense. That's my calculation as well. And to add onto that, they were going to play the defiance kids in the open cup. If they were in it, if they weren't playing in league's cup and they were in open cup, I promise you, unless they made it to the semis or the finals, they're there. We're going to play the defiance well so that's so And then everyone would have been upset. And then it would have just been back to this like cycle of like complaining about the open cup, which the but the most well-intentioned fans and the best fans, the people who like are very anti complaining about the club, that is their hill that they love to die on. That's like, I get it. I love it. I respect it. Keep shooting your scorchers. Lob them. I'm going to be watching league's cup.
00:58:53
Speaker
and open cup and enjoying both. And I love that the defiance are in it. I'm going to go watch a Ballard play in it. We got to go to Ballard and Spokane. Uh, they're playing again. Remember we went to that matchup. but Oh, they're playing Spokane velocity. Yeah. They're playing the same club. That team is good. Yeah. We're big Spokane velocity, Ozzy Alonso, co-owner. Uh, yeah. Anyway,
00:59:14
Speaker
um That was that was a whole lot of defending ourselves. Sorry. Yeah, that was a whole lot of well, we we did yeah we created a fair amount of contra that might have been your most controversial episode. I don't know. Maybe it was in your top five. Yeah, it didn't go over well in the discord. All right. Yeah, that's I mean, you know, I don't really hang out there. media um I just had one big MLS story that we have to talk about before we get out of here, and that was it. All right. We can call it a wrap for episode 83. Huge trade, blockbuster trade. Noah, the Lucho Acosta, Evander saga is officially over. Lucho Acosta has been traded.
Player Trades & Team Impacts
01:00:01
Speaker
to FC Dallas in exchange for the Argentine number 10, FC Cincinnati receive 5 million guaranteed in a straight cash for player trade. They could get up to an additional $1 million if certain performance based metrics are achieved and retain a trade percentage of Acosta has again moved for cash within MLS. So Lucho Acosta is off.
01:00:21
Speaker
to FC Dallas and to replace him Cincinnati. I'm not sure if it's officially been finalized, but they are getting even like, yeah, Andrew is replacing Lucho Acosta in Cincy, which means that Evander is no longer going to play for the Portland Timbies, which is funny because he's their best player. He's an MVP candidate. He's not going to play for them anymore. He's going to Cincy. Lucho Acosta is going to FC Dallas. There's a lot of implications to this. it's ah I mean, there've been some big moves this off season, but I would say this is the biggest, and this is also, it's kind of a dawn of a new era where you can yeah see players of this profile and stature move like this within the league. It's kind of sick, honestly. it's tight um But ah I mean, Lucio Acosta, this is an MVP with FC Cincinnati. He got disgruntled, had a falling out there in a way that was just, ah it got just way more contentious.
01:01:18
Speaker
It was kind of wild. And then I expected it was entertaining as a neutral... He was posting too, which was awesome. He was like on his Instagram story, like... Oh, riding my bike alone again. They won't let me train with the team. Hashtag FC Cincinnati. He was like, uh, free me at Chris Albrecht. He was, uh, yeah. He was, uh, he was like training by himself, but they weren't letting him train with the team. Now he's on FC Dallas, which is basically like training alone anyway. So I don't really know what we're going to talk about the FC Dallas implications. Cause I think it's, uh, there is,
01:01:52
Speaker
They don't have any players on their team anymore. Aria. I don't, they traded them all away. We're going to get to that, but let's first just ah talk about the comedic aspect of the fact that the Portland Timbies, they scouted up Evander. They got this guy to the league.
01:02:08
Speaker
It was if he it was, if it was going to go well at first and then last year it just hit so well. He had such a good year, over 30 goal contributions, almost 20 assists looked like one of the, one of the most electric players in the league.
01:02:23
Speaker
and they couldn't keep him. They couldn't keep him. He, no one wants to live in Portland, buddy. They got blown out six zero in the playoffs. And he was like, I don't think I can do this anymore. I'm out of here. And he forced his way to a C Cincinnati, which is a much better team. But I mean, I just think, um you know, talking about it from the Timbies perspective,
01:02:49
Speaker
Uh, I mean, we've talked about this, but like they are, there's no way that whatever replacement that they get is an upgrade. So the way I see it, their team is getting worse kind of no matter how you slice it. I mean, they're going to make a big time signing and spend a lot of money to replace them. And it might work. It might not, but they're not going to upgrade on it. And, uh,
01:03:17
Speaker
The other thing is, even with Evander last year, having the crazy year that he had, they still weren't that good. No. So it's not looking too hot for ah Phil Neves and company.
01:03:31
Speaker
Phil Neville, I, first of all, uh, re-sign him for another year, maybe four more. The fact that he has a job there still is one of my favorite things in the entire world. I mean, he's only been on the job for a year. That's the thing. They're gonna, they have to double down for at least one more year, potentially two before they can admit any sort of, uh, misstep. Has anyone checked in on him though? Because he did say Evander was like a son to him.
01:03:57
Speaker
or was like, it was like a son or is his favorite son or whatever. He has like three children. And, uh, so I think we should check in on Phil Neves cause like, there's no way that he's doing well right now. I mean, yes, the Timbies are down bad for this. And, uh, honestly, at FC Cincinnati, I was thinking about like, like if you told them that, uh, that they were going to have to part ways with lucho kind of unexpectedly, I mean, I guess this this does the lucha thing dates back to the playoffs last year after they got knocked out of the playoffs. He literally first thing you said after the game was like, I don't know if I'm going to be here. I don't know. I don't know if I want to be here anymore. And everyone was kind of fucking shit. I don't want to be here. It was out of nowhere. Like it was after the game, tough playoff laws, but they were, they were like, Lucio, what did you think of the game? He was like, I don't want to be on this team anymore. yeah Everyone was like, whoa, what? And then, uh, fast forward to now and he's now on FC Dallas. So let's talk about that. yeah Here's the question I wanted to pose. Uh, this is a potential new segment. I was thinking of kicking around called real or fraudulent. Uh, so let's kick that question around in regards to FC Dallas.
01:05:06
Speaker
With this lucho move, they've got an MVP caliber player now. yeah Does this trade? FC Dallas has been talked about as a club that's in full on rebuild. A lot of people have them picked to be wooden spooning, all that stuff. ah But now they have lucho. And here's what I will say. Peter Musa is the real deal number nine. Yeah, he's talented. He's good. He and lucho, that's not a bad duo at all.
01:05:33
Speaker
um they have but Tafari was kind of a defensive anchor type player to to my mind. And so I don't know why you wouldn't just keep him, but they did spend a bunch of money. You can't keep anyone in that city, man. And, uh, the thriving metropolis of Frisco, Texas. yeah Um, they couldn't even keep me there. And Kosey Tafari is gone. He's just for air, Paul, Ariola gone, but Peter Musa, Lucio Acosta. That's a good duo. This new CB, they spent a bunch of money on him. Um, they got Shaq more.
01:06:21
Speaker
I don't know. um yeah we work Do we think, that does this lucho trade change any of the way that you think about FC Dallas? I'll just say from my perspective, like my first thought was not really, but then I thought about lucho playing with Musa and also the fact that Eric Quill is their coach now. Shout out New Mexico United. I think that they could be closer to like middle of the pack than wooden spooning.
01:06:51
Speaker
Yeah, I, you know, I alluded to it earlier. I think that they could definitely be a dark horse. I don't know how their like team is going to mesh quite frankly, especially when it's also one of those situations where like, if one piece gets taken out, it might all fall apart. well That's sort of the vibe I get. But if you assume relative full health, I think they could be a fringe playoff team.
01:07:18
Speaker
Yeah. It's an Acosta is going to eat, but it's like you, yeah I would be wary of thinking like, Oh, Acosta go into a new team. He's one of the best players in the league. Therefore that team good. Like that's typically one guy is not going to have that effect. Even if they're really good, like look at Evander last year, he put up huge numbers and ah the team was still not that good.
01:07:41
Speaker
We are going to call it right there for episode 83 because the camera died but also we were done talking anyway. Like, comment, subscribe, patronize our sponsors, write us a review. What else am I missing? Live shows, Ari. Live streams. You do live streams. Share with the people. Live streaming every Monday and Thursday, Mondays, Robin's Quarters Kickoff with Nico Moreno.
01:08:07
Speaker
Thursday 7 30 p.m. My torture is under the light under the lights where I'll be I'll just be running that solo but also bringing on People and guests and stuff. It's gonna be a lot of randomly. Oh, I'll pop in the live shows are a lot of fun. Definitely stop by that youtube dot.com slash at and lobbying scorcher scorchers or lobbying scorchers.com slash YouTube. I think that's everything We're gonna call it right there. Until next time, we are out. Peace.