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Sounders vs. Whitecaps Concacaf Champions Cup MEGA-PREVIEW (feat. Michael McColl)
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We're joined by Michael McColl of AFTN to preview the upcoming Concacaf Champions Cup Round of 16 series between Seattle Sounders FC and Vancouver Whitecaps FC.
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Lobbing Scorchers is a production of Just Once Media.
Lobbing Scorchers is a Seattle Sounders and MLS focused show brought to you by Sounder at Heart. Hosted by Major League Soccer's Ari Liljenwall and Producer Noah Riffe. Join us as we lob our scorching takes on the American soccer landscape, Seattle Sounders, Major League Soccer, USMNT and more.
Contact: lobbingscorchers@justoncemedia.com
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Transcript
Introduction and Streaming Details
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 a real scorcher today. Why the scorcher today? Well it's gonna be scorcher.
00:00:44
Speaker
Good evening,
Seattle Sounders vs Vancouver Whitecaps Preview
00:00:45
Speaker
everybody, and welcome to a special Wednesday night edition of Lobbing Scorchers Under the Lights. Folks, it is time for CONCACAF Champions Cup. The Seattle Sounders getting their round of 16 series underway at Vancouver tomorrow. So we had to lay down a preview, so we are bringing back the Under the Lights format. ah I think this this is technically the first under the lights of the season. We've been podcasting at the studio on Thursdays, which is the night I did them last year. So still kind of working through what the schedule for these these late night streams is going to be this year.
00:01:18
Speaker
But for now, I think it's going to be kind of on a rotating basis. We're going to pick the times and places as they come. And this is a perfect time for it because... Huge game on Thursday. CONCACAF Champions Cup, the road to the second ever and MLS club winning CONCACAF Champions Cup starts tomorrow in the great country of Canada. So we're going be previewing that tonight. We're going to Michael McCall from AFTN, friend of the show. He's been on a couple times, host of the best white caps podcast.
00:01:49
Speaker
Hop it on our podcast to help us preview this matchup. He's going to be joining in about 30 minutes. And, uh, before that, we're going to be talking some Seattle Sounders news and, uh, anything else that might come up throughout the evening. I'm planning on, uh, Probably ripping about an hour, an hour and a half here. We'll be hanging out ah previewing this match, talking Seattle Sounders, maybe some of the other results from a CONCACAF champions cup.
00:02:14
Speaker
And as always, if you have questions, takes observations, agendas, grievances, feel free to ah drop them in the chat and I'll get to as many, as many as I can quiet in the chat.
00:02:25
Speaker
So far, but it is an unorthodox time for me to be streaming. We
Sponsorship and Tournament Challenges
00:02:30
Speaker
haven't done a Wednesday night show, so people will show up as we yeah as we get into it here. Before we do get into it here, shout out to all our sponsors, Hakes and Ferments, Full Pull Wines, and Podium Menswear. I teased it on Monday.
00:02:43
Speaker
teased it on Monday when I wasn't sure if I should be teasing it yet, but now I can officially tease it. We're going to have some exciting news on the sponsor front for you guys today. Next week. So keep your eyes peeled for that. Not ready to unveil exactly what's going on with that yet, but we're going to be unveiling that soon. So ah exciting times for, for lobbying scorchers and exciting to get CONCACAF champions cup underway.
00:03:06
Speaker
Always a fun tournament. I've been having fun watching these first slate of a round of 16 games. I was watching them. was covering them last night, actually. And it got me excited for this series, even though, you know, It is part of the novelty of CONCACAF Champions Cup is when you get to play these teams that you normally wouldn't get to play. LAFC was playing a Costa Rican team last night, for instance. And this is an all MLS series, but an all MLS CCC series can still be fun, just in a different way than it is when you're playing these novel opponents. But this is also a Cascadia derby for CONCACAF Champions Cup, which ah is big, you know?
00:03:46
Speaker
You got rivalry, you know? You got rivalry implications, got bragging rights on the line and a spot in the CONCACAF Champions Cup quarterfinals to be
Sounders Lineup and Strategy Discussion
00:03:55
Speaker
decided. And the Seattle Sounders are going into this series with ah how many is it? One natural center back.
00:04:04
Speaker
So we are going to talk about the implications of that because that's not good. It's not ideal. It's not what you want. But it's also they're also I do think and we'll talk about it, but I do think they are set up better than most to weather a situation like that, theoretically.
00:04:23
Speaker
ah thanks to Alex Roldan for the most part. So we're going to find out exactly how good a center back Alex Roldan really is. And as Discolfer points out, Discolfer, thank you for getting the chat room. appreciate you. ah We don't need CBs if we drop 15 goals on the Caps. Exactly.
00:04:44
Speaker
Exactly. Who needs center backs? Who needs center backs to win it? Honestly, like, I mean, look, we're going to talk about it, but if they pull this off with one center back, I think it would be one of the most impressive accomplishments in club history.
00:05:01
Speaker
Like, you're playing your right back at center back, which he's done before, but it's also not something that he does with a lot of regularity.
00:05:12
Speaker
And is it something that he can be entrusted to do against Thomas Mueller and Brian wright brian White, AZ Jackson, Seb Berhalter?
00:05:24
Speaker
I mean, it's dicey, and I don't feel great about it. I don't know how i don't know how you guys are feeling about it. How are you feeling about the going into CCC with no centerbacks?
00:05:37
Speaker
ah Yeah, it... It blew my mind how good Alex looked at CB last game too. And it kind of always blows my mind every time he has to do it.
00:05:48
Speaker
ah
00:05:51
Speaker
But yeah every time he's had to do it, he's done it. I will say that. I will say that we're the anti St. Louis FC from last season. We got no center backs. Yeah, exactly. They would play six of them at a time.
00:06:04
Speaker
Seattle Sounders can be playing one at a time, one designated player, one center back. Can you win a CONCACAF champions cup series with a one designated player and one center
Vancouver Whitecaps Analysis
00:06:15
Speaker
back? We're about to find out. I will tell you, most teams could not, most teams could not.
00:06:21
Speaker
We're going to, we're going find out if, ah if this team can.
00:06:26
Speaker
Hoping the Caps don't beat us like they did Portland. Yeah, they absolutely worked Portland. And we're going to talk to Michael McCall about that in about 25 minutes here. But the the Caps look like the Caps of last year to me.
00:06:40
Speaker
Over the last two weeks or so. And that's a change from how I felt about them as recently we, we were when with this first matchup first got decided, we were given our reaction to it. And I know it was saying he felt very confident. He's not too worried about this series. And I was not quite that confident, but I was closer to that end of the spectrum than I was to the terrified end of the spectrum. Now I'm with the center back situation.
00:07:07
Speaker
I'm closer to the terrified end of the spectrum than I am the confident end of the spectrum. Uh, Does Yamar make that big of a difference in the confidence by himself?
00:07:20
Speaker
Arguably no, but they they didn't have they don't have another center back other than him left, other than Jackson. So yeah, they're really good. They are, this is one of the best three, four teams in major league soccer right now. ah they were the best the They were the best team in major league soccer for a good portion of last year. For all the talk about the ah the ambition,
00:07:46
Speaker
the Ambition Brigade, LAFC, Inter-Miami, all that. It was the Whitecaps who are not the biggest, flashiest, splashiest team. It was the Whitecaps were the literal number one best team in the league for a good portion of last year.
00:08:00
Speaker
Obviously, they made it all the way to the CCC final and the MLS Cup final. They did lose those both pretty badly, but their run to the CCC final last year was About as impressive as it gets right up until the very end when they had to play Cruz Azul, which did not go very well. They got blown out in that game and they got worked pretty badly by Inter-Miami and MLS Cup as well.
00:08:25
Speaker
But
Inter-Miami and LA Galaxy Tournament Performance
00:08:26
Speaker
ah They are one of the best teams in the league. They have some of the best attackers in the league. They have one of the best strikers in the league. They have one of the best Euro imports in the league. Thomas Mueller, Tommy Mule, our guy.
00:08:41
Speaker
ah They got the defender of the year. they they that's That's the thing about the Caps. I was just watching Inter-Miami play Nashville SC in their CONCACAF Champions Cup round of 16 opener.
00:08:53
Speaker
in Nashville. Shout out RBW. He looked really good. ah And it ended 0-0, which is a bad result for Nashville on multiple fronts. But it's even worse when I didn't see the whole game, but I watched a lot of the first half. And Nashville was absolutely ex-G merchanting.
00:09:10
Speaker
They were frying the XG. They were putting Dane St. Clair under siege. Dane St. Clair made one save in particular on Sam Serge. That was just insane. But Inter-Miami looked vulnerable. They were giving up chance after chance after chance. And they got pretty lucky to not give up a to not give up a goal to Nashville. And Nashville couldn't capitalize on that. But I was thinking to myself during that first half, like, okay, this Inter-Miami team, obviously,
00:09:40
Speaker
They got Lionel Messi. They got Bert Arame. Bert Arame still has not scored, by the way. So he hasn't looked good so far. I have no doubt that he'll get going, but that hasn't popped so far. But the whole thing with Inter-Miami was like they got Mikael, who was one of the best center backs in the league when he was on the Dynamo, and they signed the goalkeeper of the year, Dane St. Clair, and that was supposed to be the thing that turned them from this super high-powered, messy-led,
00:10:08
Speaker
attacking team that could score a bunch of goals, but also concede a bunch of goals into that team, but also ah one that could defend. I don't really know if they're they're there right now with that.
00:10:20
Speaker
I don't think they are. they When they played, the best team they played, LAFC, honed three goals on them. And credit to them, they did get out of Nashville tonight with a clean sheet, with that series at 0-0.
00:10:32
Speaker
That pretty much chalks that series, in my opinion. I don't see how Nashville goes to Miami and wins that game outright. Like they needed to get a lead going. They needed to score at least one goal and they didn't do that.
00:10:44
Speaker
But I don't know. I just, I feel like inter Miami looked as vulnerable defensively in that game as they did last year. and we'll see.
00:10:56
Speaker
it could, it could improve as the season progresses, but maybe that's just their thing. Like it doesn't matter who they sign. They could sign Mikael, they could sign whoever, and they're just going to be giving up a lot of chances.
00:11:08
Speaker
RBW almost scored a banger. Yeah, he looked good. Bertram does not look good. And I don't want a victory lap. I'm not going to victory lap on that till we get like close to the end of the season and he's sitting on like three or four goals. Then we can be like, haha, that didn't work. I mean,
00:11:25
Speaker
That guy was so good for CF Monterey and then Liga and Mechies. I have a hard time believing he's going to come to MLS, especially playing on a team with literally Lionel Messi. And he's just not going to be scoring.
00:11:39
Speaker
I don't know. Dane St. Clair is on Fraud Watch. He has been on Fraud Watch. And he he had a couple good saves tonight, but he also had he's had he has these shaky moments where he's like keeping ah keeping the ball when he's trying to play it out of the back too much. And he almost like he almost got...
00:11:56
Speaker
a couple balls like taken off them tonight where they could have led to, to goals. And he got, they, I enter Miami got a little bit lucky. They got a little bit lucky in that game to not score now or to not give up a goal.
00:12:10
Speaker
I admittedly did not watch the whole thing. I was mostly watching the first half to me. It looked like in the first half, Nashville was kind of all over them. And I don't think I saw inter Miami or messy get like a single good chance the other way. So maybe that dynamic change in the second half, I need someone who watched can can tell me. But that first half, I thought Nashville looked way better. And it's kind of unfortunate because i did allow the thought to creep into my mind. Like, man, what if Nashville what if nashville can just get inter-Miami out of this thing?
00:12:41
Speaker
Wouldn't that have been nice? That would have been great.
00:12:47
Speaker
Dane St. Clair played fine. Shot stopping really well, though. Yeah, it was boring in the it was boring in the second half. I didn't watch all the second half, but I thought the first half, the first half at least Nashville had chances.
00:13:00
Speaker
they had They had, especially the one that Surridge, oh man, that was great that was a good save by Dan St. Clair. I'll give that one to him. What's Noah's soapboxing on here? It's such BS. We have to play Whitecaps and Galaxy are over here playing the Academy of a Random Club from Jamaica. Yeah, we can talk about that.
00:13:19
Speaker
We can talk about that because it is a little annoying that the Galaxy have had... a such a Mickey Mouse path so far.
00:13:30
Speaker
They are playing in this in the round of 16. I can't remember who they played in the first round, but they like barely got by them. It was the Panamanian team. They played a Panamanian team that was not that good, and they kind of barely squeaked by them.
00:13:42
Speaker
Now they have a team. Have you guys heard of this team? Mount Pleasant from the Jamaican Premier League, who ah would would realistically have a hard time competing in this tournament Anyway, but then it also, I guess, has been reported that ah a lot of their players are banned from making the trip to the country.
00:14:02
Speaker
So they're going to be, the Galaxy are playing a Jamaican Premier League team that they were probably going to handle easily anyway, and they're going down 10 players. So, i mean, it it is annoying in one sense, but the thing about that is that, like, especially in this tournament, you can you can get an easy path for...
00:14:28
Speaker
a period of time. You can ride that to where the galaxy have ridden that too. But eventually if you're not, if you're not ready for the smoke, if you're not up for the last, I had in. how to jump where is a I had to jump in.
00:14:42
Speaker
I'm watching this game right now. Is this Mount Pleasant? Yeah. Okay. I haven't been watching what's going on. Give us the the scoop. Well, peck Peck put one past them. They're absolutely dominating them. There's no reason this Mount Pleasant team should in any way be playing in this tournament. It's cool, but ah the Galaxy, who, I'm sorry, you qualify for this tournament by, what do you do? Literally getting third place in a tournament and then almost spooning?
00:15:13
Speaker
that is That is ridiculous. And then for them to be seeded so that they get to play... two teams I've never heard of before. And then they literally use the powers of Donald Trump to make sure that none of Mount Pleasant can play in this match. I'm just going to say it.
00:15:30
Speaker
I'm just going to say it. We need to investigate l LA galaxy and their connection with the Trump administration. That's that's all going to say. That's all I'm here to say. um and it was the galaxy of flagging like, Hey, wait a minute.
00:15:44
Speaker
These visas should not be accepted. and maybe Listen, I cannot confirm nor deny it would be irresponsible as a journalist to rule out the potential that they are collaborating with the federal government.
00:15:58
Speaker
But I just think this tournament is so goofy. Like, it's the same thing. Why is LAFC get to play nobody? They get to play. they're They've played nobody. Well, so and now let's talk about that because. I was i was covering their game against Alahuense. Is that how you say it? Alahuense, yeah. alo Sorry, i guys, I'm making some dumplings right now, too, so I got to put those in. We got dumplings on stream. I was i was watching i was watching the LAFC Alahuense game, and it was very much one of those games where, like, one team was on top of the other the entire time, and Alahuense was just absorbing pressure. But LAFC couldn't finish their chances and they actually ended up falling behind one zero and they almost lost that one zero.
00:16:41
Speaker
i But then Bwongo, of course, gets the equalizer, but they didn't look that good, man. Like they did. They, okay. They did look good, but like they weren't finishing their chances. at It was not a good game for them. It was not a good game for them. but And it's just, to me, it's just one of those reminders, like, especially when it comes to CCC, like you can think that you have, you can have a huge talent advantage, a huge spending advantage, and you can go into these games against these kinds of random teams that you've never heard of and think that you should win easily.
00:17:09
Speaker
doesn't always work like that. Like, A lot of fan bases get frustrated when
CONCACAF Champions Cup Challenges
00:17:14
Speaker
they're... especially Like, LAFC fan l lefc fans were crashing out last night. I saw a lot of, like, fire... watched Happy Foot, Sad Foot. That was, like, the best possible yeah cope I could ever watch. And on Twitter, like, i was seeing a lot of, like, fire MDS already. like People are like, oh, all the Koreans are mad at... ah And Mark Dos Santos, they're like, Mark Dos Santos doesn't know how to use Hyunmin Sun. And I i just kept saying, guys, guys, how are you mad at Mark Dos Santos?
00:17:44
Speaker
He literally saved Sun from the championship. Oh, yeah, he did. You have to like LAFC, but that's a little another thought. Yeah, but like they're saying like fire MDS, and the whole his usage is – the Sun's usage is a talking point for them beyond just the Korean portion of the fan base. like There's a lot of controversy about that, which I think is funny just because they literally – up until this game, they looked like the best team in the league. They were – had 13 goals to one conceded I believe in all their games so far up to that point so it's like it's one of those things where it's like all right well if if he's not getting as many goals as you would think uh but the team is still banging in goals like it's no one no one's business and he's getting assists and stuff does it really matter it kind of reminds me of like the Jesus Ferreira discourse a little bit but like
00:18:33
Speaker
Either way, ah like there wasn't a lot of accounting for the fact that it's like, that's just life in CCC, man. like Yeah, you you can think that you're entitled to beat Aluense by five goals because you've never heard of him in your LAFC. But guess what? like like when it goes When it's going down in this tournament, that's not how it works. like you can get ah You can get beat by anybody in this tournament. And I think that's kind of, it showed that. I still fully expect LAFC to win, but...
00:19:02
Speaker
ah I don't know. Like they're kind of up against it now as well. I think your screen went out. It's good. Okay. There you No, i fixed it. I put, sorry. i I was putting my headphones on. Do I sound like shit or am I good?
00:19:15
Speaker
No, you sound better now that the headphones are on. Okay, good. Yeah, no, sorry. I just, I'm literally doing low quality, but I saw you were on here by yourself and I was like, I got to tap. This is like under the lights. Perfection. I'm cooking, putting away groceries. This is just like, you know, yeah. It's a mukbang.
00:19:32
Speaker
Hell yeah. ah Wade, member for 10 months, appreciate you. Wade, we're going to see you in like ah in like a week. Wow, that's happening. He says, I agree, Noah, but CCC in Spokane against a Cascadia rival is a real treat for the dry side. I will take it. I mean, we're hyped. it No, 100%. It's like, it's cool. I'm not mad. And like, I would much rather play one of these teams because I don't want to travel to Costa Rica in the middle of the week.
00:20:01
Speaker
frankly that's that's the downside right like yes you get to play mount pleasant's academy but also marco royce has to go down to jamaica and play on whatever field is going on down there gonna have like a track it's gonna have the track around it you ever feel like the track track and like i don't know man like You never know what can happen. that Paul Areola happened. You know, he tears his ACL last season because we had to travel somewhere. You just, you literally never know. So, Oh, these are the most dangerous games. I mean, we've seen it with, ah with Paul Areola, but also Jordan Morris as well. yeah Like may he rest in peace. That's that stuff. That stuff happens. That stuff happens. And you know,
00:20:51
Speaker
i'm I'm glad, I guess, that the Sounders don't have to make a big trip like that. this is just They already made the little jaunts of I-5. They're already in Canada. so yep But it was funny. I was on the ah Whitecaps presser today as well, and someone asked the players and Jesper Sorensen, they were like, well, do you think this makes it a little easier or different ah like with it being so close? like You're just hopping right over the border, and then you're basically in Seattle. Does that like change anything at all? And they were answering it like, they were like, yeah, I mean, you know, it was really close and that makes it an easy. And I'm like, guys, you you're not going to see that. Guys, you're not playing there. You are not playing there. You are not going anywhere close to that. In fact, fact you guys are going to have to fly. If you try and bust that, you're talking about- my God, please.
00:21:36
Speaker
Please. Absolute- No, here's what I want. Absolute like bungle where they have, they send them to
Sounders Injury Update
00:21:43
Speaker
Lumen and then like they get there and they're like, bro, I don't know what you want to do here.
00:21:47
Speaker
Nobody tell Jesper Sorensen that the game is in Spokane. We need to like keep this on the DL. I'm pretty sure they don't know. They either like they don't know. Well, they either don't know or they think Spokane is like right by Seattle. i don't think they i Famously, famously, it's it's not. like i was i thought I thought I was taking crazy pills during the press conference because I was like, you guys realize that this game is nowhere near Vancouver.
00:22:11
Speaker
It's near Vancouver, Washington. it's herever It's not near Vancouver, BC. Maybe that's what happened. They looked it up and they're like, oh, it's next to Vancouver. Yeah, yeah. yeah are i'm I'm so confused as to like, I guess I don't really understand the makeup. this is This is a better question for our guest when he comes on. Like what the makeup of the Whitecaps beat reporting is, especially now with Mueller. Like, is there more?
00:22:36
Speaker
like local news tuning in, like what's the situation? Cause how do you not know that the second leg is going to be played in Spokane everywhere that it's listed. It literally tells you that's like takes two seconds of of research. They must just not understand. They, I think they probably figure if I was in their situation and I saw that and what did no other research into it, I would figure that it's like semi-close proximity. Like, Oh, they can't play at Lumen field. So they're just going to put it in Spokane. That must be like a 20 minute drive out. Yeah.
00:23:05
Speaker
That's got to be it because otherwise there was there was an entire line of questioning at the pressers that made no sense. i was like you're not That's awesome. You're talking about a place that you are decidedly not going to be playing. so You just raise your hand in the Zoom call like, ah guys, sorry, fact check here from MLSsoccer.com, Ari Lillian Wall.
00:23:25
Speaker
You are, in fact, totally fucked. I should have jumped in there with like a what's it going to be like going to Spokane question, but I don't think he would have been ready to answer it. He had no idea. What does he know about Spokane, bro? And then they had Berhalter and Tate Johnson up there who also had no idea. So they're in for a surprise. First of all, they're going to have to be flying, they're like, wait a minute, why are we flying to Seattle?
00:23:49
Speaker
Then it's going to be like a little bit of a longer flight than they expect, and they're going to get off the plane and be like, we don't know where we are. And then they're going to be in Spokane. Imagine that. that's Getting off the plane and it's just like, mar you know, just they're where in the hell are we? Our Canadian friends are about to get a real, real experience. I mean, we'll see. I'm not sure if ah Michael, who's going hop on in a few minutes, is going to the Spokane leg. But hopefully he's aware of where it's at geographically. Well, let Michael is welcome to stay with us. Let him know that.
00:24:20
Speaker
Jeremiah is going back the same night, which is insane. Him and Nico are driving there and back in the same day. They're insane. But let Michael know if he wants to crash. We have an extra bed.
00:24:30
Speaker
Okay. That's a, wow. That's an insane. We're doing that for Vancouver, but that's different. That's I know. i I looked at Jeremiah today or the other day when he told me that and I was like, sure, bro, but whatever you want. Like, that's I mean, yeah,
00:24:46
Speaker
i once so I once drove from ah New Mexico to Eugene, Oregon, ah all in one. That's a bit. file swoop with a It was like three cats, a corgi, and a toy. Oh, yes. car You should tell this story. i had to I had to move my parents from New Mexico to Eugene.
00:25:04
Speaker
And when you're moving the pets, you can't stay. Like you can't check that crew into a hotel So my sister and I just had to We literally would just like go for three or four hours Switch, go for three, four hours Switch We did that for 22 hours That was not fun So that's what they're going to be doing on the way back from a Spokane. I know it's not 22 hours, but that's gonna that's not going to be pleasant.
00:25:28
Speaker
No, it's not going to be Mount Pleasant at all. So, okay, do you know how long it takes to drive out there? Because I thought it was more like in the six to eight hour range, but then people flamed us and were like, it's more, it's like five, I'm like...
00:25:40
Speaker
Yeah, it's closer to five, but I think you can get there around four, like four and some change. all right that It depends who's driving. that It depends who's driving. Closer than thought. I mean, i also, ah the only time I hung out in Spokane is when I got stranded there because my tire exploded driving down from Pullman. So I'm not like all that familiar with the area.
00:26:01
Speaker
But we're going to familiarize with it, and I'm excited. but i actually had a genuinely good time when I was stranded there for three days. Real quick before we get Michael in here, I did want to hit the Sounders news of the yeah week. ah You had, let's see, which one? Okay, let's, I mean, Hassani Dotson concussed. He's dead. Not going to play tomorrow. So that's just fantastic. I mean, another, if there's one thing that this team needed right now, it's another injury right before CCC start. That is just great. It's great. You already are down to your last center back and now you're down. You're starting one of your starting center mids. So Snyder B come on down.
00:26:45
Speaker
Get ready to learn the Snyder B, Christian Roldan double pivot, buddy. how ah How are you feeling about that? Because for me, like, I've been saying for a long time now that I trust Snyder B in pretty much any situation, and I still feel that yeah feel pretty much like that. And also, Dodson's acclimation has been more of a process than we hoped to the point where I'm like, I feel like this this is a wash, if anything. And if anything, i I honestly, I actually feel better with Snyder in there.
00:27:13
Speaker
Is that crazy? Like, i i actively I... I don't think that's crazy. I think, honestly, after the last few performances, it's clear that, you know, there's a little bit of a growing pain for Hassani, which is expected and normal. I still think Hassani's floor is a lot better than Snyder's floor.
00:27:33
Speaker
But Snyder getting the opportunity, I think, will elevate his game a lot. Like, he can actually fight for this starting spot now. I'm not like super concerned.
00:27:45
Speaker
What I'm more concerned about is when Christian had his concussion that had him out for quite a while. It was a similar type of situation where nothing really happened on the field. You know, it's kind of diagnosed a couple of days later. Like you never know what's going to happen. like Yeah, that is a weird thing. It's concerning to me. He got his bell rung in the, what game was that? It was like the second It was the first match he was subbed off for a potential concussion. That's right. And then, yeah yeah, he was cleared that he had no concussion. and then eventually ah now against in this St. Louis game, they're saying that he was concussed in the St. Louis game.
00:28:25
Speaker
When you do have head trauma, it's really easy to like aggravate it. So he may not have had a concussion, but he's obviously had head trauma severe enough that he needed to be subbed out of the game.
00:28:39
Speaker
it's It's like, you you know, you're still a little like you're not all there. So anything minor could have kind of jumbled it up. But I'm just hoping that it doesn't lead to like a long term yeah out thing because it's just.
00:28:54
Speaker
Yeah, it's it's it's one of those things that like literally you you can't you cannot rush it. Otherwise, it's you could have your career be over.
00:29:05
Speaker
it's ah It's going to be the biggest test of the Snyder B stock yet. Yeah. Because we i mean i we all love what we've seen from him so far dating back to last year. I mean, two goals in his first three MLS games or whatever, that was electric. I think he he's had a couple of young player moments so far this year, but for the most part, I still, ooh, those look like good dumplings. I'm not even going lie. Nice work. um He's looked really good so far this year, even if there have been a couple of growing moments, but this is just kind of a whole different ballgame. Like this is the biggest stage that he's going to be on yet. This is going to be by far the best team that he's had to play yet. And
Vancouver Whitecaps Insights with Michael McCall
00:29:45
Speaker
kind of one of the things that I look for in young players is, you know, it's, you can, you can put them out there against the Rapids or FC Dallas or whatever at home. you know, they can contribute to wins and they can look really good or whatever. And that's great. That's what you want to see, but it's in situations like this big time game, CONCACAF champions cup round of 16 playing one of the two, three best teams in MLS.
00:30:12
Speaker
Let's see. Let's see how, uh, let's see how he does now. I'm excited to see it. I'm actively excited to see it. Uh, well, I will let you get on with your call. Just boot me. Cause I don't want accidentally end the stream. I did that last time I was on my phone, but, uh,
00:30:25
Speaker
Hi, Michael. i hope you I hope you guys have a great chat. I'll be watching and chatting. Thanks for tapping in, man, and enjoy the dumplings. Absolutely. All right. Joining the show now, friend of the show, I believe he's a third time returning guest, host of the Vancouver Whitecaps podcast, AFTN, the best podcast podcast covering the Vancouver Whitecaps.
00:30:47
Speaker
It's Michael McCall joining the stage right now. Michael, thank you so much for tapping in. Looking forward to getting this series started at BC Place tomorrow. First of all, how's it going?
00:30:59
Speaker
Good. Thanks for having me back on, Ari. I was worried about my lighting because it wasn't very good, but then I saw Noah, so it's all fine. Yeah, you look far and away better than he did. And he was cooking dumplings the entire time, so you're going to locked in. that's ah Michael, let's ah let's just jump right into it. Obviously, a big Cascadia series. We're going to be previewing this matchup. I want to bust out the FopMob lineup builder with you in a bit, and we can project the starting lineup. But let's ah let's do ah our usual. This our first under the lights of the season. Let's do bring back the tradition, do the usual thing.
00:31:36
Speaker
I'm going to give you my outside perspective on what's going on with the with the Vancouver Whitecaps so far in 2026. And you can tell me if I'm accurate or off base. But Vancouver Whitecaps, to start the season, The way I have seen it so far is, it's funny, we were talking about it just a couple weeks ago when this CCC series got ah got decided.
00:31:59
Speaker
This matchup got decided. And we were like, you know, what do you think of the Whitecaps right now? And our kind of thought on it was like, you know... One of the best teams in the league last year, if not the best team in the league for a long time. But like the first couple games of 2026, we were like, they don't look quite, they don't look quite as hot yet.
00:32:17
Speaker
They don't look quite as hot yet. They still look really good. They beat real Salt Lake. But at the time I was like, you know, real Salt Lake, they're not that good. And you know, they only beat them one zero. And then there was the opening CCC series that it took Vancouver, the six to the 60th minute of the second leg to score the first goal and they eventually do win it two zero, but it just didn't feel as buzzsaw as dominant as it did last year. So we were thinking, all right, maybe there's actually like a, maybe Seattle's actually the favorite here. I think I said that. I think I was, if I had to pick a favorite, i would say it's slightly Seattle. And then the last two weeks happened and I'm like, oh, no, this is might be just the best team in the league again. They look insane.
00:32:57
Speaker
Brian White's doing his thing again. Thomas Mueller's doing his thing again. AZ Jackson, I feel like has looked really good so far. And then Seb Berhalter is just a stud. One of my favorite players in MLS. There was that clip going around from the Portland game. Whitecaps beat the Timbers four to one. And it's four to one in the 90, whatever minute. And Seb Berhalter is just doing a 60 yard sprint all the way across Providence park to track it down. Some Timby's guy and take the ball off him. But then what, what caught me what what was so funny about the clip was his reaction after he, it was a slide tackle where he just absolutely destroyed this guy while winning the ball. And it was like the cleanest tackle I've ever seen. and then you got Seb Berhalter. Like it wasn't the Allen Iverson step over, but it was kind of like adjacent to that. He he was like flexing on that guy. I think he talked a little trash to him and he was strutting around. And I was like, God, that guy just looks, he looks like he's on a mission right now. So anyway, needless to say, i pretty much feel like the Whitecaps look just as good as they did last year. And going into a series where Seattle is down to one center back,
00:34:08
Speaker
I don't feel super great about that. But, ah I mean, do you feel like this team is back to its 2025 form so far?
Vancouver Tactical and Form Analysis
00:34:15
Speaker
Or do you think there's any anything else they have to do work up to that? there're They're still getting there.
00:34:21
Speaker
They're definitely not at the levels that they were last year. And there's a lot of reasons for that. The the key one being that their preseason, they went over to Spain again.
00:34:33
Speaker
think it's the third year now that they've been over to Marbella. And the weather was very Vancouver and that they went there to get away from the rain and we were nice and dry here and they had one game rained out one game that would have been as well being rained out. It was unplayable, but they still played it.
00:34:52
Speaker
That's what happened to Seattle too. yeah Yeah, of course. Cause yeah, but yeah, it It disrupted so much And you've had new guys Coming in because Ali Ahmed's left Jaden Nelson's left So AZ Jackson has come in As you've said and Done well and actually for me Probably he's doing better than I maybe Thought that he was going to do He's got the added incentive That he's here on loan So he has to impress And now we've got Bruno Caicedo Who's finally arrived And we've got
00:35:27
Speaker
uh sheik sabali that is featured briefly but it's still going up to match fitness so we've got ryan gold to come back so once all these guys are fully fit we have a very very dangerous attack very potent defense is as solid as ever and right now yes person is rotating five guys in and out of the defense And it doesn't matter who plays. They are looking so solid at the back.
00:35:55
Speaker
And it's been a slow build. And I think the worrying thing, maybe from a scientist's point of the view, is it it was 0-0, 1-0, 2-0. Exactly. three now Yes. 4-1. So maybe put some money in five-goal performance ah on Thursdays.
00:36:13
Speaker
that Yeah, that I noticed that exact trend. Because the start of the season against ah RSL, what happened in that game? Because I didn't watch all of it, but I saw it was zero zero kind of late into the second half, wasn't it? And then AZ Jackson score finally scores that goal. But I didn't watch enough of it to know if that was one of those 1-0s that was like super close and competitive the whole time. or if Vancouver was kind of on top of them and just only happened to get one goal. What was the dynamic of that? Like, was that a close one zero or one that could have been worse than it was?
00:36:47
Speaker
first half was close and ah RSL had the ball in the net and I feel it was a very harsh offside. I still haven't seen anything on the VAR to show clear and obvious to me that it was offside, but the linesman had given it.
00:37:03
Speaker
So the flip side of that is there was nothing clear and obvious to say that he was wrong. So they felt kind of a little bit stunned by that. It was a good RSL team. And I think we've now seen that in the game since. Seattle found that out. Yeah. Very talented young bunch. so They're all 16, but they're all highly good, apparently. Yeah. Ari Peol has gone down as well, who was the guy that actually had the ball in the net. And we did an interview with him afterwards. And we've got this curse that when we do interviews in early part of the year, the players either get injured or they leave or they get transferred. or So it's cont continued now, but thankfully on on the other side,
00:37:44
Speaker
But they they were they were decent. But the second half, the Whitecaps took over. They were the better side. And it was kind of a matter of when they were going to get the breakthrough. And they did. They were deserved winners. But Jesper, after the game, said, they're not the rhythm's not there.
00:38:01
Speaker
They're still trying to find it and it's taken them a couple of games. They've got it now. TFC took them apart. Portland, I was down there again and such a joy. i love going down there anyway. I think it's ah it's a great trip. It's a great atmosphere. i like going down the Oregon coast.
00:38:22
Speaker
So getting to go down is always good. Getting to go down and then watching the team destroy them yeah is even better. And then seeing Phil Neville have a meltdown afterwards is always a lot of fun as well.
00:38:35
Speaker
Oh, we had a great time with that. He was actually the recipient of our blazing hot coach press conference of the week sponsored by Hicks and Ferments because he said that his team was playing like little boys yeah against the Vancouver Whitecaps. He's probably... that that's some That's some stuff you do when you're feeling the pressure. oh yeah so i think he knows that he's gotta like get that team taking a step forward this year and he hasn't done it so far so yeah he's under heat but yeah but he's also old school like he had alex ferguson the hair dryer treatment and every just like ripping into them but i don't think fergie ever did it publicly
00:39:15
Speaker
Now, a lot of what he said after the game was 100% spot on. But I think when you start saying that they were little boys, you have danger of losing the team. You've not already lost it.
00:39:28
Speaker
And it was it was crazy. It was one of those post games where I was like, I wish I could be in two places at once because I just, I want to see what his reaction is. I want to poke it a little bit as well.
00:39:39
Speaker
But I ended up going to the Whitecaps one. Well, i always want, so like, whenever a coach is going off on their own team like that, I always want someone to ask, like, who's the coach of this team? Sounds like sounds like they're doing a terrible job because ah you just, like, berated them publicly. Yeah, but even with that, and until the Whitecaps scored, I think Portland probably shaded it in terms that they're – See, this was something else that Neville did on Saturday, which is not something that Jesper does, not something that Brian Schmetzer does.
00:40:10
Speaker
He basically gave their game plan away to the Whitecaps in the build-up to the game. On the Tuesday, he spoke about, we're practising set pieces. Didn't really work for them very well, obviously. But then on the Thursday, I think it was, he was like, yeah, we want to be on the front foot. We want to pressure them. We want to put pressure on their centre-backs.
00:40:31
Speaker
So Jesper Sorensen's like, okay, so then for all our goal kicks, had two players either side of the six yard box, just knock it inside to Yohei Takaoka, who then booted it up the field.
00:40:43
Speaker
So they used Yohei a lot in that game as an extra outfield player. And that's what Jesper Sorensen said afterwards. And he said, well, we kind of knew what they were going to do. it's like,
Jesper Sorensen's Coaching Impact
00:40:53
Speaker
yeah, you did, because Phil Neville just told you what their game plan was.
00:40:56
Speaker
ah Yeah, but that is still like heady stuff from Jesper Sorensen to actually like take advantage of that. I missed the ah Carl Robinson days where he didn't really like do all that stuff. you know he was he was He was running on vibes, not strategy. Jesper Sorensen one of those tactical masterminds. why i get let's ah That's a good second topic to get to. What do you what do you think of where he's at right now, because you got to think his stock is just at an all-time high. And like, I guess how much better has he been as a coach and tactician compared to your expectations when they hired him? Because I had no idea who this guy was when you guys hired him, but then looking at it, like I kind of put him honestly, maybe not like fully Wolford, Nancy tier, but like in that pantheon of coaches that can actually tilt the scales towards you through their tactics and their game plans. Like he does that and it makes this Whitecaps team like all the more lethal because he's got he's it's a combination of great personnel with great coaching and great tactics. And that is pretty tough to beat. Like, what do you what do you make of like the stock that he's ascended to?
00:42:06
Speaker
It's really interesting because when he came. We didn't know who was either. Like we know Bronby, didn't know him personally, didn't know what to expect, didn't know really what to have from the team.
00:42:22
Speaker
I was probably squeezing into the playoffs because I thought we had a good enough squad. Never expected the the season that we had. But from the very start, the tactical awareness, he studied the team on his flight over and he spoke about the assistant coaches put together a multi-page dossier on all the players, what the strengths were, what they weren't. So he read that on the flight over, he watched video, he said that he then knew, oh, this guy can do that, this guy can't do that, so I won't ask him to do that.
00:42:55
Speaker
So he's played to the strengths, but he created a system that the whole squad bought into. But as we kind of talked about last year when was on the show, it's an interchangeable system that it doesn't matter who comes in.
00:43:10
Speaker
They know what the roles are. They know what to do. And the problem with Vanni Sartini is Vanni was a legend in his own mind, as well as what he was MLS, because he would keep telling us, nobody plays this system in the world. I'm the only coach that does this.
00:43:31
Speaker
And my response to that was always like, maybe there's a reason that no other coach in the world is playing this system. And he was so tied to zonal marking defensively and our defenders just did not really either understand it or couldn't execute it and they lost so many goals yes for sorenson comes in and it's like no zonal markings gone you are marking whatever you need to mark man marking whatever you want to do i leave it to you because i trust as a defender you know what to do
00:44:05
Speaker
And then we end up having defender of the year. And Tristan Blackman under Vanny Sartini was a little bit lost in Sartini's last year there in 24.
00:44:16
Speaker
And then you saw last year just excelled, has now got a bigger contract, Miami we' were in for him, as as everyone knows. So he turned him around. He turned other players around. He believed in youth, which is something Brian Schmetzer is great for as well.
00:44:34
Speaker
And i've I have a lot of time and respect for Brian Schmetzer. I think you've got a great coach there. I'd love... at some point to sit down with him and have a half hour chat just to pick his brains about everything because he the way he approaches the game always impresses me and Jesper Sorensen I think is the same they take notes they're students they are very respectful of the opposition and everything as well They are very careful.
00:45:02
Speaker
Like Vanny Sertini would have his training sessions wide open every single day, including the day before the game. Jesper Sorensen's sessions are closed the day before the game. So even we can't get in to see what's going because he wants to keep everything in-house, nothing to leak out at all. is very cerebbral and He's and he's been so good. He's got a contract extension now.
00:45:24
Speaker
I could see him moving on. And for me, i asked him about this last year and he said, well, I can't go back to Denmark because there's two big teams. I managed one of them.
00:45:36
Speaker
I'm not probably going to go back there and I can't go to the other team. So Denmark's out.
00:45:44
Speaker
It's interesting in Scotland just now because Motherwell, of all the teams in the Scottish Premier, are playing the best football and they've got a Danish coach and the way that he sets them up is very much how Jesper Sorensen sets the Whitecaps up.
00:45:58
Speaker
it's too that's It's too much like Wilford Nancy path to me. Well, yeah. I don't think any MLS... Don't go to the Scottish Premier....anytime soon, thankfully. But...
00:46:08
Speaker
If Denmark don't get through their World Cup playoffs, I could see their coach going. Oh, yeah. Jesper's been their under-21 coach.
00:46:19
Speaker
So he would maybe be a prime candidate for Denmark. Yeah.
Thomas Muller and Seb Berhalter's Contribution
00:46:24
Speaker
that Honestly, if I were them, that's what i would be what I would be looking at based on what he's done with Vancouver. But yeah ah that is that that is kind of the double-edged sword of having an up-and-coming genius coach like that is... teams around the world take notice and you know it mean but it can go i think if I were him I would be i'd be careful about that just looking at what happened with Wilford Nancy especially because Wilford Nancy he played it so that he ended up going to Celtic in the middle of the season and honestly that's that is what sunk him before he even got started is oh yeah He needed to be there like for preseason and to be coaching the team and instilling his tactics like before the season, not coming in midseason and trying to change how they already play. And then but based on all the reporting, it became blindingly obvious that all the players on Celtic immediately wrote him off and at zero respect for anything that he was trying to do. But he was his own worst enemy though, because he came in and he said, this is my system, you're going to play this.
00:47:31
Speaker
And he didn't have players that were capable of playing that system. And he changed everything. And that's something that Jesper didn't do. He's tweaked things.
00:47:42
Speaker
he's I'm coming in here to change things and blow things up. I'm here to improve what you've already got and good foundations. Nancy came in and he's like, no, we're doing this no matter what.
00:47:53
Speaker
And the players just could not get their head head around that system. They couldn't execute it. And it did look like they were playing just to get them out the door in the end. Michael, ah Thomas Mueller.
00:48:06
Speaker
how's he How's he looking? Last year, obviously, he came in and made a huge impact. But from where we sat, we were kind of we would talk about his impact a lot in terms of kind of like the vibes and his leadership and presence in the locker room and just how much he seemed to elevate the mood and energy around the team. And then you know his on-field impact was good, but it wasn't like...
00:48:30
Speaker
it wasn't like he was lighting up the stat sheet like Lionel Messi. He was getting his goals. He scored some penalty kicks. Noah called him a penalty kick merchant, but he did. He had like 13 goal contributions, but really it felt like he kind of, as far as like culture and energy and vibes, he had one of the most impactful arrivals to MLS of any of these don't know. he's thirty six now thirty seven so getting up there but obviously i mean the greatest german player of all time are you seeing like i don't know front empires up there I mean, okay, if he's not number one, well he's probably like in the number on the top two. Number three. yeah pillars Number two for me. one of One of the greatest German internationals of all time. I'm old, remember? I remember these old guys. you don't Yeah, I don't even know what you're talking about. I just i just go off what they tell me. but he ah He was not really totally ripping it up last year, but he performed very well on the field and really helped the whole vibe of the team. What's he looking like ah this year? Are you expecting like a greater impact this year, or what's his stock? where his Where is his stock kind of at?
00:49:39
Speaker
Well, the interesting thing with Muller is he came here with very, like he basically played, I think I've worked it out, I can't remember the numbers off the top of my head now, but like it was 19 months pretty much solid that he played football.
00:49:56
Speaker
From being with Bayern to being at the Club World Cup to then coming to the Whitecaps. And for any player at any age, that is a lot to ask, nevermind a guy that's 36.
00:50:08
Speaker
I agree with you. I don't think on the pitch he was as impactful as maybe some of the MLS pundits have made him out to be. He was good. He was influential.
00:50:20
Speaker
He does little things off the ball that people maybe don't see. And as long as he's on the pitch, the opponents maybe put two players on him. But I don't think he was necessarily the guy that helped push Vancouver to the MLS Cup.
00:50:39
Speaker
I think they were going in that direction anyway. And it actually really annoyed me when folks said, oh, Thomas Muller's come in and he's ti he's helped get or he's taken them to the MLS Cup. He didn't. He came in and he added a little bit more to the team.
00:50:53
Speaker
Off the pitch, whole different story. At breath of fresh air, has the whole city buzzing about the team. He's out and about. He goes Canucks games. He goes to Vancouver Rise women's games. he When they the Raptors were in town for pre-season, he was at those games as well. He's in the community. He's doing a lot of stuff.
00:51:17
Speaker
And... And he's like cool he's like cool and funny. like He tells jokes. I'm like, God, this good this guy is so cool. damn he I don't think Germans are funny, but he kind of goes against that. yeah <unk>s he's the He's definitely not a stereotypical German in that regard.
00:51:32
Speaker
he's He's great. He's very he's got a dry sense of humor. If you ask him a stupid question, he'll call you out on it. And... It's good to have him.
00:51:43
Speaker
He talks a lot more to media than I thought he maybe would based on what we've seen elsewhere. Him and Son coming to the league have been tremendous. yeah they They know why they're here.
00:51:55
Speaker
And they take that role on. They take it seriously. they You've got a Messi. And I know Messi's a whole different thing in itself. But when when you've been MLS Cup MVP, the least you can do is go and speak to the media after the game.
00:52:12
Speaker
And you didn't do that. Of course not. No. And he didn't do anything in the build-up for the game. Whereas the Whitecaps first press conference, there's Thomas Mueller making jokes and doing all this stuff because he gets it and he knows why he's here. And Son in LA has been the same. Son has been tremendous. easy He's a great guy. Great guy.
00:52:34
Speaker
And it's hard. Like, I don't like LAFC. I didn't like Spurs, so I didn't like him there. But him as a guy, it's like, you can't not him. not like him. It sucks. I want to not like him, but it's literally impossible. It's impossible.
00:52:46
Speaker
One tip for you guys. F. when you play LAFC, be careful what yeah you put out on social media because the Sun fans will not take even the slightest bit of criticism. yeah No, no. We were just talking about that. yeah like don't Don't poke them either because they were going on about stuff.
00:53:07
Speaker
So my photographer had captured a brilliant picture of him in tears going off the pitch. So every time somebody was having a go at me, I just replied with that picture. It just took them to a whole other level.
00:53:21
Speaker
Death threats and a few other things thrown in there. but So yeah, be careful with that. Back to Muller. On the pitch this year, which was your question, he's still getting there.
00:53:32
Speaker
And I don't think he was very good against Portland, for for example. And i don't think he liked the pitch, though, to be honest. He was slipping. There was something up with that pitch on Saturday night. The ball was not rolling right.
00:53:47
Speaker
There was passes that were hit that looked strong and then would just die. And it was kind of both teams. But the Whitecaps struggled a bit on that pitch, which is weird to see since we put four goals up.
00:53:59
Speaker
He's still getting there. And he hasn't quite got the chemistry with Brian White that Ryan Gould did, where it was kind of telepathic. But again, that is now starting to get there.
00:54:12
Speaker
And when Gould comes back, having Gould, Muller, White, Sabi, who's also not up to levels yet because he missed basically all preseason because there was some personal stuff going on in his life.
00:54:25
Speaker
So... once that front four with Mueller pulling all the strings gets going, it's going to be very dangerous, but he's not quite there. Michael, do you, ah do you agree with what I was saying that a set or halter looks like a, like a man possessed a man on a mission right now? Cause I mean, you like, you had that clip I was talking about from the Timbers game where he was just absolutely, he absolutely destroyed that guy and then strutted on him. But to me, like what stands out when I watch him play and why I love watching him play so much is he, He plays so hard. Like, he's just running the whole time. he is not afraid of anybody. ah Complete player, plays defense, does it all on offense, great facilitator, scores bangers.
00:55:10
Speaker
There's nothing that he doesn't do. But right now, to me, he's just got this kind of, like, wild look in his eyes where it's like he looks like – I know I'm one of the best players in this league and I'm about to show everyone that I'm, I'm that guy. I am one of the best players in this league. And for me, when I look at this matchup from a Seattle perspective, I kind of, I, one of my biggest fears is not, it's not Thomas Mueller. It's Seb Berhalter just yeah looks like he's not going to be denied. And I don't know if anyone can stop that guy right now. Like I really don't like, and especially with Seattle center back situation. i don't know, man. I just like,
00:55:45
Speaker
I feel like he might just have a field day because he's got, I don't know, he's on some like different stuff right now. He's playing like a guy who's like, I found my purpose and I'm embracing it and I'm going to show everyone. Like he's just on a crazy level.
00:55:59
Speaker
Yeah. He was the player of the year in the Whitecaps run in the Champions Cup last year. And the fact that he picked up a suspension and missed the final was heartbreaking because if any player deserved to be there, it was him.
00:56:15
Speaker
That was so lame. But he then, after getting that booking in that first half of the semi, a lot of players mentally would have gone. He came out in that second half and said, this is my final and played lights out against Miami.
00:56:32
Speaker
And that's his attitude. He is absolutely amazing. And if we have him after the World Cup, I'm going to be absolutely stunned. We had Dax McCarty on our show last week.
00:56:46
Speaker
previewing the Timbers game and I asked him about the Whitecaps American players and I went for it for me Berholt was a lock to be in Pochettino's World Cup squad and he didn't think he was he said he's probably going to be but he's not guaranteed I disagree there. It's like, I think he is in that World Cup squad no matter what. He's playing at such a level just now because you spoke about that viral tackle.
00:57:12
Speaker
If you watch the fourth goal as well from Saturday night, it's his tackle that breaks up a Portland attack that sets the move up. It's just a cruncher. And then he just gets up and like shrugs it off as the Whitecaps then head up the pitch. And his tackling is top notch.
00:57:30
Speaker
His delivery, from set pieces this season so far is like, oh, a different level. And it's like I said Phil Neville was like, oh, we're practising defending set pieces.
00:57:44
Speaker
It doesn't matter when you've got a guy like Sebastian Berholt or pinging them in. Because for the second goal, if you look at his delivery, and yeah, it was maybe fortunate because it was off the post and then off Tristan Blackman's nose.
00:57:57
Speaker
But he plays it into space where there's not a Whitecaps player and Blackman just runs perfectly to meet it. And he had a similar one in the first half as well. So those free kicks, that is what Seattle have to watch in these two games. If you give any free kicks in or around the, well, not in the box, but around the box, like 20 yards out,
00:58:18
Speaker
he is going to crucify you. yeah And he can score from distance. His tackling, his tracking back. Thomas Muller as well, because Phil Neville noted this in his postgame. Mueller was sprinting back in stoppage time as well to make tackles.
00:58:33
Speaker
And that's what this team does. They will play to the final whistle, even when they're 4-1 up. And Berhalter is playing like a man possessed just now.
00:58:44
Speaker
And I put that down to to two reasons. One, he wants to be at the World Cup. But he also wants to start at that World Cup. but he also wants to probably get a move to Europe after the World Cup.
00:58:59
Speaker
Him and Thomas Muller have this bromance going on that if you, I don't know if you've seen some of the videos or not between the two of them, but like the the one recently when Muller's doing a post game and Berhout comes up behind him and gooses him.
00:59:13
Speaker
And Mule just goes, Berhalter? And it's like, the two of them are like so tight. And you've got to think Thomas is in his ear and speaking to folk over in Germany as well, because he's got German roots, he's got a European passport.
00:59:31
Speaker
I could see him going to a Bundesliga team. I think the only way the Whitecaps keep him is to make him a DP. And I don't even know if that would be enough to keep him in MLS right now.
00:59:42
Speaker
I think he's deserved the chance to go there. But he's spoken so favourably about what Vancouver has done for him. They've turned his life around. He was close to quitting the game.
00:59:53
Speaker
but he came here and vanney certini deserves a lot the credit for that he brought him on but yes for sorenson has just elevated him to a different level and what we were posing pre-season with this team is the team's coming off it's it's best of our season so how do you improve on that and that's easy you turn one or both of those cup final losses into victories For the players that have had career years, Brian White, a third straight career year.
01:00:23
Speaker
It's like, can he have four? I don't know, but he's going that way. Tristan Blackman, a career year, and Sebastian Berhalter, a career year. All of them need to see if they can be at another level.
01:00:36
Speaker
And so far, Berhalter's up there. When I when i watch Berhalter play right now, like, I was thinking about this after watching those highlights from the Portland game. Like, this guy can play any league. Like, i don't I don't care what league it is. Like, the the skills that he is showing, like what what you mentioned with the set pieces, there's no reason that wouldn't translate anywhere. But then also with just a how hard he plays and just just the motor and the engine, he never freaking stops. I don't know, man. I just, I'm like I said, that's that if I had to pick one guy that I fear the most in the country of Canada, it would be that guy, which is crazy. I mean, did you, what you mentioned when Vinny Sartini kind of threw him a lifeline, he was kind of at crossroads in his career. Like, was there early signs of this or was this just like out of left field? Because like I knew he was like an OK prospect for the crew and then Austin FC, but he never broke through there. And I was like, OK, it's Greg Berhalter's kid. He's probably kind of good, but he hasn't really done that much.
01:01:43
Speaker
and Now he's a superstar. Like what? How did how did this ascent kind of take hold? It's been slow, because when he first came, I was like, oh, I'm not sure about this signing. It's like, I'll honestly say that.
01:01:56
Speaker
And there's been a few that the Whitecaps have done that have been like, oh, I don't know about this. And then they've been tremendous. But there's been others that have been big busts. So you just never know.
01:02:08
Speaker
I think something that really helped him was getting out of the US because you're Greg's son. The pressure's on you. Even this is what I just, I don't understand this.
01:02:21
Speaker
When the US had been playing and bearhot has been playing been playing, read the comments on Twitter and I know it's Twitter. And if you went on Blue Sky and read the comments, it'd probably be different. But there's so much hate for him.
01:02:34
Speaker
And it's solely because he's Greg Berhalter's son. And it's like, I just don't get that because he's been playing at a really good level, club and country. And I wish he was in the Canadian team.
01:02:46
Speaker
And that like this certain players, no matter what team they're on, you watch and you're like, oh, wish he was on our team. Like Seattle, Paul Rothrock, I love.
01:02:59
Speaker
I wish he was a white cap. I just think he's an amazing player. and i Speak in our language, yeah. yeah I could see Fulte Luka and Berhalter and any single team in the league and going, yeah, we want him.
01:03:13
Speaker
If I could pick one player in all of MLS to pilfer for Seattle, like that would probably be it. like you know I know this league's got Messi and Sung Hung Min now. Give me Seb Berhalter. Seriously.
01:03:24
Speaker
yeah but because of value as well which is one of the things like he's he's gonna get off of a new contract he's the only one that hasn't signed ah an extension yet and that's understandable
Whitecaps' Financial Challenges and Stadium Issues
01:03:35
Speaker
i i can't see us keeping him i mean if we can the base and the foundation we've got to to keep building on this is huge and going back to jesper it's this it's his sophomore season and he knows the pressures on him because of what he achieved in year one And we've seen it in MLS. We've seen it with Bradley Cornell at St. Louis.
01:03:57
Speaker
We might be seeing it with Bradley Cornell again at Philadelphia. I don't know. But sometimes coaches' second year is very, very tough. And it's hard to to get out of of that.
01:04:10
Speaker
Now, our season could go tits off and be we could just go on a bad run because we've got so many games at home. We're very front loaded because I know you guys just now are having a lot of games away from home. yeah We don't lose our stadium until the 1st of May.
01:04:28
Speaker
So nine of the first 10 MLS games are at BC Place. Now, for us, that is huge because if we can make that fortress, And there's no reason why we can't because the turf is horrible and folk hate playing there.
01:04:41
Speaker
But if we could get nine wins out of nine at home, and now we've also got this Portland win, we could be sitting on 30 points after the first 10 games. yeah You're pretty much guaranteed playoffs already.
01:04:54
Speaker
But that is points on the board that I would always take as opposed to games in hand or playing catch up. We've got some really tough road spells coming up. May, we're on the road for the whole month.
01:05:06
Speaker
We can't get into the stadium a lot in July and August as well. So we're on the road there. So if we can come through those away games, and we showed last year that it's a team that can. We're sitting very, very handy just now.
01:05:20
Speaker
What's the ah temperature of the fan base going into this one? Would you say people are feeling pretty confident or weary of the fact that it's a Cascadia matchup? You know, anything can happen in a rivalry scenario. Like, are people feeling pretty confident after what the team accomplished last year and making it all the way to the CCC final? Or is there any kind of apprehension about ah about it being a Whitecaps-Sounders matchup here?
01:05:46
Speaker
Honestly, both. it's These games are so unpredictable. like Even going down to Portland on Saturday, I was very confident we going to win, but it's a derby.
01:05:58
Speaker
And you know what it's like, especially down there. like The Timbers made it 3-1. They came close to making it 3-2. The crowd gets into it. Anything can happen. In this tie, I think the Whitecaps have a big advantage because the second leg's in Spokane.
01:06:14
Speaker
and Did it wait real quick on that? did Were you on the presser today? No. Okay. i I was, I was for for my day job and they were asking, they were asking Jesper and the players like what, what ah like. Oh, sorry. No, yeah, no. I was on the Jesper presser today. Yeah. Yeah. They're like, what's it going to be like playing in Seattle? I'm like, they're not. playing I know. Sarita asked that and I was like, but then he answered, he answered it in a way that kind of suggested he didn't realize that it wasn't in Seattle too.
01:06:44
Speaker
Well, i mean, Thomas Mueller in Spican is hilarious. Crazy. And I'm looking forward to I'm planning on making the trip, but I haven't booked it yet.
01:06:55
Speaker
So I'll see how tomorrow goes. If we win five now, not going to happen but if we win 5-0 I'll probably save my money there's no point making a trip to Spican if the Sounders get a couple of away goals I might save my money and not make a trip to Spican because this is always the the worry going back to the the question about how folk are feeling we're very confident going into it but this away goals rule is always something that can throw a spanner in the works I really feel like it kind of like it, you know, I always feel like it tilts a little bit towards the road team in the first leg. Cause for me, like if Seattle goes down to zero tomorrow, like obviously not ideal, but I won't feel like the series is chalked at all. Like if you keep it to do zero or you get one road goal, it's like game right back on.
01:07:44
Speaker
Yeah. if Well, I would say if in the first leg, if the weight team gets a goal, they are so in it, unless you've conceded four or five. Yes, exactly.
01:07:56
Speaker
But, and this is where Miami fell last year, if you go into that second leg, two goals down and you haven't scored i think it's advantage the away team in the second leg because they just need to get that away goal and all of a sudden the task is huge now if it's nil nil after this first leg i still think it's advantage whitecaps one nil seattle have a very good chance in that second leg i would take one one zero all day like a one zero loss all day
01:08:29
Speaker
If Seattle get an away goal, I think you've got a big advantage there. But the way the Whitecaps play on the road, and they did this in the tournament last year, like they they gave up a goal to Monterey, went down there, got the two goals that they needed. They did they didn't give a goal up against Miami, but they knew what the job was on the road.
01:08:49
Speaker
so i i think the whitecaps are favorites for this and i think their experience last year shows it thomas muller at the start of the year was asked oh where do you see the priorities for this year and right away he was like champions cup for this first half of the year it's champions cup for me because that's the the only tournament before the world cup that we can win a trophy And that is where his mindset is. He's here to win a trophy.
01:09:19
Speaker
He doesn't want to end his time at the Whitecaps without a trophy. And yet he's got a Canadian championship. He got a Western Conference trophy, but that's not what got. It's not the same, yeah. no And if he wins another Canadian championship, it might be different because he'll have played and...
01:09:35
Speaker
actually been a part of it but he wants the MLS Cup he would love the Champions Cup because it's still Champions League to Europeans I don't think they should ever have changed the name to Champions Cup I have no idea why they did Champions League just has that gravitas and he wants to win that with the Whitecaps and he wants to play every minute of every game and he can't that is the thing and Jesper has spoken about we have to have discussions because he can't do that he will be starting tomorrow without a shadow of a doubt and he'll play both legs i could see him rested on sunday and in some ways we've got minnesota on sunday which is quite a good team to have at the moment because they look all over the place the uh the loons you mean
01:10:24
Speaker
Yeah, I forget who you've gotten at the weekend. It's ah San Jose away, ah which is actually like before the season, I would have been like, oh okay, you know, that's a winnable game. And now I'm like, are they just like the best? they they i think they They look, I mean, I don't think they're the best, but they look to me, they look kind of for real.
01:10:46
Speaker
yeah Yeah, like Timo Werner is kind of having a Thomas Mueller effect, maybe. I don't know. like and I don't feel good about that game. No, i the West is looking really good. Yeah. season It's going to be a very entertaining year The Quakes and RSL are like insanely good. I don't like it. yeah i don't know It's kind of bothering me. But that's why I think getting the early points on the board. I know Seattle, make you make your late runs in the season and you're used to it now. For us, we need these points on the board early and that will set us up well.
01:11:16
Speaker
ah Let's take this one from chat because this is what I was going to ask you about next. And then i wanted to hit the lineup builder with you. And then I think that'll be ah it for the night. Thanks so much for joining us. Michael McCall of AFTN on the show. Zach is asking, what is up with the sale of the Whitecaps? Are they staying in Van Groovy? Yeah. Give us the update on that whole situation. the The last time I was looking into it was there were these press conferences at the start of the season that seemed pretty ominous.
01:11:43
Speaker
Honestly, it felt like the people at the press conferences were using language that was trying to convey a like, well, you know, we want to stay here, but we don't know if we can like type stuff. Is there any updates there or what's the sort of temperature of of that?
01:12:00
Speaker
there's There's no updates, but I'll try and keep this short. The current situation is the owners put the club up for sale. They've now said they would be open to staying on with additional investors.
01:12:14
Speaker
And there's interested parties, but according to Axel Schuster and Don Garber, no party is interested in putting money into the club with their current stadium situation at BC Place.
01:12:29
Speaker
So they'll only do it if they get a new stadium. Now, in December, the city of Vancouver agreed in an MOU with the Whitecaps. They've got a year to develop a new stadium or plans for a new stadium, obviously not build it, but develop the plans at the PNE, the old Hastings race course, which I don't know if listeners will know where that is, but What I like about Seattle is where you've got your two stadiums, for me is great, industrial area, still downtown-ish, but it's not right in the hub of downtown.
01:13:04
Speaker
yeah You can walk, you can get the train, whatever. So this is up at the P&E, where we have our our summer festival. And it's also going to be where the World Cup viewing parties is. there was a race course there. It's going to get demolished. There's going to be a stadium, entertainment district. Transit is not great. There's buses, but that is it.
01:13:25
Speaker
But it's just off the highway, which helps for for stuff like that as well. If that all goes ahead, maybe be four years till the stadium's built. If it's going to go ahead, investors will come in.
01:13:38
Speaker
The team should stay at the city. But the big problem is the whitecaps are bottom in revenue, but they're right at the top in attendance at the moment because they've they've had good seasons. They've been able to open the upper ball.
01:13:54
Speaker
they're successful in the park but they're not making money at BC Place because it's government owned and it's taken some negotiations but the government said we will not take any revenue from the Whitecaps this year so the Whitecaps will now get all the money from concessions from parking they can do naming rights if they want so that's all in place and that will give them an extra two and a half million The problem is, Axel Schuster says they need another 25 million.
01:14:25
Speaker
So that's just 10% of what they're needing. Yeah, not even close. No. So the only way you get that is corporate money coming in. And it's tough here because the corporate money pretty much all goes to the Canucks.
01:14:38
Speaker
But the Canucks are dreadful. So what you're needing is the corporate folk to think, yeah, you know what? Whitecaps would be better, but all the media care about here is the Canucks.
01:14:49
Speaker
So if you're associated with the Canucks, you get that publicity. You're also on TV, whereas with the Whitecaps, you're on Apple, and it's not as visible. So that that's...
01:15:00
Speaker
the the long short answer and until more money comes in nothing is certain i'm a glass half full person and i don't see them moving axel schuster said there's no deadline to this but don garber's comments recently to a business journal that he gave an interview with basically said without using the word there's a deadline that there's a deadline And I was really hoping he was going to do a pre-season talk because I wanted to get that question and to ask him.
01:15:30
Speaker
Although I'm not sure I'm going to ever get to ask Don Garber a question again because the last time I did was after the schedule was announced and I asked him stuff about the union. in the actual clip they put up that media could download, you hear somebody saying, oh, why did we have to take this question?
01:15:49
Speaker
That's how you know was good. I don't know I'm going to get to ask him a question if I can. That's awesome. um I guess ah my follow-up is, like so is the issue with BC Place like purely the revenue stuff and they can't come to an understanding there? Because when I look at it, like maybe maybe this is just because I'm outside and outside of the situation and don't follow it that closely, but I like BC Place. Every time I go there, it's in like a really good location. The atmosphere is great. it's like I really like the spot that it's in at the city. i understand like the playing surface is trash, but it is a lot of other places too. And also, that's something that you could theoretically improve if you just like invest a little bit into it.
01:16:34
Speaker
Like, or no, is that, is that not like right possible? Like, why not? Is there any like recourse to the situation where they just like improve the situation at BC place and they can just stay there? Or is that just like out of the question?
01:16:49
Speaker
Possible. um Don Garber has basically said BC place is untenable and unviable for the white caps going forward. And it isn't just about revenue.
01:17:01
Speaker
They don't control the dates and that is the big problem. So Leaks Cup, we play Tigris, we can't host that at ob BC Place, we're having to play that in Mexico.
01:17:13
Speaker
Canadian Championship semi-final, we can't host that at BC Place. If we get to the CONCACAF Cup Final and we are the host team, we can't have it at BC Place.
01:17:27
Speaker
Depending what leg in the semi-final, if we were to get there, that we hosted, we can't host a second leg at BC Place. That's World Cup for that. But the Canadian Championship, I think, is also World Cup.
01:17:41
Speaker
Leagues Cup, playoff games, it's because of concerts. They have so many trade shows. It's a functioning building. there's Bruno Mars is playing.
01:17:52
Speaker
Oh, that takes obvious priority. Yeah. He's he's got five shows. So he has that stadium booked for probably like eight days. Five? Yeah. Why is he posting up in Vancouver for a week?
01:18:04
Speaker
It's like his songs are okay. It's not my kind of music, but I was like five shows. They've sold out. That's an excessive amount of Bruno Mars. You don't need that much Bruno.
01:18:16
Speaker
You could do two Bruno shows. and in Yeah. Colt play were here. and I think they only did two shows. Taylor Swift, I think, had five as well, but obviously it's Taylor Swift. That's Taylor it's steve Swift.
01:18:26
Speaker
because the The funny thing was, if we'd hosted the MLS Cup that year, we couldn't do it because Taylor Swift had BC Placebooked. Okay, so I mean, that is an issue. That's an issue. Well, and Seattle deals with that exact. That's why Seattle's playing in Spokane. So like I understand that issue. It's boat show or something, don't you?
01:18:43
Speaker
ah Well, I think this it's because of World Cup it's world cup renovations. right okay I think at least that's going to be the but the big issue. That's why they're like on the road so much right now. but This is the problem with the turf.
01:18:55
Speaker
Because there's all these trade shows. like We have boat shows there. There's Rugby Sevens this past weekend that was there. They've had motocross there, monster trucks there. so you can imagine what that would do to a grass pitch.
01:19:09
Speaker
so they can only have a turf pitch there is a new pitch going in after the world cup so it's brand new turf pitch which is overdue because it went in for the women's world cup in 2015 so we are long past the the sell-by date for the for this turf and there'll be a new pitch and it will be better but They want to control the dates.
01:19:31
Speaker
They want to control all the money. Don Garber's thrown out, why don't the province, just like the Whitecaps, run the stadiums? And I don't see why they wouldn't want to do that. But I don't know. There's a lot more like we I could talk half an hour on this. There's nothing new.
01:19:49
Speaker
And maybe once there has been some movement, we can talk a bit more for the the August game or maybe the playoffs if we if we're meet in the playoffs. Oh, October, of course, you're up on November first Yeah, yeah, ah absolutely. I guess my my take on the whole situation is like they they just better not move the team, man. Like in these situations where you got the oligarch class talking about how they like don't have the money for stuff, figure it out.
01:20:18
Speaker
Figure it out. I don't care. All of you guys who have who are in charge of these decisions have more money than God. If you have to lose some of that money to create the situation where the club stays, I feel but the amount of sympathy I feel for you is less than nothing. i got like I got a tiny little violin for you and your millions and billions of dollars.
01:20:39
Speaker
Figure it out. If you move the team, you're all scumbags. That's my ah that's my take on it. yeah I know you had it with the supersonics there. and Exactly. I was talking to Jackson about this or on Sounders Weekly, and we had it with the Grizzlies here.
01:20:58
Speaker
And folk that were, that was before my time, but folk that went through that, this is fresh in their mind and that's what the concern is. It's just ironic that we've had we've got the best ever team on the pitch and now we've got the most uncertainty ever off it Yeah, exactly. it shouldn't be like that. like the The team has like more equity in the city now as and as far as on-field results as I feel like it ever has. and there should be and i mean you should never be moving a team anyway, but like especially a team that's this good, it's got Thomas Mueller, it's got a whole city excited about the team. The fact that it's even being talked about, it's it's honestly mind-blowing how stupid some these teams are. For me, I think the best worst-case scenario would be
01:21:41
Speaker
The team moves, but the stadium is approved. So they kind of do an earthquake situation where they go on hiatus for a couple of years. And then they come back. And then they come back in the league. Now, it kills all your momentum and you've lost all your players.
01:21:59
Speaker
But if if they were to move, that could be the best scenario out of it. The best obvious scenario is they don't move and they get a new stadium. So we'll see how it all plays out.
Whitecaps Lineup Adjustments and Strategy
01:22:10
Speaker
If it's the choice between not having a team in Vancouver and having a team in Vancouver, but it's like a new team, like you mentioned, like the Earthquakes Dynamo situation, I guess I would accept that. it would be That would be unfortunate, though, because the team is so good yeah right now. you know so I don't know. i spoke to Tristan Blackman after he signed his contract extension, and he's from Vegas.
01:22:32
Speaker
And I was going to say, did you sign this because you think the team might be going to Vegas? But i thought, I won't push that. I wonder if he played with ah Danny Musavsky. That's where he's from too. And they're like kind of similar age. Yeah.
01:22:48
Speaker
I'll have to look into that. ah Before we bust out this lineup builder, let's hit this super chat. ah This one's from Vera Tatum 89 with the five. Thank you for the support. He said, thanks for coming back, Michael, subscribe to AFTN and really enjoy you and Zach's Vancouver Canadian Premier League global coverage. Keep up the work. Hell yeah. Everyone go. oh what my chair just spilled.
01:23:07
Speaker
Everyone go ah sub to AFTN support what they're doing. Best white caps podcast out there. um All right. Thanks for that. let's ah Let's project a Vancouver Whitecaps starting lineup. Yeah, and I want to say, so I mentioned i was on with Jackson and Saunders weekly.
01:23:27
Speaker
I wasn't long awake, and I totally forgot when I did that that Andres Kubis is suspended. So anyone that's heard me on that that thinks I'm an idiot, I totally forgot I am an idiot. What did he get suspended? Like yellow card accumulation? you've got him in. Oh, FopMob's got him in there as well. Yeah, he's got yellow card suspensions.
01:23:42
Speaker
Okay, well, you know, that's, I guess, good news it causes it for Seattle. but But like he got one in each leg and they were both so cheap and so stupid.
01:23:53
Speaker
And we also thought Ocampo had picked up two as well. But apparently there was a misunderstanding there and one of them didn't actually go to him. All right, so no Kubus, but you do have this absolute demon, Seb Berhalter, who's going to be in there, so that's not great. but So who who steps into this spot if Kubus is out? Well, right.
01:24:12
Speaker
The fact that Fopmobs got him in now, now I'm starting to question, is he suspended? Well, I think they default. They have like a default. Alright, because after they like at the Cartagena's game, the Whitecaps announced that his second year LeCard and he'll be suspended for the next game. So I'm basing it on what they've said. I did look before we went live to see if I could see anywhere that he's suspended and...
01:24:35
Speaker
I just found one third sub, another great Vancouver site, and they've got him suspended as well, but they're going to be basing that on what I'm basing it on. So if Kubis is out, there's two options here. I'm pointing at the screen, which doesn't help, obviously, folk watching this.
01:24:51
Speaker
So you could move Ralph Preso beside Berhalter. Actually, there's three options. You can move Preso up beside Berhalter, and then you would put Matty Laborda in at centre-back beside Tristan Blackman.
01:25:05
Speaker
Does he do that? Laborda? Laborda is a center back. Oh, I thought he was a fullback. I'm tripping. No. Okay. played at right back, center back, and left back. I could have sworn he was like a right back. So is he like is he like a center back that kind of like dual functions as a fullback? Because I feel like I see him out wide all the time.
01:25:24
Speaker
Yeah. For me, he's better as a fullback. I'm not 100% sold on him as center back. sold on him as a centre bike But him and Tristan do play quite well together.
01:25:37
Speaker
I also don't know. Right, right. Let's start at the back. So Tristan, Takahoka's definitely playing. Akampo's definitely right back. Blackman's definitely in. I don't know if they'll go for Tate Johnson.
01:25:50
Speaker
They had him talking to the media today. Yeah, which made did make me think it might be him. But could be Matty Laborda. at left back just for the experience there and T is having a lights out season he really is he is really really I feel like they I feel like they got to start I think they probably will be the fact that he spoke today which makes me think that Matty Laborda is going to be the center back beside Blackman okay yeah I think that now and out I know that Laborda is a CB think you're right
01:26:24
Speaker
I uh so and then in that and then so in there so pre so moves to uh to d-mid so he he is a d-mid by trade but you guys moved him back to cb like wasn't that for like the playoffs last year and then he just turned out he held good at it before that we had all we had one healthy center back it was like crazy yeah that's then seattle sounders right now yeah More centre-backs went down.
01:26:50
Speaker
And then we signed two centre-backs and they both got injured. Well, one came injured. One got injured getting some minutes for WFC too and hasn't played a single game for us. And then he was back training. This is Bastie Shonlow.
01:27:03
Speaker
And then he got injured in training, so he's back out again. It's been a horrendous addition And he's a good player So we've never got to see him yet So Laborda should be in there If Laborda wasn't and Preso starts at centre-back We could see Jeevan Badwal beside Berhalter He does that He is actually a ah defensive player Why can all these guys just play everywhere? What the hell?
01:27:29
Speaker
Well, yeah, um he's been playing as a number 10 against Cartagena in the two games there. But then he came on and started on the wing against Portland, and I thought it was excellent.
01:27:41
Speaker
So he's like the, isn't he like 19? Yeah, he scored on Seattle last year, didn't he? Yeah, it was his it was his birthday. It's his birthday today. Well, happy birthday. he yeah He's playing the team that he got. It was like it was like his first MLS goal. First MLS goal. but it wasn't That was the game that we had all the sickness and we had to like play all the young kids. And then New Who got the crash out red card. and i mean, if you guys can keep 11 players on the pitch, that would be a start in this game, I think. Yeah. You would think so. that That is something that they could not do famously nine times last year, including in that Whitecaps game. But yeah, now that you're refreshing my memory, ah they Seattle went into that Whitecaps game thinking that, oh yeah, a bunch of them are sick and there's a bunch of 17-year-olds out there. Anytime Seattle has to play a bunch of 17-year-olds, I guess watch out because they have like the games of their lives. But this Boudoir kid, I'd never seen or heard him play or heard of him or seen him play. And he came out there and got a goal, I think, like
01:28:40
Speaker
pretty Wasn't that pretty early in the game? It was in the first half. Yeah. and So is he is he looking is he looking good, like making good on the potential? He has. like This was such a big season for him.
01:28:53
Speaker
And we were like, I don't know if he's going to get these minutes to to kind of push on. And he's been getting minutes by playing all these different positions. I don't think he's starting this, though.
01:29:05
Speaker
okay so he'll come off the bench if he starts it's going to be beside bear halter as a defensive midfielder because he is a six or an eight that's how he's played in the academy that's how he played with wfc too and now all of a sudden he's like right wing and a number 10 this season but i think he'll drop out for emmanuel sabby okay i was going to ask where where he was is he like coming back from injury or something No, he didn't play pre-season. So he didn't play one pre-season game.
01:29:33
Speaker
So he's still getting up to fitness. And then he got suspended after the RSL game. Disco, rightly, because it was a shocking challenge.
01:29:44
Speaker
He went over the ball into the guy's shin and Disco gave him a... a late red so he missed the second game and then has been coming off the bench he's not up to full fitness but I think because you're down to one centre back he'll get the start and he'll probably come off about the hour mark for Badwall but I think they're going to want to go with pace to run at your defence in the early going here Yeah, oh God, Sabi's so good. he was He really like, he was one of the guys last year who sometimes I'd be watching him. i was like, where did he come from?
01:30:25
Speaker
Who is this guy? He was the guy that came in and he was one of the ones last year. and was like, oh, I don't know about this. And then slow start, but partly he got injured.
01:30:35
Speaker
And that didn't help. Him and Ryan Gould had never played a game together until late October because of the injuries between the two of them. That was the kind of year that they were having. But as the second half of the season, he was almost putting himself in like US men's national team consideration with the form that he was in.
01:30:57
Speaker
And he had the triple post in the MLS Cup final that still haunts me to this day. And I spoke to Ali Ahmed this week on our latest podcast, and he said he still plays that moment over and over in his head as well, because that was such a what-if moment.
01:31:12
Speaker
If that had gone in, it was 2-1 Whitecaps. We were flying at that point. and i Yeah. I think we'd have won that game. But he's not at his best yet. But I think he's going to be, although I'm saying he's going to start, maybe he's better to come off the bench when you've got a tired defense.
01:31:29
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. my For me, he starts this one. My favorite look that you guys ran last year was with Sabi and Ali Ahmed on the wing. so that was just so hard to stop. yeah I feel like, ah you know, AZ Jackson has been doing well, but he scares me a little bit less than ali Ahmed. But I guess, so is this is this the front four that you're thinking? so That's what I'm thinking. Sabi's the only question mark for me.
01:31:58
Speaker
Because Badwall did do well in Portland and he did get taken off before the hour mark. So I don't know if that was with a view to resting him. But again, it could be resting him for a number six role.
01:32:11
Speaker
Or we could try something a little bit different and go 4-1-4-1.
01:32:17
Speaker
that which would have preso as the number six and you'd be moving bear halter forward and then oh please don't do that if they do that bad wall would be on the wing because that's what they did against toronto pre so where would berhalter be oh yeahhold it would be just inside beside muller okay so he's here
01:32:40
Speaker
man that would have bad wall in the wing and on the on on the right wing it swabby and savvy would come off i see i see i kind of i kind of like this i feel good i feel like you guys should do this And the fact that you've got a week in defense, it might be something that Jesper Sorensen's looking at. Because your attack does terrify me.
01:33:05
Speaker
Jordan Morris going down. like We said this on our show, even though it's a rival, I just love his story coming through the whole the academy hometown kid. And it's heartbreaking that he's got another injury.
01:33:19
Speaker
Yeah, it sucks. But your attack in that game at the weekend, it just didn't seem like it was clicking. No, i really i wouldn't say it's fully clicked clicked yet, except in one game. But I feel like i really i i really like where Seattle's attack is at, at least where it was ah last year. They scored a bunch of goals last year. I feel like they lost the season on defense. But Seattle can score. I'm just more like when you're – their defense is suspect. Seattle's defense is suspect anyway, and now you're down to one CB – Honestly, if I were, if I was Jesper, would run this, I would run the most aggressive attacking lineup possible and try and get on top of, ah on top of Seattle's back line, which is going to have a non or like a non actual center back in there. And then like, that's kind of the beauty of Burr halter is you can put him up there or where pre so is, and he's going to do it at an elite level. But if you if you have a matchup where you're going up against a suspect defense at home, yeah, put him up put him up a line. Have him next to Thomas Mueller as those kind of like dual tens, which is honestly, it's kind of similar to what Seattle runs with Albert Rusnak and Jesus Ferreira. They list it as a 4-2-3-1, but I kind of always describe it as playing more like dual tens than with Ferreira as a pure winger. So I feel like this is kind of a similar idea, but then you got Woodwall and AZ out wide, Brian White up top. you find so What I like about this is like Preso can drop back into a back three because Johnson and the camp will love getting forward.
01:34:53
Speaker
Right, exactly. So you've you've got that flexibility. and this is This is sick. i thought i would run this I would run this every week. Has has he read this run this much and has it worked? Just the once against Toronto.
01:35:04
Speaker
Oh, okay. So it did work. but It was Kubis that was in instead of Preso. And then Preso was in a center back. Okay, so that's the only thing that makes me think ah he might not want to do this because it's a really high-stakes game, and having Preso isolated like this, going against Ferreira and Rusnak and probably Paul Rothrock in this case, it's a lot to ask of Preso, but that is his more natural position. and you would you Would you feel comfortable with him with him in this role? Yeah.
01:35:37
Speaker
I mean he is the back, or last year, he was the backup to Kubis. So when Kubis was out, Preso came in in that position. Yeah, and he was little bit. that's what he's played his whole career.
01:35:48
Speaker
but He's thrived at centre-back because he's such a good ball-playing defensive midfielder. And Robin Fraser, the Toronto coach, was like waxing lyrical before the game about having him as a centre-back. It's such a benefit because he knows how to play the ball. He knows how to play the six role. So he knows what to expect from the guy in front of him.
01:36:10
Speaker
And he's been a revelation there. But you want to somehow get him involved. And i think the best way of doing that is to have him playing as the six or isolated six and in this case, as opposed to double pivot.
01:36:25
Speaker
What you'll also
Young Players and Designated Player Situation
01:36:26
Speaker
see if we go for these two centre-backs is both Laborda and Blackman love to get forward at set pieces. And Matthias Laborda is an absolute beast getting on the end of Berhalter's crosses at corners. So is Blackman. Yeah, Blackman is nothing compared to Laborda.
01:36:43
Speaker
Really? Yeah. laor that There was a few times, like, Laborda, when he was playing either as a centre-back, which was rare last year and mostly as left-back,
01:36:54
Speaker
There was a number of times the Whitecaps would be in the attack and the player furthest forward was Mateo Laborda. And you're like, why is he the guy that's suddenly leading the line and Brian White's behind him?
01:37:06
Speaker
He loves to get forward. Yeah, the other thing the other thing about this too is it's like, you know, you can list Berhalter here on the graphic, but like the reality is like he's so good at everything that you essentially have a partner for Aprizo and a partner for Thomas Mueller like at the same time.
01:37:25
Speaker
And he's going to do both at an elite level. So it's going to change how it plays a little bit. But like that's kind of the beauty of how well-rounded Berhalter is. is he like he play He plays both those positions.
01:37:40
Speaker
So no matter where you list them on the graphic, you're going to have it's really it's not really like Pre-Soe's isolated is what I'm saying. Berhalter plays that position and apparently doesn't get tired. Like you can just run as much as he wants without losing energy. So that's a man. I really, i think this might be the white caps ticket to, ah to the promised land, this formation right here. What do you think AZ Jackson so far? i always I've always actually kind of rated him. He's bounced around MLS a little bit, but he's one of those guys where I feel like every team he's on, whenever he plays, you notice him. like You notice him on the screen. he' He gets goal contributions. He's a pretty good finisher. he always looks dangerous. ah But you know like I wasn't sure what it was going to look like him coming to Whitecaps team that's this loaded. What have you made of how he's like...
01:38:33
Speaker
Like the fact that he is broken in and is playing as a feature guy on this team and we've got him on a starting lineup graphic for a CCC game. That's like not necessarily where I thought he would be. And that's that's pretty impressive. That's not easy to do coming in as a young player from the outside into a team like this.
01:38:52
Speaker
No. And part of it is because Ryan Gold got injured. Because that left wing role was Ryan Gold's position. And it was going to be him beside Muller and Sabi on the right with White up front. That was the front four.
01:39:07
Speaker
So Gold's injury, and he is meant to be back in April, although it's at the stage now of... Heard that, yeah, heard that one before. It's so so it's so funny how similar it is to ah Seattle's DP situation. Like, you got Ryan Gold, the DP who never plays in Vancouver, and Pedro de la Vega, the DP who never plays in Seattle. still ah Still two of the best teams in the West, but they play down a DP, one DP minimum at all times, and Seattle likes to play down two DPs, which is what they're doing right now, and all their center backs.
01:39:39
Speaker
Well, we only have two DPs now because Andres Kubis' new contract, so I'm bought down by GAM or TAM. I can't remember. One of those two things. So we only have... You have an open spot? Yeah.
01:39:51
Speaker
Oh, Jesus Christ. No, it's one DP against one DP. But that's what was going to say. Berhalter is a DP. Yeah. And basically, Tristan b Blackman's new salary...
01:40:03
Speaker
could be DP but it's been bought down as well so there's that like we only have 20 000 GAM left And there's two teams with less. One's Miami on 17, which isn't a surprise. And the Galaxy's got zero gam.
01:40:18
Speaker
And you look at those three teams and it's like, well, two of those three have spent wisely, clearly, and have had success and one hasn't. But now we've got an open DP spot, which if we feel we need to then push on in the summer and get somebody else in,
01:40:33
Speaker
And there was, there was rumors and half of it was kind of tongue in cheek that like, if Lewandowski is coming to MLS, him and Muller are very good friends.
01:40:44
Speaker
Imagine adding that as your DP. that could be That could be pretty fun. And, like, this is a roster where you could justify doing that and it's not, like, name chasing. Because, know, I'm just looking at it right now. Who are the guys that are DP quality in this lineup? You got four.
01:40:59
Speaker
You got Brian White, who produces, like, a DP number nine. You got Thomas Mueller, who I think is pretty obviously DP quality and pedigree. You got Seb Berhalter, who might be the got best goddamn player in the entire league right now. And then you got Tristan Blackman, who's the Defender of the Year. So, like, it's, you know, playing with the DPs when they're not actually technically DPs, I guess. yeah but in answer to your AZ question um so yeah he's got minutes because of gold but he also then got injuries because Kenji Cabrera got it got an injury and I thought Cabrera would probably be the guy that would start on the left but AZ's come in and in three MLS matches one goal two assists a lot of other stuff as well like he got brought down for a penalty uh which was subsequently missed I think there's
01:41:45
Speaker
There's been so many games so far. We've had five games this year and they're all starting to blur into one. But he's come in and he's done well. He sees his chance. He has come in right away and understood the system. And I i don't remember him that much from being in MLS before.
01:42:02
Speaker
Partly because I didn't really watch a lot of Columbus games. So I missed his whole time there. But I looked at his, the numbers he'd put up and i was like, oh, I'm not sure about this. He doesn't produce what I would want the guy in that position to produce.
01:42:19
Speaker
But much like Jadon Nelson, and they have the same hair, much like Emmanuel Sabi, they've come in with a point to prove. And whatever it is that's clicked, it's clicked right away.
01:42:33
Speaker
And they're putting numbers up. And getting, this is much like last season with the Whitecaps, getting these players these minutes early in the year will serve them so well later in the year. Because that's there's another player like JC and...
01:42:48
Speaker
Dando, who had to a career year last year for the Whitecaps, isn't even getting a sniff just now. And Emmanuel Sabi's not playing at full form. So you've got all these guys as well. So off the bench on Thursday, you're going to have Sabali, I think.
01:43:06
Speaker
Pretty sure he'll be on the bench. Cabrera will come off the bench. Sabi will come off the bench. So that's your three attackers to come off the bench as well. If you had to ah predict it gut feeling, do you think Jesper's going to run this for one for one or is he going to go more conventional? Because for
Whitecaps vs Seattle Match Predictions
01:43:25
Speaker
me, when I look at it, I feel like this is a prime opportunity to be aggressive and try and jump on Seattle in this formation that we're looking at right now is the perfect way to do that. But coaches also tend to be kind of err on the side of conservative, especially in like tournament, like a two leg series in a tournament like this. So I could see him being more conventional and conservative in that way. But I i don't know. I also i feel like this is what he should run.
01:43:51
Speaker
Well, this is fluid, though, because this can be their attack, and then Bear Halter's got the the pace to get back to make it the 4-2-3-1 as well. i got Yeah, that is what I was just... yeah yeah With Badwall also being an 8 and sometimes a 6, it's like he can also track back when needed, and Muller puts the shifts in and tracks back. Brian White tracks back as well.
01:44:15
Speaker
It's like all of these guys get back really quickly. So this can be like a fluid and it can it can go between the two. But I'm feeling confident for Thursday. It just feels one of these games that I think it could be a handy Whitecaps lead.
01:44:34
Speaker
um My prediction would be 3-0 Whitecaps at the end of this. And then is that too much for Seattle to come back and in the second leg? if they haven't gotten away goal 3-1 and i think the sounders could certainly get back into it but if it's 3-0 going to pecan would fancy the white caps at that stage even 2-0 yeah cops i'm uh i'm torn on how i feel about it because i think when you're down as many center backs seattle is and you're going against a team like this it's just you know it's a tall order
01:45:09
Speaker
ah And, you know, looking at Berhalter, Thomas Mueller, Brian White, even these fullbacks, these wingers, it's just going to be a difficult task for Seattle's defense, which has been pretty leaky dating back to last year anyway. They're going to press from the first kick.
01:45:27
Speaker
they go don Vancouver? Yeah. yeah And Seattle likes to do that too, but it's like as the road team, you they're probably going to change how they play little bit. And like they were in a pressing battle with St. Louis on the road last weekend, but that's like a whole different, that's a whole different thing. So, I mean, I don't know. I'm hoping, one of the things that I think Seattle does really well is press, but it's like you...
01:45:48
Speaker
Like how much can you really do that in a road game where you're a little bit under it like this? I don't know. I'd like honestly my my hope for Seattle in this situation comes down mostly to just like I've learned not to underestimate this team when when I think they're in a situation where they're up against it and you look at the opposition and you're like I don't see how they beat this team. The other team had like you know I'm thinking of the 2019 Western Conference final at l LAFC. I thought they had zero chance at winning that game. And then they went out and destroyed LAFC three to one. And there's been multiple other instances like that where I count them out I'm like, there's no way they can do this. They're missing this guy, this guy, and this guy and whatever. And then they do it. So that's basically what ah I'm hoping for is they can lean on the, it is a group that's got a ton of big game experience to group that's played together a lot. It's a group that like knows how to, you
01:46:42
Speaker
take results in situations like this. But this, I mean, if they pull this off with one center back, it's going to be an all timer. Like I, the more I think of it, the more I feel like what you're talking about with Vancouver hanging a couple of goals on them is probably the most likely outcome. And then it's just going to come down to if Seattle can score. But that's my other thing is like, I do think that, uh, that Seattle can score in this game and on Vancouver.
01:47:06
Speaker
ah I just, you know, it's all, you also look at how good Vancouver's defense has been this year. You guys have given up one goal. So. And it was an absolute screamer. Yeah, exactly. So it's like that. It's going to be hard to score in this game. And you're going up against one of the best sacks in the league. I don't know. Yeah, it's going to be tough. I've got a question for you. If the Whitecaps go one up, especially early, what does Seattle do? Do they try and just bunker and keep it close and keep the score down? Or do they feel, oh, we need to push and then leave yourself susceptible at the back?
01:47:44
Speaker
don't think they're i don't think they're gonna bunker that's one thing i appreciate about them is they don't really do that like there there's definitely areas like points in games where they're more defensive and more conservative than others but as far as like committing to a tactic throughout an entire game or most of a game after you get scored on to playing like that i don't think they're gonna do that but i mean that does you know that's not even necessarily a good thing like sometimes you should scale it way back to try and keep But I don't know. I tend to think that once you try and start doing stuff like that, that's when teams get into trouble. Like, the soccer gods are known to punish that. But also, it's just like, if you are trying to sit back and absorb pressure the entire time from Thomas Mueller, Sebastian Berhalter, and Brian White, that's probably not going to go that well for you. Like, at a certain point, you have to try and punch him back. Otherwise, you're just going to get bullied the whole time. So, I think my, like...
01:48:39
Speaker
I think if they go if they go behind early, you're going to see them chase it more than you would see them scale it back. so The away goal certainly makes that something that you need to do. to try Yeah, exactly. And maybe you know maybe the center back situation changes things. I think i think though the the scenario where they would scale it back would be somehow if they get ahead.
01:49:00
Speaker
But like even that, it's a two-leg series, and this Vancouver team can score on you literally at any time. So I think you you're better. You're best served. Yeah. Yeah. You're best served just to like go for it and let the chips fall where they may. You're kind of you're like the more we talked through it tonight, the more I'm like, I literally, I said two weeks ago that I felt like Seattle was the favorite, which I just didn't.
01:49:22
Speaker
If all things were equal and Seattle had but like was mostly healthy and had all their personnel, I could i might feel like it's more of a 50-50 toss. Oh, that like fantastic. Yeah, but like – Two healthy teams would be They're going to be playing the right back at center back. They also – Seattle's starting – one of their starting center mids got a concussion in the last game, so it's going to be an 18-year-old rookie. start or not I guess he played some last year, but he's basically a rookie. homegrown, basically a rookie Snyder Brunel, who I love. Like I, I rate him really high and he's looked honest. He's honestly looked incredible, uh, in his minutes so far dating back to last year, but it's like, this is, he's going to get, he has to defend Thomas Mueller and Sebastian Berhalter.
01:50:06
Speaker
That's tough for any 18 year old who has never been in this type of situation before. So, uh, Yeah, it's there. They are. Seattle is up against it. Personnel wise about as much as they could be when you factor in the Jordan Morris injury as well. yeah No center backs starting center mid is out.
01:50:26
Speaker
It's going tough. It's going to be tough. You're one healthy center back. I've just realized I'm not. <unk> That's healthy. ah Yeah, but he he's a left back. It's ah Jackson Reagan, the big tall guy.
01:50:39
Speaker
ah i know He's really good. was a Defender of the Year finalist yeah a couple years ago. i but ah it's he there's only i don't know There's only so much you can expect from one guy. True. Is who who likely to be starting?
01:50:55
Speaker
yeah Yeah, he's going to be starting, and he honestly functions kind of as a center back sometimes. He yeah sort of plays. I love him playing against us because I think he's dreadful. So I think we'll have a field day then. i mean you would you would ah You would get along well with some of my ah sounder card Sounder at Heart colleagues who don't rate New Who at all. But ah he he picked up an all-time red card at BC Place last year. That was honestly insane, and he did that like three times last year. I think, like, I don't know, it's He's been I will say he's been playing well so far this year and he has had individual games like the one I was talking about against LAFC where they were going up against Carlos Vela the year he had 34 goals and 15 assists or whatever. Like that was a situation like where I had to give it to new. He stepped it up and he played his ass off that game. So for as kind of erratic as he can be.
01:51:47
Speaker
when the When the lights are the brightest, he has shown a propensity for playing well. So that's probably doing mental... He's going to be going against Ocampo. Yeah, exactly. Expect theatrics.
01:51:59
Speaker
Exactly. like That is going to be that is goingnna be an electric matchup. uh all right michael uh that is all i had for you tonight thank you for hopping on and hanging out with us for so long that was a lot of fun a lot of fun yeah yeah i'll see you i'll see you tomorrow yes save travels up there's been some snow in the area but i think you should be okay hopefully not i'm not trying to go to whistler but uh michael uh before you get out of here anything you wanted to plug or promote or tell people where to find as far as what you got going with uh aftn for this game and just the the season
01:52:32
Speaker
Yeah, head over to the main website, aftn.ca. You'll find all the stuff there. Our latest podcast, we catch up with Ali Ahmed. We've got a 25-minute chat with him about his time in Vancouver, his move to Norwich and settling in over in England. So that's a lot of fun.
01:52:51
Speaker
And we just tear Portland apart in the latest one as well. So that's always a lot of fun. Yeah, I think we can and we can definitely agree that that's always one. We're the two kings of Cascadia now. It's us that's battling it out.
01:53:05
Speaker
Yeah, but honestly, they're kind of just a meme team at the moment for the Phil Neville press conferences. it's It's kind of sad in a way because I feel like the Cascadia rivalry dynamic is better when they're relevant and competent. And right now they're just kind of a bumbling clown show. But like I'm not complaining about them being a bumbling clown show. like That's great content in its own right. so but we've always said for Vancouver to to really be a part of the Cascadia rivalry, we have to beat you and We have to beat Portland And if we're not doing that We're never going to be considered Oh that's a game we're really looking forward to I think now Seattle-Vancouver is back to maybe what it used to be
01:53:47
Speaker
I think so. I think
Cascadia Rivalry and Tournament Strategy
01:53:48
Speaker
the Whitecaps getting as good as they've been has kind of reinvigorated that. And then the timber the fall of the Timbers has sort of... like I think this series could be a moment where the Seattle-Vancouver component of the Cascadia rivalry kind of gets back to the...
01:54:03
Speaker
to the forefront. Like it's kind of already been trending that direction, but now they're playing in CCC and, uh, should be, uh, a good series, but, uh, all right, Michael, I'll let you get out here on that. Thank you so much for the time. Much appreciated. As always, we'll get you back on anytime we're, uh, talking Vancouver whitecaps and, uh, yeah, I'll, uh, I'll see you tomorrow.
01:54:21
Speaker
I'll see you tomorrow. Take care. That was Michael McCall from AFTN, the best Vancouver Whitecaps podcast. Go follow, subscribe to AFTN on all platforms. Show them some love. Show them some support. We love ty talking Vancouver Whitecaps with Michael. And really, I felt like that was pretty,
01:54:42
Speaker
ah i would say enlightening, but also a little, I feel dicey about this series, guys. I do. I do. this team is This team they're about to play is really good. It's one of the best teams in MLS.
01:54:56
Speaker
If you're listing the top two to three best teams in MLS right now,
01:55:02
Speaker
that team that you would not be able to do that without listing this team that Seattle's about to play. And that's for a lot of reasons. Like obviously Thomas Mueller has helped them. Brian White's been doing his thing for a while, but what I was saying about ah what I was saying about Burr halter is it's just like, i don't know. You know, when a you know, when you see a guy who just like looks like he's found his purpose, that's that's what he looks like right now.
01:55:31
Speaker
He looks like he, he looks like he's gotten possessed by something that's, you yeah You guys are going to see what I mean if you haven't watched the much Whitecaps or more much Seb Berhalter. This dude looks is like this dude's like Ozzie Alonso if he was, if Ozzie Alonso was hella good at attacking.
01:55:52
Speaker
It's essentially what he is. It's a player. It's messed up. Shouldn't be able to have that skill set. i don't like that.
01:56:01
Speaker
Damn it. But I will say this, like I was just saying to Michael, it's it's it feels like an uphill battle, but this is not impossible.
01:56:12
Speaker
And the reason it's not impossible because every time you doubt Alex Roldan's propensity for playing the center back position, he goes out there and he not only does fine, but he does actively well.
01:56:26
Speaker
And I could see a situation in this game tomorrow where sometimes these tournament games, they start slower than you would think. Like this feels like it should be an electric high pressing back and forth type of game. But if Seattle is able to just maintain basic control of the game state and not let Vancouver start running up and down, the longer it stays zero, zero, the more I think that plays into Seattle's favor. And that's true of, uh,
01:56:56
Speaker
That's true of any two-leg series like this. Someone was given the update on ah l LA Galaxy Mount Pleasant. Wow, the LA Galaxy are only up 2-0 against the Mount Pleasant Academy in the 94th minute.
01:57:11
Speaker
Dude.
01:57:18
Speaker
All of their players were banned from for making the trip.
01:57:24
Speaker
you only ah You only got him 2-0. Mount Pleasant should advance for pulling off a 2-0 in the first leg.
01:57:37
Speaker
that's That's not good from the LA Galaxy. Seb's set pieces, they're diabolical. they're the They're the best in the league. I don't know, like, I still kind of am like trying to figure out when he got this good.
01:57:50
Speaker
He was not as good as recently as, like, a year or two ago. And then one day I looked up and he was the best player in the league.
01:58:01
Speaker
When did that happen? I don't like it.
01:58:06
Speaker
Not a fan of the spawn of Burrhalter being this good. But I do think too, like when you're in a situation like this, where you're, when you're up against it and kind of feels like everything's stacked against you and it feels like you're probably going to lose.
01:58:25
Speaker
That's when the most legendary moments can get created. And if Alex Roldan, center back, comes through and they keep a clean sheet at BC Place, build the statue. Gabriel Peck just scored for the LA Galaxy to make it in the 96th minute.
01:58:38
Speaker
He shouldn't be celebrating that as much as he is.
01:58:42
Speaker
But the Galaxy's Mickey Mouse path to the quarterfinals, it looks like man, it would have been funny if they lost that game, wouldn't it?
01:58:53
Speaker
But that was always too much to ask. All right, I'm coming up on two hours, guys, so I'm going to get out of here. Thank you all so much for tuning in. First under the lights of 2026. All right, i'll hit this I'll hit this one before we get out of here. Thoughts on Fry versus Thomas? yeah Yeah, thanks for bringing that up because I meant to bring that up over the last like couple shows, actually, and I forgot. Yeah, Brian Schmetzer announced that Steph Fry is starting this entire tournament instead of Andrew Thomas, which...
01:59:23
Speaker
ah is That's not what I would do
01:59:29
Speaker
I tend to think that if you have a number one and you have a tournament with this high of stakes, I know Andrew Thomas started Leagues Cup last year, but I think CCC is higher stakes than Leagues Cup. I think if you have a number one, think you have a number one, if you actually have a number one, your number one should be starting in CCC. Leagues Cup, it's a new tournament. If you want have the number two goalkeeper be the Leagues Cup goalkeeper like they did last year, think that's different than what they're doing starting be off step like fries, the number two at this point, starting him for a CCC, starting him for this tournament. I would just start the number one, but I mean, I guess, you know, if they want, if they feel like they want to get fry minutes, I don't have that much of an issue with it. Other than like the only, the only thing that better not happen is like Andrew Thomas needs to be, they need to do the PK subs. If it comes to that,
02:00:22
Speaker
like, I know there's, well, Or is there no PKs in this because of the away goals? I can't remember.
02:00:33
Speaker
I should know that. If there are PKs at any point, ah I just want if Andrew Thomas better be in there. He better be in there. Who do I like better at this point? At this point, I like Andrew Thomas as the number one, pretty unquestionably like Steph Fry is the greatest goalkeeper in club history. One of the best goalkeepers in MLS history. One of the,
02:00:56
Speaker
best players in Seattle Sounders history, build the statue, put them on Mount Rushmore. But Andrew Thomas is the future. He's the future and he is an absolute God on penalty kicks. I think he's looked pretty, he's looked really good so far this year. he was, he had a couple of really big saves in this last game against St. Louis.
02:01:15
Speaker
So I think it's Andrew Thomas time. I would be, if if I was the coach, which I'm not, If I was the coach, I would be starting Andrew Thomas in CCC. PKs or no PKs.
02:01:30
Speaker
But, like, you know, I trust Stephen Fry in a big game and in a tournament game about as much as anybody. So I'm not, like, worried about Steph Fry. I just think that if you if if you're making the switch, make the switch, you know.
02:01:44
Speaker
Am i not tripping with that? Like, I don't know.
02:01:52
Speaker
If he's actually, like, Schmetz keeps saying, I have two number ones, but, like, that's not, you don't act you don't have two number ones. The guy that you start in all the um MLS games, which is andrew Andrew Thomas, that's the number one.
02:02:05
Speaker
If you had two number ones, you would be, like, alternating them for the, that's, i don't know, I don't know.
02:02:12
Speaker
Again, it's not what I would do, but I'm not going to, like, I'm also not going to complain about Steph Fry starting big games. There's pretty much there's pretty much no one else I would want in a big game
02:02:29
Speaker
other than if you're going to be a starting Andrew Thomas. He said he'd play Steph in attorney. I mean, i he might have said that.
02:02:39
Speaker
I would think – my thought with that was that they would do what they did last year, which is have Andrew Thomas start the league games and start CCC and then have Steph Fry start leagues.
02:02:50
Speaker
Especially
Importance of Competitions like CCC
02:02:51
Speaker
because you just want, like, Leagues Cup this year does not matter as much as CCC for Seattle. Like, I really don't think it does. You just won Leagues Cup, winning CCC again. they if they win CCC again this year, that puts them in, like, a crazy pantheon, you know?
02:03:07
Speaker
No one else has done it once. You've done it twice.
02:03:12
Speaker
Like, yeah that matters more than going back-to-back in Leagues Cup. It would be cool to go back-to-back at Leagues Cup. But i I think there's a lot more riding on CCC. I think this is way bigger. But, you know, I also think they're playing one of the best teams in MLS. So this is going to be is gonna be a tall order.
02:03:32
Speaker
Can it be done? Yes. Will it be done?
02:03:36
Speaker
We'll see. A lot of that comes down to Alex Roldan, how well he can play center back.
02:03:43
Speaker
Which, to be fair, he has done – there hasn't been a time where he's done that where he hasn't done it well.
02:03:51
Speaker
But, I mean, this is a new ballgame. Like, I mean, you guys you guys are going to see, like, this team is legit legit. They're one of those teams that it kind of looks like they're playing, like, at a different speed sometimes than the opposition.
02:04:07
Speaker
You know those LAFC teams of 2019 and 2022 where they went, like, plus 48 GD type stuff and they just looked like they were on some kind of
02:04:19
Speaker
different kind of level. This team is like that. So it's going to be tough. You got San Diego FC starting against Toluca right now. So, uh,
02:04:30
Speaker
I'm probably going to be watching some of that, but ah I'm going to get out of here on that, guys. i Two-hour stream. That's long enough. i will If you're going to Vancouver, see you at BC Place tomorrow. Yeah, we're making the trip. we're hopping We're hopping over the Canadian border, and then we're hopping right back same night. So Lobby Scorchers will be there.
02:04:52
Speaker
See you all there. and then ah we're going to do the postgame show from there. as i don't know why we wouldn't. We're going to do the postgame show from there like we always do.
02:05:03
Speaker
So keep an eye out for that after the final whistle. And yeah, appreciate you guys tuning in. That was a lot of fun. First under the lights of the season. I'm going to right now, the plan is to kind of just pick and choose my spots when to do these shows. And we're having Thursday be podcast day at the studio.
02:05:20
Speaker
So I think there might be some weeks where we don't rip these, but i'm going to try and do them as much as possible. Get guests on here the whole nine like we did last year. So appreciate you all. See you in Canada and love you all. Peace.