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Episode 354: Pulling us back in
66 Plays3 years ago
It's probably not healthy, but Jeremiah and Aaron are full back on the Sounders' bandwagon for at least another week. And even if this ends in tears, at least we had a wonderful moment against Houston.
This week's music: Perry Como - "Seattle", "RVIVR - "Ocean Song", Woody Guthrie - "Roll On Columbia", "Your Journey Begins" - OurMusicBox (Jay Man) (CC BY 4.0)
Thanks to James Woollard, Sounders Public Address Announcer, for doing our sponsor reads. You can follow him on Twitter at @BritVoxUS - if you’re looking for a British Voice to advertise your business or non-profit, please reach out to him.
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Transcript
Introduction and Sponsorship
00:00:00
Speaker
This episode of No Sadietes is sponsored by Full Pool Wines, a Seattle-based wine seller who recently released their first book, 36 Bottles of Wine. The ethos of the book, a highly curated look at wine categories that provide exceptional value right now, should be familiar to full pool readers. But there's loads of fresh content, and since it's not trying to sell any wine through the book, there's a bit more of a sass factor.
00:00:21
Speaker
And there's food. Lots of it. Fullpool's unique writing styles applied to recipes like leftover Thanksgiving, turkey, schmaltz-a-ball soup, and pregnancy nachos. This book can be purchased through Sasquatch Books.
Meet the Players: Roldan and Morris
00:00:32
Speaker
Hey, this is Christian Roldan. And Jordan Morris from the Seattle Sounders Football Club. And you're listening to... There's no study at this. Come on! Hey, Ocean! Let's go! I want to say bye-bye! The Seattle Sounders have done it! MLS Cup win!
00:00:52
Speaker
important the KSA's genius. Here comes Rui Diaz through the middle to crowd it for Seattle. They have climbed the mountain and now are masters of all that they survey. Michael Odero leaves absolutely no doubt the Saldars rule the region. Seattle Saldars is convinced
00:01:18
Speaker
Seattle Sounders, the greatest MLS team in history. How does this one feel? This feels fucking awesome. The bluest skies you've ever seen are in Seattle. And the hills the greenest green in Seattle.
00:01:53
Speaker
I didn't know what it was. Is that what you young people call twerking?
00:02:01
Speaker
I have no idea. I don't know. Welcome to another edition of NOS Adiata, sponsored by Fullpool Wines and our newest sponsor, Walk This Counter. This is episode 354 and we're recording on Wednesday, September 7th, 2022. I am your host, Jeremiah O'Shan. Joining me as usual is Aaron Campo in Lickit
Sounders' Recent Win and Playoff Hopes
00:02:17
Speaker
P. For the first time in over a month, we are talking to you after a win. I'm not sure I'd call it a statement win, but beggars can't be choosers these days and this one at least keeps the Sounders' faint playoff hopes alive.
00:02:30
Speaker
I also think it felt a bit bigger because of how they did it, coming from behind and then getting a goal and an assist from none other than New Who. Making the playoffs is still a long shot, but at least it feels possible again. How much, Aaron, how much do you think that one win over an admittedly bad opponent turned around the vibes?
00:02:51
Speaker
I think, you know, it definitely improved the vibes. I think the manner in which the win happened definitely improved the vibes, knew who scored and obviously it was very funny and cathartic. And I think just having a win that reminded people that they can enjoy the sounders again was good. Yeah. I think that wasn't just a win, but it was a fun, like it was as loud. I mean,
00:03:20
Speaker
Like the place was buzzing from, you know, from New Who's goal on. I mean, it was like legitimately buzzing, but go ahead.
Sounders' Playoff Path and Performance
00:03:29
Speaker
Yeah. And I think just like having that reminder that, oh, this team can't actually be a lot of fun. And then also having a reminder that they're actually capable of winning games.
00:03:41
Speaker
regardless of whether or not they're playing Houston at home. They're capable of winning games. And I thought they played pretty well. Admittedly, I watched the game on replay already knowing the outcome. So that certainly inclines you towards rose-colored glasses, I guess. But I thought they looked pretty good. Some of the mistakes that have plagued them. One of the things about the last month or so,
00:04:11
Speaker
Uh, not in every game, but in a lot of games, like LA is a good example. They've looked really good for periods of time and then just looked like total dogshit for periods of time and made really uncharacteristic mistakes and looked overwhelmed and looked. Although increasingly characteristic, unfortunately, unfortunately, that's, that's fair. Um, but they've looked, um, just completely lacking in confidence and they, I didn't feel like they had that as much in this game. Um, you know, I thought that they, uh,
00:04:41
Speaker
They looked like they, they knew that they had a pretty good chance of winning. And I think you've got to win those games sometimes, right? Like every time, ideally. And sometimes that's all it takes. Like if it really is a competence issue, if it really is a trying to do too much issue, which I think it has been, uh, you know, at times over, uh, over this last poor run of form, it's been guys just.
00:05:07
Speaker
not playing within themselves and trying to do everything themselves and making mistakes and giving the ball away in dangerous areas and things like that. So I thought that they looked a little more composed.
00:05:23
Speaker
you know, having, giving a little bit of confidence back and a little bit of maybe some swagger back, I think will be helpful down the stretch. I think, you know, as you said, the playoffs are still a long shot and it's, it's crazy how quick that can turn around. Like, I think the last time we recorded, we were both pretty confident still that the Sounders were going to make the playoffs. It hasn't been that long. It's only been two weeks, but you know, a lot of stuff's happened since then, two losses and a draw. So,
00:05:49
Speaker
And now a win. So, you know, hopefully, hopefully they can finish on a strong note and at least make the last month of the season worth watching.
00:05:58
Speaker
Yeah, I was telling someone today that if they go into decision day alive, like even if it's not in the control of their own destiny, I'll sort of feel like that's, that's a win at this point. Uh, I obviously would love for them to make the playoffs in part because if they make the playoffs at this point, it will be because they're playing well. And if they're playing well, all of a sudden it feels like, why can't they go on a run? We've seen teams, you know, certainly less talented teams go on runs.
00:06:30
Speaker
And so there's no, like, if they can, if they can actually put it together, if they can make this happen, it starts to feel possible. I think this Austin game is going to be a really good test. They don't necessarily need to win. It's not a, like, if they win out, they will almost certainly make the playoffs, but they do have some wiggle room. You know, some, a bunch of people have been running the numbers and it looks like if they can get to, you know, somewhere 47, 48 points, they've got a pretty good shot of getting into the playoffs.
00:06:58
Speaker
meaning they can probably lose one game or draw a couple is sort of like the way the math looks like it's going to work out. That said, I think they need to play well against Austin.
Improved Confidence and Resilience
00:07:10
Speaker
Even if it's a draw, if they at least look like they can hold their own against them, I think that will maybe continue this momentum and
00:07:19
Speaker
You know, why not, right? I thought that this game, it wasn't just that New Who scored. It wasn't just that the Sounders came from behind. But like you said, there was a confidence about their play. Like after the game against Orlando, I said, this team is looking a little fragile. And that's not a thing we would say about the Sounders really under Brian Schmutzer is that it just started to look like a team where once one thing goes wrong,
00:07:48
Speaker
It's like a cascading. It's like nothing can go right anymore. And this was a game where the center started off great. They gave up the first goal. I wouldn't say it was a fluky goal, but it was not like it wasn't like a bad play. Like it was it was like a fine goal to give up. Like you you you punch a a corner kick. The guy takes it on a full volley and it deflects off of a offensive player.
00:08:15
Speaker
You kind of shrug your shoulders and you go the, okay, you know, you beat us on that one. We're not going to let that get us down. And the centers kept pressing. They, they, they actually, and I mean that, uh, literally in this case, their press was so effective. I don't think after the first five minutes that Houston tried to play out of the back once, like they, they just kicked it long every single time. And, you know,
00:08:39
Speaker
It makes it a little harder to take a serious assessment of how they played due to some of those tactical choices that Houston made. But I thought Danny Leyva and Josh Atencio were very good in the defensive midfield. I think you can kind of show through data how it allowed the attacking quartet to stay higher. Most notably, Nico Ledera was able to get almost a much higher percentage of his touches in the offensive third.
00:09:06
Speaker
There was a lot of, I think there were some takeaways, you know, it all comes with a caveat that Houston sucks. Right. But there were, it was something to build on. It was something genuinely to build on. Yeah. And, and the other thing to keep in mind there is, you know, who else sucks is Vancouver Whitecaps and FC Cincinnati and supporting Kansas City and San Jose earthquakes. Those teams all suck. Right. You have to beat the teams that suck and the Tigers haven't been beating the teams that suck.
00:09:32
Speaker
And that's the problem. And that's the problem, right? Like if you do OK to even bad against the good teams and do well against the bad teams, you're going to make playoffs. And, you know, I think like this team is good enough to win for the five games they have left. Right. And and they like they should. And after the Houston game, I think
00:09:57
Speaker
it felt like that was possible again, whereas after that Orlando City game, it didn't feel like they were ever going to win. No, I honestly was thinking, what if they don't win another game this year? And it was like one of those things where it's like, I don't think that's going to happen, but I can see it happening. Sure. And I'm less worried about that now.
Future Roster Stability
00:10:18
Speaker
Yeah, for sure. I mean, obviously. And I think there's even value, let's say they finish pretty strong and don't make the playoffs, but they're beating, you know, they're playing pretty well. They're beating the teams that they should for the most part. But, you know, maybe they lose to Austin, only get a point against Vancouver or something like that, and they just fall short.
00:10:39
Speaker
you can at least feel okay going into the season next year where there's probably not going to be a lot of roster turnover like we're probably looking at running this thing back especially among the like i actually just looked at this the other day and i don't want to get too into uh you know potential offseason type stuff but i'll save you the time most of the guys that have options coming up are not the guys who you would think
00:11:06
Speaker
Oh, we got to get this. These are, this is how we can free up some cap space or whatever. They're almost all players that are on relatively low cap numbers or aren't even on cap numbers. Like they are essentially they're, they're not going to save you. They're going to get you a roster spot, but they're not going to get you anything else. Uh, you know, like the biggest names that are, uh, have options coming up or like will Bruin and, uh, and maybe Freddie might have an option coming up, but most of these players are not, and neither one of them make very much money.
00:11:36
Speaker
Uh, so it's, it's just, you know, it's, it's not, there's might not be a ton of turnover this off season. And, and that's where it starts to get lay maybe a little scary if the centers were to just like collapse down the stretch here. And you're talking about having to bring that whole roster back. Uh, it starts to get a little, you know, worrisome, but if they can put it run together, right.
00:11:59
Speaker
You're not quite as worried about that. Yeah, and I do think that, you know, I think that I've been pretty consistent in thinking that this team is not as bad as their results have been. And there's certainly reasons to be concerned that some of the guys are aging out of their prime and that, you know, they're not going to be as effective as they always have been.
00:12:19
Speaker
But I don't think that it's reasonable to think if they run this team back next year, they're going to be the worst team in the league, right? Like that just doesn't seem and never has seemed realistic to me. But I'm sure going to feel a lot better about that position if they can finish the season on Toronto and.
00:12:36
Speaker
And I think it's just less chaos going into the off-season, less uncertainty going into the off-season. Less excuse for Garth to look elsewhere, right? I mean, if it feels like the jig is up here and this team is in for a lengthy rebuilding phase, then maybe those other jobs start to look a little bit more appealing that are out there. And so a lot riding on the last month of the season,
00:13:02
Speaker
And, you know, I feel reasonably confident that they can at least make it interesting. And that's a good place to be compared to how we were a week ago this time.
Playoff Surprise Potential
00:13:12
Speaker
Yeah, and it's, I don't know, maybe it's unhealthy for us to be flying from one extreme to the other, but there was, it's hard to, if you weren't at the game, you weren't at the game. So maybe you can, that it maybe came through the TV as a good sign, but it was,
00:13:30
Speaker
it was so loud after new who's goal that it's hard like as loud as any game I've heard this year outside of the Champions League really maybe you go all the way back to the MLS Cup in 2019 and it was just like it was fun it was like even when they when they got that penalty
00:13:49
Speaker
I had a feeling it might get missed for some reason like it just was like, it just somehow this makes sense that Nico's gonna have to save. Sure enough, he did. And yet, it didn't feel like you did not get a sense that the air was coming out. And in fact they scored like a couple minutes later.
00:14:06
Speaker
But it just felt like the Sounders were going to figure it out. And they did. And that was good. And this is what Brian Schmetzer's teams have done so much this year or not. They've done so much during his tenure is just figure out how to get wins. And if they can just figure out how to get wins,
00:14:28
Speaker
That's a that's a big deal in this league. You don't need to be, you know, and I just think it's very funny that it's coming right now. Like LAFC and Austin have sort of been cruising through the season for the most part.
00:14:40
Speaker
And all of a sudden they're both on losing streaks. And it's just a reminder of like the margins in this league are so small. We've said that so many times on the show, but it's like it doesn't make that much, like you don't have to tweak that much to like turn it around.
00:15:02
Speaker
Yeah, you really don't. And I mean, I wasn't maybe being entirely serious when I said this, but I also wasn't entirely joking. I told you the other day, like if the Sounders get in the playoffs, I think they're winning MLS Cup.
00:15:15
Speaker
Sure. And I like that's how that's our razor thin the margins are, you know, like we're talking about LFC running away with the points record. Right. And now they might not even win the shield. Right. There's not a team in the league or in the Western Conference, at least, that I don't feel pretty confident that the Sounders could be if they're at their best.
00:15:40
Speaker
on any given day. I'll tell you this, the Philadelphia Union though, do look really good on the Union. They look really, that's why I changed. I figured, but it's a funny, funny league. And you look at Philadelphia, this is not a team that has a whole bunch of high priced players. It's like some clever buys out of Europe.
00:16:03
Speaker
And then a whole bunch of homegrown players. It's actually very impressive what they're doing there. And, um, you know, if it's not the sounders, I wouldn't mind seeing Philadelphia do it just cause it's like, they've really done something kind of special
Philadelphia Union's Success Model
00:16:16
Speaker
there. I think, I think they put together a roster.
00:16:19
Speaker
They definitely, I think, are sort of a model for this is how you can be competitive in this league without having huge resources in a sustainable way. You know, they invest a lot in their academy. They develop a lot of really good players. They keep some of them, unlike some other teams that invest a lot in their academies, and they reinvest the profits that they do make off their academy. Well, they do it in a sustainable way. They're a lot of fun to watch play.
00:16:46
Speaker
Yeah, they're fun. You're right. If it's not the Sounders, they're definitely who I'm rooting for. Yeah, but let's not get too far down that path. Let's focus a bit more on this week's opponent, Austin, who just, I don't know, two weeks ago probably had the biggest win in their
00:17:10
Speaker
very young franchise history, they absolutely stomped LAFC and seemed to have sent LAFC on a bit of a spiral or that I guess they pulled out of now. Now that
00:17:24
Speaker
I had forgotten they won their last game, but Austin then went and lost two games in a row. And so they come into this game against the Sounders on a two game losing streak, which, you know, we asked Brian Schmester about that today practice. And he said, well, you know, you could say that wakes them up a little bit or, you know, who knows, or maybe their, their confidence is down. You never really know how those kinds of things are going to go. But I, either way, I think,
00:17:51
Speaker
This is a good reality check for the Sounders. If they come in here and they can hang with Austin, especially with that midfield of Atencio and Leyva, why can't you run the tables?
Upcoming Austin Game: A Playoff Test?
00:18:05
Speaker
Why can't you do this? And if they get stomped, which I don't think is particularly likely, but certainly is within the realm of possibility,
00:18:15
Speaker
You know, maybe you maybe you're a little less. It's like you're you're now just kind of. Plan it out. Maybe I don't know. Like I doubt it's going to be that extreme of a of a feeling we'll get from it. But I think I think it's it's a good time. Like I would rather have this opponent right now than in a couple of weeks. Put it that way.
00:18:37
Speaker
Yeah, I think, I think 100% that's, you know, that's a smart way of looking at it and I think that it's nice to have a game that's going to be the biggest test, the rest of the way, or on paper at least the biggest test the rest of the way.
00:18:52
Speaker
before you've got this run of teams that you should 100% get three points off of. And, you know, I think that if you can get, like you don't have to have a result in this game, most likely to get into the playoffs, but it certainly gives you, it's certainly going to help a lot, right? It's going to give you not only are you going to get the points on the board,
00:19:14
Speaker
But it's got to be a good cognitive builder, you know, if you can get if you can get a win against against Austin. And and I do think even if you only get a point, right, you still have to feel pretty good about that because you're not you're not fighting for playoff positioning, you're fighting for your life. Right. And I think that.
00:19:31
Speaker
what's acceptable in those circumstances is a little different and that would most likely be good for confidence. I don't think Nashville is that much better than the Sounders and they just played Austin off the park. So it's within the realm of possibility. Austin is certainly better than Houston and they're certainly
00:19:55
Speaker
I think the Sounders were able to get away with things against Houston that they probably won't be able to get away with against Austin. But I think also, you know, Brian Schmetzer probably is aware of that to some degree and that, you know, they've got to tighten some things up a little bit. But I feel good about this game because it is sort of like a
00:20:18
Speaker
It's all on the table, you know, it's, it's, it's like, it is kind of a litmus test for the rest of the season. And if you get a win, I think like, I don't think anybody has really been talking this up as a one in there, you know, when they hit with their, yeah, it's a bonus.
00:20:33
Speaker
Yeah. And if you do, I think that divides a little officially flips 180 degrees back the other way. Yeah. Yeah.
Rusnak's Impact on Offense
00:20:40
Speaker
One other big talking point coming out of the game was Albert Rusnak being moved up a line. He played left mid. I have to admit when I was
00:20:50
Speaker
It was basically the formation and the personnel that I thought was going to start or I wanted to see start. I just sort of assumed that Rusnak would be on the right and Morris would stay on the left. But the way they did it is they flipped them.
00:21:05
Speaker
and they put Rusnak on the left and Morris on the right and that seemed to work really well neither Morris nor Rusnak had massive games but you could just see like the whole offense felt more cohesive and Morris is you know his directive I think was maybe a little bit more
00:21:24
Speaker
simplified, and it was just like, hey, beat your guy down the line, put in some crosses, if you can get him behind, great. And Rusnak actually combined okay with New Who, which has not been something that Morris has been able to do. Yeah. Yeah, I think that, I think it's something that you have to do the rest of the way, at least until it stops working. And I understand why
00:21:50
Speaker
Russenak was kept in that role and I think in a perfect world, it's a great role for him. He can really excel in that role. But if you can get the kids playing well and doing a job in the center and you feel comfortable with that,
00:22:08
Speaker
The sounders have struggled so much creating chances that you almost have to move Rusnik up a line. And I understand why it took so long to make that change. It's something that I think some people have been calling for for a while. And I don't necessarily think they were wrong to be calling for it.
00:22:28
Speaker
But I also understand why it took a while, because it's tough to trust two teenagers when you're fighting for your life, to do a job for you, especially in the middle of the pitch. That's a pretty important area, all things considered. And so I get not wanting to make that change earlier, but I think now that they've done it, now that they've seen that they can be successful with that formation and with that personnel group,
00:22:56
Speaker
Um, I'm, I'm expecting to see that going forward. And I think long-term Rosenach is great as sort of a deep lion playmaker and that maybe is his best role. But for the rest of the season, you know, I think you have to get him a little bit more advanced and in a position to, to create a little bit more and just be a little bit more directly involved in the, in the final third.
00:23:19
Speaker
Yeah, he he is not been super productive as a thing, which is a thing that we have talked about a lot. I think there's perfectly good reasons for I think if you can give him a partner like a gel Paulo, I think the upside of the roster is higher if you can play him back a line, but.
Roldan's Return and Playoff Push
00:23:42
Speaker
Like we aren't looking for upside right now we're looking for like minimum viable product, I think, and and sort of he I think gives you the best minimum viable like, and by minimum viable product I mean a team capable of getting into playoffs.
00:23:59
Speaker
Rusnak probably works better in that spot right now. And then in the offseason, I think you have some questions that you have to figure out, right? If you think JP is coming back fully fit, which seems like that's what he's on track to do, maybe you try him back at defensive midfield again.
00:24:21
Speaker
But we'll see. And it'll be interesting to see how Christian Roldan fits back in with this team. Again, I'm hopeful that the Sanders are still playing for something when he's supposed to come back for the Sporting Kansas City match, which I do think is potentially another tricky match on the schedule. But if they've still got everything to play for,
00:24:43
Speaker
You know, it will be an interesting dilemma that, that, uh, especially if they're like writing a, you know, a four game unbeaten streak going into that game, it'll, it'll be interesting to see what, what Brian does. Um, yep. Cause Christian's going to be on the field somewhere. Uh, it's just a matter of where, and, you know, we'll see if it's, if it's slotting in for, for, uh, Albert Rusnak and Rusnak moving back or them trying Christian again. My hope is that Christian.
00:25:13
Speaker
is back to the form he was in at the beginning of the season. My hope is that his body just hasn't been feeling right, basically, for his last few games, because he wasn't playing up to that level. And it's easy to forget that up until mid-summer, he was having his best year of his career. Yeah.
00:25:38
Speaker
Yeah, I do think that there is a tendency, and I think this is just inevitable. It's kind of the way the human brain works, but I think there's a tendency to think the last version of a player you saw is what that player is going to be going forward, or to just disregard explanations for why a player looks a certain way.
00:26:02
Speaker
For me, hearing that Christian had an injury that he'd been battling for a while that he needed to have surgery on kind of clarified some things. It's like, oh, okay. That makes complete sense in hindsight that he's been playing the way he has for a while because he's just looked like 70% of himself.
00:26:21
Speaker
And, um, you know, if he can be 90% of himself coming back, um, that's, that's going to be a huge push. And hopefully, like he said, hopefully it'll, it'll still matter that they can get that. Absolutely. Well, that's probably a good place to call this a segment. We're going to come back, take your questions. I'm, uh, this is new study yet for this.
00:26:46
Speaker
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00:27:05
Speaker
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00:27:25
Speaker
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00:27:47
Speaker
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Consequences of Missing Playoffs
00:28:08
Speaker
So we have some questions. You want to start, Aaron? Let's do it.
00:28:16
Speaker
All right, first one is from Colin source Rex would missing the playoffs for the first time in MLS cost anyone their job? I, I, I'm skeptical. Uh, this is a organization that does not do reactive, uh, for better or for worse, you know, uh, they didn't sign anyone during the summer window.
00:28:39
Speaker
I can't imagine that they were definitely trying to do that. And I know there's gonna be some people that are like, well, that's why you, that was a big gamble. And if it doesn't pay off, then someone's gotta pay, right? And I just don't, I don't see it. There's obviously a possibility that Garth leaves. I don't think it's related to them missing the playoffs.
00:29:08
Speaker
And I would be like, I think they made a calculated gamble to push.
00:29:17
Speaker
all of their money into the beginning of the season. And they knew this was the potential cost that they would have to pay. And I think almost everyone in the organization would say that it was a worth, that it paid off. Like if they didn't win Champions League, we'd be having a very different conversation. But yeah, I think that there is, I would say in general, most sounder fans,
00:29:46
Speaker
seem as frustrated as they are at the season. They seem to feel like the trade-off was worthwhile. Yeah. But there is a segment of the fan base that
00:29:56
Speaker
It's just unwilling to accept it as an excuse. And like the people that are so jaded that they're like complaining about the Sounders, like having the champions league trophy at events and stuff,
Champions League Win Significance
00:30:08
Speaker
right? Like then what's the point? If you're not going to celebrate the stuff that you do, the biggest win in club history,
00:30:20
Speaker
What's even the point? And I think, you know, you pay your money and you take your chances, right? And I don't think that you could conceivably say,
00:30:32
Speaker
These people who made a decision to go for what has been the top priority of the organization for several years, half a decade at least, I think since they won an MLS Cup, that became the top priority. Something that Adrian's been talking about for 15 years. 15 years, yeah. They knew what they were getting into. They knew the risks they were taking.
00:30:58
Speaker
and you can't succeed and deal with the consequences of that success, suffer the consequences of that success and say, well, it's unacceptable that this thing we knew could very well happen as a result of the success that we achieved. It doesn't make any sense.
00:31:23
Speaker
Yeah. And I, you know, I get the frustration. I don't even, I'm not even going to sit here and say it's unreasonable to say that the Champions League is not a viable excuse for missing the playoffs. It's just, it is what it is. And I just don't, you know, if you're asking me if I think someone's going to get fired for this, no, I don't. I think you can also, there's like a, there's, there's some room between
00:31:52
Speaker
This is not an excuse for this bad thing happening. And this bad thing happening means people should lose their jobs. Right. Exactly. And you bank political capital when you do something like win the Champions League again. Yeah. And you go to three MLS cups and you. Right. Like someone, someone in the center of her comments, like a few weeks ago, maybe it was a couple of weeks ago, it was relatively recently, said something like this run, the Sounders are on.
00:32:21
Speaker
is worse than anything.
00:32:23
Speaker
that happened under Sigi and Sigi lost his job. And it's like, right, but Sigi didn't have two MLS cups. He didn't have four trips to the MLS cup final. He didn't have a Champions League. That's the difference. And I think most people understand that, but it does sometimes bear repeating that the reason seemingly no one's gonna get fired is because the same exact people have had a lot of success in the not so distant.
00:32:51
Speaker
And you can point to specific things and say. These things are probably why they're having these struggles, and a lot of them are out of their control, right? And if they and if they start, you know if they if they missed the playoffs, which is obviously not a given yet, and they start really bad next year, maybe it's a different conversation, but like right now this is you know we're dealing with what we're doing with now. Anyway, this question is from.
00:33:20
Speaker
Motley 69. How many goals will New Who score in the playoffs? Really, really doubling down on this. I really hope it's zero. And I'll tell you why. Because I hope that New Who scoring leads to New Who feeling like he's got it out of his system rather than New Who feeling like he needs to score a lot of goals.
00:33:43
Speaker
Well, I agree. I think the one caveat is there's no reason that he can't be in positions to score the occasional goal. Like just in the normal flow of the sound, the way the sounders play, like the outside backs should be getting
00:34:03
Speaker
a few looks at goal and they should be getting assists. Like Alex Rodan has six assists right now. And I would love for Nuhu to score again, but it not be in a way that he is recklessly driving forward the way that he sometimes does. And he didn't really do in this last game, ironically. That is very true. That's a good point. I still think it's probably zero though. Probably zero. Sure.
00:34:31
Speaker
Next one is from Bill Jones TRPT. Who are we most likely to face in the MLS Cup final this season? Also, who will we bump out of the playoff places in the table? I do love these questions. It's like a complete reversal of what we've been getting. So we kind of alluded to this earlier. I think the Union are the team that any
00:34:53
Speaker
MLS fan should be hoping is representing the Eastern Conference because they have this very easy to like Understand roster build they're doing things that know like there's no reason other teams shouldn't be able to do what they're doing They're a lot of fun. By the way, like if you've watched them play They they are a really fun team and they're just absolutely smashing teams right now. They've scored they've have four six zero wins which
00:35:22
Speaker
To put that into context, in the history of MLS, no other franchise has four 6-0 wins in their entire history. They did it in like an 11-game span. They have a plus-42 goal difference. That is truly insane. That's like by a music level.
00:35:41
Speaker
Yeah, they're on pace right now to triple, they have three times as many goals scored as goals allowed. I don't think there is a team in MLS history that finished a season with twice as many goals scored as goal allowed. And they might triple it. So it's unprecedented what they're doing. And who are we going to bump out of the playoffs?
00:36:06
Speaker
I think the galaxy you're still in a playoff position either the galaxy or the timbers uh the timbers currently i currently okay so they'll bump the timbers out of the playoffs easy easy it's it's a weird one because the timbers are three points ahead but they have the the galaxy have two games in hand right so um the timbers are technically ahead on points for game but it's it's a slipper um but
00:36:28
Speaker
I don't think that the galaxy can survive the psychic death of Chicharito's penalty. No, that's opposite vibes.
00:36:41
Speaker
Bump, the sounders got from Nuhu's goal, I have to imagine there was a completely inverse decrease from Chi-Chi to poorly hitting up Penenka and loot in it. Oh, God. Can you imagine if like Nico had tried that in the exact same... Oh, bad, bad vibes. All right, Tommy Dose, when will Seattle get to host an Ulster game? It can't just be the turf since Portland got one, right?
Hosting an MLS All-Star Game?
00:37:08
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, the Sounders hosted MLS Cup in 2009, which I think probably at that time was considered to be more prestigious. Yeah. I mean, I don't know. I don't see it happening anytime soon. I will say that I didn't care about it until Portland
00:37:30
Speaker
hosted and it seemed like it was a fun event and I could see how I could see how it would be kind of a fun event. I don't think the sounders are like
00:37:40
Speaker
angling for an Ultra game. And so as long as they're not angling for one, it's hard to imagine them getting it. I suppose there's a theoretical scenario where they invest a bunch of money into the soccer part of the stadium as part of the 2026 World Cup bid. And they start to feel like, well, we need to bring as many big events, big soccer events here as we can. And then so maybe
00:38:06
Speaker
2027 or something like that, the Sounders are angling for an All-Star game. But I don't, I mean, you know, they hosted MLS Cup, the Open Champions League final. Those are the kind of things I think the Sounders really want to be known for hosting. And so they don't see the All-Star game as sort of a thing they should, they need to be like pulling out the political capital for. And I don't blame them.
00:38:33
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, I think, I think that it probably is a pretty fun time. The skills competitions look fun. I get the appeal, but I think too, it's like, there are going to be teams with brand new stadiums. Yeah. As long as there's pretty much all the time. Right. That's, that's the other thing that's going to make it tough. Yeah. Um, next one is from M Gomini. Have you been watching welcome direct some, any thoughts about the streaming debate? I don't know about the streaming debate. So yeah, I don't, I'm not a hundred percent sure what the streaming debate is. Uh,
'Welcome to Wrexham' Review
00:39:03
Speaker
But I have been watching Welcome to Rexxum and I think it's fine. I think it's really a show about Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney who are the guys who bought the team and you sort of have to like
00:39:22
Speaker
accept that like they are the stars of the show there's no at least through the first four episodes there's a lot of time spent with them and they I think they had only visited they only briefly visited Rexxum and they seem like good guy like I like them I you know I like the always sunny podcast I find both of those actors to be very relatable
00:39:45
Speaker
And easy to like people and so I don't dislike that aspect of it, but if you go into the show thinking like, Oh, I really want to learn about, I want to, I want to watch some National League football. Yeah, you don't get to see a lot of nationally football, which
00:40:02
Speaker
I do think you get the sense that the level is not that high. And they sort of, and they understandably don't want to focus a whole lot on like how bad the football is, but I get the sense that it's, you know, it can be pretty grim. Yeah. I mean, it's, it's probably not significantly better than like Ballard. You know, I mean,
00:40:31
Speaker
It's, it's, it's probably, I don't know. I mean, it's what they're, Rexham is the, they're like conference. They're like the top level of conference, right? Yeah. They're in the fifth division. Yeah. So it's, it's probably not that, I mean. Yeah. I mean, I guess the only, and the thing I didn't know this, but out of their league, they only get one team is promoted.
00:40:54
Speaker
Yeah. And so there must be multiple leagues that feed into the two. There's there's like in the football league, essentially. There's like different regions, I think. Oh, OK. Yeah. Yeah. So they don't really they didn't really explain that part of it, which again, it's it's a football show. It's a soccer show for people who. Might not really be into soccer and
00:41:20
Speaker
might not really be that into the soccer afterward either. Like it's just, and it's a fine show.
Orlando's Open Cup Victory
00:41:26
Speaker
I don't dislike it. I am honestly curious what he meant by the streaming debate though. Like maybe the way they're releasing it, I'm not sure. But anyway, really 23 wants to know, are you watching the open cup final while recording? How much joy will you have when Sacramento lifts the cup? Oh, what a bummer. Yeah, I thought it would be funny to include this one because we're recording at like 11 o'clock.
00:41:50
Speaker
Right. No, we're not. We're not watching it. I actually forgot about it. And I, to be completely honest with you, probably would not have watched it even if I remembered. I don't know. I'm not super high on my host priorities, especially because it was only on ESPN+. So, you know,
00:42:11
Speaker
If I have the TV on at that time of night, I'm like cooking dinner and I'm not watching something streaming, so. Yeah, I had it all in the background. I happened to catch, I think I caught all three goals. You know, Orlando was definitely the deserving winner, but it was a competitive match for most of it. And Sacramento was a great story. It would have been cool to see them win.
00:42:38
Speaker
It would have been nice. I think that if they had been winning, I probably would have floated on my radar and I want to watch it for the sub for it, but you know, the last question is, I guess for me, so we didn't do a good. Oh, I'll ask it. I'm not going to give a super satisfying answer to it, but
00:43:00
Speaker
All right. Well, this is from Josh on
Beer Pairings for Sounders' Games
00:43:02
Speaker
the sound. He says, please have Aaron pair of beer to go with each of the remaining opponents. Sounds a must be a high ABV. In fact, maybe rising ABV in each game just to be safe. Um, yeah, we can try that. Well, so the problem is that a lot of the beer that I've been drinking lately, it's not beer that you can get.
00:43:20
Speaker
here easily so I don't feel great but you know it's whatever. I'm looking at untapped right now. So we'll say for the Austin game it's earlier it's at 5 p.m so you maybe don't want something too strong and I had a coconut ube blonde from Eastern Market in Detroit and it was super good. It's
00:43:42
Speaker
I was afraid it was going to be super duper sweet and it's not at all, but it does taste like Ube. Just not, there's not like lactose in it or anything. Nice, easy drink in Blondale. It's bright purple, which is pretty cool. One of the better beers I've had in quite a while
00:44:01
Speaker
Um, highly recommend that. Um, it's too bad that we're not playing the timbers again, because there's a beer called chopping wood that I really like. Um, I will recommend that for the white caps. Um, it is. Okay. Yeah. Melton's walking brewery in Montana. Uh, it's a Mexican lager. Um, you do have to shop wood to build bonfire. So I think it still works. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. We're gonna, we're gonna allow it.
00:44:25
Speaker
Yeah, and Mexican lager probably will still be OK weather for for a Mexican lager. Two weeks from now, we're supposed to get a heat wave and like soon. So sure. So I think I think that works for FC Cincinnati. Oh geez, there must be a good Midwest beer out there, right? There has to be one. Let me see here. Maybe something new, new and.
00:44:53
Speaker
only now living up to the hype that they came into the market with? Yeah. Sorry, I should have done more research on this. No, it's okay. I'm giving you my tasting notes.
00:45:13
Speaker
We'll go with, this is a beer from North Carolina. And I really liked it. It's called Fiesta Fiesta Lime Lager. It is a chili lime beer. And we're going with it because much like the vaunted Cincinnati chili, it sounds disgusting.
00:45:33
Speaker
But it's actually really good. It's a great beer. I liked your angle better, but I couldn't find one. Yeah, no, we were kind of doing that. There was a little specific e-request. So then we have Sporting Kansas City, another opportunity for a Midwest beer if you want to find one.
00:45:52
Speaker
Man, it's led by a old brewer who is maybe an established brewer who is going through some hard times.
00:46:06
Speaker
Yeah. Oh, that's, that's actually a good one. Let me try to, let me try to think about, well, anything from Boulevard, honestly, that's a KC brewery. They've been around for a long time. And I've not had something from them that I thought was that great in quite a while. They used to be really good. Oh, this is perfect. That's a, you know, that's a, that's kind of a trend that I've, that I've kind of seen in beer lately is that a lot of the old guard, like,
00:46:32
Speaker
the old craft breweries that were really big at like sort of the peak and like the you know late aughts we'll say when craft beer was I'm sure like a smaller market overall at the time but felt like a big thing and there was like you know your boulevards and your stones and your all those guys and it just seems like they've kind of fallen off and I don't think that it's
00:46:59
Speaker
I'm like my palate is jaded or whatever and I don't want like the same old same old like I think their beers have actually gotten worse. So it does seem like though the market has sort of changed where having a flagship beer is not what it
00:47:16
Speaker
one like they're used to there was a time like I feel like at the time that you're talking about it seemed like every big microbrew had like their flagship beer that they sort of like well this is this is what stone ale is this is this you know like uh this is what this other group like this is what boulevard makes this is what they're known for and now the thing is to come out with like a like not like fast fashion friends of ours uh
00:47:46
Speaker
are kind of, it's very emblematic I think of the market where it's like, maybe not every couple of weeks they're putting on a new beer, but it's like they have a lot of, it's like a variety is kind of the name of the game. Even if it's a lot of the similar beers.
00:47:59
Speaker
Yeah, I think that that's fair. And I do think it's why a lot of the better breweries now have a focus. Like Holy Mountain has kind of a focus. Machine Head has a focus. Fast fashion, even though they do a lot of variety, they, conceptually, their beer is like half. They're still mostly double IPAs.
00:48:20
Speaker
Right. And there's just there's like a guiding principle, you know, behind what they do. Yeah. And I think that the breweries that are like, oh, yeah, we're going to do triple IPAs and we're going to do sours and we're going to do say songs. There are some that can do that, but it's it's it's few and far between. Yeah, I would say. And then in closing out with San Jose.
00:48:41
Speaker
Yeah, so this is an easy one because it's a high ABV beer, and it's a beer that I had this weekend. And it just reminded me that it is my favorite beer of all time. It's Kavadika Stout from Fort George down in Oregon. A perfect stout, a perfect big, big stout. It's 8%, I think 8%, maybe 8.8%, something like that. So nothing crazy.
00:49:09
Speaker
but a big hefty beer. And it's not sweet. It's not lactosey. It's just a stout. It's not an oatmeal stout, but it has that sort of character. It's very roasty. It's a Russian imperial stout without the syrupy character as much. I think it's a perfect beer, and I love it very much. And yeah, if you want something that's strong at 2 PM,
00:49:37
Speaker
Um, you know, that's between, that's between you and God and your, and your Uber driver. Um, but you know, it's, you can't get wrong with it. Yeah. Uh, yeah. Well, I think that's a good, good way to close this out. Uh, as always, thank you to our sponsors, full pool wines and Watson's counter, uh,
00:49:58
Speaker
both are great places. I hope people are hitting them up. And I hope, I hope Kellen's not like swiping too much business from our boy at full pull. But in any case, I am Jeremiah Shan, signing off for Aaron Campo and Lickett. This is No Study Yet This. Remember, you'll never get alone.
00:50:22
Speaker
Green Douglas Square where the water's cut through. Down to wild mountains and tangents you flew. Canadian Northwest to the ocean so blue. It's Roll On, Columbia Roll On. Roll On, Columbia Roll On. Roll On, Columbia Roll On. Your power is turning our darkness to dawn. Roll On, Columbia Roll On.
00:50:59
Speaker
We love you. Let's win another one!