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Kickoff: Can the Seattle Sounders bounce back in Leagues Cup return?
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After a blistering 10-match unbeaten streak, the Seattle Sounders were brought back down to earth by Minnesota United in Matchday 29. With their focus now returning back to Leagues Cup with a massive knockout round showdown vs. Liga MX foe Pueblas at Lumen Field on Wednesday, can the Rave Green put the defeat in the rearview mirror and continue their push for a trophy?
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Lobbing Scorchers is a Seattle Sounders and MLS focused show brought to you by Sounder at Heart. Hosted by Major League Soccer's Ari Liljenwall and Producer Noah Riffe. Join us as we lob our scorching takes on the American soccer landscape, Seattle Sounders, Major League Soccer, USMNT and more.
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Transcript
Introduction to Lobbing Scorchers
00:00:00
Speaker
This episode of Lobbing Scorchers was previously recorded and streamed live on YouTube.com slash at Lobbing Scorchers. If you want to listen or catch these episodes live, see the video, and see all the rest of our content, go to YouTube.com slash at Lobbing Scorchers or LobbingScorchers.com slash YouTube.
00:00:22
Speaker
Well, sir, we got a scorcher today. Gonna be real scorcher today. What, the scorcher today? Well, it's gonna be
00:00:44
Speaker
Good morning, everybody. Welcome in to another episode of Lobbing Scorcher's Kickoff. I'm Ari. That's Nico. Got a good show for you all here this morning. We're going to be talking some Seattle Sounders.
00:00:57
Speaker
1-0-L at Minnesota United. We're going to break that down a little bit. Leagues Cup knockout rounds start on Wednesday. Club Puebla at Lumen Field.
00:01:10
Speaker
We're going to be previewing that a little bit. And then later on in the show, we'll hit some headlines from around MLS, including some sweet revenge for Evander.
00:01:21
Speaker
against the Portland Timbies. That was pretty funny. ah Maybe a little debut of ah Thomas Mueller, Tommy Mule. There's some stuff going on and in the in the league right now, so we'll get to that later in the show. But, Nico, thanks for hopping on this morning, as always, man.
00:01:39
Speaker
How are you feeling? Ellett, Minnesota, but the League's Cup campaign rolls on. ah Where are you at right now as far as the ah as the Seattle Sounders? And then we'll ah get into this Minnesota game a little bit.
Seattle Sounders vs. Minnesota United Analysis
00:01:52
Speaker
Yeah, look, ah this sort of game, ah I think is important for a franchise, for a fan base to bring a little perspective on things. I feel like a lot of times, and you know that's all part of you know being a fan, right? You get really excited when your team is playing well and you get really excited when it feels like nothing can go wrong and you know you're on top of the world right and then ah there's that big bucket of cold water that comes around with with ah with a loss and look going into this game i had asked brands matter i knew very clearly i think the players understood that this was a challenge of a game and it was probably the biggest challenge
00:02:42
Speaker
since Club World Cup, right after you did the Club World Cup and you started off to a red hot start because of the way Minnesota plays and because their style really
00:02:58
Speaker
is a a a style of play that Seattle has always struggled against. You kind of felt like whenever a team doesn't give you a lot of space, whenever a team is, you know, playing in deep blocks and is kind of making you break them apart. And, you know, the Sounders not understanding that it had to do some rotations.
00:03:18
Speaker
it It was just going to be a difficult game at Minnesota. And that's what happened. So, yeah, I got to give Brian credit because I thought that his – and, you know, Freddie Juarez and the entirety of the the coaching staff there, i thought that the tactics going into this game were excellent. When you look at this – that first half and a ah Minnesota team that – is used to, yes, playing by absorbing pressure, but that it's usually a lot more dangerous on the counters and where Pereira, when he gets on the ball, is so much more effective.
00:03:59
Speaker
When you look at that first half, Seattle's tactics, their ability to just not rush, be patient on the ball, defend themselves with the ball, ah be selective on when they were going to add numbers forward.
00:04:15
Speaker
I thought that put Minnesota in in a lot of predicaments. And it might not seem that way because if anything that that did go wrong in this game was that Seattle wasn't able to get clear-cut chances, there was a lot of half chances. And those two tell me that players were getting in the right positions.
00:04:35
Speaker
Osase being that main player, I thought that it was a spot-on decision to not bring in Mosavsky in this one. I think that this was a game that doesn't play with Moussa's strengths.
00:04:49
Speaker
And Osase, man, I thought that he got himself in some really good positions. He just was unable to be clinical. And that's something that you are trying to
00:05:01
Speaker
get him better at by giving him more minutes and giving him different looks, different defenses. and And in this one, look, for me, the biggest chance, and and I don't know if you agree with this, but I think it was the 19th minute where there is a play that,
00:05:17
Speaker
and i forgot who puts the through ball, but Sinclair has to come out of goal. And I think it's Obed Vargas that kind of pulls him out. And then there's a cross in from Reed Baker Whiten and there's no goalkeeper.
00:05:29
Speaker
And if Osase just hits it. Yeah. I forgot about that. Minimally. Right. If he just puts it on frame, there's a high probability that chance goes in. That's maybe a shot that he gets off ah in other occasions, but that just wasn't the case in this particular game. So yeah,
00:05:46
Speaker
There was a lot of chances. There was a beautiful ball into the 18 from Ferreira that Osase gets his head around, but is unable to really bring it down. So when you kind of break down the the moments of the game and maybe you um don't see that being a clear cut chance is still to me,
00:06:10
Speaker
gives relevance to the fact that the tactics were there. So um Minnesota being the good defensive team that they were, I thought that, um yes, they're playing their game by conceding possession and and dropping deep.
00:06:27
Speaker
But when they're unable to find their way on the counters, they get frustrated. and You can see frustration in Ramsey. You can see frustration in Perra. You can see frustration in Awani, a guy that, you know, usually from that right side gets forward a lot, but he was having to do a whole lot of a defending because Seattle played them with a three, four, three, ah really occupied that the the midfield was pushing the flanks.
00:06:53
Speaker
ah they They hike in that line of confrontation. So, To me, Seattle was in control and it wasn't just possession. It was, they were playing the game that they wanted to play and they were really keeping Minnesota at bay.
00:07:08
Speaker
ah Unfortunately, the game is decided by a I'm going to call it a mistake on on Stephen Fry. That's just what I saw. I would love to hear from him, from Stephen Fry.
00:07:20
Speaker
He feels like he kind of loses sight of the ball and maybe is unable to read what is really going. And obviously he thinks there might be a header, ah but he's positioning on the Even if it was going to be a header, I think his position is a little bit off.
00:07:35
Speaker
It's his first game back right after the collision, after you know being off for several games. So did that have something to do with it? Perhaps. But that moment is decided that decided the entirety of the game.
00:07:48
Speaker
I love that Paul Rothrock put it upon himself that he could have closed down that action, that delivery by just being more present, being maybe a little bit more aware, ah better active defending, just pushing and closing down that space because you knew that Minnesota was a good set piece team.
00:08:06
Speaker
So overall, I know nobody wants to hear it, and it it gets people upset when Brian mentioned that they were not going to win every game of the season. and But that's the reality, and I thought that they gave themselves every chance to do it, understanding that there is a more important game midweek against Puebla.
00:08:27
Speaker
So I'll take it.
00:08:30
Speaker
Bad Sequels starting off the Super tre super Chat train with the $4.99. Thank you, Bad Sequels, for the support, as always. says donating $1 for every minute, Minnesota wasted setting up throw-ins.
00:08:42
Speaker
And then we got a new YouTube member. Jacob Stossauer joining the ranks. Thank you so much, Jacob. Welcome to have you on board. Welcome. If anyone wants to join Jacob in becoming a YouTube member, great way to support the show.
00:08:58
Speaker
ah And as always, if you could all help us out and like the video that gets us in that algorithm, sub to the channel, follow us on ah all socials, Instagram and on ah our TikTok. Our TikTok game is gaining credibility. We're three away from 800.
00:09:14
Speaker
on so if you uh if you're on tick tock and you haven't followed the lobbing scorchers tick tock yet uh help us on the road to 800 we're only three away uh but uh yeah the bad sequels comment there i think is a good segue into uh i'll give my takes uh after a couple days to marinate on this minnesota game which is i mean this team as we all saw has i'll call them the some of the most unique tactics in the league ah in terms of how the the extent to which they yield possession and really like regardless of game script or if they're home or away, they are very committed to just letting you have the ball.
00:09:59
Speaker
It's sort of just kind of, ah it feels like as they psychologically wear you down and they they get you into situations as we've seen all year where you know you get impatient and undisciplined. That's what they prey on.
00:10:12
Speaker
So ah from Seattle's perspective, I totally agree. Like I thought the game plan and the tactics were the right idea as far as trying to not play into their hands with, ah with how much they let you have the ball and sort of lull you into that false sense of security. I thought the patient approach was the right way to, to go into it. And I guess I'll just give a yeah positive and negative positive and negative ah like, yeah,
00:10:42
Speaker
On the positive end, I guess, like the ah the performance what was adequate to get them a result in this game. ah Like you mentioned, the chances were there. I forgot about the open netter that Osaze had. That was a big one.
00:10:57
Speaker
The one that comes to mind for me is the yeah one that got cleared off the line right at the end. Georgie sends in the cross. I think it eventually recycles to Yamar, and he has a shot on goal that Carlos Harvey has to lay out to clear off the line or he block it right before it goes in.
00:11:17
Speaker
That was a good look, and then there was two other ones late. ah one from De La Vega and then another one from distance where Dane St. Clair made some some crazy saves. And then, i mean, if you just look, I haven't pulled up right now. If you just look at the stats from this game, you know, they don't always tell you everything, but usually if it's one-sided to ah towards one team, you can sort of tell how the game went. And a lot of times that'll kind of tell you how the results went.
00:11:48
Speaker
ended up panning out. And I mean, you just look at it from this game. Seattle had 15 shots to Minnesota's 10, five on target to Minnesota's three. The XG was good. The chances were, the chances were there.
00:12:01
Speaker
possession split in game. possession split in this game As the road team, which that is how Minnesota does it. It's but you just still don't usually see that.
00:12:11
Speaker
ah And then on top of the possession splits, ah the total passes, Seattle had 608 to Minnesota's at accuracy, Minnesota at 69% accuracy.
00:12:26
Speaker
I thought the reason their accuracy was so low is because Seattle did a good job of winning the ball off them a lot, I thought. They were winning their duels, which is ah something that usually puts you on a good path.
00:12:38
Speaker
So, like, those total pass numbers and accuracy, those those don't mean everything. But usually when it's that skewed, you – you have some kind of element of being on top of the other team. Uh, and then eight corners to Minnesota is three. So like all, all of that stuff was in a place where you should have been able to take a result in this game.
00:13:00
Speaker
and ah you know that you obviously you give up the set piece goal so that plays into exactly what they do they're the best set piece team in the league one of the best set team set piece teams globally you know uh as far as like the efficiency with which they convert those chances and and that goal they scored it's every single week they get one of those at least one of those like sometimes they get like two or three of those so that's that was uh unfortunate But like, I definitely it's not I don't come out of this game thinking that Minnesota United is vastly far ahead of Seattle, even though they swept the season series or that this is a team if they play in the playoffs that they can't beat or anything like that.
00:13:40
Speaker
ah So it's it's frustrating because i felt like the the tactics in the game plan. and their execution of it were such that they they could have taken ah result in this game. And like you said, like Schmidt said, 10 unbeaten, that was going to end eventually. Like it just was. There's a lot of games left in this season. And you're also you're in a situation with this game too where you're juggling Leagues Cup.
00:14:04
Speaker
It's fixture congestion. So the the fact that they dropped this game in itself despite the performance they put in, that that's not like the end of the world. It's unfortunate. But if you, if you put together performances like that and execute, like you want to consistently you'll be in the position at least to get results most times. And like ah a Western and in-conference road game like this against an opponent that's been very effective at taking results,
00:14:36
Speaker
All season, the fact that it was a tight game, the fact that it was a competitive game decided on the margins and they lost by by one goal.
Fan Frustration and Team Strategy
00:14:44
Speaker
ah I can live with that in isolation, but Nico and all now here's my here's my negative.
00:14:51
Speaker
Here's my negative. I think it's part of a totality of the situation where they've just they've dropped too many points this year in situations where they should have taken them.
00:15:03
Speaker
It was not it's not just this game. You go all the way back to the season opener in the in the Charlotte game. And then even in recent weeks, you have the Colorado game. You have the Atlanta game. Now you have this game.
00:15:14
Speaker
I think there's probably been even a couple other instances on top of those that I'm just not thinking of where they've been in position to take points and ended up dropping them. So ah the problem with that is that you're fighting for home field advantage in the playoffs.
00:15:33
Speaker
ah And that can be the deciding factor between whether you go to MLS Cup or not. We saw it last year. They were not able to finish ahead of the Galaxy on the table. They had to travel for that game.
00:15:46
Speaker
And that was a tight game, a competitive game where the bounces just didn't go their way. But if they have that game at home, the the scale tilts back towards them a little bit. And I think they have a better chance.
00:15:58
Speaker
at winning that game. So you missed an opportunity here to ah put pressure on Minnesota to vault into the top three in the West. And with these drop points, you're now dog fighting with, ah with l LAFC and the Timbs for that four spot.
00:16:14
Speaker
The LAFC just got son. They, they won at new England They look like and they have a game in hand. They are going to get a lot stronger with that guy on their team.
00:16:25
Speaker
So it's just ah the frustration, I think, is that based on the quality, I think, of the footy that they've played since the start of the season, this team should not be at one point five, eight points per game and dogfighting for for the number four spot.
00:16:39
Speaker
They should be up closer to 1718 and dogfighting for one of the top two spots in the West. And the reason that they're not in that position right now is because there's been too many games like this where it's decided on the margins and they end up there. They're in position where they could take results from the games and they haven't.
00:16:59
Speaker
And that leaves them in a precarious spot on the table. And I will say like, If they are unable to achieve what they want to in the playoffs this year, which is making MLS Cup run and they fall short of that, i think a big reason for that is going to be because of situations like this where you're in a ah in a situation where you can take points and you don't.
00:17:20
Speaker
So that's, ah like I said, it's not really this result or performance in isolation, especially like I don't want to have it totally overshadow what they did during the 10 unbeaten. That's the some of the best footy we've ever seen this club play.
00:17:35
Speaker
So that's all still true. But I think it's about the larger pattern this year ah being in situations where you're either ahead or in this situation, like ah if you had 0-0 or 1-1 this,
00:17:47
Speaker
Given that you're juggling with Leagues Cup right now and you've got a huge game on Wednesday and you're playing one of the best teams in the West, that would have been okay. But because of ah because of a mental error on defense and then the attack just not being able to break through, you get...
00:18:06
Speaker
No points out of it. And now, like I said, you're in this situation where it's just like top four in the West is totally up for grabs. LASC, they are, they're going to be a factor for that, at least based on what I saw from Suns debut and how they played.
00:18:21
Speaker
So that's, that's sort of how I, I see it. Do you, do you have any, any anything in addition to to that or what what do you think of my take?
00:18:32
Speaker
No, I think you bring up some good points. And there are some points that are worth being upset over more than others. So the fact that Seattle has dropped a ton of points is something that both you and I have mentioned consistently. And there are games that are almost a slap in the face and that, you know, still make my blood boil.
00:18:54
Speaker
The draw at Atlanta is one of them. The drug in Charlotte early this season um or the Yeah, yeah there that was a draw. ah The draw against Colorado, you know, there are those games where you're like, man, the team had everything controlled. They should have been able to ah close that game out.
00:19:14
Speaker
Seattle should have never given up the goal that they did at Atlanta. I mean, you know, there are those games that you're like, okay, you know, I understand. But this one specifically against Minnesota, at Minnesota, against a Minnesota of team that's Third, not just because they have cool kids, but because they're a very good team that, you know, look, when I first started being um in commentary and in media, I used to be one of those guys that as a South American is like, oh, man,
00:19:42
Speaker
ah the the beauty of the game is, you know, gaming possession and tiki-taka. And, you know, I grew up with a Columbia's 90s team that touched the, ah you know, it was all about passing and you have Alderama with the beauty of his passing.
00:19:56
Speaker
But as I've been doing this for 14 years, I've been able to talk and sit down tactically with all kinds of coaches, both at international level and MLS.
00:20:08
Speaker
I've understood that there is a There is a talent. There is a a beauty to being a good defensive team that before used to drive me crazy the way that Mourinho with Inter Milan would destroy the beautiful game that Barcelona had and would win a Champions League ah because, you know, they used to call it just like trap soccer and ratonero. You know, they call it like rat soccer where, you know, all you're doing is just dropping back and playing off of the counter.
00:20:39
Speaker
But there's a beauty to just... ah understanding that your team can play better by playing defensively and having an identity and ah that every single movement is almost by design. And that's what Minnesota has. So they're a very good team because of the style that they're playing.
00:20:57
Speaker
Ramsey has made no no doubts about it. hes you know He's proud of the way he plays the game. And this was always going to be a difficult one. So that's where I kind of laid a line of, look, I understand that Maybe, and and I'm going to put myself in that conversation.
Stephen Fry Controversy
00:21:15
Speaker
i was thinking, why why no Pedro de la Vega? And that's why I asked Brian the question. And he kind of tells me, of course, you know, we got to rotate. Perfect. But then you go back and you look at the design of of what they were trying to do, right? They play a 3-4-3 where Ree Baker Whiten was the widest guy on the right side, but he's playing wingback, right?
00:21:33
Speaker
So wingback doesn't necessarily fit Pedro, so I get it. I thought Reed had an okay game. i didn't love it. I thought that he, especially at the beginning of the game, very imprecise, a lot of bad balls into the 18.
00:21:49
Speaker
thought that he... was hesitant to make certain moves and make certain runs. He got sort of better at the end of the first half. And then in the second half, also had some issues.
00:22:04
Speaker
But because of what you had in mind, what you had prepared, I thought that Reed was fine. Reed was the the right decision there. ah Paul was the widest guy on the right side. at thought Paul did fine the same way. Alex was the guy in those inside channels.
00:22:20
Speaker
So in in this one, I thought that Seattle gave themselves the best chance with what they had available. Now, if we want to talk about if Seattle had another type of profile nine that might've been ah more experienced and all of these things that people usually kind of waste time thinking about, you know, maybe that's a thing, but I thought the Rosario, despite him not being able to maybe find,
00:22:48
Speaker
the game that he wanted because he didn't have a good game. These are experiences that he's going to be able to get there. And you still had a chance to win this game. You know, you you were in there consistently. Musovsky came in. He was also not very good.
00:23:01
Speaker
ah In the second half, he think got on the ball four or five times. um And it just farther made me sure that he wasn't the right choice to start this game off.
00:23:15
Speaker
Should this game have been a draw? Yeah, maybe. And I think I want to focus on two talking points that have been you know, pretty out there. One of them is Stefan Fry getting his position back, right? People were just having this meltdown about why did Stefan Fry get the starting position and ah why Andrew Thomas as good as he's played?
00:23:37
Speaker
ah Why is he, you know, going to be put on the bench? And I think we got to understand up that that goalkeeping is is a very different position than anything else on the field. And, and,
00:23:49
Speaker
To me, even after the goal that Stefan Fry gave up, he's the the total package right now. He's the guy that has the leadership, that has the experience, that ah you know when it comes down to the the way of play, directing traffic, I mean, he didn't have much to do this game.
00:24:08
Speaker
He got a couple of mid-range shots that was ah what... Minnesota kind of got left with. That's the the resource that they had to use because they weren't very effective on the ball and he was fine.
00:24:21
Speaker
But I think that Stefan Fry getting his job back shouldn't be this huge controversy. um
00:24:30
Speaker
Give him a couple of games to show us where he's at after, you know, what happened, but you needed to get him back out there and, I don't know about you, Ari, but I don't think that moving forward, I would think that putting in Seven Fry at goal is a bad decision. i think that he is a guy that has proven to you for the longest time that he – is a very good goalkeeper, that he continues to keep his body right, that he is still a good shot stopper, that he is great at distribution, that he's very good hanging on to balls on arrow duels. So to me, I don't think it's a huge point of conversation, but it is one that a lot of people on my comments were focusing on.
00:25:15
Speaker
the The play where Minnesota got their goal was unfortunate. I think it's fair to categorize it as a goalkeeping error. It's a weird play. it It seemed like he literally just lost the ball out of his sight line and didn't know where it was. So that's not what you want.
00:25:31
Speaker
i kind of I kind of tend to think of it more like you were saying. Like, Stephen Fry, we've just seen him save this team's ass so many times. ah So for that reason,
00:25:42
Speaker
There's no one I really trust more in a big game than Steph Fry. and I'm not going to let, i like, one error here and there is not going to really change how I feel about that. Like, if you ask me if they had a playoff game tomorrow, who would I want in there? I'm still saying Steph Fry. Andy T has been great. I think he's shown to be a worthy successor.
00:26:06
Speaker
But at least i'm one error that leads to one goal is not going to really change how I think of Stefan Fry, who's come through for this team and in big clutch situations time and again over his career and has done so a lot
Seattle's Tactics against Minnesota
00:26:20
Speaker
this season. So that's kind of how ah how I size that part of it up.
00:26:23
Speaker
I'm going to go through a few from chat here. There's some there's good stuff in there. Chris says we can complain all we want, but they swept us in our six point ah six points up. Yeah, I mean, like, I think I said this on the post-game show, but, like, I want to be able to hate on their tactics and deride them as cowardly and not real soccer whatever. I mean, look...
00:26:44
Speaker
They are near the top of the West, have been all season, like you said, swept Seattle. ah So ah ah you can't really knock it if it works to that effect.
00:26:55
Speaker
like it it's it's They are one of the weirdest teams I've seen in like recent years. to to yield 70% possession when you're the home team is crazy.
00:27:06
Speaker
Like you, and kind of, you could, to me, you could see that in the first half with how I thought Seattle was on top of them in the first half, to the extent that they could be with them in that little block.
00:27:20
Speaker
And it just, it didn't really, it didn't end up mattering. Like they got the win anyway. So yeah, exactly. Like, I understand why people are deriding them as cowardly, but they won the game and they've been winning games all year with that.
00:27:34
Speaker
So that just is what it is. Yeah, it's a common conception. But like I said, there have been ah ton of coaches and teams that prioritize this sort of style and it works. Specifically in South America, we see it with like the smaller national teams.
00:27:51
Speaker
Paraguay is one of those teams where in the past, you know, they've been very defensive. They understand that if if they're going to play Argentina in Argentina. The whole point of going to Argentina is just holding onto the score line, looking for a good set piece, looking for a good counter, and then continuing to do what? Win the game.
00:28:09
Speaker
That's ultimately what everybody wants to do is get that W. And and obviously it's always different when you perfect it. And I think that Minnesota has perfected it and they have the weapons to do it.
00:28:21
Speaker
And even when they don't concede possession, if you go back to the last four or five games, they dominate the the shots, the clear chances. And I think that's what, in this one, I thought Seattle did very well defensively, is that they did not allow that to happen. They did not allow Minnesota to get in transition properly.
00:28:42
Speaker
Jaboa came off the field hot. He was hot. Jumboa knows that he had zero chances on goal. He couldn't get forward. I thought that Yamer Gomez-Andrade just dominated this game. He was so good defensively, stepping, pushing on offense. you know He got a header that Sinclair saves. He got that shot that you mentioned that gets blocked off. I mean, Yamer Gomez-Andrade was absolutely everywhere.
00:29:10
Speaker
thought Newell had a very good game, both Antani and Onwane, for on that right side, lock them down. So without getting too far from the comment here, yes, I think Minnesota, regardless of how it happened and in the way and the manner that it did, they swept us and da've they are a very good team because of their identity, style, and concepts that are just embedded into every single player.
00:29:37
Speaker
And that's credit to Minnesota. And like the last time these two teams played, Seattle did play into they their hands more. And if you remember, that game became a lot more kind of track meaty and like losing the ball, letting them get out and running. And that's what they want to do. So from that standpoint, I guess they got let's get to ah Joey's comment here.
00:29:57
Speaker
I don't understand how the tactics are correct. If you can only create half chances, score zero goals and lose the game on their specialty set piece goals. Where was the 26 goals sounders? I mean, the thing is, Like point it ah it is a, it is a great point. I, the way I see it, like we would all love them to be, uh, the 26 goal sounders scoring four to seven goals a game, every single game, every single week.
00:30:22
Speaker
Uh, That is not that's just not how it goes in MLS. Usually ah the way that this game looked is a lot more typical and emblematic of how a road game in conference road game against an upper tier opponent looks in this in this league. These games are what they are going to be tight. They're going to be competitive. Sometimes they're going to be low scoring and they're going to be decided on the margins.
00:30:47
Speaker
Uh, it's yes. It's not like the most fun thing to have to realize and acknowledge, but games like exactly like this, you're going to have to play in games like this and you're going to have to know how to win games like this.
00:30:58
Speaker
but This is how games in the in the playoffs are are going to go. You're not going to be running all over every single team scoring boatloads of goals every single game, especially as the competition gets, gets tougher. Like that game is,
00:31:13
Speaker
how some of these are going to go. That's just the reality. Like every single game in the league, even the best teams are going to have to like grind out games, try and grind out results and play in these tight, hard fought, competitive, low scoring games.
00:31:27
Speaker
But as far as the, as far as the tactics, the reason it was the correct tactics is because of what we were talking about. If you try and run and gun against that team, you are,
00:31:37
Speaker
are very susceptible to game scripts and results. Like we saw the first time these two teams played in Minnesota, got three goals and won the game three, two. I thought they had the totally right idea as far as how Minnesota has this ex exact, these exaggerated tactics, this exaggerated game plan where they don't press it all. And they just literally let you have the ball.
00:31:58
Speaker
I thought, The counter exaggerated. it was it was a good little like chess match in that way in this game. I thought Seattle had equally exaggerated tactics as far as just slowing the game so far down.
00:32:11
Speaker
Like really like if they weren't pressing and they were letting one of the center backs or or midfielders just keep the ball. Sometimes they would just stand on it. for like five, 10 seconds and just kind of really just not let it become the type of game that Minnesota wanted.
00:32:25
Speaker
That's what I think they had to do to keep this game like ah as, as tight and competitive as it was. And I understand like, it's definitely not as fun to watch as ah when they're putting seven past cruises. o It's just, that's just not like how it's going to go every single week, especially when you're playing these, these good teams. So anything to add there, Nico?
00:32:49
Speaker
No, I think it's a good point because it's a question that gets constantly asked. And I love to give this answer. The reason why the tactics are are are good and and and you can very easily understand that once you watch the game a couple of times, but the result didn't go with it.
00:33:10
Speaker
It's because the reality is that the the concepts and the tactics are based to give the players the best plan to execute and win this game.
00:33:22
Speaker
But the reality is that this ain't FIFA. This is not PS5 or Xbox or whatever. This ain't robots. And players have bad games. And players at times can't execute the game plan. And that's why you need to look at the overall performance and not just the result.
00:33:36
Speaker
don't A lot of this poor analysis and and lazy analysis that we see around that are very reactive on the scoreline and all these things, they don't give you any sort of context. And that's what here at Loggins Culture, we're trying to provide you. We're trying to educate you on the fact that, look, Obed had a bad game.
00:33:54
Speaker
Compared to his potential. he He did not have Obed-Bergus type performance. Osaset played below his own potential that he showed us before. There were ah things in this game that didn't. Those half chances that you're talking about would have been full chances with a better execution at that end line.
00:34:11
Speaker
With a more decisive moment from each one of those players. Can we talk about maybe... ah Subs coming in differently, maybe should have Georgie had this game instead of Paul on that right side because he's a guy that could be a little bit more influential 1v1. You know, Paul does a lot of great things, but maybe against Rosales in this one would have Georgie give him more difficulties, especially for a guy that when he gets frustrated defensively because he can stop a player, he tends to give you a yellow card and gets off his game.
00:34:48
Speaker
Perhaps those are things we can talk about, right? Substitutions, maybe a little bit earlier, things of that nature. But when it comes to the tactics, the approach, the concepts going into this game, I thought they were very good because they were able to take a very good team off their own game.
00:35:07
Speaker
You kind of flip that script on them. ah you you You use a little bit of mirroring, not necessarily perfectly, but you know you're playing with three-man back line. You made some changes in order to stop their qualities.
00:35:20
Speaker
That chess match that you mentioned, I think that was reflected in this game. And in the second half, it kind of goes off That tactics a little bit, and i don't know if it's exhaustion. I don't know if it's some of the substitutions and adjustments that Ramsey made, but you could tell like in the 60th minute, there is a moment where Seattle kind of goes off their game and Minnesota is able to be more reactive. You know, there's ebbs and flows in soccer that move games around. And I thought that was the top of what Minnesota gave you in this game.
00:35:52
Speaker
But Seattle was still able to hold on. Unfortunately, part of those eves and flows leads to that set piece that eventually leads to a ah goal that gets put it in the back of the net. And that's another one, right?
00:36:03
Speaker
that The goal, you can expect... stuff to make that safe, right? For whatever reason, it didn't happen. So that has nothing to do do with the tactics. It's just the result of a circumstantial play.
00:36:15
Speaker
And circumstantial is something that you'll hear a lot from me because soccer do tends to be circumstantial.
Player Fatigue and Squad Depth
00:36:20
Speaker
And in this one, it led to to a loss. But it doesn't mean that the tactics were wrong. And look, this is coming from a guy that is on Bryant's Metser consistently, that I am a high critic.
00:36:30
Speaker
You know, we talk about... The fact that, you know, maybe it's out there How we don't have hot takes, hot sauce Well, I'm the habanero sauce And I come in as spicy as they get So if it's coming from me Believe you that it comes from from from the right place Schmetz loves you for that, by the way As we all know Oh, yeah Okay, I'm just going to share Just as five a visual illustration Of what we're talking about here where where are these Where are these stats? Why can't I see them on my... ah
00:37:01
Speaker
Okay. Okay. Okay. Sorry.
00:37:04
Speaker
All right. These are the, these are the postgame stats. Like just usually when you see all the bold on one side like this, like, first of all, the fact that it came out like that with Seattle as the, ah as the road team, you can usually like the fact that this ended in a one zero loss is kind know is is kind of wild. I don't know. 15 shots, five on target, 71% possession, 608 passes to 255, 89 accuracy to 69 accuracy. Like, that's ah that shows that, like, the game state and the game script, I think, were ah roughly where you you want it to be.
00:37:48
Speaker
ah it's just it just To me, that just kind of shows, like, how weird a team this is to play. Because they, like, intentionally... let you have that, let you have that. Right.
00:37:58
Speaker
And then you still lose the game. It's, it's, ah it's very unorthodox, but again, you can't knock the effectiveness. ah Nico, you touched on it a little bit in your, in your last answer there, but we got Jerome coming in with the $10. Jerome, thank you so much for the support.
00:38:16
Speaker
Appreciate you, man. How did we feel about Obed's play? I thought he was a little off. Uh, Nico, I'll let you cook on that because you mentioned it, but ah i'll i'll just I'll just say for my part, like I think one of the biggest concerns I have with this team right now continues to be just like the usage of the double pivot, how much Christian and Obed are both playing. They have... they whatever whenever there is rotation they're not rotating they're playing every single game they're playing most every minute of every single game they're going to play most every minute of the game on wednesday so uh how sustainable is this i think is a fair question and if you know if i had to guess on why obed was below his level in this game it's probably fatigue man like that's
00:39:07
Speaker
they're They're going to be like both way cat past 3K minutes this year, all comps. ah So that's it is something that ah we're going to have to continue to monitor because ah if if the levels for either of or both of those players do dip or they have games like ah like this Puebla game or in the playoffs like this, the yeah the notion of where they could have been rotated out more and just given rest is is going to be even more prominent.
00:39:38
Speaker
And also you do have, ah i understand why Schmetz is hesitant to me to play like young and inexperienced players in situations like this, but Snyder B has looked good so far. He's he's scored a goal, but also I think he he, if you need to put him on for 30 minutes in that game, I think you i think you could have done it.
00:39:58
Speaker
But you played Osaze in this game and it's not like he has all that much more experience than Snyder B. So ah i don't know. What did you, what do you think, Nico? I think there is a level of of of exhaustion maybe, especially in the second half for Ovid.
00:40:13
Speaker
um I think that with some of the good tactics, there are moments where certain players will not be as as efficient ah because of the way that you're boosting out that game.
00:40:31
Speaker
If you look at Ovid's overall spacing in this game, it was a bit off. So it wasn't just for me, the the exhaustion, it was just some of his movement. And I don't know if it was just the the the switch of what they wanted to accomplish, ah you know moving on the attack and where Ferreira and times,
00:40:58
Speaker
at times Reed Baker, Whiten were at, and when they would play on the right side, it felt a little bit more fluid than when they were on the left side where maybe Ferreira was getting a lot on the ball and you're still trying to get used to that for a guy like Obed that wants to get on the ball and maybe break lines on the ball.
00:41:20
Speaker
And in this one, I think you want to bypass the midfield little bit. You want to attack the flanks mainly. um And I thought Seattle did that well. That's where most of the dangerous play came from was out in the flanks.
00:41:32
Speaker
So that takes away a couple of things from, from Ovid. But I thought this was just one of those things where one of those pivots is going to have a more resounding game. And Christian was the more resounding pivot.
00:41:45
Speaker
And then Ovid got lost a little bit in part of the play. Now, some of those, poor passing and some of those bad decisions, those come from exhaustion. And he did have a couple of those where even he's looking up on the sky like, oh man, I should have had that better.
00:42:00
Speaker
ah So there is a level of both things. One is, crediting what mean Minnesota wants to do, which is overpopulate that midfield and not allow that to be an easy ah pathway to to get on them offensively.
00:42:15
Speaker
And then the fact that I do think that there is a level of absorption and then the changes and evidence flows on of what the Sounders wanted to do offensively that maybe take away from what Obed does particularly well, right? and And that's all part of those chess matches where where things happen like that. But I will agree And there's no doubt in my mind that we've talked about it to the point of exhaustion.
00:42:40
Speaker
Bryant s Metzer has a really hard time moving those pivots because there's such an important feature of his system and his inability or lack of of confidence to switch those pivots do talk about maybe not having
00:42:59
Speaker
the weapons he wants to change us immediately and just make that switch a lot simpler than maybe he did when he used to have JP. So i think that's part of it, right? And you kind of got to give it to him, right? I mean, Schneider was very good.
00:43:15
Speaker
He continues to be good, but he's still 18 years old. Now, at some point, you're going to have to just let the kids play, as we mentioned last last last episode. But against Minnesota, it wasn't going to be it.
00:43:26
Speaker
Now, maybe would I have rotated him in early? Maybe, right? I mean, right. Would I have pulled Obed in the 70th minute? Would that have been one of my changes? And brought in either Leyva or Schneider?
00:43:40
Speaker
Perhaps. But I do think that there is a level of lack of confidence from Bryant's method that he's going to have to figure out in order to give this guy's rest because they can only play so many minutes.
00:43:54
Speaker
Yeah, and to the – You know, we've been talking about this issue of them playing too many minutes for a while. ah Over the last 10 games leading into this one, the team was playing...
00:44:08
Speaker
like they were taking results and they were scoring goals at a historic rate for the club. So like, uh, when they're, when, when the results are still there to that extent, uh, I, ah you know, more power to them, I guess it feels like they should be resting more, but like the, the team's on fire, they're, they're winning games, they're taking results. I think if you start to see the performances dip and, uh,
00:44:33
Speaker
They aren't taking results They lost this game Then I think it just kind of It kind of brings that issue up to the surface Even more so Than it already And one more thing on a separate thing That I wanted to touch on You know, you heard me talk about perspective When I introduce my initial concepts of this game.
00:44:55
Speaker
And i think it's important that we realize that, you know, because we're in an age of what have you done for me lately? And it's all about what's going on right now.
00:45:06
Speaker
There's so many people that just have this odd and weird, thought process where it's like, oh, the team doesn't need Jordan Morris. Like, oh, man, look at the team's just killing and they just score seven goals. Like, why do we need Jordan Morris and all this stuff?
00:45:19
Speaker
This is the type of game where a guy like Jordan Morris would pretty effective and and where you need to realize that you got to give this Sounders team's credit, right? No no no no Jordan Morris, no Albert Rusnak, right? I mean, those are two DPs. Those are two guys that are a huge part of the production of your offense, even to last year where it wasn't at this level, and and you haven't had Jordan, which is great that, you know, Mussofsky has been putting some goals, that Albert has been putting some goals, that Rothbrook has been putting some goals, Pedro has been a real good collective play, but there are going to be those games where you need someone to kind of do different things, and Jordan Morris would have been that guy. So that goes back to the point that, yes, if you had a U-22,
00:46:06
Speaker
for nine to $10 million. dollars You'd be great and amazing. And yes, it'd be beautiful, but that's not just, that's not what you have. And so a game like this one does reflect when the tactics don't fully get that result because maybe you just didn't have that guy that could put the ball in the back of the net.
00:46:24
Speaker
This game really could have used a, uh, a Jordan Morris, I think against a team with novel tactics like this, a guy who can, who can make those runs, get in behind and wreak havoc like that.
00:46:37
Speaker
It would have been very helpful. And Osase and Moose, they they do a lot of things. Well, it's just Jordan does all that stuff at any wheat level. So hopefully he gets back soon. And I, cause I think like when we're talking about the playoffs,
00:46:54
Speaker
you're like Even if you're not playing Minnesota, you're you're just going to be playing teams that are better defensively, ah the best teams in the league. So you kind of need every sort of way to threaten opposing defenses that you can get.
00:47:08
Speaker
And he certainly would provide a different element. So just hope he gets back soon. Nico, I think that's a good ah a good segue into ah talking about this Puebla game.
Preview of Seattle vs. Puebla
00:47:20
Speaker
a little bit Big game coming up on ah on Wednesday. So let's let's ah break that down a little bit. I'll ah bust out the lineup builder while we're giving our initial takes. But ah I guess I'll just ah tell you my initial impressions of Puebla. And you can let ah let the audience know if you've got any inside intel or anything to add. But essentially, what I've seen is that this is one of the worst teams in Mexico right now uh they are through five matches second to last on the league ameki's table they've lost their last two league games by a combined score of nine to zero they got seven owed by tigris they lost to san luis in their last game to zero so they're reeling in league play have not had a good start to the season at all
00:48:10
Speaker
they've been better in this tournament uh although i think their last game was against cf montreal who's one of the worst teams in mls and i think montreal got like a red card in that game so they've but they've played a lot better they've looked a lot better in leagues it's kind of like a la galaxy situation really bad in the league right now, but have looked like a, like a much better team in leagues cup.
00:48:32
Speaker
So all that's to say, like with Seattle having this game at home and with the form that web was in Seattle is going to be and favored in this game, ah but being in favored doesn't mean anything as far as what happens on the field and whether you at, you still got to take care of business.
00:48:49
Speaker
So I guess for me, maybe this is just how my mind works when, ah when they're going into a game ah in a tournament setting like this knockout game, huge game and they're, and they're favored that doesn't, I don't really feel like any better about it because that kind of just adds to the pressure so me.
00:49:10
Speaker
ah the fact that they they're going to be favored in this game and they're playing against a team that has not been doing well lately. It means if you lose if you lose the game, it looks worse than it would, you know, if you're playing one of the one of the best teams.
00:49:25
Speaker
And also, like These games are just inherently toss-ups. You can be favored as much as you want, but anything can happen in in and in an individual elimination game.
00:49:37
Speaker
All it takes is, like, so you could be up 1-0 in the second half, vastly outplaying them, but if you can't can't get the second goal, then they nick one at the very end. All of a sudden, you're in a situation where that could be decided on penalties, you know? So still very thin margins, even even playing against an opponent that is not in good form. So, ah Nico, how do you ah how do you size up this game? And do you have anything else on Puebla as far as, you know, intel on their team, who the dangerous players are, anything like that?
00:50:10
Speaker
The biggest change and the one thing that makes me a little nervous, I'm going to lie to you, a little nervous, is the fact that Puebla just fired their coach.
00:50:24
Speaker
And although that might sound odd that I'd be nervous because ah team that was so bad, coach bump is real new coach bumps are a real thing. And now you have to figure out that everything that you've seen from Puebla could very well change. The the the talent level is going to be the same, right?
00:50:44
Speaker
But the approach from a coach might be very different than, than others, right? The, The big knock on this Puebla team is that they were just playing too open. And it's kind of funny that we're going to ironically talk about this, but that they were just too open to play teams head to head, like the Tigres game where everybody was like, why would you go play Tigres open like that? Why would you go over there playing, you know, in the middle of the ring, shot for shot when you knew that you were outweighed and outclassed?
00:51:14
Speaker
La Rata Bravo, and allow me, because I know that our audience loves the nicknames. La Rata Bravo is the U21 head coach for the Puebla organization.
00:51:25
Speaker
He's going to be the interim head coach. So the rat is going to be in leading this team. um And, you know, for everything that i hear, you know, he's the type of guy that is a motivator, that's so a guy that's going to want to ah be a very pressing defensive ah type of team that, you know, they're going to have kind of that stamp of of his play.
00:51:45
Speaker
yeah. I think that's the hardest thing for Brian Smeister to kind of look at and say, is this game going to be completely different from what we've seen out of Puebla? You know, are they going to have major changes in their formation?
00:51:58
Speaker
I mean, the last game was so bad, man. I mean, you talk about... the Minnesota and Sanders game being a bit boring. This one was a 2-0 win by San Luis, but it was like watching paint dry. I mean, it was just bad soccer overall, just poor.
00:52:15
Speaker
And even when Puebla would get ahead and, you know, they they they have a guy like Lozano that I think gets in some really good positions. He's just not clinical in front of goal. I mean, he's bad, bad finishing in front of goal. So it was just such a bad game.
00:52:31
Speaker
um And the spider, Rodriguez, was the the the goalkeeper, the usually the goalkeeper for Puebla. He gets subbed off at halftime, and then the sub comes in and has like this very good game. So now there's some controversy in terms of the goalkeeping. I mean, it's a charade ah of things for for Puebla.
00:52:51
Speaker
um so So to me, it's going to be difficult to really decipher what the strategy is going to be, what the bump will look like for a new head coach.
00:53:02
Speaker
um What I would say is that this team, if anything works semi-well for them, does kind of happen in the midfield and where when they're able um to get guy like a Gonzalez on the ball consistently.
00:53:16
Speaker
um i feel like once again, Lozano is the guy that they want to get into the open space. ah because he does have some speed. He is a shifty player. ah You know, he can create some issues.
00:53:27
Speaker
But again, it's just the lack of finishing that happens for this team. ah In set pieces, they haven't been very good. ah Defensively, they they used to be way too open. But all of that can change with the new...
00:53:39
Speaker
head coach He could very easily just change that formation instead of three, ah you know play very differently. Maybe you go back down to to a four-man back line where you play two really deep blocks of four. I mean, there's just so many question marks in terms of what this team may look like that it could have some effect of what Brian could prepare for, in in my opinion. Maybe their thinking is going to be just the same, but for everything that I've been reading and and researching, that might not be the case.
00:54:10
Speaker
Everyone just mentally prepare yourself for the for the shenanigans. okay These guys are going to be pulling out all the stops. when ah When you have a situation like this where you've got a Liga and Mechie's team that is coming in here as the road team, and I think they're they're going to have full knowledge that they're probably going to be overmatched a little bit like talent-wise on on paper.
00:54:39
Speaker
bad form in in league play, they're going to be... It's going to get rowdy out there. It's going to get rowdy out there. It's probably going to be frustrating to watch at ah at certain points. But, ah you know, for me, and know everyone's ah til tilted about the ah Minnesota game.
00:54:57
Speaker
I am too. If they go out there and they take care of business in this game and they do what they need to do to to get by this team and advance in League's Cup, I'm willing to forget about the Minnesota game.
00:55:11
Speaker
I really want to think about that game ah for the rest of my life as is. And I really think there's you know there's different schools of thought on this, but I think League's Cup is what what it's about right now. You are in a situation where you have a chance to win a trophy.
00:55:27
Speaker
And like the thing is, no matter what you... think about how fans perceive this tournament or how the club should ah prioritize it or if it's a cynical money grab or whatever.
00:55:41
Speaker
The amount of prize money and CONCACAF Champions Cup spot on the line That's that's incentive enough where you're if this where if you're this close to it, I think you kind of got to go for it.
00:55:54
Speaker
ah You know, I think adding a trophy to the trophy case that they don't have yet. Anyway, that's that's incentive enough for me. But there's there's a lot of money on the line here.
00:56:05
Speaker
There's you can get into CONCACAF Champions Cup by just finishing top three in this. So that's like objective number one. But that's kind of ah that's kind of how I see that aspect of it. ah Nico, anything anything else on Puebla before we hit the lineup builder?
00:56:22
Speaker
No, i think this important. This is an important game, and you're absolutely right up about the shenanigans, specifically with everything that we just talked about. This is going to be a game where they might want to get Seattle off the rhythm.
00:56:33
Speaker
ah They might focus in on trying to get players sent off. So making sure that you have those talks with players knew who and and and the guys that are more subjective to being pushed in that route is going to be important. There's going to be time wasting. and ah There's going to be, you know, pools and and snags and a lot of chirping to the refs. So those are things that you might my see in general. But ah to me, it just opens up the rosters. There's a guy like Emiliano Gomez for Puebla.
00:57:04
Speaker
He's a Uruguayan 23-year-old that – I find very interesting. And when I've talked to guys that cover Puebla, they feel like he should have been getting in a lot more play time. So can a guy like that use one of these games to just to just shine? Can he get in there?
00:57:19
Speaker
ah But Owen Gonzalez for me is a guy that despite how poor this team is, can create some real good opportunities for you. And he's a guy that I would definitely watch out for, but because of how poor they are defensively, I think Seattle should have no issues winning this game.
00:57:38
Speaker
You know, but i say that with the small, you know, underwriting and and the fine print that if a new head coach kind of just change everything that we've seen from this team, it could just make it more difficult. But to me,
00:57:52
Speaker
Seattle is the heavy favorite. They have to play like the heavy favorite. Seattle has played better teams like Cholos, and they've played better teams like Cruz Azul, and they have dominated tempo, dominated ah possession.
00:58:09
Speaker
ah They've been the the better team. I expect that from Seattle in this one, regardless of what's going on. All right, let's talk about how they should line it up in this game.
00:58:21
Speaker
bringing out our trusty friend, the lineup builder. And ah when I switched the formation, it ah it created, this this is how they should do it, guys. this is that I'm just going to leave I'm not going to make any changes ah to this. We got D-Rowe left wing, Paul Rothrock at the 10, RBW holding it down on the right with everyone's favorite number nine, Jesus Ferreira. It did leave the double pivot.
00:58:43
Speaker
which they understand that Schmetzer's not going to rotate that, so that's still there. But then, you know, left-back Alex Roldan, the center-back pairing of New Who, Jackson Reagan with Yamar as the right-back, sign me up for this. But, no, in all seriousness, Nico, let's...
00:58:59
Speaker
ah let's Let's throw down the 11 that we think Seattle's going to put out in this game, starting with Schmetzer already said that he's giving Andy T. Leagues Cup, so it's going to be Andy T. out there if he's ah true to his word. Can I just swish these guys like that? Okay, no, I can't do that.
00:59:15
Speaker
Oh, whoa, whoa, like stay. Oh, that's kind of sick. uh we're gonna get uh we're gonna get new who had uh at left back here and i'm just gonna throw down the uh the normal first choice back line because i think we can pretty safely i mean we can pretty pretty safely assume everything ah besides the the front four uh let's start at left wing i mean you gotta throw de la vega in there right Yeah, Pedro's going to be in.
00:59:42
Speaker
but it He, ah Brian, basically told me, you know, Pedro's going to get back on and be the Pedro of old. I mean, when he asked, answered the question of whether or not sitting Pedro hadnt anything to do with the tendinitis that he kind of talked about earlier.
01:00:01
Speaker
He but basically said that, yeah, it it wasn't about that. It was more about rotation. Now, let me talk a little bit about the tendinitis. I don't think it's something that's extreme. I think that is something that players play through, and it depends on the level of uncofferedness. And it's something that kind of goes on and off at times.
01:00:18
Speaker
ah So that that's what this looks like. I know that there's always that concern about ah Pedro being inter-prone. As far as I've heard so far, as nothing that – is keeping him or holding him back or anything like that. It's just something that players at times deal with.
01:00:35
Speaker
ah So yes, he should start. He is is dying for this opportunity to play Puebla. um You saw him come in in the last game and be a difference maker, both with his mid-range shots, as well as his ability to get on the ball.
01:00:50
Speaker
um So yeah, I expect him to have a big game against Puebla. Yeah, I thought he's still ah he still looked good and dangerous against Minnesota. Came on late in the game, maybe didn't make as big an impact as he's been making lately with all the Colossos.
01:01:05
Speaker
ah But, I mean, De La Vega is in great form right now. And, you know, this is the type of game where you're ah your $7 million dollar player, you... you You ride them as far as they ah as they're going to take you.
01:01:19
Speaker
Let's just plug Jesus Ferreira in here at the 10. Rusnak, what do you know about his ah his timeline right now? like is he Because Schmetz said two to three weeks, or three to forty to four weeks, but he was already a week out from it. So that is like more like three weeks, which that was like a week ago. So should could he actually be back in like two weeks?
01:01:44
Speaker
Um, I'd say not. I think that the timeline is there and for all purposes of getting him back, it sounds like he is, um, in route and there's no setbacks. It looks fine.
01:01:58
Speaker
ah he did some very minimal work on his own on Friday. So he was out there, he did some jogging, you know, some agility stuff, but very very minimal.
01:02:11
Speaker
Um, I would say that the two weeks are going to get him but where he needs to be in order to start to be full on practice.
01:02:21
Speaker
But because of how well Ferreira has been playing, I don't think that they're going to rush him. Now, Albert Roxton is a guy that loves to play games. Maybe he's happy not to do practices, but he wants to get on the field.
01:02:35
Speaker
So would that change something perhaps? But I think that, Albert Rusnak won't be back as a starter, you know, for at least and another three weeks.
01:02:47
Speaker
What are you thinking for right mid here? Who you got? I think it's going to be Paul again. They have him as the number nine right now.
01:03:00
Speaker
Oh, that's kind of funny. Now it's RBW as the nine. ah any yeah Any particular reasoning for that other other than that's just kind of where the depth chart is at right now? no Yeah, I think that Paul's the guy that... Brand's going to want to go with the guys he trusts. So if Albert was there, it would be Ferreira at that position.
01:03:19
Speaker
but because that's not the case, it's going to be Paul. Paul's a guy that plays very well against the MX teams. I think that he's going to give you a lot of work rate. I feel like he's going to be one of the ah biggest presence when he comes to crashing in the box, when he...
01:03:35
Speaker
when Pedro's on the field, he's going to put three or four of those early crosses or those curving crosses. And if there's a guy that gets consistently in the back end of those is a guy like Paul Rothrock, or at least he drags a player that opens up channels for either Ferreira making a run or Danny Mussofsky, who I think will start this game up top.
01:03:56
Speaker
ah So because of the the type of player that Paul Rothrock is and the report that he has with the rest of the team and the confidence that Brian Spencer has on him.
01:04:10
Speaker
I think that he's going to be the guy. We talked to him this week and although hands still broken and, you know, it does kind of give him some issues sometimes in the way that he falls and pushes and drags.
01:04:22
Speaker
Um, I think that he's been good and maybe he wasn't as effective against Minnesota because of the style of play in and in the way that that kind of game played out.
01:04:35
Speaker
To me, in this one, he's going to have a lot more space to run to, to run into. um And ah defensively, he's going to be a guy that really pushes that that the envelope there for that that that team. So the work rate for me is going to be important in this one.
01:04:51
Speaker
I think that Seattle is going to want to play on the front foot. I think they're going to want to high press consistently. And to me, that's something that Paul does well. There you have it, folks. This is your official Lobbing Scorchers projected starting 11 sponsored by nobody.
01:05:07
Speaker
ah Yeah, I think this is this is how I would do it. You know, must-win game, elimination game. You got to... ah You got to play your you're best 11, but also like you know your most trusted 11, like you mentioned there. And i think this is it.
01:05:23
Speaker
I did want to ask you, though, Nico, ah what what did you think of ah Georgie in the Minnesota game? Because I saw split opinions on this. And i i'm i came out of that game thinking that he looks...
01:05:38
Speaker
pretty, um pretty like actively good. It was awesome. He created some good chances. He was making good runs. He was beating his defenders like he usually does. And he created what I thought was one of the two best chances of the game. You mentioned that Osase open, open netter, but, uh,
01:05:53
Speaker
the one the what The cross he put in, he put in two really good ones, I thought. And then the one he put in ah that Yamar eventually got cleared off the line, that easily could have been a goal. And I just love how ah proactive he is about, you know, taking on his defenders, usually getting...
01:06:12
Speaker
by them. They have a hard time keeping him in front of them and then just, yeah, just send it into the mixer, hit like across as hard as you freaking can right across goal. he He's, he does that stuff and it creates dangerous opportunities.
01:06:26
Speaker
But I also, I saw a lot of people on the blue sky timeline being like Georgie is, i trolling out there, this guy ah is terrible, or whatever. I was i was like completely on a different wavelength on that, and I bring that up because i i i agree, Rothrock should in and will start this game. that Everyone knows he's a heavily pro-Paul Rothrock show ah but like i want to see georgie get some run in this game i think he is to me he looks like one of the most consistently ah the attackers who creates like consistent danger and then also like the end product he showed in the santos game that was intriguing like he that's the whole knock on him is that he's very raw as far as the end product goes
01:07:12
Speaker
But he showed in against Santos that he's got some end product in his bag after all. So what what did you – did you think Georgie was bad against the Loons? I really – did not think so.
01:07:23
Speaker
No, I did not think he was bad. I actually thought he was good. um i don't think that he was – lights out in terms of that um he came in and just, like, changed the game. But he, without a doubt, –
01:07:38
Speaker
more effective on the ball than Paul was. Paul was obviously did a lot of other dirty work that that that needs to be accounted for. ah But in in beating 1v1 and finding the end line on that right side, I thought that Georgiou was an improvement there as soon as he came in, right? So like I said, he didn't change the game completely, but he was a guy that was an improvement on that area.
01:08:01
Speaker
And that that is credit to the young man. ah There are obviously... ah some um things that he needs to work out defensively. And when he comes to tracking back and when he comes to some positioning things, sure, if you want to nitpick things, but him being bad, i would not agree with. I thought that ah he he's grown a lot when he comes to the patient on the ball.
01:08:25
Speaker
I think that he is okay by just dropping into passes more consistently. But in this one, thought that he was yeah was good. I thought he came on and,
01:08:37
Speaker
did Did his job and I thought that he created opportunities that needed it to happen. I would have even thought of bringing him a little bit sooner. um You know, part of my initial look into this game was wondering why Georgie didn't start.
01:08:52
Speaker
Obviously, as we have watched the game twice already, go through the notes. hear what Brian had to say when I asked him about it. It makes sense why he didn't start Georgie.
01:09:04
Speaker
But I thought that he was very good. I thought that he is a guy that earned himself some more minutes too. He had an unbelievable training of a week of training.
01:09:15
Speaker
I mean, he was lights out all week in training. I mean, he just looks so delivered on the ball. He, uh, is using more of that switch play where, ah before maybe he was just playing on the right side.
01:09:27
Speaker
Uh, and now when he's had the chance to kind of play opposite on the left side and he's cutting inside and taking those shots, he's doing that more consistently. um I think that his effort defensively has also improved.
01:09:40
Speaker
So to me, ah he's a guy that deserves more minutes, that wants more minutes. You've heard me talk about I wanted to see more minutes from Georgie than I did from Brian Kent.
01:09:52
Speaker
Unfortunately, that happened think that was prior to the injury, of course. and And we hate that Brian Kent has an injury. But at the same time, i did want to see more minutes for Georgie. So ah I wouldn't expect him to start against Puebla.
01:10:06
Speaker
But maybe if the game demands it, maybe he comes in a little bit sooner. Got a couple from chat here. a One here for you, Nico.
01:10:17
Speaker
ah FC Utrecht just signed a new number nine, Sebastian Holler. Could Noah Ohio potentially be back in play again? My understanding of it is that a lot of this is based on the player's personal desire to to stay in Europe and like keep that dream alive. So I would not imagine that them signing a number nine affects how he feels today.
01:10:40
Speaker
about that But Nico, have you heard anything up that no Ohio way? No, the no Ohio door closed completely. So as you very well point out, it was a decision by the player to not come.
01:10:55
Speaker
The Seattle centers are no longer pursuing that option. So they they are, they still have some, some offers out there ah that are,
01:11:08
Speaker
they're just out there. I wouldn't be very confident that they'd be able to secure somebody. My my confidence level used to be 30. Now it's at 20 that a new U22 comes in. I actually, we've mentioned that we don't need to reiterate why I think that the Sounders are going to want to see what they can get out of this group and then figure out the U22 in the winter window.
01:11:31
Speaker
So for all things considered, yeah, no, no Ohio. And, and yeah, look, no Ohio was even having some hard times getting into the field. Cause obviously we've been following it and,
01:11:43
Speaker
he was getting like 20, 30 minutes at a U check. And, and, and it's interesting because you think that a player that wants to stay over there is because maybe he has some guaranteed minutes, but that's not the case for no Ohio. He had kind of fallen off in terms of just starting games. So yeah,
01:12:01
Speaker
Maybe sometimes things happen for a reason. Maybe it's good that Seattle didn't necessarily end up blocking out this player or whatever it is. But I'm sure that there's a lot of things that they saw in him in terms of projection and developmental things of it.
01:12:16
Speaker
ah But yeah, he was having a hard time getting on the field as it was. So now that they had to have a new nine, even worse. Where are you at just on on them it looking like they're not going to sign the in this window? Because kind of where where I've landed, and I said this on under the lights last week, but where I've landed is like if they play like they've been playing, like they played over that 10-game unbeaten run, like where they're scoring goals like that that, that is all I want out of the team is just play like that.
01:12:50
Speaker
Play like that. If you play like that, you're probably going to win a trophy or two. And also that really, ah it mitigates how much I care about any anything with the with how the roster is set up. Like it would be, obviously it would be nice for them to use that spot to bolster it in this ah in this window.
01:13:12
Speaker
But like, i don't I kind of, even before, it was before the Minnesota game, but I really was just like, man, like if they're if they're playing like this, i I'm really sitting here like complaining about like a U22 spot where they, I mean, they had a target, but it didn't, they it didn't get over
Budget Constraints and Team Management
01:13:31
Speaker
the line player. Didn't want to come here. Clearly they ah have not lined up some, a target that they believe in. Otherwise they would have signed that player.
01:13:42
Speaker
ah So that's, like it comes down to like, how they perform through the rest of this league's cup run and the, and the post season. ah And if they can kind of maintain the level that we've, that we've seen before the the Minnesota game.
01:13:57
Speaker
ah But like, you know, if they can't sustain that level, they don't win the trophy. And there's this kind of feeling again, like it was last year where it's like, man, they just had that one, one extra piece.
01:14:09
Speaker
They might've been able to get that over the line. Then I think how I'll, how I think about it will, will change. But, uh, For me, i just want I just want to see them keep playing how they how they were playing in those 10 games before the Minnesota game. That is all I care about. Play like that.
01:14:24
Speaker
Just play like that all the time. That's what I want. Where are you at on that?
01:14:30
Speaker
I want to be very clear about
01:14:35
Speaker
clarifying my position on this. On one end, i i am frustrated, and I understand the frustration from people that The Seattle Sounders, despite their global recognition and their success over the last 10 years,
01:14:57
Speaker
can approach five different players and not secure them and not be able to sell them on coming to Seattle. A lot of that has to do with the budget and the lack thereof.
01:15:10
Speaker
That's an issue. That's an issue. So let's make it very clear that
01:15:16
Speaker
I do not condone or think that it's acceptable that Seattle is going into, i don't know, three windows without making any any moves, any acquisitions.
01:15:28
Speaker
ah That maybe if you had more money, you could go out there and if you were willing to spend at least eight to 9 million, and again, this is just a number.
01:15:42
Speaker
I'm just kind of putting that out there. Could Seattle have gone out there and found a nine that was better than what you currently have on that bench? I can confidently say that that's very possible and that you should be able to go out there and get you a top prospect for that type of money.
01:16:01
Speaker
So the problem to me continues to be the lack of investment from ownership. So I don't want to hear, because on that same sense, I do not want to continue to hear the Craig Weibel banter, because Craig Weibel is not putting money out of his own pocket.
01:16:17
Speaker
And he can only use what he's being given to get people out here. Do I think he's perfect? No. Do I think that maybe in South America, there could be some brushing and some searching through so some various teams to find somebody for...
01:16:34
Speaker
the the budget they have perhaps. Do I like the fact that they were scouting Europe where it's a lot more difficult to go get a U20 player to say, hey man, stop playing in Erevedice and come to MLS?
01:16:46
Speaker
No, i don't i don't I don't love that. But I do know that they were targeting the right type of players that if they had a bigger budget, they would have been able to bring in these guys that were going to be game changers for what they wanted to do, that they were going to be able to develop, that were going to be contributors right off the bat.
01:17:03
Speaker
But in the same sense, you have to credit Craig Weibel for having a what is now being called the deepest team in MLS history and that the team has gone through a winning streak in the fashion that they did, that they made an impact in Club World Cup, that they absolutely destroyed Cruz Azul team 7-0 and everything that comes about because they should be able to beat Puebla midweek, get to the next phase of...
01:17:34
Speaker
League's Cup, and that's all credit to the current roster. So for all the doubters on the Ferreira situation, on the Albert Rusnak bringing him back, on the JP thing bringing him back, people, JP got hurt.
01:17:49
Speaker
And that happens to players that that aren't hurt. it It's something that just happens. He came in for a very good price. He was a very easy decision to bring back because he wanted to be here.
01:18:01
Speaker
So you you got him on a discount. He's a guy that's good for a locker room. He's a guy that... Unfortunately, didn't get a lot of minutes when he was healthy, but regardless of of what it was, he was a guy that was a positive brought in.
01:18:13
Speaker
Albert Rosnack was playing at a very high level before the the the injury happened. Maybe he's not in the level of like the Evanders and the Martino Haydes, but he's very close in terms of stats.
01:18:26
Speaker
So I just think that a lot of what Craig Weibel has done, and despite all the heat that he's taken, he's put together a group that is extremely talented. And don't give me that Brian Schmetzer is the one that put it all together because, you know, Brian Schmetzer, yes, he's he's being – I'm not going to take away his credit for having his team where they are, but it all starts with the talented group that you were provided and you were brought in to have.
01:18:51
Speaker
you know I would even argue that you know it took a little bit to put Pedro on the left. It took a little bit of of adjusting things to do. But now the team is playing at a high level, so you just got to praise it. But to me, the Craig Weibel rants, I would think that they would start – to just fade when the team is playing as good as they are.
01:19:11
Speaker
But that just doesn't seem to be the case. But to me, again, I'm not okay with the fact that you might go through this window without bringing in a guy, but I think it's more on ownership than on a guy like Craig Weibull.
01:19:24
Speaker
It is definitely just not a situation where Schmetz has been given just a bunk-ass roster and he is like getting it to this level through pure coaching wizardry and nothing else. you know I think they both both deserve credit. like Schmetz has done ah really good job this year with the man management and just getting the most out of this team, but like, I just, I guarantee you because i ah James, we love James. He called regular call into the show. We were going, oh yeah yeah we were going back and forth about this on the, on the post game live. And ah you know, his argument was that the team's on field results are fully attributable to, to Schmetz and not, and not Craig's roster.
01:20:18
Speaker
I just like, ah I don't think any like, analyst or anyone who follows the league, if you surveyed a hundred of them, not a single one would call it a situation where it's a bunk roster and the coach is just getting stuff out of it that like he really shouldn't be.
01:20:37
Speaker
There are situations like that. I've seen situations like that. Wilfred Nazi of a couple years ago, look at the roster he had for CF Montreal and then the record in points that they put up.
01:20:48
Speaker
That was that type of situation. This is just not that type of situation. I think you have Schmetz coaching his ass off for sure. ah But he also he's been given one of the deepest and most talented rosters in the league. So as far as the Craig Wives discourse, that's I kind of land on the same same place there.
01:21:08
Speaker
ah But like also I don't want to like be dismissive or kind of gloss over the notion that. the fact that they keep getting to the end of these transfer windows and not being able to make these signings because of the budget, clearly, that's an issue.
01:21:27
Speaker
That's not good. That's going to be an issue in future transfer windows if they don't just put more money into the roster. Like, I don't know how to put it. Like you got, you got to do that at a certain, at a certain point, uh, as far as how it affects the teams standing right now, as we sit today in this window, I don't think this is like, uh, I've seen people to categorize it as like a, well, this team is one piece away type situation. I don't think that's how this U22 spot is, uh, being thought of at least by how Seattle's thinking of it. It's a move for like,
01:22:00
Speaker
so to bolster your roster for the future. Not like, oh, we need this one piece to contend this year. I think this team is ready to contend the level of footy we've seen this year.
01:22:10
Speaker
I think we've seen enough good stuff and then playing at a really high level to, uh, to confirm that. So we'll see how it, uh, how it pans out.
01:22:22
Speaker
But as far as like, uh, my concern as it stands right now is winning trophies this year, contending this year. i don't think they necessarily needed to fill the U22 spot to to do that. I don't, but, uh,
01:22:36
Speaker
the ah The budget thing, mean, you can't just not spend money ever. that's just That's not how it works. And I think that's kind of what ah the ownership brass is trying to do right now. I think how the team is playing might be emboldening that, which, okay, at a certain point, that is going to catch up to you.
01:22:57
Speaker
So, like, just show out shell out some cash, man. so shut and and And again, I'm not saying... forget everything that works well for this team. And the fact that you've created a sustainable talent producer in your academy and that you are able to give yourself a foundation of players by having this foundation quality young players come in play consistent minutes, become, you know, studs like Ovid Vargas.
Enhancing Team Strategies with Investment
01:23:32
Speaker
I'm not saying stop going out there and getting those fines that you do get, like a guy like Kim Kihi that you brought in and has been very good ah whenever his number has been called and you continue to just find certain players to play specific positions for you.
01:23:53
Speaker
But if you inject, More money to what you're already doing well You're just going to put your team at a different position And thats that's all we're saying I'm not denying the fact that this team Has done well with what they have And that they are very impressive ah When it comes to The talent level they're able to produce And develop But at the same time man There is that top end talent that continues to be the but question mark.
01:24:22
Speaker
The only reason why we don't think that, I mean, at least I don't think that is going to be like a clear cut thing that Seattle is going to be in the finals of MLS Cup, right? I mean, they're definitely a contender.
01:24:33
Speaker
No doubt about that. But, you know, the top end is Jordan back, is Albert back. All those things are kind like, oh, man, you know, is that top end talent, even when you are completely healthy, is that...
01:24:45
Speaker
necessarily there. i sure think that this team can get extremely far and I think that they are without a doubt a contender, but you know it'd be nice to just have that extra level of confidence by having additional players with even more talent you have some of the best infrastructure and foundation in the league i think the youth development is clearly in a fantastic place right now ah i think schmetz and the coaching staff they have one of the best like cultures locker room environments and all that stuff in the league so uh i mean look this stuff about the budget is going to be continue to be a uh a talking point uh but you know
01:25:24
Speaker
As far as how it affects them contending for trophies right now, I think they can do that without the U-22. And that's the most pertinent issue right now, in my opinion. All right, Nico. oh Before you go, just to put things in perspective for a guy like James, I mean, I really wonder if James thinks that Ned Gravaboy has been better GM than ah Craig Weibel.
01:25:47
Speaker
Because Portland Timbers have been very active in transfer windows. They've brought a whole bunch of guys over the last three windows. But... not always good thing. Success hasn't been there. It's always a good thing. Success hasn't been there.
01:25:57
Speaker
i and if you're making two, three moves in a transfer window like they are, that likely means things aren't like going so hot with the roster. so just put things in the perspective that's all ask all right yeah i gotta run on that uh but nickte nico thanks for uh laying down the show as always appreciate you man thank you all for tuning in please like the video subscribe to the channel if you haven't uh we'll be uh i think we're gonna put out a pod before the wednesday game so uh keep uh keep an eye out for that be back for under the lights where we'll be talking about this uh pueblo game so
01:26:31
Speaker
Content train keeps rolling. Nico, thanks again, man. And I'll catch you this week. I'll see you. See you Wednesday. Peace.