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Episode 347: We are the Champions, and don't let anyone forget it
85 Plays3 years ago
We're here to tell you that it's not only good, but right to be insufferable.
This week's music: Perry Como - "Seattle", "RVIVR - "Ocean Song", Woody Guthrie - "Roll On Columbia", "Your Journey Begins" - OurMusicBox (Jay Man) (CC BY 4.0)
Thanks to James Woollard, Sounders Public Address Announcer, for doing our sponsor reads. You can follow him on Twitter at @BritVoxUS - if you’re looking for a British Voice to advertise your business or non-profit, please reach out to him.
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Transcript
Introduction & Sponsorship
00:00:00
Speaker
This episode of No Sadietes is sponsored by Full Pool Wines, a Seattle-based wine seller who recently released their first book, 36 Bottles of Wine. The ethos of the book, a highly curated look at wine categories that provide exceptional value right now, should be familiar to full pool readers. But there's loads of fresh content, and since it's not trying to sell any wine through the book, there's a bit more of a sass factor.
00:00:21
Speaker
And there's food. Lots of it. Fullpool's unique writing styles applied to recipes like leftover Thanksgiving, turkey, schmaltz-a-ball soup, and pregnancy nachos.
Celebrating Seattle Sounders' Achievements
00:00:30
Speaker
This book can be purchased through Sasquatch Books. Hey, this is Christian Roldan. And Jordan Morris from the Seattle Sounders Football Club. And you're listening to... There's no study at this. Come on! Hey, Ocean! Let's go! I want to say bye-bye! The Seattle Sounders have done it! MLS Cup win!
00:00:52
Speaker
important the KSA's genius. Here comes Rui Diaz through the middle to crowd it for Seattle. They have climbed the mountain and now are masters of all that they survey. Michael Odero leaves absolutely no doubt the Saldars rule the region. Seattle Saldars is convinced
00:01:18
Speaker
Seattle Sounders, the greatest MLS team in history.
Historic CONCACAF Champions League Win
00:01:24
Speaker
How does this one feel? This feels fucking awesome. The bluest skies you've ever seen are in Seattle. And the hills the greenest green in Seattle.
00:01:53
Speaker
I didn't know what it was. Is that what you young people call twerking? I have no idea. I don't know.
00:02:04
Speaker
Welcome to another edition of no audio test sponsored by full pool wines and our newest sponsor Watson's counter. This is episode 347 and we're recording on Tuesday, May 10th, 2022. I'm your host Jeremiah Shan joining me as usual as Aaron Campo and lick a P champions. Conka calf champions league winners, Seattle sounders, something that I don't know that I ever thought was likely at least.
00:02:36
Speaker
super likely, but here we are. Uh, they're, they're winners. They're deserved winners. They were easily the better team. I thought in the, or two legs, uh, they were the more talented team. They were the deeper team.
00:02:52
Speaker
absolutely amazing crowd at home. I mean, it was really sort of a dream scenario for the sounders. And I think now it's almost like we have to put this into context. Aaron, what does this all mean? What is like, is this, have we made a big enough deal out of this yet? I mean, no, I don't think it's possible to, right? Like I feel like it's one of those things that's just like,
00:03:23
Speaker
such a big moment that it's like really difficult to fully appreciate it in the moment or a week after the moment, I guess either.
Emotional Impact on Fans and Community
00:03:35
Speaker
As soon as the game was over, I texted my wife and she's not a soccer fan at all. She doesn't care, but she knew this was a pretty big deal. And I told her like, this is the best moment of my life that does not involve,
00:03:51
Speaker
And I think that that's true. Like I've had good things happen to my life. I have a great job, uh, a lot of friends that I love and I've had fun with over the years, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But like in terms of just like how starting this podcast and the sounders winning champions. That's right. That's right. Just how cathartic that was and how there are so few things in life where.
00:04:15
Speaker
There's this and like, we don't have anything to do with it. So it's a little pathetic to feel this way, but like you. It's fandom. Yeah, exactly. And it's like you have this, this goal. There's this goal and it feels like you're never going to get to it. You know, when we, I went back and looked at old episodes to see, um, when the first time we talked about CCL on the show was.
00:04:37
Speaker
And the synopsis was basically like something about like the absurdity of like the idea of an MLS team winning the Champions League and competing against these Mexican teams. And like, and it was, I mean, it felt that way. Like it felt like the longest, the longest, long shot. And then MLS teams started doing a little better. And then, you know, the Sounders started consistently being a championship contender and getting into CCL. And then they brought on Garth Loggerway, who was explicit about it being the goal.
00:05:07
Speaker
And then it happened and it happened two years after, you know, the onset of the pandemic, which obviously is not over yet, but there were 68,000 people at the stadium. Like it's as over as it's going to get probably for, you know, for a while or for quite a while. And, you know, it's like nothing, nothing is normal, obviously, but like it felt very much in the moment like it was normal. And that was a big part of.
00:05:36
Speaker
You know, I think just how, how the whole thing felt as well. And, um, it's just to have this whole experience, like finally end in such a satisfying way is it's, there's just not another feeling like that, that you can really only get, you know, from, from, I think being a fan of a sports team as stupid as that sounds.
Tactical Prowess and Game Highlights
00:06:00
Speaker
Yeah. And I think the, the way that.
00:06:03
Speaker
the final played out was sort of perfect narratively, if not perfect entirely, like losing, it was like, you know, the sounders, they lose new who early on, they lose Joe Paulo 30 minutes in, and you start having some doubts, but then they get that goal right before halftime and you're like, okay, maybe we're going to do this.
00:06:27
Speaker
And the, the second goal though was so, you know, champagne football, I think is the appropriate term for that one. Just a beautifully worked goal puts a cap on the whole thing. And the sense of relief that just sort of ran through my body when that, when that shot went in was, I really think it was maybe, you know, maybe Victor Rodriguez, his goal in MLS cup was similar.
00:06:54
Speaker
But even then, that was a totally different achievement. And this was like, holy shit. The centers are going to win the Continental Championship. They're going to go play in the Club World Cup. This is all really happening.
00:07:15
Speaker
It was, it was pretty special. Uh, and then having the, you know, Garth has talked about this a lot, sort of the spiritual experience of the, of everyone turning on the flashlights and then Lidero scoring while those flashlights are still going. And then him being subbed out along with Rudy Diaz and Jordan Morris. And there this being this loud ovation that almost carries you all the way to the final whistle.
00:07:42
Speaker
just really a magical experience, I thought, in a lot of ways. And I think that my favorite part of the whole thing was how different it felt to me than MLS Cup, in part because the crowd, it just felt like a more, like people were there to see a soccer game. They weren't there to see a spectacle. Whereas like MLS Cup, I was still very much a soccer game,
00:08:10
Speaker
But there was just so many other elements to it. There was the, you know, the Macklemore concert and there was, you know, everything was so new. And it sort of felt like an inevitable thing that that game was going to sell out, whereas this one, they had to work for it. And everyone that was there really was making a concerted effort to like be part of history, I think. Yeah, I think so. And I think we kind of talked about this last time, but like MLS Cup was
00:08:39
Speaker
An event that like people with just a passing knowledge of soccer, like you, they understand. It was very easy to understand. Yeah. And you know, people that aren't big sounders fans know. Yeah. That's what the team is playing for. Like that's the thing. Whereas CCL is kind of like a little treat for us, you know? And that's not to say the sounders were not successful. And I think selling it to a crossover audience, like.
00:09:04
Speaker
Like I think I said, you know, last week, like I had people at work that I know aren't soccer fans asking me about it. And and so there was an awareness, but like.
00:09:14
Speaker
It really is like, like MLS cup is treated by the league as like, this is a thing that we can like sell people on the league. And we like, it's our Superbowl, right? And like, that's not what CCL is. CCL is like, it's, you know, it's, it's for the hardcores. And, and I think that that did add to it. I think the fact that it was like the first, um, you know, the first game of like any consequence since the pandemic, um, not to
00:09:43
Speaker
Sure. Change the RSL playoff game. But I mean, you know what I mean? Like it's it wasn't the first big soccer game since since the pandemic, but it was the first like big final. Yes. A final or like mega high stakes game. And, you know, I think that that certainly added to it. But I think like just.
00:10:06
Speaker
The sounders had won an MLS cup before and a bunch of other teams had won MLS cup before, you know, and, um, there's, and there's even, I would even go as far to say is that there's a reasonable belief that every MLS team might eventually win MLS cup and
00:10:31
Speaker
it's entire like other MLS teams. I think we'll eventually win champions league, but it will be a fraction of different teams that have won MLS cup. And it's a much more, you know, they're first, they're, they're the first MLS team to do this. Uh, and I think at the very least,
00:10:51
Speaker
I think the sounders did a good job of selling it to a larger audience, but people had to make an effort to learn about it. It wasn't something that was, Oh, the sounders plan MLS, this is the MLS championship. That's, it requires almost no explanation. Uh, this, this, you know, you needed to.
00:11:10
Speaker
It's not complicated, I don't think, but you needed to take a minute to understand it and someone has to explain it to you. I think if you're coming at a really cold, the idea that there's a championship outside of your league at all can be a little complicated. I think Sounders fans in general understand that pretty well.
00:11:32
Speaker
I don't know that everyone entirely got CONCACAF Champions League. And a lot
Sounders' Dynasty Potential and Strategy
00:11:38
Speaker
of, you know, a lot of Sounders fans have never been to a CCL game by evidence, by the fact that the attendance is always much smaller than it is for a regular game. So yeah, I mean, I think it was, it just, it felt like a real, like it did feel in a way like we had arrived as a soccer community in a new way.
00:12:01
Speaker
Like we had leveled up as a community and then winning it.
00:12:07
Speaker
Yeah. I supposedly, Don Garber said something about how it might be the most important game in MLS history. I don't, I don't, I haven't actually heard him say that. So I'm a little skeptical that he actually said that, but I do think that there's an argument now that the Sounders have won it. It'll be interesting to see if this is a turning point. If we look it back on under five and 10 years and go like, Oh yeah, that's, you can really see the tipping point of when, uh, MLS started to become a, send to like a higher.
00:12:37
Speaker
a higher relevancy in the soccer space or whatever. And who knows, maybe it'll be a blip. Maybe in five years we'll be like, oh, wasn't that fun that one time the Sounders won Champions League, but we haven't gotten close to doing it since then, which will only make for Sounders fans to even seem more special, I think. Yeah, I think that...
00:13:00
Speaker
And I think the reaction of the rest of MLS has been pretty funny as well. Obviously, for people whose livelihoods depend on MLS, and for people like Don Garber, who, you know, I think his livelihoods probably okay, but it's like, obviously, a little bit of a passion for the guy. Sure, yeah.
00:13:22
Speaker
I think that I understand how big it is for them, and I don't want to take anything away from them. For the rest of the MLS fans that are trying to make this a victory for them, I just want to say that nobody asked them to root for the Sounders, and I would have preferred they didn't. And I don't want to sound petty. I mean, I do, actually. Yeah, I was going to say.
00:13:52
Speaker
The sounders have been in the league since 2009 and people have softened on them a little bit, I would say, but for years and years and years and years and years and years and years.
00:14:04
Speaker
everyone wanted to tell you how much they hated the Sounders and how the league was better before the Sounders were here and how annoying the Sounders fans are and how annoying the uniforms were and how, you know, we weren't real fans and how we were so... Man, were those days? Yeah. I kind of forgotten about the plastic fan thing. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Pretty funny. And it's made a comeback for sure. You know, people forget that like for like six years,
00:14:31
Speaker
And I know they still exist but for six years it was a big thing where there was a whole group of guys called any club, except Seattle and they had their own scarves and they came to games to root on Sounders opponents, and it was a whole thing.
00:14:46
Speaker
And people actively, like when the sounders looked like they might have a chance at making a deep run in CCL, people would go out of their way to tell you, I'll root for other MLS teams, but I'm not rooting for the sounders. The sounders can't be the first ones to win it. And you know what? Like fair enough, right? Nobody is obligated to like the sounders. I'm sure it was kind of annoying. Sounder stands can definitely be annoying. We've kind of made it our thing over the last few years, especially.
00:15:13
Speaker
But you can't do that to people and then expect them when it's like you get something out of their success, right? Like you can say, finally, like an MLS, I want to enjoy an MLS team. They don't have to like, welcome you with open arms. Like you can enjoy it on your own terms, but I'm not going to like, thank you for it. What? Like watching it home and cheering when the sounder score goals, like what did you do? You know? And.
00:15:41
Speaker
Like people have been upset with how the sounders have, sounders have reacted and, um, it's funny. It's very funny. It's very funny because like, ultimately at the end of the day, the sounders won the champions league and they're the first time on the team to win the champions league. And we get to act however the hell we want to. Like that's just straight up. Like that's, that's what it is. And if you're going to get that upset about a soccer game,
00:16:10
Speaker
Like that your team wasn't even involved in because again, this is why no one likes us when Aaron, this is why no one likes us. Well, you know what? What's good for the goose, right? Like, I don't think that sounders fans set out to be this way. Like the way that sounders fans were annoying in 2009 and 2010 was like.
00:16:30
Speaker
The whole, oh, you know, you invented it. Well, yeah, there were 40,000 people coming to the games and a league that like three years earlier was going to fold. You know what I mean? So like, but it wasn't like we love being insufferable. It was just like people were excited about the team and people decided to be dicks to him.
00:16:49
Speaker
And, you know, like if you made a bot that replies to every tweet mentioning Seattle Sounders with a 13 year old meme of the fight and win guy, you don't get to act like you're shocked at how, like how much gloating the Sounders fans are doing. Like, you know, it's, but just being, I think you said this,
00:17:12
Speaker
the other day, like people have kind of forgotten that you're supposed to have fun with being a sports fan, right? Yeah. And it's not serious. It doesn't, none of the shit matters, man. Like it does when it's good, but when it's bad, like who cares? Your team didn't do it. Oh, well, you know, go to work. Nobody, nobody cares. So I don't know. I thought it was very funny to see, to see that reaction of just like,
00:17:38
Speaker
You really don't want us to have anything and I get it, but like you're not going to succeed in taking this away from us. We're going to react to this however we want to. And that's just how it's going to be. It is. It is going to be how it's going to be. Looking at the game, though, you know, the three zero score line, I think, was I don't know, maybe it was probably a little flattering to the sounders. What did you think of of their play in this one?
00:18:07
Speaker
I thought it reminded me a lot of, of MLS cup in 2019 actually, where, you know, if the sounders are up three, no in that game, Toronto obviously scored a late goal. Um, but it was very, very tight and nervy for the first 50, 60 minutes.
00:18:26
Speaker
Especially in this game, I thought the Sounders were the much better team after halftime. I thought they made some really solid tactical adjustments. I don't really remember Pumas doing too much after halftime. They had some pretty. They did for there. There was one chance. It was a header that Fry had to make a big save on and it was in the second half. But yeah, other than that, there wasn't, they didn't have a lot of great looks.
00:18:54
Speaker
And, you know, the, the second goal came late and until the second goal came, like you said, like it was not going to be comfortable, but it didn't feel like, and especially on rewatch, like it felt like the sounders were bossing things. And if there is a one goal difference in a game.
00:19:14
Speaker
it doesn't really matter how you're bossing things because the other team can, can get back in in a moment's notice. But like, I think ultimately they were pretty well in control. That second goal was, was pretty fantastic. Um, the third goal, I think after the second goal went in, Pumis just kind of fell apart. Um, and so the third goal felt like it was coming from the second, the first one or the second one hit the back of the net. But, um, I thought, you know, like,
00:19:41
Speaker
The Sounders did not trounce Pumas in the second leg, but I also thought like a 3-0 was reasonable. I think that the Sounders were a better team, like you said it.
00:19:53
Speaker
earlier, they didn't just play better, although they definitely did over both legs. They were more talented, they were they were deeper. The fact that Puma said like cut guys in the immediate aftermath of this game and their exit from the playoffs, I think is pretty telling. They appear to be getting ready for a big rebuilding effort.
Team Strength and Rebuilding Efforts
00:20:15
Speaker
And
00:20:18
Speaker
That's why the sounders have built their roster the way that they have, is that they can compete with the teams and they did more than can beat with them. They just straight up outclass them.
00:20:27
Speaker
And if you look at the XG, like it was a pretty solid edge for the Sounders, a lot more shots. Pumas tried to, and the first like they tried to do this as well, be like really physical and try to get the Sounders off balance. And I think that's kind of like the approach that teams take because NYC FC did it as well. And it just hasn't been successful for anyone. I mean, I think that this is like a,
00:20:50
Speaker
veteran team that has some pretty hard-ass dudes on it themselves, and they can take a punch. And I think ultimately, if you take that approach and it doesn't work, you have to be so physical, you have to exert so much effort that you're going to run out of gas. And that's, I think, what happened to Pumas. Yeah. And I think you can definitely draw up ways why Pumas was
00:21:18
Speaker
Overmatched in this one, I think is fair to say, not the least of which they are. They're now out there. They just got eliminated from the from the.
00:21:29
Speaker
playoffs this weekend. They got, they gave up, I think it was like three late goals to achieve us and they went out and you could see they're kind of playing on fumes a little bit. And I, and I think it can be argued that this was not, it's fair to point out that this is not the best representative from league at Mickey's. Like there are better teams in Mexico right now.
00:21:52
Speaker
But that's the thing about Champions League is that is it oftentimes is not the best representatives from either leagues because it's not based on something that they just did in the turnover both these leagues are relatively. What's the why am I blanking on the term?
00:22:11
Speaker
They have, there's a lot of variance in the league. Like they, you know, one season to the next, there's a lot of up and ups and downs. And in any case, there's been other bad, relatively bad Mexican teams to win Champions League. You can go back to 2018 and that Chivas team that beat Toronto FC ended up finishing 17th in the table of that campaign that they were in.
00:22:40
Speaker
So, you know, Chivas made the, or Puma's made the playoffs. They weren't great, but they were not a bad team. I think that they had a lot of really, they had a great goalkeeper. They had a very good striker. They had some very good players. But, you know, the Sounders also lost their starting left back. They lost their team MVP in the middle of the game.
00:23:02
Speaker
And the fact that they were able to kind of power through, I think just illustrates the strides that, uh, like the, the strength of the Sanders roster. And, and I think it does give some sort of blueprint for how you build a competitive team in MLS. And in sort of the blueprint, I think, which ironically is you don't get too dogmatic.
00:23:26
Speaker
Like you use all the tools at your disposal. The Sounders have draft picks on there. They have free agents. They have foreign signings. They have, you know, reclamation projects. They have homegrown players. It's like they, they don't.
00:23:39
Speaker
they don't get narrowed in on one type of player to bring in. They just bring in a lot of guys who want to play for this team and who have, uh, and, and it's like, I heard someone else say this, this is not an original thought, but you had, you know, early on you had the Zach Scott's and you had the Casey Kellers and you had, uh,
00:24:02
Speaker
you know, like veterans that were bringing in a little bit of the past, but also like understanding of, of building something here. And, and then it goes to, you know, the Brad Evans and it goes, and you just keep passing these kind of like traditions and this belief on. And so it just sort of like, it replenishes itself. And so you can bring in an Albert Rusnak who didn't really have a lot of
00:24:27
Speaker
He hadn't necessarily done a lot of winning in his past, but he immediately buys in and it sort of just feeds into the next generation. It's a very wonderful cycle to see kind of turning over like this.
00:24:43
Speaker
Yeah, I think that the sounders are a pretty good example of why things like culture are important and why things like having an identity are important. The sounders believe that they're going to win, and that's really been like a hallmark of the team for the past. Not always, but especially in the Brian Schmetzer era.
00:25:07
Speaker
that's been a hallmark of a team that they just, they're incredibly hard to beat most of the time. They are never going to get beaten on effort. And having that expectation set right away is, I think, important. I mean, there have been players in the past that have left the team or not gotten the opportunities that we
00:25:31
Speaker
thought maybe they should, that, you know, the general consensus was like, well, they probably didn't defend as hard as they needed to, but like how big of a deal is that really? And it's like, I think these are the times where you kind of get to understand why that's a big deal, right? It's because it's so important to the culture of the team. It's so important to what, you know, the ethos and the character that you have to have to keep this high of a level year after year after year.
00:26:01
Speaker
And, uh, yeah, I mean, I think that it's all well and good to say, you know, at the end of the day, like the players with the best teams win. And a lot of the time that's true. And the sounders understand that, you know, they've got to go out and get good players. I mean, that's why they make signings like Joe Apollo and Niko Ledero and Raul Rudias and Albert Rusnak and on and on and on. Like they, they have talent. They always have talent. They're always as talented as anybody else. But.
00:26:31
Speaker
They also approach every game the right way. They don't have mental days off necessarily in the way that some other teams do. They're going to have bad games, obviously. They're going to have lapses. They're going to have, I mean, the league has been a nightmare so far this year.
00:26:52
Speaker
But there's never a game where they go into it and think like never, you know, when they think much of a shot. And that's part of why I'm confident that they can turn this season around on the league side. You know, basically, if they play at. They play at the level that they played the last two seasons at.
00:27:14
Speaker
they'll not just make the playoffs. They'll probably finish top four. And if they play, if they match their best 26 games stretch from last year, they'll finish with something like 60 points, which would, you know, put that probably not a shield. They're not going to be a shield winner, but they'll be, you know, probably second or third in the table. Um,
00:27:36
Speaker
So, you know, this is and there's the reason I'm confident that they'll do that is because of that attitude, because of the culture. You know, to finish your thought, I think if I'm I think we agree that it sounds really important.
00:27:52
Speaker
But talent alone is not what's going to win you Champions League. It's not going to win multiple MLS cups. It's not going to sustain your success for 13, 14, 15 years. It's like you need that other stuff. And I think that's sort of what the Sounders have excelled in.
00:28:11
Speaker
It's fascinating to think about. I will say I was interviewing, uh, Aaron Levine today for another, the sounder at heart podcast. And, uh, we were off off air. We were talking about like kind of thinking about how things could have gone differently if the sounders didn't make the playoffs in 2016. And, um, and I don't know that Brian would still be around, but man, it sure is, has worked out well. Uh,
00:28:37
Speaker
And now he's got two MLS cups and a Champions League title, uh, pretty amazing stuff. And I think he also is a big part of building the culture and taking it sort of to the next level.
Sponsors and Community Connection
00:28:50
Speaker
It's also interesting to think about too, we don't have to get into it, but just as a counterfactual, what happens if he gets the job in 2009 and Ziggy never comes in? Is he the same coach? Did the Sounders have earlier success in one playoff games or did he learn a lot from Ziggy over those seven years? Yeah, I tend to think he did. I do too. But it is interesting to think about. It is. It is very interesting to think about.
00:29:15
Speaker
All right. Well, that's probably a good place to call this a segment. We have some questions and some other stuff we want to get to, but, uh, yeah, we'll, uh, you listen to knows how to get this.
00:29:29
Speaker
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Speaker
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00:30:08
Speaker
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00:30:29
Speaker
Follow them on Instagram at Watson's Counter to keep up with all the upcoming releases or check out their website at www.watsonscounter.com. Whether you want to stop by for your daily coffee to go or sit down for delicious Korean inspired brunch, Watson's Counter has got you covered. Welcome back to NOS Adiatus. So before we get into the questions from the listeners,
00:30:58
Speaker
One big thing that's hanging over the sounders from this one is the loss of Jau Paulo. I assume you know this if you're listening, but in case you don't, he tore his ACL. He's out for the year.
Challenges and Adjustments Post-Injury
00:31:10
Speaker
Big shoes to fill for the sounders.
00:31:15
Speaker
I don't know that they have a lot of choice right now. They sort of have to fill that roster spot or that his, uh, they have to fill his space with people that are currently on the roster. It sounds like the plan is to figure it out with, you know, between Obed Vargas, Joshua Tensio and Danny Leyva. Uh, maybe some other players will get looks in there. Do you feel good about that going forward?
00:31:43
Speaker
Uh, not really. I mean, he's, I don't know whether I feel like he's the most important player on the team. I definitely did last year. Nico has looked very much like his old self in the CC run. I think if Nico is back to his old self,
00:32:05
Speaker
it's fair to say that he's still their most important player, but I would agree with you that absent that gel Paulo, uh, was easily the best player last year. Yeah. I mean, he was a legit MVP contender as a defensive midfielder. Like that's, that's a pretty high level. So, um, it sucks. Uh, it sucks really bad. I hate it. Um, but you know, I mean, it's not like they're,
00:32:32
Speaker
throwing a bag of sand in there at the six, like they've got talented young players. I really hope that Obed Bergus gets a pretty long leash and I kind of expect that he will. But, you know, they've got guys that they can rotate through there as well, because you don't want to put too much pressure on a literal child, I think. So, you know, like,
00:32:57
Speaker
Vargas, it's crazy because he's what he's 18 now, right? Or not Vargas. Danny Leyva is 18. Yeah. That's insanely young still. And
00:33:11
Speaker
Like the way people talk about him, it's like his window is closed, but I, I think it's still very much open and I think he's going to get like a pretty decent amount of playing time, you know, over the next six months or so. So, um, I'm excited to see what he can do, you know, with those additional opportunities. Um, they've got talent, they've got young kids. That was one of the things that, that, you know, coach Messer said was like, we've got a lot of young talented players that we want to get playing time anyway. So.
00:33:40
Speaker
And if they go out there and they can't perform, like there's a transfer window coming up and I have faith that the sounders will find a way to improve if they need to, but I really hope
Upcoming Matches and Community Impact
00:33:55
Speaker
it doesn't come to that. And I kind of feel like it won't. I have a lot of faith in Vargas especially, but just the young kids in general to do a pretty solid job.
00:34:04
Speaker
Yeah, I don't know that it's gonna I don't think it's going to be a like for like but as Billy being once famously said in money ball or the movie money ball I'm not sure if it was the book or not but you don't replace him like for like you got to replace him in the aggregate, and I think
00:34:24
Speaker
You know, you spread that around enough. I think you can probably figure out how to replace. I also think Albert Rusnak's emergence as a very capable number 8, if not a 6, will help that tremendously as well. I think it simplifies the job of whoever has to come in. Like he can take some of that
00:34:50
Speaker
That bird, between him and Nico Ledero, I think that is a lot of the touches, at least, that you'd normally relying on Joe Paulo to make. But let's get into questions. I'll go ahead and start. This is from due to biting. Now that the Sounders have beat the game with 100% of the collectibles, do they restart and play on nightmare mode or trade in on a new game?
00:35:17
Speaker
Well, you could make the argument that playing without JP is nightmare mode. And you could make the argument that the Club World Cup is a new game, I guess, if you really wanted to. Yeah. So I don't know. I guess they could do both. Yeah. Yeah. It will be interesting to see what ends up happening with the Club World Cup, as you may or may not know.
00:35:39
Speaker
In a normal year, you would expect it to be in winter at some point. It's been in February, I think the last two years. And that sounds like it could happen. And it will likely be in the Middle East. And it will like almost certainly be under the old format.
00:36:03
Speaker
What if that all happens? We don't know. And I suppose if it's in February, there's a chance maybe that that jail could be back for it. But I don't know. That seems pretty optimistic.
00:36:19
Speaker
Yeah, it does. And I know that the team is going to take the Club World Cup more seriously than I probably would, but I don't think that it's the competition you rush, Jaw Paulo back there. No, I will say, you know, I've come around a little bit on the Club World Cup in this way.
00:36:36
Speaker
It almost doesn't matter if we think the sounder should take it seriously. The reality is that they are going to take it seriously. And I think they feel like they have to take it seriously, in part because if you get smoked, that ends up being really bad. And if you are competitive, I do think you legitimately open eyes of
00:36:58
Speaker
of some fans that would like to discount you and you know in a sense you're playing with house money but it's just this massive opportunity I think to sort of put your marker down at least that's the way the sounders are looking at it and it'll be interesting to see what happens. Yeah I think the sounders should take it seriously but I
00:37:19
Speaker
It's like, I'm not going to get emotionally invested in it unless they do well. It's a weird thing. It's like, I totally get it that it's important, but I also don't, you know. And they probably have to win at least one game in order to get a match against sort of like one of the higher profile teams. Yeah, because this isn't the way it works is there's like a group stage with the,
00:37:49
Speaker
non UEFA something like that yeah i think yeah i think that maybe is how it is it's like it's broken up into two three team groups and then or i don't know exactly i don't honestly i don't even know exactly how it's formatted but it's not it's seven teams uh and i know the uefa qualifier comes in late
00:38:11
Speaker
And like those group stage games are honestly a lot more interesting to me than, you know, they're obviously not as important from a like marketing standpoint or testing yourselves standpoint, but like, you know, playing against like Al Halal would be pretty cool. Playing against, you know, maybe a South American team would be pretty cool. Like, cause those are just teams you don't get to see. Like I've seen Liverpool play before, but so anyway, that could be, that could be fun.
00:38:36
Speaker
Next one is from Josh on the Sound. Was good to see all the Pumas fans and families with so much spark at the final. With definite competitive energy, it still felt like a uniting power of soccer moment before the whistle even
Strategies for International Competitions
00:38:48
Speaker
blew. Or was that just my two pregame beers talking? No, I mean, I think that was a legit takeaway. I've talked to a lot of people who were there. I was there. And everyone, I've not heard a single person
00:39:05
Speaker
relay a negative interaction they had with a Pumas fan. I think there was a lot of camaraderie. I think there was a lot of Pumas fans. There was definitely some Pumas fans who came from out of the area who are probably
00:39:20
Speaker
were never going to be and will never be Sounders fans. But I think there was a fair number of Pumas fans from the region who came to this game open-minded about the Sounders and probably went home feeling like they'll go to another game. And I do think that games like this are super important in terms of widening the tent.
00:39:43
Speaker
And bringing more and different types of fans into the sounders fandom. And I, I love these games I think they have a much more like, like they just feel so much more alive, I think, and having the away fans there is great.
00:40:04
Speaker
I know there was a couple moments where it felt like the Puma's fans really got into it and you could really feel their presence there. But for the most part, the Sounders fans, as you would expect, were the dominant force. And certainly when the Sounders did good things, it felt like a home game. So I thought that's a perfectly fair read. Yeah. It was definitely the...
00:40:33
Speaker
the best balance between like tense and competitive and like good-natured feeling that I've had like with other fans like the Pumas fans in our section were into the game and they were not necessarily like oh that's a great goal you know but they also were
00:40:52
Speaker
You know, super chill. Um, it was, it was a really cool atmosphere. Their fans were super loud. Um, I like, I came out of it as physical as it was. Like, I really liked the team. I really liked the fans. Like, you know, it was, it was a lot of fun.
00:41:11
Speaker
Uh, so this one is from J Montelo. Now the Sounders have made history. Will they continue to prioritize, prioritize CCL over the regular season, anytime they qualify for the tournament? I mean, I think that they are going to prioritize finals and semi-finals for sure. Um, like if they make deep runs into the end of the tournament, they're probably going to play their, their top, you know, their best players. Um,
00:41:40
Speaker
But I think like CCL was a big factor, I think, in the Sounders slow start. But there have been other factors in it as well. I don't think you can just say that it's been CCL. They've had slow starts in the past for sure that they didn't have any excuses for. But they had some pretty key injuries. They were missing a lot of guys early on from both CCL and league play.
00:42:06
Speaker
I mean I think like yeah they're always going to take this competition seriously. I do think it felt like from the beginning like this was going to be the year that an MLS team was going to break through and the MLS teams were really kind of going for it in a way that maybe they haven't always but I think ultimately it's worth it to, you know, to be the best in the region like I just
00:42:29
Speaker
If you have to sneak into the playoffs to do that versus, you know, competing for a supporter shield, I'll take that trade. Yeah. And I mean, the reality is the Sounders, I don't know. I think you can argue that they dropped two, maybe three results that they should have done better in. And I don't know, that's not probably going to make or break their season.
00:42:59
Speaker
And so it's like, I, so I think it's, it's pretty easy to prioritize. I think you don't qualify for champions league every year. If you feel like you have anything like a reasonable shot to do well, you may as well go for it. And I thought that was the thing that was most exciting about this year was that, um,
00:43:17
Speaker
They had for the first time a roster that was seemingly complete.
Summer Transfer Window and Roster Plans
00:43:24
Speaker
And even though they weren't healthy right at the start, they were able to get up to speed in time for the, you know, like for the later rounds, and
00:43:34
Speaker
I would hope they would do this again in the future, I guess is what I'm saying. Yeah. I think that the final and the way that that felt, it's never going to feel exactly like that again, but that's enough motivation for me. The next one is from Bill Jones TRPT. What type of skill set do you expect the sounders to look for in a summer signing? I think that's TBD and that seems to usually be the answer with the sounders is that
00:44:04
Speaker
Garth really likes to see what they have before getting overly committed. And in this case, I think it's even like they made some room when they were, when they traded Brad Smith, they sort of alluded to the idea that they were going to hold a lot of that money back in order to bolster the roster next year.
00:44:27
Speaker
But I think in the back of their mind, they also knew that if they needed to make a signing in the summer, they could. And now it looks like they, they probably will want to do that. And I mean, I don't know, like right now, I think the obvious need is probably at defensive mid, but you also don't want to commit too much money there because you still can. There's every reason to think that Joe Pella will come back, uh, relatively early next year. So you don't want to get into a situation where you're, you basically.
00:44:56
Speaker
filled his spot permanently. So I don't know. I think it's a good problem to have. They don't have any other glaring weaknesses right now. And so I think you can afford to be careful.
00:45:12
Speaker
Yeah, and I think like if you look at the 2016 season, right, obviously the big signing that year was of our, or was a Nico Ledero, but they also added Alvaro Fernandez, who was a very good player. He was pretty important down the stretch for that team. He wasn't, nobody thought he was going to be around for that long and he wasn't, but he was an impact player that filled a need on the team that,
00:45:40
Speaker
also wasn't blocking anybody.
Fan Engagement and Competitive Culture
00:45:43
Speaker
I could see them making a signing like that, for sure. Alvaro's probably a little too old now, but he's still playing, so who knows, you know? This is from D. Height. This is coming from a Barcelona fan. Speak to the Sanders dynasty that we are living through and how much we should appreciate it because, and this is crazy, he says it won't last forever,
00:46:11
Speaker
Um, yeah, I mean, the Sounders are not gonna win the Champions League every year. That's true. And they're not gonna...
00:46:20
Speaker
you know, go to like two out of three MLS cups and they're, you know, so that's for three out of four MLS cups or whatever it was. So that's, I mean, to a degree, that's probably true, but there's absolutely no reason that the Sounders cannot keep making the playoffs every year and always be a year or two out from being a title contender. You know, like the bad years for the Sounders were like 2013.
00:46:51
Speaker
2017-ish kind of 2018. Like those are bad years, right? Last year, honestly 2021, where they're not like a standout regular season team. They don't make deep playoff runs.
00:47:11
Speaker
Those years are still pretty good, you know, like, I'll take those years. And there's no structural reason that they can't keep doing that. Like, I think that like a dynasty is like, you know, four Super Bowls in six years or whatever, like the 49ers did or, you know, like that to me, the Patriots, obviously.
00:47:33
Speaker
And it's really hard to do that in MLS, but I also think that it's much easier in MLS to be always pretty good and always pretty close to being elite.
00:47:45
Speaker
And I think the Sounders have kind of cracked the code on doing that. So, you know, I don't see any reason last end. Yeah, it's, it's a different kind of dynasty. It's, it definitely doesn't fit the traditional mold of, of sports dynasties. And I don't know if it's even that important, whether or not we call it a dynasty, it's, it's been in a remarkable level of success. I think you can, you know, I think the, the champions league is sort of a crowning achievement of a period that has.
00:48:16
Speaker
that it's unmatched in his longevity. And maybe you can argue that other teams have had higher highs, although I think a lot will depend on this year. If the centers go on to win a second trophy, or let alone a third trophy, I think you would have to start talking about this as one of the great teams of all time.
00:48:40
Speaker
You know, it's, I don't know. What was the crux of the question was, yeah, I guess there wasn't really a question. So there you go. In all seriousness, I don't know what the sounders are going. There's going to be ebbs and flows.
00:48:59
Speaker
To the degree that what we're experiencing right now is a dynastic period, I think it's more about being competitive every year than it is about reaching really high highs. And I think that's part of what makes it sustainable is that there's nothing inherently unsustainable about what the Saunders are doing. They're not maxing out the budget in a way that inherently will have a crash. In fact, they're building a system that I think will be
00:49:27
Speaker
renewable in ways that it's not even right now, especially if they get their academy to start producing players on a regular basis, because that's where you can really start to see a higher level of sustainability. So I don't know, I'm not ready to say that what's going on right now isn't going to be going on for another five or 10 more years at least. Yeah, I think eventually the Sounders will miss the playoffs, but
00:49:55
Speaker
that's almost just because on a long enough time period it has to happen. But I just never see them being bad for the sustained period of time. And I think you can go back, and again, we've talked about this before, but you can go all the way back to 2002, which is when Brian and Adrian effectively started their time together with the
Lineup Flexibility and Managing Expectations
00:50:15
Speaker
Sounders. They've only missed the playoffs twice in that whole time, and you can go all the way back
00:50:20
Speaker
to ninety-four when the sounders were reborn in the u.s.l and i think they've only missed the playoffs three or four times since then and you can go all the way back to the nasl years and they only missed the playoffs one or two times during the nasl so it's it's not like there's nothing that says this team has to go through an extended period of badness like they never really have
00:50:42
Speaker
Yeah, and I think that that's actually fairly typical for elite teams and and like leagues at the level of MLS is like there are teams that are just good all the time because they have their own advantages that they've either inherited or built up and
00:50:59
Speaker
Sounders are just really really good at this and, you know, they're reaping those rewards. The next one is from shots fired with Joao Paulo out, do we move Christian back and go with Leo Chu, or leave Christian up a line and give minutes to Obed Josh and or Danny.
00:51:18
Speaker
we're going to see the second of those options, which is to leave Christian where he is. At least I think that's the inclination of Schmetzer. I think the sounders feel like Christian's best position right now is as more of an attacking right winger and not necessarily as a deeper lying player, but it's not outside the realm of possibility that they could change that. They could also
00:51:45
Speaker
And I guess the problem with moving him back though is it probably means switching Jordan to the right in order to move Leo to the left. I mean, there's other things I suppose they could do. There's other players they could put in there, but I think they would like to see if they can keep Christian where he is. I think that's option one. And if that's not working out, maybe they move him alongside Rusnak.
00:52:09
Speaker
But I don't know that that Christian and Rusnack are necessarily great. Like, I don't know that their skill sets are entirely complimentary as a as a double pivot. It's a little it's a little bit like for like as a double pivot, like they have pretty similar skill sets. And I think the way Christian plays as a right winger is
00:52:33
Speaker
I think unique to the way the Sounders play like he's not unique to the way that the Sounders play but he's not like a traditional writer like he's not a Jordan Morris but he's a box dropping into the midfield a lot. Yeah, and if you put like a more pure attacking player on the wing. It just kind of changes the entire your entire
00:52:53
Speaker
tactical approach and maybe that's what they decide to do, but it's working pretty well. So I think trying to figure out a way to kind of backfill is the, probably the more likely scenario. Uh, so this is from Schmitty Deck. The Sounders next four league games are against Minnesota at home, Houston and Colorado on the road, and then Charlotte at home. How many points do you think we'll earn against those teams? Um, I mean, I think that Charlotte feels like a win.
00:53:22
Speaker
So did enter Miami, but CCL is over now. So, you know, who could say, um, but I, I feel pretty confident in that being a win Minnesota is a wildcard. Um, Colorado is going to be tough. I think Houston is Houston. Um, so I think anywhere like 10 would be great. Um, I think seven is doable, certainly doable anything less than that. And I think.
00:53:48
Speaker
It gets a little concerning probably. I would say less than seven is concerning. I'd say eight would be good. And if you can do more than eight, you're that's great. Yeah. Uh, but I think eight is a totally doable number and that should probably be the target. Uh, and if you do better than that, wonderful. I think if you can get, get a win against Minnesota at home, you've got to feel really good.
00:54:14
Speaker
Yeah, get the win at Minnesota win that Minnesota game and then hopefully everything falls into place. Another one from D height other than Schmetzer who deserves a statue at the stadium. I mean, Nico Lidero, I think is the obvious is the obvious one. You know, it's. He's going to go down in history as the most important sounders ever. It's been said that he's the most important or the best signing in MLS history. I think that's hard to dispute.
00:54:44
Speaker
So yeah, I mean, I, I, if you're going to build a statue of a player, I think it's Nico Ledero. Yep. You could make a case for Steph too. Yeah. I was going to say Steph too, but I think, I think I could see both of those guys getting one. And I don't think that's to discount anybody else, but you know, those guys have been focal points of pretty much everything. So every, every big moment.
00:55:12
Speaker
This is from our good friend, Mark Kastner. Are you gonna miss me? Yeah, I mean, theoretically.
00:55:20
Speaker
because it's not like we hang out, you know, like I don't go anywhere and the internet still be there. I know. That's the thing. Like I haven't seen Mark in person for more than a few minutes. Like I saw him at the extra time radio, George and dragon thing. And other than that, I've hardly seen him in the last like year. We went to the pop show together. That was fun. But yeah, aside from that, I mean, you know, so, so yes, I will miss him.
00:55:48
Speaker
But, you know, I'm not as much as he wants. No, probably not. Well, I mean, like, whatever. We're still going to slack each other all day. So who cares?
Listener Q&A and Reflections
00:55:57
Speaker
But we won't be able to say, oh, we should really hang out more. Right. Right. But I'm happy for him. Maybe we'll actually hang out more. That's entirely possible, honestly. I'd like to go to that part of the world to see it again. So it's entirely possible.
00:56:16
Speaker
Uh, the last question is from I slide tackled Henderson, which I don't actually think that's a real Twitter account, but that's, that's fine. Yeah, no, no idea on a scale of hot ones, the classic to hot ones, triple X Apollo. How much will people freak out when they see the lineup that the sounders roll out for their 2022 us open cup opening match? Well, I don't know if you've read Dave Clark's latest piece. He, he makes a.
00:56:44
Speaker
a case for the Sounders to just play the kids. I tend to think there'll be at least one genuine first-teamer in that roster. But yeah, I mean, I don't know. So people, it won't be an A lineup. And you know some people are going to freak out over that. So yeah. I think what are the choices? I should use this scale.
00:57:13
Speaker
Uh, it's hot one stuff. I don't know. I'm going to say the classic. I'm going to say it'll be closer to classic. I don't think people are going to freak out too much. I think, I think that, um, if the final hadn't been the CCL final hadn't been played yet and they put out a bad lineup, people would probably, but it's just like.
00:57:32
Speaker
I think people are so sick of the kind of people that would complain about this in the wake of winning the CCL championship that they have been like sort of shamed into keeping their mouth shut. Like, so there will be people that'll be bothered by it, but they might keep themselves out of hope. Yeah. Yeah. Well, that's, that's, those are our questions. Um,
00:58:00
Speaker
So Hunter's won Champions League. That's fun. Yeah, it's pretty good. Pretty good. First, first MLS team never do it, I think. Yeah, that's right. Correctly. Uh, but yeah, uh, I guess I'm, I'm signing off then. Uh, so thanks to our sponsors, Focal Wines and Watson's Counter. I am Jeremiah Shan signing off for Aaron Campo and Likit. This is no sada yet. Remember you will never get alone.
00:58:30
Speaker
Green Douglas spur where the water's cut through. Down to wild mountains and tangents you flew. Canadian Northwest to the ocean so blue. It's Roll On, Columbia Roll On. Roll On, Columbia Roll On. Roll On, Columbia Roll On. Your power is turning our darkness to dawn. Roll On, Columbia Roll On.
00:59:07
Speaker
We love you. Let's win another one!