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Nos Audietis: Reasons to believe Sounders can weather Jordan Morris’ absence
418 Plays12 days ago
Niko and Jeremiah are back together for another installment of “What we learned this week” and they’re mostly focused on how the Sounders will cope with Jordan Morris likely being out at least six weeks. There’s no sugar-coating that the injury diagnosis was bad, but there is reason to think that it won’t be a season-killer.
First and foremost, both of them like the way Danny Musovski has been playing and how he projects going forward. They also like what they’re hearing about Osaze De Rosario, the Tacoma Defiance striker who is off to a blazing start this year.
Of course, they also find time to give Stefan Frei his flowers for hitting 400 appearances with the Sounders and give a scouting report on Saturday’s opponent, St. Louis City.
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Nos Audietis is the flagship podcast for Sounder at Heart, which became a reader-supported website on Aug. 21. You can support us by becoming a paid subscriber, learn more here. You can also watch many of their shows on YouTube.
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Transcript
Introduction: Will Bruin Joins Podcast Network
00:00:01
Speaker
Hi, I'm Will Bruin, and I was just recognized as a Seattle Sounders legend. Now I get to do voice reads for the Sounder at Heart podcast network. Here
Celebrating Sounders' MLS Cup Triumph
00:00:11
Speaker
we go. Come on. Hey, O'Shaughnessy.
00:00:13
Speaker
Let's go. What save by Frye. The Seattle Sounders have done it. MLS Cup winning. Here comes Ruiz Dias through the middle to crowd it for Seattle.
00:00:29
Speaker
And now they truly can start the celebrations. It's the Sounders MLS Cup. Nico leaves absolutely no doubt. The Sounders rule the region.
00:00:43
Speaker
Seattle, Sounders, it's got built.
00:00:52
Speaker
This feels fucking awesome. This is a tiny dog. Nice work on your little yacht yat thing. And Portland can't say shit. know, what was the thought process i did in terms of who you decided to use and who you didn't?
00:01:06
Speaker
Ever since Southert Hart wrote a commentary that we didn't take over coming seriously.
Sponsorship by Full Pull Wines
00:01:11
Speaker
Go, not Seattle!
00:01:18
Speaker
This episode of Nos Arietes is sponsored by Full Pull Wines, a Seattle-based wine retailer and proud sponsor of Nos Arietes since 2011. Full Pull was founded in 2009, is based in Seattle, and is owned and operated by longtime Sounder supporters.
00:01:32
Speaker
They offer the best boutique wines of the world to members of their mailing list, with special focus on their home, Pacific Northwest.
Jeremiah and Nico's Sounders Updates
00:01:43
Speaker
Welcome back to another episode of Nos Adietes on the Center at Heart Podcast Network. This is Friday. We are doing what we learned this week with Nico. I am Jeremiah Oshan, joined as always by...
00:01:56
Speaker
Nico Moreno, man. I am right here. Yes, I did come. I did show up. We are excited about what is going on. Well, you know, it's Friday, sunny out. You know, I decided to take the day off from every other responsibility because wanted to just be here, calm, collected, just for our fans, man. i It's the commitment that people have come to know and love. Man, I did a little film study last night from the St. Louis game, of course. I'm starting to do that more more more often than not.
00:02:25
Speaker
it It was kind of interesting to get a little bit more on on St. Louis. So just excited, man.
Injury Concerns: Jordan Morris
00:02:31
Speaker
Probably should not be as excited as I am because it's not necessarily good news and it's not the best week necessarily for the Sounders, according to what we've learned. Yes. But we are here.
00:02:43
Speaker
So we can jump right into that. The big thing we learned this week is there are some injuries and not necessarily good news. You know, the Sounders had a nice little run there of about a week.
00:02:55
Speaker
where they were pretty much healthy. Actually, don't know if they've had a week where they everyone's healthy. But they had a week where it seemed like they were getting to a point where it's like, ooh, we have too many. It's almost there. We have so many options on offense.
00:03:07
Speaker
And they do not – there's a lot of choices being made for them right now. First and foremost, we learned that Jordan Morris, his – His hamstring injury was considerably more serious, I think, than the previous one.
00:03:21
Speaker
they are There is seems to be some concern. They said they hope he's out for about six weeks. the second They had to do a second MRI. that MRI revealed more significant tearing, I think, than they realized or they had hoped for. It's the same injury, the exact same injury he just returned from, which I guess leads to more concern. And now, I guess going forward, they say they're going to monitor it on a regular basis with regular MRIs. and I actually was curious because there was i there were some responses that said like, wait a minute, they weren't doing this already.
00:03:57
Speaker
And so I felt like I needed to reach out to some experts in the field. And I did hear back that in England, in the Premier League, it's becoming more common practice to do these sort of like regular MRIs to establish progress. But outside of England, it's almost unheard of. And certainly in MLS, it's not a normal thing.
00:04:20
Speaker
And when they do start doing it, it's when there's concern of a more significant injury that they're monitoring. And so it's he' this person told me that it was totally understandable and not surprising at all that they weren't monitoring Morris' progress before because A, he had been so healthy. mean, this is a player who has been remarkably healthy over the last three plus seasons.
00:04:45
Speaker
and And we'd been talking to Brian Spencer about how durable he'd been and and maybe they over-indexed on that. But in any case, he's going to be out for six weeks at least. It looks like they hope that he's back for the Club World Cup. It's not good news.
00:05:01
Speaker
But know, what was your
Managing Morris' Recovery
00:05:02
Speaker
take from this whole this holding thing? Because you did a good job, I thought, of pushing Brian a little bit on what, did we miss something? Yeah, i asked about the root cause, because that's where I really want to pinpoint what, and I don't know if that was the right wording, but I just kept saying, what was missed assessed? or yeah what What did you guys miss? And Brian, I thought he did a good job at saying, i don't think we missed anything. He said that he had made 90% of his sprint. Yeah, what he said is he had reached 98% of his top speed multiple times in the national game, which is usually an indication that he's feeling totally fit.
00:05:36
Speaker
Right. And so it sounds like the studies, the work behind was done adequately. And he did mention, you know, it' just the sport and it just happens. and i don't think he's an out and I don't think he's lying. I think he's being very honest about we were very careful.
00:05:54
Speaker
He would have never played him 45 if he wasn't ready for 45. So for me, it was good to see and hear that enough was done to make sure that he was ready to go.
00:06:06
Speaker
Yeah, I think that that's, I think that I felt assured. And I think if you can look at the, you can look at the reality of what happened. I mean, he got hurt on March 11th. He took a week or two off where he didn't do anything, but he was full back in training for two whole weeks before they were going to play him against Dallas.
00:06:23
Speaker
He feels some discomfort in Dallas. They pull him from the lineup. They're being careful. He goes through a whole nother week of training. They plan for 30 minutes against Nashville. He looks great. They're,
00:06:34
Speaker
there can so He looked so good against Nashville that they thought, okay, maybe we'll start him. But for more not fitness-related reasons, they decided to start Danny Masofsky, who had just been playing well.
00:06:44
Speaker
And then they bring Morris in at halftime, and then he gets hurt essentially after like right at 45 minutes of playing. He got hurt in the 90th minute. It's hard to really second guess too much of what they did in his return. Now, now if you want, we want to go back.
00:06:58
Speaker
We talked about this last time. We've talked about this before, but you, I think you can definitely credibly argue that he was overused early in the season. But that's a and somewhat separate conversation from the the the care with which they brought him back this time, which it seems like they were very careful. They went through, like, and I know people get frustrated when a player hurts himself again, especially. They go, well, they should have given him more time off.
00:07:24
Speaker
Well, I guess in hindsight, maybe they should have, but you do sort of have to play when they're ready. At some point, you have to and play them. Like, that's just, you can't just rest guys forever. And then I also got an insight on why, because the the another question that was consistently asked was, why take out moves in the, at halftime And why not wait? Well, the reason of that is because if I have a guy that is coming from an injury and that I'm being careful during the halftime, i can reactivate his muscles and I can warm him up a lot more ah ah comprehensively than I could if he's just warming up. the sidelines. On sideline, getting ready to come in in the 75th or the 60th minute.
00:08:08
Speaker
So that makes a lot of sense. So all I wanted to do was just kind of cover my bases and figure out if something was missed again. But it seemed like there wasn't. It seemed like they did everything correctly to get him going, which was a necessity,
Morris' Standout Season Cut Short
00:08:22
Speaker
get him going on the right way in order to have him ready for, i don't know, these next three games on the road. Right. They were counting on Jordan Morris. So now does that fall more on Jordan? And, you know, is it he that his age? Is it, you know, the the injuries? Like, those are things that i we cannot answer. can't answer, but there there are things that are going to be sort of hanging over his head. We talked to a Christian today about sort of the mental state of Jordan.
00:08:50
Speaker
And Christian also said, you know, what part of what's so frustrating about it is that it felt like he was beyond this... he's not you know He's not an old player. He's 30 years old. He's at a point in his life where he is at his, he is in his prime right now. This is when his body should be the most durable, when he should be the most, where he where he's at his peak performances. And it's very frustrating, i I'm sure for him above all else, that he's losing this time. that And he was playing well. i but He was playing great.
00:09:19
Speaker
let's like Let's not lose sight of the fact that when he's been healthy, he's been mostly extremely good this year. And, you know, he's in, on by some numbers, he's having his best per, on a per 90-minute basis, he's having one of his best seasons ever.
00:09:33
Speaker
So it's it's very, it's a bummer that he's out because he looks like he is a... very effective, very useful player. And it's just it's just too bad. and And I've actually added that he's actually progressed and and grown in his game as just ah retaining the ball and that hold-up play and playing with his back-to-goal. All these things that i know that that the kid, well, I can't even call a kid, but...
00:10:00
Speaker
and as the player that he was at one point, and now he's really progressed. So was it's tough to see it happen. And would you side against Nashville. As much as he didn't pull a couple of those balls away, it's so easy for him to get to those places.
00:10:14
Speaker
In the Colorado game, literally the the injury... He makes such a good play. He makes such a good play where he gets injured and he he sets up Paul Rothrock beautifully. Paul Rothrock, unfortunately, is unable finish, but that's what he does. And those are things that he's learned over the years.
Danny Musovsky's Valuable Contribution
00:10:29
Speaker
So that's why he's so hard. He's such a big blow for the Sounders. It is. The one thing that maybe gives some comfort is the emergence of Danny Masofsky who has, you know, we we talked about this on the show. i don't we don't need to get too into it because we we have sort of explored this, but ah it does bear repeating.
00:10:49
Speaker
Danny Masofsky not on a traditional heater where he's just suddenly finishing ah all of his shots, right? He's consistently putting himself in dangerous positions.
00:11:00
Speaker
He's taking a lot of shots from dangerous spots, and as a result... A fair number of them are going in, but it's he's just consistently so effective at being in dangerous spots. He's getting on the end of rebounds all the time. He's always in the box. He's always making those near post runs.
00:11:20
Speaker
I think if you're going to, like, he's not going to replicate everything Jordan does, but he can replicate specific things that Jordan does, and one of those is just getting in the box and being available I think he's a very unselfish player, and he is okay making six runs with everything he has when he's not getting the ball. And all he's doing is opening space. And he's pressing. He doesn't need touches. All he wants to do is eventually one of those runs, the ball will be there.
00:11:51
Speaker
And I feel like he's building and has built a better rapport with the wingbacks. Kalani specifically, he talked about it after the Colorado game. There had been a ball in the 24th minute that was similarly to where gets that goal that maybe just didn't come in with the accuracy that Kalani wanted. So the keeper got it.
00:12:11
Speaker
But then after that, it happens again. And there is Mussovsky. So you got to credit him that far. Credit him for that. I feel like his confidence has built. We talked to him as well. And he said that he feels like his body is finally completely fit. And I feel like... feels as healthy as he's ever been. He feels as healthy as he's ever been. He even talked about maybe it's the fact that I'm engaged. I mean, the guys... And, you people might just think that's just something someone will say, but when someone's feeling good, I mean, when it comes to being a striker, man, I'm telling you, the confidence, the mindset, the clarity of things is so important. And I see it in Danny Mussovsky. And that could potentially help...
00:12:50
Speaker
lessened the absence of Jordan Morris with one other player that we'll talk about here and because you know we we learned a lot of things about or at least I did specifically because I know that you follow him a lot more than I do but sticking to Musowski before we finish just you gotta credit him for the effort that he's putting in and If anything at all, you have a guy that right now is connecting and is finishing.
00:13:18
Speaker
I had heard somebody talk about the the the difference between you know what the Sounders have done over the last couple of games was getting to prime assist zones. I don't think that's it. I think that the Sounders have created a lot of chances all over the season.
00:13:30
Speaker
I think the difference is that they're actually finishing those chances and that maybe those extra runners are getting to the right places. But i don't think it had to do anything with the amount of or volume of opportunities. It's more about the way they're finishing, and Wasabsky is a big part of that.
00:13:46
Speaker
Yeah, and I think, i mean, Mussofsky is very, I think what what is so good about Danny Mussofsky is that he is reliable. That you know, when he, you know, and Alex Roldan spoke to this, is that when coach, when Brian, when the coaches tell him, make the near post run, he makes the near post Exactly. He's not getting caught up in getting involved in the game and doing all these kind of things. And there's just different kinds of unselfish play.
00:14:11
Speaker
One of those types is, You just do the dirty work. You're doing all these other things in the midfield or whatever. We don't talk a lot about strikers who are unselfish in that they don't need touches. They just want to be at the end. All they've got to they just want to shoot.
00:14:27
Speaker
right And they don't need to – they'll make those runs 10 times. is But if they get the ball one, knowing that they might only get it once. But if they make that run 10 times, that they only need to finish one tip for it to matter, you know?
00:14:42
Speaker
And let me get ahead of the comments here real quick. Let me get ahead, okay? Yeah. You and I are not here painting... ah slotton or we're not saying that Mosovsky is the future, because I can hear it, I feel it. i agree
Osaze De Rosario's Rising Potential
00:14:57
Speaker
my my My spidey senses are just going off. So what I will say is this, is that if anything, all we're saying is that, look, the work rate has always been there for him.
00:15:05
Speaker
He's always tried so much. He's still a very limited player. the The only difference right now is that there has been some continuity and that he's on a streak. And like you said, it's no by no means like this huge, incredible streak, but it's good enough to where he's being effective and he's being rewarded for all of the effort he's put in.
00:15:25
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. I mean, he's, I think Jordan Morris, like there's no question to me that Jordan Morris is the starter on this team. I don't think he's going to do everything that Jordan Morris does, but if you just need a guy to put in chances when he's getting, it's going to force the defense to react to his runs,
00:15:41
Speaker
This is a good type of player to have. he is a you know He's a player who has averaged about a goal every other game throughout his MLS career. And if that's what he continues to do while Morris is out, that should be sufficient to bridge the gap.
00:15:57
Speaker
The other player who might be asked, there's two more players who might be asked to fill this, but the one I want to talk about first is Osadde de Rosario. Now, this is a player who, if you listen to the show, you're probably familiar with. If you read Sounder Hart, you're probably familiar with.
00:16:10
Speaker
But for a lot of people, are never have no idea who this guy is. He has never played in an MLS game at all. He's 23-year-old Tacoma Defiance player.
00:16:20
Speaker
He is the son of Dwayne DeRosario, who you may remember as maybe the greatest Canadian player of all time. He was an MLS superstar for a long time in ah in like kind of the previous era of MLS.
00:16:32
Speaker
He is Soccer royalty, for at least from an MLS perspective. Sure. Osaze is his oldest son, and he has been playing professional soccer since he was 16, 17 years old.
00:16:46
Speaker
He started out in the Toronto FC Academy. He moved to the New York City Academy. Then he got his first pro gig was in Ukraine. Ukraine got invaded. He left there. He came back to Canada. He played a couple seasons for York in the Canadian Premier League.
00:17:02
Speaker
And then he had one really good year at York. And then his second year, he did not have such a good year. He had some maybe like little personal issues. And he came to Tacoma Defiance sort of looking to get a fresh start and start things over. Last year, he was good, not necessarily great for Defiance.
00:17:22
Speaker
I think he was not necessarily a bang on starter. I think he had six goals last year, but he was in and out of the starting lineup. And then at the end of the year, he is. and And one thing that he has, he's been getting consistently called into the Guyana national team. Now, Guyana is like a, you know, a third tier CONCACAF team.
00:17:43
Speaker
But they play, you know, they they play competitive games. And at the end of last year, he got into, i think, a Nations League qualifier where he had hat trick.
00:17:55
Speaker
wow.
00:17:59
Speaker
um no but you got a hatcheck he ended up four goals in this two-legged tie and he's basically taken the momentum from that and carried into this season he now has eight goals in six games and he looks like frankly a different player and it's not because he is a good he is he has great feet he's a good finisher But the parts of his game that have really developed this year, and I talked to Craig Dalrymple, who is ah sound sort of like a floating assistant coach within the Sounders organization, and he mainly just works with and with individual players like that they consider. like hi he He worked with Georgie before, he's worked with other players, and he sort of works on individual skills.
00:18:39
Speaker
And the thing that he's been really working on with Osaze He's helping him understand his runs better. He's helping understand the importance of defense in terms of chance creation. Like it's in his best interest to be a good defender.
00:18:55
Speaker
And we're seeing a lot of that right now. And his, you know, basically all the metrics are basically off the charts in terms of his his expected goals, in terms of his receiving ability, in terms of his is defending is is way up from what it's historically been.
00:19:11
Speaker
And, you know, he's a 23-year-old striker who has never really... put up huge numbers, but all of a sudden looks like he may have actually put something together. You also had a really good conversation with Freddy Juarez about Osalze. What did you learn about him? Well, basically, I have obviously known, because I'm with Sandra Hart, I follow enough, I've watched enough Tacoma Defiance games to know that there's something there, but my question to Freddy was about how difficult it is to take what a player does at the Tacoma Defiance level and for it to
00:19:45
Speaker
translate immediately into MLS play. It's not easy. It's not simple. all. But this week, but this week, man, I have seen him and I've had him in, you know, just a reference point every single time. And the...
00:20:00
Speaker
The thing that Freddie, let's start there, Freddie Cullen was talking about how good he was on Wednesday. yeah He said, look, Wednesday, um I told him, look, you did basically everything right.
00:20:13
Speaker
He said, I want you to get the the tape of that session and go back and look at it for whenever you're having a bad day or whenever you think that you're not doing enough because you were excited, you were motivated, and that's why he had a goal.
00:20:27
Speaker
He had a pressing moment where he completely dismantles Kim Ki-hee, so much so that Kim Ki-hee, if it had been a real game, it would have been a PK, but Kim Ki-hee literally nails him from the back, just kind of...
00:20:40
Speaker
upset about how things kind of played out. um Then he talks about his link-up play, and there was a ball over the top. He holds it. He waits for the winger to get through. There's the overlap. He passes it. So definitely a standout on Wednesday, and we saw this, but it was even more interesting to hear Freddie say,
00:21:01
Speaker
it was near perfect. And he's showing me that he has those capabilities. Now, can he stay motivated? Can he be as excited? Because he said, look, I've had this all the time where I have a player that comes in so excited that he plays at a top level.
00:21:14
Speaker
But how can you keep that up there? So for me, what I did learn from him is that, one, he He has all the tools to be a contributor for this team.
00:21:25
Speaker
Two, although he's not the biggest, broadest player, he's he's a tall guy. And he's not the fastest. like He's not a guy that immediately that stands out right physically. concerns about him is that he doesn't necessarily... project like He's a tall player, but he's not necessarily big or fast.
Spotlight on De Rosario's Skills
00:21:42
Speaker
Exactly. But what I did learn is that what you just said probably is the fact that he yeah is learning how to play the position better. And there's a couple of times where he makes a stunt or like a fake run to one side, gets completely clear into the near post, finishes this, or he had a one and on the post.
00:22:02
Speaker
So if you have that capability of understanding the game enough where you know where to be, whether it's being a poacher or a target striker, Field awareness is incredibly important, and I feel like he has that. If that AQ can continue to grow,
00:22:20
Speaker
I'm more than happy to have him on a bench as a potential guy to come in specifically. And we won't touch too much on it, but Ferreira was also not available all week. He's also injured.
00:22:31
Speaker
And a doctor, sounds like they're being careful with it. So now, if if it's not Mosovsky, now you've got a guy like the Rosario ready to come in. And what does that prevent? That prevents you from trying Paul Rothrock up top and trying Georgie up top. These other things that are just sort of like throwing shit against a wall. Exactly. Which I think is a situation that is fun to talk about in the abstract, but is sometimes frustrating to watch in in person or to watch in action because throwing shit against the wall, especially if you're not training in it consistently, is not usually a good way of generating cohesive play in MLS. Where...
00:23:11
Speaker
people know what they're doing. You know, this is not a rec league. You know, it's not like just go up in there and and see you try to make chaos is not usually a good plan. But yeah, I think the thing about Osaze, another thing I'll say about this is that if you, that the the transfer window is closed right now.
00:23:28
Speaker
There is not really a realistic path to bringing in an outside player, even if you wanted to. Mm-hmm. The good news is that from what I'm hearing, the Sounders are ho hopeful that but so they have a window from June 1st to 10th that's going to open up specifically with the, hope you know, that Kiva created.
00:23:46
Speaker
They basically allow players to sign players for the Club World Cup. It sounds like the Sounders are hopeful that they'll be able to get someone in. That's a month away, though. it's not and And realistically, if they bring that player in, they probably are not going to be ready to play right away.
00:24:00
Speaker
So they would have to bring them in probably now. if they were to actually, but whatever. Like, put that aside. in What you can do right now is you can find a player, probably from MLS Next Pro, and bring him into the team and create some depth. And if you were looking at MLS Next Pro, I say this without any hyperbole, Osase De Rosario is the player that you would look at and say, how do we get that guy? Well, it turns out you can get him by just calling him up for the Toma goodbye. That's a pretty sweet little position for the Sounders to be in. Now, that doesn't mean he's going to be a superstar, but if you just need someone to sort of help bridge the gap between when between now and when Jordan Morris is getting out, that's a nice between him and Danny Masovsky, those are pretty good options.
00:24:44
Speaker
We'll see how it works out. But the other thing I like about Osaze, kind of similar to what we were saying about Danny, is that they seem to just really understand spacing and being in the right place and not over-complicating this stuff. They don't need to hit 25 yard bangers, they just need to get in the box and finish chances. And that they're willing to put in the defensive work. I mean, that's something that has been a common denominator with what the Sounders want from that nine position is you've got to be able to press. You've got to be able to run. you got to be the first defender right off the bat. i mean, that's just Smezzer ball.
00:25:18
Speaker
ah So he has the capability. I mean, like you said, he has eight goals in five games in MLS Next Pro. That is great numbers, right? Now, you obviously cut that in half compared the to two and MLS or whatever.
00:25:30
Speaker
But in reality, all you're doing is bringing yourself a guy that's going to be an option. Another option, and I don't know if you're ready to move on, but I i did want to talk about Another point of conversation that I had with Freddy Juarez, and you can find the full length of that conversation at Pools of Sports, is that because of everything we just said, the fact that De Rosario right now, as far as we know, he's only going to be called up temporarily in those contracts. Yeah, he's going be on short-term loan. Short-term loan. Which would be the second of...
00:26:03
Speaker
four, he can be called up four times, this would be the second of those four, he can only play, I believe, twice, and so this will be the first time he's played. But anyway, go ahead. So with that in mind, and the fact that Jordan is out at least six weeks, at least, at the very least.
00:26:22
Speaker
Best case scenario, he's back somewhere around June 8th, but that's a week before a Club World Cup. It's not, I would say it's not likely, but it's definitely within the realm of possibility that he is out for a couple weeks after that.
00:26:35
Speaker
So you need to come up with a more sustainable, better option to... one, provide an option to Mosovsky, and that's whether or not he's, hopefully he stays completely healthy. Right.
00:26:50
Speaker
Hopefully not. If it was to happen, you need a better option. So my conversation with Freddie was about how confident and what is it that they're doing with Ferreira so that he can play the nine for their system. Because, look, there's no question that the guy is a talented player, but there's also no question that Bryant Smetzer and the coaching staff know that they feel more comfortable with him in the pockets behind the nine in their current formation, right? Yeah.
00:27:20
Speaker
That's one of the dual tents, if you will. yeah But Freddie talked about, look, we want to use his strengths, but we're also adding more to his game. He's only 20-something years old. He's going to need to get better.
00:27:30
Speaker
And one of the things that we need him to get better in is just being more aggressive as a player, wanting to score. He always wants to be the facilitator. He also wants to be the passer. So I'm glad to hear that because that needs to be emphasized even more now that Jordan's going to be out as long as he has.
00:27:46
Speaker
And you need to have some long sessions with him playing at the nine, doing film study, making sure that he does what you need him to do because the last thing this team needs is for something to happen or for Musaski to go cold and not have a real option.
00:28:01
Speaker
And if you look at this roster, the only other player that has SD or forward FW next to him is Ferreira. So whether you like it or not, i heard somebody talk about he's a mute point to talk about Ferreira and ah Albert co-existing. It's not a mute point, especially not right now. It's not movement. You need that to work at some point. is tweet Yeah, exactly. but you need it right now. so you You need it eventually when you're waiting for Jordan. And look, I hate to say this, but I also don't know if the six weeks is enough. i They're going to be extremely careful. i think you i think there is absolutely fair concern.
00:28:42
Speaker
that it's possible that he is out longer than six weeks. I think so too. i I think that there is some genu... Like anytime a player re-injures himself, there is concern that there's something else going on.
00:28:57
Speaker
And so if there is a tendon issue or if there is something more serious, Like, I don't want to get, like, as as of now, the Senators have said, look, we hope he's back in six weeks. So I'm willing to take their word at it.
Extended Recovery for Morris?
00:29:08
Speaker
But I think we need to be realistic that there is a chance that something else is wrong and that he's to out longer than six weeks. I mean, and I don't need to speculate on how long that might be. But he, we should not count, we should not be game planning for him to be back in six weeks as if, well, he'll be back in six weeks. It's no problem.
00:29:25
Speaker
Look, if you re-injure, if you re-injure something the same, there's always concern that it's a longer term issue. So... I mean, you're not discovering fire here. I mean, just just just common sense will tell you that even if the best case scenario was to happen and Jordan was just like, man, it's sitting in six weeks and that hamstring looks solid as steel, you are literally going to think twice yeah um about putting him back in early. So to me...
00:29:52
Speaker
The eight weeks is probably the shortest length of time that I would see him being out before he's... And that would likely mean he misses the club roll cut. He misses the club roll cut. Which would be a real... A real bummer.
00:30:03
Speaker
But we don't need to yeah stress on that too much. yeah I will say one other nice... don't know, nice thing. But one other upshot to all this is it does look like Georgie Minungu now has ah as a path to getting back into the center. into the game day roster.
00:30:18
Speaker
ah There was a very nice story in the Seattle Times today about Georgie. He is a absolutely wonderful person. He is a great story. He has a lot of upside. He has looked great, frankly, playing for the Tacoma Defiance the last couple of games.
00:30:33
Speaker
It'll be interesting to see if he can get back into the picture. The main reason he hasn't been on the game day roster is simply a numbers game, as best I can tell. And Ryan Kent, they've essentially chosen to put give his spot to Ryan Kent.
00:30:45
Speaker
And then they've had other sort of players in the, they because they want other flexibility. I would have thought this week he would have likely been on the bench anyway, just because I would think that that's ah an opponent where you're not super worried about having to bring in a,
00:31:00
Speaker
you know, like a read big or why you don't necessarily need defensive cover. It more likely you want to be a way to press the offense in this game. But so that's, that's, you know, a nice little upshot. ge I really do like Georgie and, and Ryan can also like, if you're looking for reasons for optimism,
00:31:18
Speaker
Ryan Kent continues to look really good every, like, there's no reason not to be optimistic about Ryan Kent's trajectory. You know, I think he's still probably at least two or three weeks away from being ah starter just because they're going to bring him back slowly. There's no reason to press him into the starting lineup, but he looks good. I mean, he looks sharp. He looks fit. He looks motivated, everything you really want. And you know it It could end up being a real coup to get... i mean Every time I see him play, I go, like why was this guy available?
00:31:50
Speaker
No, and look, another thing that Freddie kind of mentioned about Ryan Kent was his professionalism. And I got to say that for a guy that's coming in into a lesser league, you know as a lot of people think of MLS, because he spent his whole career in Europe, he...
00:32:05
Speaker
as far as I know, one of the guys one of the first guys in the clubhouse, one of the first guys out here on the training field takes every drill as seriously as as a game.
00:32:16
Speaker
And you could see that in his play. So yeah when it comes to being on the pitch and his competitive minutes, I think he's been really good. I think he adapts to moments.
00:32:27
Speaker
I think that he is ah extremely effective with his movements. And You know, if Georgie's suffering right now because he does deserve to be out there, having a guy like Ryan Kent is only going to help him as well. I mean, that competition, just learning from a guy like that.
00:32:45
Speaker
But sticking to Ryan Kent, one thing that we learned this week is that the guy can obliterate a ball like no one's business. There was a moment in time where we were in the middle of, I don't know if we were were in the middle of a scrum, but they were practicing free kicks. wasn't really practicing. He just stood took took one.
00:33:04
Speaker
I think they were just had a bunch of balls out and he he just just like decided to take a whack. But go ahead. No, and you know for for those who you know know what the training fields look like for soccer, there are those like wall plastic... you know like Right.
00:33:20
Speaker
tools that you use that looks like little guys that are made out of plastic. And this guy shot the ball so hard. I'm not talking about he cracked the plastic. shit It shattered. yeah Like he got hit by a car.
00:33:33
Speaker
So man, the guy's just quality, man. If he could do that on a ball, I mean, it'll take a a goalkeeper's handoff. I mean, the guy, his quality ah with both feet, it's just exciting to have those players.
00:33:46
Speaker
And the reason why i did that talk with Freddy Juarez is because I do believe that with the absence of Jordan Morris, all of these players that we just mentioned are going to have a hand in lessening dad yeah that that issue and that absence.
00:34:03
Speaker
Because Jordan doesn't just mean everything that he does well, but on the stat sheet, his goals, his assists, it's all these things that I think as ah as a collective, all these guys can bring. Right. No, I would agree.
00:34:15
Speaker
that that was a very and i again i just thought it was so funny because it was there was a there was like four or five guys who were taking free kicks and he just kind of walked up and took one is that and is just sort of like walked away like that's yeah that's my thing we're done that's what i needed to do uh but all right well let's take a break we're going to talk about some of the more off-field not necessarily off-field stuff but the less sort of tactical elements uh we're going talk about some of the milestones that some players are reaching you're listening to no sariettes part of the sounder at heart podcast network and we'll be right back
00:34:50
Speaker
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00:36:45
Speaker
Welcome back to Nos Arietes. So we are going into this week, it seems like every week we've had one milestone after another.
00:36:56
Speaker
The one this week Stephen Fry gonna become just like I think the sixth player in MLS history to reach 400 appearances, ah across all competitions for the same club.
Stefan Frei's 400 Appearances
00:37:09
Speaker
It's a pretty, you know, a pretty small club right now. You've got Diego Chara at the top of the list, and then you go Nick Raimondo, Jaime Moreno, Graham Zussi, and Kyle Beckerman, and that's it. That's the list.
00:37:25
Speaker
And then you got you got Stephen Fry right there. He was the second only the second goalkeeper to reach 400 appearances with one club. He talked to us this week. We talked to Tommy Dutra today. Talked to Christian Roldan sort of about it.
00:37:40
Speaker
And i don't have a lot to say other than it's been sort of an amazing journey with with Steph. I mean, you you go back to when he showed up in 2014. It's easy to forget. he did not you he had only played one game in the two years before that combined.
00:37:55
Speaker
He basically lost the entire 2012 season to a broken leg. He comes back. First thing that happens is he breaks his nose. So he loses his starting job, and then he basically doesn't play the rest of 2013. So he lost basically all of 2012 and all of 2013.
00:38:10
Speaker
Before that though, he did manage to win three Canadian championships, but as of now, now that he's been with the Sounders, he's the only player in MLS history to have won the Canadian Championship, the US Open Cup, the Supporter Shield, MLS Cup, and obviously CONCACAF Champions League.
00:38:26
Speaker
That's a pretty impressive trophy haul. He does not have a lot of individual accolades. Most of his individual accolades are things like MLS Cup MVP or Player of the Tournament in CONCACAF Champions League.
00:38:39
Speaker
But he's got plenty of team accolades, and that seems that seems to be a repeating theme in his career. And one of the things that Tommy Dujo talked about today is that and as a goalkeeper, you're oftentimes, you know, you don't go into the season saying, we got to win goalkeeper of the year.
00:38:53
Speaker
You talk about the trophies you're going win or you want to win. And he sort of exemplifies that pretty perfectly. For me, adding to what Dujo just said, and and I agree with all of it,
00:39:07
Speaker
The most impressive thing from when I first started covering the team every day, which was 2015, he has grown as a leader vocally, yeah but but he's always been a leader by example.
00:39:22
Speaker
He is probably ah inspirational to the point of how... serious and professional he is. And, you know, Tom talked about it today. He's the first guy here every single morning, still till today. Right. Takes care of himself like nobody else.
00:39:42
Speaker
And one of the things that interesting that Christian said is that he he's also been an example for at the end of the season, get away. yeah don't be You don't have to be a soccer player 365. You can have a life. you can in I think that's one of the things that probably helps his longevity is that he has all these outside interests. He's an artist.
00:40:00
Speaker
He designed his house. he is you know he He gets into social causes. he has a He's living a real like fulfilling life outside of soccer. Soccer is not his whole existence. so I think that probably helps his longevity.
00:40:15
Speaker
Absolutely. the The intellect that it takes an individual to say, look, I need other stuff around me, part of that mental health, that it's all part of it. Being a goalkeeper sucks, I'll tell you right now, because you could stop every single ball of every single game.
00:40:31
Speaker
You let one through your legs, and you are crucified by absolutely everybody. You're a meme. You go viral. And look, Steph has been fantastic, consistent, but he's had some boo-boos.
00:40:43
Speaker
And his ability to just... it set this behind him, learn from him, but then completely turn the page on him, I think it has a lot to do with who he is as a person. yeah And that, for me, it's been amazing to see and watch. and And now he's more of a vocal leader.
00:40:59
Speaker
He's the captain of this team. Nico chose him. he wanted him to be the the captain because of everything he's meant for this organization. I was surprised today that Tom said that he's had some competition.
00:41:13
Speaker
I've never felt like... um Steph's ever had any real competition. i just thought that he's just that guy that he practices like it's the last day every single time.
00:41:25
Speaker
And he just, that's just the way he handles his business. But he talked about, you know, having a guy like Tyler Miller behind him. and when he's first When he first came here, Marcus Hahnemann was on the team. Marcus Hahnemann.
00:41:35
Speaker
So- Trent Perkins came in 2015. mean, he's had, you know, ah like you said, like Tyler Miller, Steph Cleveland, Andrew Thomas now. i mean, I think there was a lot of people still that say, oh, I'd rather have Andrew Thomas.
00:41:47
Speaker
And I think one of the things that I i appreciate about Tommy Ducha is if Andrew Thomas was a better option, I'm pretty sure would serve. Because that's, like, that the Sounders aren't, like, I don't get the sense that Steph's being handed anything. No, no, absolutely not.
00:42:04
Speaker
And, look, people get so caught up on mobility in moment. Like, whoever blamed, ah you know, where the shot went through and against Colorado because he didn't go try to make that save.
00:42:17
Speaker
The mistake was just not having an alligator, like we say it in in in Spanish. I don't know what you call it in English. But just having that guy just laid down, that was the mistake. But nobody was getting to that ball. So people are like, oh, he looks, you know, other goalkeepers will make that safe. Come on, but let let's be real. Yeah.
00:42:34
Speaker
think- I feel like almost every goal that he gives up, it's like, oh, someone else would. But the thing is that you look at the body of work and, you know, I thought it was, this was kind of an interesting thing. I was i was researching this today.
00:42:45
Speaker
And if you just look at his time with the Sounders, all time, he would have the fourth best goals against average in MLS history, if you just look at that stretch of time.
00:42:57
Speaker
He would have something like the sixth best ah save percentage all time. He has like the second most wins all time. I mean, you just go down, you got the second most shutouts. He's going to end up basically finishing second on the all-time list on everything. And even on rate stats, like goals against average and save percentage, he's very, very good with the all-time best.
00:43:17
Speaker
That doesn't necessarily mean, and I i think it's somewhat understandable that he hasn't won a goalkeeper the year because outside of 2018, he hasn't had a out-of-his-mind type year. But what's been so impressive about him is how consistent he's been. Just every single year, he's among the top five to eight goalkeepers across the board in basically every metric. I still feel like he's been snubbed for at least one goalkeeper of the year, and he's been snubbed multiple times for at least making the that damn All-Star game. I mean, oh yeah at the very least, get this guy in there, you know? get I think the only year he made the All-Star game was 21, when like six sounders. Alex and Yamar and Raul. Alex made the team. Alex made the team. That's exactly why i just, you know, appraised this guy. the The last thing I'll say about it is that he's also fifth all-time in season 37,181.
00:44:10
Speaker
He's only behind Raimondo Beckerman, Dax McCarty, and Kevin Hartman. So, i mean, that's impressive for a guy to last as long as he has. And successful that's including his time with Toronto FC. Correct. That's including his time with Toronto FC.
00:44:24
Speaker
And... For me, the the only thing I need to see, because I'm i'm not the guy that puts all of the all of his eggs in the stats basket, give me a guy that shows up when the heat is on and a championship is on the line, and I'll show you a guy that's got a legacy behind him.
00:44:42
Speaker
And that's what he has done time and time again. Champions League Cup, multiple MLS Cups, everything that he's been able to do, he's shown up in the big games, and that's good enough for me every single time.
Obed Vargas' Early Milestone
00:44:56
Speaker
Yeah. And then I also wanted to mention Obed Vargas reached 100 appearances at 19 years old. Impressive. Which... I guess is not the youngest that's ever happened in MLS, but it's pretty impressive nonetheless. i mean, he is the amount of time that he's playing at a high level is almost, I mean, it's not literally unprecedented, but there are not a lot of examples of this across the world of soccer. I mean, there are not a lot of 19 year olds that are in their third season as starters. Yeah, no, 100%.
00:45:28
Speaker
And I would say it's even more impressive, in my opinion, in MLS. Because in other countries, kids start playing a lot younger. Especially for a team that is expecting to contend every year. Correct. this is not a forum This is not a team that's just throwing away results in order to develop players. This is a team that every season goes into it thinking we're competing for trophies.
00:45:49
Speaker
No, 100%. So when it comes to Ovid, I just think that his growth has been... Incredible. And, you know, last year I thought, you know, he broke out.
00:46:00
Speaker
ah Christian talked about just physically how big he was compared to when when he was 16 years old and all of the praise in the world for a kid that to me is going to continue to be a contributor.
00:46:12
Speaker
But his time here with the center is probably limited. Yeah, although it's starting to look like maybe he's here for the rest of the year. I don't know. It could be. You know, I think the Sounders were expecting to be getting a lot more interest in him from Europe specifically.
00:46:28
Speaker
There is no question that there are teams that would be more than happy to pay fair amount of money for Obed Vargas. Most of them right now there are in Mexico. He doesn't seem particularly interested in playing in Mexico, at least not right now.
00:46:42
Speaker
Or South America, for that instance. instance Right, or South America. He really wants to play in Europe, and he's not talking about playing in Europe. He wants to play for ah a team in a big five league. he want If he's going to move, he wants to go someplace where there's like very clearly an upward trajectory. He wants to be, you know, he wants to be competing with the Atletico Madrids and the... Because he' he's hit the Raiders of a couple of scouts in South America.
00:47:07
Speaker
And I plain old asked him, you know, and he's like, no, i I want to go to Europe. So whether it's South America, whether it's Mexico, he just wants that... that ah hop across the you know to to Europe, which is all good and well.
00:47:21
Speaker
But we'll see what happens with that. I mean, I feel like eventually there'll be a good offer, but then the Sounders, don't think they're in any rush to do it either, because replacing a guy like Obed is going to be difficult. Right, exactly.
00:47:34
Speaker
As much as the Sounders talk about they know they need to start selling players at some point, they don't also seem that, where they they the eight the the actions suggest that they are not pushing anyone. no They're not, like like I don't know, whatever. like the the and but We don't get into the finances here, but whatever. They they just don't seem that motivated to sell players and until the right offer yeah And that's a fair criticism. and You and I have both criticized that, the whole point of there needs to be a biggest investment.
00:48:02
Speaker
Because it it is a tool that you have this sustainable way of bringing in guys, but then because you do have that, ah that that edge on other teams, then you should be making moves to you know optimize that and and get that even bigger because you're not having to pay for a whole bunch of players that you can bring in.
00:48:22
Speaker
So where's all that other capital going? It should be going to a big time player that you're bringing in. yeah um And I'm hoping that's a U22 striker that they're to hopefully bring in yeah ah in the summer. Yeah, hopeful hopefully.
Preview: Sounders vs. St. Louis City SC
00:48:32
Speaker
Fingers crossed. All right, so before we get out of here, we should talk about this Saturday's opponent, St. Louis City FC. This is the first time that the Sounders have played, or I guess SC? Are they an SC or an FC? St. Louis City.
00:48:45
Speaker
Yeah, it's almost an SC, I think. Yeah, I think you're right. And this is the first time this year that they've played a team for an MLS opponent for a second time, so they have a little bit more of an idea of what they're going to be...
00:48:56
Speaker
going up against. It looks like Ben Lund, which is the goalkeeper that they faced last time, will be again going this week. Roman Berkey looks like he's still another week away from returning from the broken hand he suffered.
00:49:10
Speaker
They have a few other injuries. Scott are Kessler. Kessler, yep. Is out. He was probably Henry Kessler was their bet probably their best player in the first game. best defender. Yeah, definitely the best defender.
00:49:22
Speaker
So that's ah that's a big blow for them. I don't know. This is a team that does not want the ball. Nope. They play, i mean, they're a good defensive side but they do not, they're not, there's just, they yeah there's not a lot of scoring in their games. That's that's just the reality. although Except for the last one. Except for last week, they tied 2-2.
00:49:41
Speaker
And it was an interesting thing because they got a late goal that looked like they were going win. They got an, think, an 89th minute own goal. And then basically they decided to stop defending. And Danny Mwanga basically made a you know, a one-man show goal there right in the 95th minute or something like that. Yeah. what You broke down some cap. I honestly have not paid super close attention to St. Louis City.
00:50:06
Speaker
Tell us about this weekend. Yeah, additionally to what you just said, Alfredo Morales got a red card, so he won't be available. um Ostruck, which is the German addition they brought in last year, ah he only got 45 minutes in this one.
00:50:22
Speaker
ah He's been dealing with some injuries, so actually his first game back against LAFC, so I would expect him to be on some sort of mini restriction in this one. um Another one that was interesting was Connor Wellham, who was their left winger in this particular game, came off with a concussion in the 32nd So I wouldn't expect him to be available for this one. So lots injuries, a team that regardless of who's in,
00:50:50
Speaker
they're going to do one thing, and it's make you uncomfortable and not allow you to get goals. They've only given up seven goals all season. ah They're one of the best defenses in the in in in the league.
00:51:01
Speaker
They are second for the least amount of possession in the entire league. So they're going to give... all of the position that the Sounders won, but the issue or the challenges is gonna be how do you break this team down?
00:51:15
Speaker
ah I thought it was interesting that they kind of modified it in the second half and to your point against LAFC, The reason why they've been so hard to break down is because whenever you hear about a 3-5-2, you're talking about three defenders.
00:51:29
Speaker
They defend with five. And they they are in a deep block consistently. And sometimes it looks like there's eight players back there. I counted. Because there are. I counted. No, no. I paused. I paused And there was a one point in the game where there was eight players behind the 18.
00:51:45
Speaker
In the box, there was eight players. So they're not afraid to just hold on and defend for 75 minutes. Now, they are selective on when they press. This is the way they do it, right? It's long ball looking for Klaus or Batcher, depending on who they have at the nine.
00:52:01
Speaker
And they're going to look for the secondary ball, right? And once the secondary ball is there, they'll repress. And then they'll push their lines up. Okay. That's when they got kind of caught up by a guy like Denny Buonga that you can't give him ah enough space because once LAFC got the ball and they were able to get a long ball, it was too late. He was behind them. So LAFC was able to create a lot of opportunities.
00:52:22
Speaker
They were able to i use the half spaces and in their speed, particularly to beat them down. But this is a team that, once again, you have to not give them or gift them any goals.
00:52:36
Speaker
And this goes back to the last game. Set pieces. And mistakes out of the back is going to be the one way that they're going to hurt you. And if you allow that to happen and you let an early goal in, they're not going to just park the bus.
00:52:52
Speaker
They're going to park semis and cars and just shut it down. So Hardo, for me, is the one player that makes it all happen for them against the LAFC. In the second half, they moved to...
00:53:06
Speaker
A 4-2-3-1, which was interesting. They've never really played all season with the four-man back line. But they did it because they needed to get ah ah some goals. And I thought Hardell played very well. That's a nice little player. He doesn't have the big numbers. He hasn't done much numbers-wise this year. But that's a lot because nobody on their offense has numbers. That is just not their game.
00:53:24
Speaker
They are not. but This is a defend first team. Mm-hmm. this is a defend first team hey but That's that's it that's like And you can have, they have some okay off offensive players.
00:53:38
Speaker
Hurdle, Toiker, Batcher. Klaus. If they get chances, they are capable of scoring. There's just not a very main... It's just usually two guys that are attacking.
00:53:53
Speaker
I actually like Celia Pompeo a lot. I think he's the one guy, aside from Sanda Silva, who they got in the transfer window for Atlanta. I think that's another guy, but he's got one week of practice.
00:54:06
Speaker
So we'll see. Obviously, there's going to be another week this one. They'll have two weeks of practice. I expect them to be available for the Sounders, against the Sounders. So these are two guys in entire roster that kid that are willing to take on players, that are willing to do things differently.
00:54:20
Speaker
So, to me, this team plays to Seattle's strengths. um The way they play, I feel like it makes it easier for Seattle to defend. And... if we heard anything from Obed and from Freddie and even from Christian is that when it comes to beating a team like this, you gotta to be patient with the ball.
00:54:38
Speaker
You gotta be disciplined with your spacing. You gotta be able to um create those triangles a lot quicker in the lesser space. And that's the way you break them down. So for me, i am confident that at the very least, Seattle will get a result by a draw of a 0-0 game that people are going to just be like, what did I just watch?
00:54:59
Speaker
Or they're able to get a goal in early via set piece or or what we just talked about, maybe mid-range shots, and then make them get out. Because that's what happened against LAFC. They had to get out. They had to open up.
00:55:13
Speaker
They had to go to a form and back line. And that's when they had their issues. You talked about giving up a goal late in in the game. I mean, they allowed LAFC to just win that game at the end. um So that's kind of the...
00:55:27
Speaker
in a nutshell, what we're gonna see from this team. Olof Olsberg, Milzberg is not a guy that's afraid of winning or getting a result in the ugliest ugliest fashion. So that's what people should expect.
00:55:39
Speaker
Hopefully that doesn't turn people off from going to the game, but that's just what it is. The game center feel like they need to win. yeah They only have two home games in the next month. This and then they play the next three on the road and then they have another home game against Dallas, I believe.
00:55:57
Speaker
They do. yeah yeah Dallas and then Diego. yeah they need to start They need to win home games. i and They've been pretty good at home. they have know they have They're at home right now. two oh and two at home right now But it is an important game, I'd say. I mean, you just mentioned it. It's a three-game road trip.
00:56:14
Speaker
You've got to go to Houston. You've played the El Clasico against Timbers. And they have LAFC. And they have LAFC. That's a tough, tough run. They need to get home results. They need home points, as many as they can get.
00:56:27
Speaker
ah Because that's... and And honestly, I said this on the show earlier this week. This is how you get fans back in the stadium. Put on a good show at home. It's... Maybe sounds a little simplistic, but... No, it is. That's how you do it. you You put on a good show, and you do it at home, and everything else will flow from there.
00:56:46
Speaker
So get this win. you know maybe Maybe a little 2-0 action. Take that. Move on. you And we'll go from there. And I think we'll see more Ryan Kent in this one. i feel like Pedro's going to be a huge important part of anytime you have a team that plays in a deep block, you need somebody to kind of break lines with the ball and make them collapse on you and create spaces for other players.
00:57:08
Speaker
So for me, what Albert does with his through balls and his passing, maybe not even through balls, more of that link-up play. And en forcing this team to move around, that's going to be able to break him down. But for me, Pedro, he's got to be a key component. For me, he's been great, both in the mid-range department, as well as his decision-making with his passing. So if you're going to unlock San Luis effectively and you're going to get that 2-0 that you want to see, Pedro's going to have to be a big part of it. Yeah, and I would imagine the way they'll do that is they probably will move into a four two three one
00:57:43
Speaker
That'd be nice to Kent will probably replace Rothrock around, i don't know, minute 50 or 55. And then hopefully it's fun. you know Fingers crossed.
00:57:56
Speaker
I think that's it. i think that's what we learned this week. I think that is. we but We said a lot. We learned a lot. We did. We said a lot of things. From milestones to injuries to, you know, overall the feel, I still feel like it's still positive. I will say that the group seems very together. I saw it today. I thought that maybe I was going to see some, you know, frowned faces and stuff But even Chris, when talking about Jordan. I think they're all going to wrap around him and and they understand that this is the way of the world.
00:58:22
Speaker
But I feel like as a unit, that they're very together. Even with all of the competitions that are going on across positionally, I feel like this group is is there for the long run. I do too.
00:58:33
Speaker
I do too. All right. Well, let's call that. I'm Jeremiah Oshian signing off for Niko Moreno. Actually, Niko, give it another plug. Also sports, soccer down here, lobbing scorchers,
00:58:47
Speaker
No Sariah test. That's it. That that is all I got going on. that's I've never been happier with all of my projects the way I've been this year. I really appreciate all of the audience commenting on on everything.
00:58:59
Speaker
um Soccer down here from yesterday will be on Pulse of Sports ah today. So if you missed it live on SDH, you'll be able to watch it on Pulse of Sports. Nice. And Lobbing Scorchers is your Monday show that's up on YouTube. The kickoff. Yep.
00:59:16
Speaker
kick off uh i believe it's also on the subscriber feed for the news for the center our podcast it is so uh in this dude there i'm jeremiah shannon signing off for nico moreno this is no study at this part the sounder podcast network hit next time
00:59:55
Speaker
I expect an LAFC who's motivated ah to prove themselves at home, to prove to their fans that that they're capable of winning in this league. And it's up to us to really ruin the party.
01:00:09
Speaker
You guys like that? and a what Awkward joke, dad joke right there, huh?