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Nos Audietis: Why can’t Pedro de la Vega get a look on the left?
405 Plays3 days ago
One of the persistent mysteries surrounding the Sounders’ tactics is Brian Schmetzer’s reluctance to play Pedro de la Vega on the left side. This week, we finally tried to get to the bottom of that and asked Schmetzer directly. Jeremiah and Niko discuss Brian’s answer, as well as all the other stuff that happened, on the latest episode of “What we learned this week.”
Follow Niko Moreno on BlueSky and YouTube.
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Nos Audietis is the flagship podcast for Sounder at Heart, which became a reader-supported website on Aug. 21. You can support us by becoming a paid subscriber, learn more here. You can also watch many of their shows on YouTube.
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Transcript
Will Bruin Joins Podcast
00:00:01
Speaker
Hi, I'm Will Bruin, and I was just recognized as a Seattle Sounders legend. Now I get to do voice reads for the Sounder at Heart podcast network. Here
Seattle Sounders' Victories
00:00:11
Speaker
we go. Come on. Hey, O'Shaughnessy.
00:00:13
Speaker
Let's go. What save by Frye. The Seattle Sounders have done it. MLS Cup winning. Here comes Ruiz Diaz through the middle to crowd it for Seattle.
00:00:29
Speaker
And now they truly can start the celebrations. It's the Sounders MLS Cup. Nico leaves absolutely no doubt. The Sounders rule the region.
00:00:43
Speaker
Seattle, Sounders, it's got built.
00:00:52
Speaker
This feels fucking awesome. This is a tiny dog. Nice work on your little yacht yat thing. And Portland can't say shit. know, what was the thought process in terms of who you decided to use and who you didn't?
00:01:06
Speaker
Ever since Southert Hart wrote a commentary that we didn't take over coming seriously. Go, not Seattle!
Podcast Sponsorship
00:01:18
Speaker
This episode of Nos Arietes is sponsored by Full Pull Wines, a Seattle-based wine retailer and proud sponsor of Nos Arietes since 2011. Full Pull was founded in 2009, is based in Seattle, and is owned and operated by longtime Sounder supporters.
00:01:32
Speaker
They offer the best boutique wines of the world to members of their mailing list, with special focus on their home, c Pacific Northwest.
Weather Discussion
00:01:42
Speaker
Welcome back to another episode of No Sarietes on the Sounder at Heart Podcast Network. It is Thursday, but we're going to, there's no training tomorrow, at least not locally.
00:01:54
Speaker
So we're doing what we learned this week a little early. I'm here, I'm Jeremiah Shan. I'm here with Nico Moreno. How you doing, Nico? Hey, what's going on, Jeremiah? Over here enjoying another nice, subtle, cloudy day. I mean, I've become that guy that gets too hot. I enjoy a little bit of that that cooler weather. So we're
Garth Lagerwey's Diagnosis
00:02:16
Speaker
back here. And, of course, the...
00:02:19
Speaker
Seattle Sounders Clubhouse and Performance Center. And, um you know, with a lot of talk about, I did want to start this off by getting something out of the way, Jeremiah, if you would allow me to do so.
00:02:31
Speaker
It's just wishing Garth Lagerwey our very best. ah We had just heard just a couple of minutes ago that Atlanta United sent a statement out about Garth Lagerwey being diagnosed with cancer.
00:02:44
Speaker
And, uh, To kind of piggyback off some of what b Brian Smetzer said today, regardless of what type of diagnosis of cancer it is, it should always be taken seriously. And I wish him nothing but the best.
00:02:58
Speaker
um The statement part of it, and you pointed it out, ah Jeremiah, it said, I shall be back. I shall return. I shall return. Exactly. That is the most guard lagger weight thing since the immortality.
00:03:12
Speaker
Are you ready to rumble? you know, situation he he did here at Lumen, but ah you know, honesty, um, Just I wish him all the best. He'll be in my prayers.
00:03:23
Speaker
One of the nicest guys ah beyond how brilliant he was when he came to his job and his soccer mind. ah Just ah just a good overall guy. So wish him nothing but the best.
00:03:34
Speaker
If there's anyone, anyone built mentally and and physically and just to to like beat this is him. he had He's the most positive guy in the planet.
00:03:45
Speaker
I just I know that he's going to be back. He's going to come back stronger than ever. Yeah, ah and just to give ah a little bit more on that, he the the release did say it is a it seems to be a treatable form. you know You take all cancer seriously, but this does seem like something where there is a good prognosis.
00:04:04
Speaker
So we wish him the best, absolutely.
Lagerwey's Media Engagement
00:04:06
Speaker
And on a personal note, I just will say, like Garth is one of the the real ones. you know He is someone who really does believe in Sort of like the rising tide ah lifting all ships. He, you know, he did not have to give outlets like us the time of day. And he gave us a lot more than that. You know, he was always game. You know, i remember ah one of the the last yacht con we did, we suggested doing a hot wing challenge. And he was like, yes, sign me up.
00:04:35
Speaker
He just housed a bunch of wings on camera and we had a good time. And this is, that's Garth, man. He's just up for whatever. He wants to do stuff that is both fun and uplifting to people. He doesn't care.
00:04:49
Speaker
he just, as long he, he really wants to believe we're all on the same side and we're all kind of pushing in the same direction. And he's had the same kind of relationship with the media over in Atlanta, which has been great to see. So absolutely wishing him all the best, but I am, I am really, you know, I'm optimistic for him.
00:05:05
Speaker
i hope that, you know, I'm sure he's got lots of support and ah just wanted to give him a shout out that we're thinking about him and that we are, you know, if there's anything we can do, if even if it's just sending out good vibes, we want to do
Supporting Lagerwey
00:05:18
Speaker
it.
00:05:18
Speaker
Same golf for you guys. you know Send him a comment. you know Put him out there. i don't know if he has any social medias now that I don think about it. But either way, just wish him the best in your own social medias. I always think that vibes go ah long way. yeah And I'm with you, Jeremiah. I mean, the beauty of what Garth did is that he always made you feel like a somebody. yeah And you know ah me, I'm in a way lower scale it that than you and when he came to this media thing, you know when he first came on 2016.
00:05:43
Speaker
twenty sixteen And he would just sit there and talk to you and give you the time of day. And, and that is huge. He was always, uh, you know, and again, not to make this like a Garth log away. Yes. Uh, podcast, but you know, one of the first interviews I did with him was at his office at star fire.
00:06:01
Speaker
And, you know, they said, okay, you can have an hour. And so we were talking, you know, we were just, you know uh shooting the shit and it's like 45 minutes before we turn on the mic and so it's like oh we gotta kind of running low here and ah alex the sounders comms guy he kind of shows up in the window and he goes what's going on and garth just like shoes him away and we end up sitting there for like an hour and you know another hour did the whole i mean it was just i mean that's the kind of guy he is he just he was uh he had time for everybody Yeah, that's Garth, man. I absolutely love that. Has time for everybody.
00:06:34
Speaker
I don't want to talk about like in the past. No, no, has. And he will have. Exactly. He will continue to have time. We love you, Garth. All right. That's it. Yeah. All right. So here we are. It's Thursday, like I said.
Sounders' Upcoming Game
00:06:44
Speaker
Sounders are getting ready to take off for Kansas City.
00:06:48
Speaker
ah We'll talk a little bit about Kansas City. later in the show, but right now let's talk about the Sounders. They are coming off a one, one tie with the Columbus crew. I think probably more positives than negatives in terms of how they played in that game.
00:07:04
Speaker
But what were, you know, it looks like it does sort of look like Brian has settled into his starting group, even though it's, you know, there's going to be changes this week. There were changes last week.
00:07:16
Speaker
They seem to mostly be, for understanding he's not changing guys out for form right now. ah It looks like Jordan is probably going to move back to the starting spot at the number nine. I think that's ah an exciting development.
00:07:30
Speaker
It looks like, you know, one of the big things that will be interesting to watch is what he does at center back though. It's he did say that Yamar is going to travel, but Alex has been, Alex hasn't just been,
00:07:45
Speaker
respectable at center back. I don't know that he made any mistakes at center back. In fact, he made a bunch of plays who I don't know if he really, you know, I don't think he put a foot wrong in these games.
00:07:59
Speaker
It'll be, and it's going to, I think that's going to be the most interesting thing is what he does this week is what he does with Alex Roldan. Now I suppose it helps that Kalani Costa Rienzi or it helps. i don't know if that's the right word, But it it changes. It's factor. It's a factor that Kalani is out.
00:08:12
Speaker
ah So what do you do it right back there? But it's an, you know, it's got to be tempting to sort of leave him there. And I don't know, maybe put read it right back or something like that.
Kansas City's Strategy
00:08:23
Speaker
ah Yeah, what what I would say is that i if there's a change to Alex being back at Ryback, it's more than likely because of the suspension to Kalani. But what I will say is that although I do not, I do not want to take any credit away from how good Alex O'Dayne has been, i would say that...
00:08:46
Speaker
Kansas City's attacks a bit more straightforward and and attacks you as a nine that's going to probably occupy a lot more of your... It's going to challenge you lot more inside the box. It's in...
00:09:04
Speaker
his His physicality, his willingness to to beat you down. ah He is a guy that is nose down. He's going to play off for you. He's going to pick you with your shoulder with his hip.
00:09:17
Speaker
ah I think that Austin had a lot of issues getting services in Tabasco because of how... limited the world offensively, especially out in the flanks. And ah Columbus, they played you differently with Diego Rossi, who isn't necessarily ah you know a target nine or or a nine that's going to beat you right down the middle.
00:09:38
Speaker
ah And so because of that, ah looking a little bit into this Portland-Cansas City team and the way that they play with Joe Vlis up top, it would have been interesting to just see him play there.
00:09:52
Speaker
But ah to me, it's probably the the most coherent thing to do to just put Alex at the right back position and Jonathan Bell next to Jackson Reagan for this one.
00:10:05
Speaker
Yeah, no, I think that probably makes sense. it's It's a little bit more of a straightforward approach, not trying to get cute. and And then you sort of... It'll be interesting to see how they rotate the lineup in the next couple of
Sounders' Midfield Rotation
00:10:18
Speaker
games. They have a home game against Colorado Rapids on Wednesday, and then they have a home game against San Jose Earthquakes on the following Saturday.
00:10:26
Speaker
You imagine there's going to have to be some rotation, and especially at center mid, where you know we've been sort of tracking this situation ah lot, especially coming out of the Club World Cup.
00:10:39
Speaker
Both Obed and Christian are tracking towards career high for minutes. They can't just keep playing them every game. Now, he's, i will say to Brian Spencer's credit, he's found ways to get them off the field in games.
00:10:53
Speaker
But that's a lot different than giving them a day off. Like they, these guys have basically been playing every game since the LAFC. Yeah. Since the LAFC loss where they, they had JB, JP and Danny Leyva in there.
00:11:08
Speaker
JP obviously no longer available. We asked him about what they might do at center mid today. And um Brian did sort of allude to the possibility that Snyder Brunel is going to sign. We have, of course, reported that, but it does sound like an announcement is in the in the works.
00:11:26
Speaker
Yeah, he also did not dismiss the possibility of Alex nor um Kalani Kosariensi, who both played yeah that position before, whether it was at a college level or at times ah with the Sounders.
00:11:40
Speaker
And so that that that's interesting because you know that could fit to that position. Because it's aside from Danny Leyva, I mean, you really have not a lot of options. Even if you bring Schneider Brunel, who i I'm very high on him, but he's still 18 years He's 18 years old. And you want to just...
00:11:55
Speaker
You don't want to burn him out immediately. League's Cup might be a more interesting place to get him. some Yes, that is very true. and That is very true. And that's something the Sounders have done before with the younger players.
00:12:06
Speaker
What I would say is that, to your point, it's not just the amount of minutes, it's the type of minutes. They are running a lot. Absolutely. The amount of of space that Christian Ordan has covered has been unreal. yeah The physicality of his play, tackling.
00:12:22
Speaker
I'm talking about like slight tackling, right pushing guys off. You know, he showed it in the Club World Cup. And then Obed, on the other hand, pushing forward, being so aggressive inside the box.
00:12:33
Speaker
ah You know, getting to those prime scoring and prime assist positions. there's just There's minutes and then there's minutes between minutes. And they've they've had some tough, Minutes. Yeah, for sure. ah You know, one of the other things we talked to Brian about today, and I actually thought this was maybe, I don't know if we have much of you talking about it, but I felt like he gave the most coherent answer yet as to why he likes...
Pedro de la Vega's Role
00:13:00
Speaker
Pedro de la Vega on the right, as opposed to the left, because a lot of us have pointed out that a lot of his success in Argentina was on the left, but basically what Brian said, and I don't know, you tell me how, how much you buy this, but I thought it was a pretty plausible explanation.
00:13:17
Speaker
But what he said was the way we play, the guy on the right is going to end up with the ball a lot more That's just the the field tilts to the right for the Sounders. And that's the nature of they usually have a more right, a more attack minded fullback on the right as opposed to the left.
00:13:38
Speaker
and the And they just sort of gravitate to that side of the field. And so if they want Pedro on the ball, which is what seemingly they want, it's better for him and to be on the right as opposed to on the left where you sort of have to wait your you have to wait for your opportunities a little bit more. And that's also, I think, what they like about both Paul and Kent where they don't need the ball 40, 50 times a game.
00:14:01
Speaker
They can sort of buy their time and and wait out there. No, I do believe it. um I think that he makes a lot of sense. We all know that Pedro is a type of winger that wants the body's feet at all times. He's always asking for He gravitates towards the ball at time that the havoc that he does causes with him on the ball. We've said multiple times that probably his biggest attribute to this team is that he's the best one-on-one attacker. He's going to beat you off the dribble the most, in my opinion.
00:14:35
Speaker
um And so you probably want that. What I would say is that, After talking to, you know, Precky and I'm sure. Yeah, there was a, I want to give a little shout out. You had ah a nice interview with Precky that's up on our YouTube channel right now.
00:14:50
Speaker
We've alluded to it before, but we do have this kind of growing partnership with Pulse of Sports. And so this was sort of the first ah semi-exclusive piece that we've done. But anyway, go ahead. I'm sorry. No, no, perfect. that That's exactly what I wanted to say. And I'm glad that you know you let our audience know where they could find that because I think that Precky and Brian see a lot of things, if not exactly the same, very similarly. Very similar, for sure. And a lot of what he was pointed out was just...
00:15:16
Speaker
that he wants Pedro to be more patient on that side. And that makes a lot of sense when the guy getting all the minutes on that side right now is Ferreira, who, if anything, is patient. yes Maybe too patient Maybe too patient at times, but yes, he's very very willing to be patient.
00:15:31
Speaker
His link-up play, his ability to connect is what he kind of mentioned a lot. And Pedro... maybe has a hard time with that um because he wants to get to that final line so consistently.
00:15:46
Speaker
But at the same time, i kind of, and I've said this consistently, when whenever your system ah time oversees, regardless of of of the opposition, ah to play in the exact same type of way, it could become predictable.
00:16:03
Speaker
And so for me, like, going in and not talking too much about sporting kansas city i feel like pedro would be very good for this game particularly so if he doesn't start to me it's a little bit about yes we're going to stick to our system but maybe it's beyond the tactics and it's more about the effort and the yeah the discipline right that maybe ferrera gives you on that side ah opposed to what pedro does and and that's again i i've stated my concern before that it's really difficult to continue to develop Pedro if he has these obstacles to get in and get confident.
00:16:42
Speaker
We talked about confidence with Precky as well. So to me, although I do believe that Brian is being very truthful and transparent about why he's doing it, that doesn't necessarily mean that I share Yeah, yeah the the overall objective. yeah Yeah, I get I think that's fair.
00:16:59
Speaker
And eight i will say for folks that want to see more of Pedro, I thought Brian gave a pretty strong hint that one way or another, we're going to see more Pedro minutes in this next three games he like He spoke very highly of his effort and the work he's putting in in training.
00:17:21
Speaker
And he talked about how they they feel like this is going to be an opportunity for him to get some get get on the field a little bit more and get an extended run
Player Learning Challenges
00:17:29
Speaker
out. Because, you know, one of the things that was really frustrating about the crew game...
00:17:33
Speaker
was you it was pretty, I don't know, I wouldn't say wide open, but it was a really interesting match for the first 75 minutes or so. And then we talked about this on Nos Adietes earlier this week with Aaron, but they the crew basically shut the game down the last 15 minutes up until the red card.
00:17:52
Speaker
yeah They just didn't seem, they they seemed like they decided to like look, a point is fine for us. And that's, hey, I'm never going to fault a team for deciding that they don't want to run up and down the field.
00:18:03
Speaker
If they want to settle for a point, that's the team's prerogative and it's the other team's ah responsibility to change that, right? But that was what was frustrating is over the last 515 minutes, I didn't think we learned anything about Pedro, about Kent, about Morris, specifically those three players essentially didn't get the ball, weren't able to get the on the ball at all because the game just was not playing open enough.
00:18:29
Speaker
And that's very true. and And that's why at times, and and that was part of my question today, although I don't i don't know if you necessarily um answered it, was, you know, how do you balance results and what you're getting out of Paul Rothbard? By the way, I love your tactical... Oh, thank you.
00:18:46
Speaker
i think that is spot on ah because you look we could talk about effort and we could talk about ah just endeavor and all of these things that that that we want and we see at aal but he's also been very effective i mean the runs he makes and and and i think i want to be clear about something Being able to maximize on your talent is a talent in and of itself.
00:19:10
Speaker
And that is sort of the thing that he's been doing better than anybody else is that he's making the most of the opportunities. Whereas a lot of these other players, for whatever reason, just have not been able to do that.
00:19:21
Speaker
And part of that is his willingness to make that second
Paul Rothrock's Talent
00:19:25
Speaker
run. hmm. to make an unrewarded run, to you know, to to just kind of be a pest, to be annoying. Those are all talents. they're just not necessarily what we think of always as the most talented players. Yeah. But you hit and concluded it perfectly by saying he's likely the guy with the lowest ceiling, but most of the times he has the highest floor, right?
00:19:50
Speaker
Because if you look at this game in particular, the the goal is a great goal because he's making those runs. He's getting to those spaces. Mm-hmm. Let's not forget Kalani and that cut inside the way he cut Nagby from getting into positions to defend that ball as he tracks him down. And the pass was fantastic.
00:20:08
Speaker
But then in the second opportunity he had, which is a Alvaro's neck pass, could he have taken that first touch maybe more direct and not so diagonal? Yes. Should i he have gone near post? Absolutely.
00:20:20
Speaker
ah Could he have done a little feint and maybe taking his team away from the angle? But you... um take care of the goalkeeper that's going to want to dive at that first attempt of a shot or fake of a shot.
00:20:33
Speaker
Sure, there's a whole bunch of things that we can do and that composure in front of goal he'll grow into and he'll continue to develop ah but then it all goes back to two things can be true. One,
00:20:47
Speaker
Bryant's match is maximizing the talent and and Paul Rothrock is maximizing his time and his effectiveness with his talent. But at the same time, you know, it is a tough road for Pedro to get in there.
00:21:00
Speaker
Now, you know, is is the competition more with Pereira? Perhaps, perhaps that's more of the the the competition is at Ferreira and Pedro on the right side and is Ryan Kent and Paul on the left side. And, you know, and on that same token, you know, we talked to Jordan yesterday and Jordan was genuinely really excited about being able to play
Morris and Ferreira Partnership
00:21:24
Speaker
with Jesus. Yeah.
00:21:25
Speaker
And i can see why the Sounders sort of want to get a look at that, frankly. ah you know jordan like Jordan doesn't get animated about much, but he was like effusive in his praise of Jesus' vision and his desire to sort of be able to play off one another. And they did have a good thing going in preseason. I think it's easy to forget that they were looking like a good partnership in preseason.
00:21:53
Speaker
And theyve that they've only been able to start two games together is kind of a bummer. and And you can understand why Jordan is like, no, let's see what this has. Because there is, like, there's real potential there. The i the potential of having both Jesus and Rusnak feeding balls to Jordan is pretty exciting.
00:22:11
Speaker
No, absolutely. And, you know, the system works for it. You know, I, ah he talked about, you know, when I'm sitting on the bench and I'm seeing Jesus put these balls in, it's like, man, I just want to be out there, right? Because he feels like he get to those balls where perhaps ah Danny Masovsky, although, you know, he has been a good in front of goal, there are times where he just doesn't get there, right? Right. so He's just a different kind of player, fundamentally a different kind Oh, 100%. So I'm excited to see how that plays out.
00:22:40
Speaker
um But I am excited, like you said, and and and the fact that Brian said, you know, we're going to see more Pedro. It is something that i want to see just...
Evaluating de la Vega
00:22:51
Speaker
just so we can get a better a better gauge. I feel like we don't have and enough database for whatever reason. It's either it's either been injuries or it's been, ah you know, the the rehab time or setbacks or, you know, we're rotating.
00:23:05
Speaker
we We just, I feel like we haven't seen enough consistent minutes for Pedro to necessarily... you know, like judge them adequately.
00:23:16
Speaker
i don't know how you um share that. I would totally agree. I think that that's been the biggest frustration is that,
00:23:23
Speaker
even though Pedro has been relatively healthy this year, that there hasn't been, and we haven't been able to get a run of games where he's been with, you know, and when he's got his consistent run of games is not necessarily with the, a lineup.
00:23:35
Speaker
That's, that's so fair. And so, you know, like he was good against, you know, and like he was, I thought he was good against Dallas on that road game against Dallas. And he's had, he's had moments where he's looked, I mean, he, he's had, you know he had Nashville game was really good. where nationalville game was Exactly. That's a great, that's another gun.
00:23:50
Speaker
So it's like he's had moments. I think the idea that he hasn't really flashed his potential is is not fair to him. now And it's it's the real problem is that he just hasn't had a consistent run. and it will't be you know I suppose these are good problems. if you're going to have problems having too many...
00:24:07
Speaker
interesting players is, is a, is a relatively good problem to have, but it does seem like a situation where you hope, I really do hope that we get to see a little bit more of him and, and we'll see.
Podcast Membership Benefits
00:24:19
Speaker
ah But, you know, why don't we take a break and then we're going to dig in a little bit more onto sporting Kansas city. You're listening to no study at this.
00:24:29
Speaker
Thank you for listening to the sounder at heart podcast network, which now includes no Sani at this lobbing scorchers and the cooler guild. We've been independent since August of 2023, but need your support to make sure it continues.
00:24:42
Speaker
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Speaker
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00:25:11
Speaker
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00:25:26
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00:26:15
Speaker
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00:26:21
Speaker
Welcome back to Nos Adietes. So, supporting Kansas City, that's the opponent on
Sounders Travel Strategy
00:26:27
Speaker
Saturday. Sanders are going on the road. They are probably already in transit to Kansas City as we speak. They will train in Kansas City tomorrow and then play on Saturday.
00:26:38
Speaker
What do you make of Kansas City? This is a team who all the advanced, you know, it it was funny, actually.
Kansas City's Unpredictability
00:26:45
Speaker
Brian mentioned this or alluded to this is that the advanced analytics of sporting Kansas City are garbage.
00:26:51
Speaker
Like this is a team who right now they're like negative 20 expected goals. ah They are overperforming. They're currently overperforming. They're expected goals by like 15 or something like that. It's some outrageous thing like that.
00:27:06
Speaker
But they've also shown a knack for getting results in games where they really have no business at all getting a result. Earlier this year, they became like the first team in sort of measured...
00:27:18
Speaker
soccer history to win a game that they had zero shots, not shots on goal. They took zero shots and they managed to win a game on an own goal against the galaxy, which was sort of a commentary on how bad the galaxy have been.
00:27:31
Speaker
And then just this week, they beat the Rapids in a game where they gave up two penalties and they were absolutely battered in terms of chances.
00:27:42
Speaker
And John pulls camp, their goalkeeper sort of stood on his head And so this is a team that knows how to get results, even though they're they're not good, but they're like right on the edge of the playoffs.
00:27:55
Speaker
I don't quite know what to make of them. Yeah, they are an interesting team because you could see flashes of individual talent when it comes to the attacking end.
00:28:08
Speaker
Love Manu Garcia. I think he is he's got great vision. i think that he works for the system. ah He is very good on set pieces, has a great mid-range shot.
00:28:19
Speaker
He leads them in assists. Joe Village is one of my favorite forwards to watch because he's so... incisive He's so consistent. He's so pushy, aggressive.
00:28:31
Speaker
He is battles every ball. He could poach him. He can generate him. He could do so many things inside and outside of the box ah that I just love the way he handles his game.
Exploiting Defensive Weaknesses
00:28:43
Speaker
He's going to give you 110% ah hundred and ten percent For the entirety of the time he's on the field.
00:28:48
Speaker
And I even have ah been a very ah impressed by a guy like ah Tommy. um Eric Tommy. Eric Tommy. That he, you know, at the winger position, if you let him cut inside, he's going to cook you. And he's going to try it a couple of times.
00:29:05
Speaker
So I see the flashes now. They have a hard time. with the ball and generating their own chances when they don't necessarily kind of get fed to them. Like that, that first goal against Colorado is a, is a giveaway off of a pressure moment that they do create, of course, but it's not on, on the possession of the ball.
00:29:24
Speaker
And of course, uh, A guy like Jovis going to put it away. ah But they just have a hard time kind of getting forward. Defensively, I thought that they were exposed in the flanks.
00:29:36
Speaker
You know, Calvin Harris, I thought, was giving him hell. And ah but but what is the name of the the other guy? Petrush? The other guy. Man, anyways, but but but both. Oh, yeah yeah yeah well yeah. I would not.
00:29:53
Speaker
ah Oh, well, I'm not exactly – yeah. They've got some interesting names on their team. Yeah. Quedipetro. Quedipetro is the guy that on the other side was making them defend a lot. And whenever he came to that emergency defense, they had real difficulties. Oh, you're saying Colorado did. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:30:11
Speaker
Yeah, Colorado. So they they they definitely were pushing the the flanks and and um Kansas City had difficulties with it, but Colorado wasn't just putting the ball on the back of the net.
00:30:22
Speaker
What I would say that Seattle should be looking at is that Navarro did a lot of work that was unnecessary and they made it very easy to defend when it was just him fitting in balls on top of the box or through balls.
00:30:36
Speaker
They did a lot better when they were playing out wide. So I think that's something that Seattle has been very good at lately. it Very good at getting those back passes from the outside positions.
00:30:47
Speaker
So I think that could benefit Seattle, but they are an interesting team because, know, They have gotten ah a bit of a form, but it seems like it's more effort and willingness to be in the games and get the ball elsewhere than necessarily talent or consistent ability to get the ball forward.
00:31:07
Speaker
And defensively, they have struggled. Like, this is a team who has given up – um Quite a few goals. they they they They've had their struggles.
00:31:19
Speaker
And, ah like, yeah, so they are second. They've given up the second most goals in the Western Conference, 38 goals. And that goes that's at home as well.
00:31:30
Speaker
Like, da've been ah they've been the worst home defensive team in the Western Conference. They've given up 20 goals at home. They're averaging allowing two goals per match at home.
00:31:42
Speaker
ah And their defense just does not have a lot of obvious strengths. They don't. They don't. I think that the center backs have a really hard time pressuring that the player that's taking space.
00:31:57
Speaker
I feel like marking issues in the box were there all day long. They just could not buy a goal. I mean, you talked about the PK. and but Jordy Mihaljevic, first of all, he misses that PK. Yeah. And then he has another freebie on top of the box right that he cannot put away. And he's just like looking at the ceiling, and ah at the sky, wondering what he has to do to buy a goal.
00:32:20
Speaker
There was one on the post that Navarro had. I mean, there was consistent chances. They just could have put it away. So if Seattle can really pepper them, if they could really ah slice them and dice offensively, I think that it could be a good performance for Seattle, but I think it all starts with in what shape and form Jordan Morris is in. I think that he he could really feed off of a game like this one to just kind of get him going for the rest of the season.
00:32:48
Speaker
Yeah, and John Poolskamp probably is their – there saving grace right now. At least he's been, when they've been good, it's been a lot of his play. Now this is a relatively young goalkeeper ah that, that they've been ah vetting in for the last couple seasons.
00:33:05
Speaker
This is, but this is a game that the Sounders really should look at as look, if you're going to win, if you're going charge up the table, you got to win some road games. And this is a road game. The Sounders need to feel like they can win.
00:33:18
Speaker
Yeah, and you do you got a great point when it comes to ah post-camp, not just ah his ability to just be a shot stopper and put his body on the line.
00:33:29
Speaker
He's very good at closing in when it comes to 1v1 situations. But on the ball, he is very good at making making sure that There's a quick service in, whether it's with his hands or with his foot.
00:33:41
Speaker
They're not afraid of being direct, right? Fight for that second ball. And that's how they got Colorado into some issues. It was a direct ball from the goalkeeper all the way across the other side, making him defend, making him repress.
00:33:53
Speaker
So that's something that I feel like his timing is very good and controlling and helping the tempo of the game. Yeah, and I guess if there's one other X factor in this game, it's always the weather in Kansas City. It about as different as you're going to get from Seattle in the
Weather Conditions Impact
00:34:12
Speaker
summer.
00:34:12
Speaker
ah And it's almost always hot and muggy. And that's just something that the you know we've seen that bite the Sounders before. i mean, right now, as I'm looking at b and at the forecast, we're looking at Thunderstorms, potentially. We're looking at rain.
00:34:33
Speaker
We're looking at temperatures in the low 80s, so maybe not too bad, but humidity in the 70s. This is not a Seattle environment. but No, it's it's not a Seattle environment.
00:34:46
Speaker
It doesn't fit well for, you know, a a Sounders team that, if anything, ah we just talked about the amount of minutes and miles that they've had to um play. I actually i just talked to Jesus off the mics, and he said this to me.
00:35:01
Speaker
I forgot how far... we were from everything. Seattle was from everything. You know, in Dallas, you're kind of in the middle, right? Right. Well, and they in what's funny is that i the Sounders have not had to travel almost at all. Like they went to their last road game was at Vancouver.
00:35:18
Speaker
So other than that, the Sounders have been at home. Basically, they've they've been in the Pacific Northwest for like over a month, maybe um almost two months, I suppose. ah So this is you know, like this is a real road trip.
00:35:32
Speaker
No, it's a, it's a big road trip. Uh, you should never take a team like sporting Kansas city lightly, specifically at home. Uh, look, I know Charlotte is probably not as good as they've been in the past, but, uh, I was looking back at that that game against Charlotte and although both goals for ah sporting Kansas city came in late, uh, they had plenty of opportunities, man. And, and, uh,
00:35:58
Speaker
maybe a little bit on the side of, once again, a a team that kind of plays way beyond their expected goal percentages. You just cannot take them lightly at home.
00:36:10
Speaker
Yeah, and for what it's worth, the last time the Sounders left the West Coast so was just May 10th, so exactly almost exactly two months ago.
Importance of Road Victory
00:36:19
Speaker
They were at l LAFC, they were at Portland, and then they were at Vancouver, and everything else has been at home in the meantime.
00:36:26
Speaker
So this is going to be a test. i I am optimistic. I feel like this is a game, like I said, that the Sounders should be able to get. get three points from they should be looking at it as a potential three point i would this is a potentially pivotal week for them because there are three really winnable games coming right in a row and if they can get nine points from these they got to feel like they're right back in the in like the the western conference race if not the supporter shield race and all of a sudden you know we we start talking about other things and
00:36:58
Speaker
Otherwise, they are not so far ahead that they can avoid to drop points either. So, it's either as always in the Western Conference and MLS, almost every week is important. But this one, yeah this feels like a big one. Yeah, and I think that you're probably going to rotate against Colorado. They're on a free fall.
00:37:16
Speaker
yeah They've won one of their last five games. ah They got... outperformed in every way against LAFC, but I will say that there was a really soft and controversial red card in the fifth minute against Colorado that likely changed that game.
00:37:33
Speaker
But still, it seems like Armas is having a hard time just getting any sort of results. And that team, despite having some... Pretty big names, I would say. They have not performed to that name, right?
00:37:46
Speaker
Vines, Cannon, I mean, Cole Bassett. All these guys just seem to be shells of the player they were before. so Not the players that went to Europe. Exactly. 100%. That's a great way to put it.
00:37:58
Speaker
And so when you look at that midweek game, you're like, oh, man, that's I'd be able to rotate, get Pedro in, maybe get... ah Danny Leyva and whoever it is that you choose next to him. So, yeah, I feel like things are really playing out for Seattle, but it's important to go out here and get
Western Conference Competition
00:38:14
Speaker
these three points. Exactly. Because what I will say about the Western Conference right now is that there are some teams that are starting to get...
00:38:21
Speaker
Start hitting that that the road with some traction. Houston being one of those teams where you're like, in yeah they're going to be pretty serious. 100%. So you've got to be mindful. Now, there's other teams like Austin that, you know, I feel like after the Brandon Vasquez and then CeCe Ninjury, they're going to struggle and things. But Seattle wants to get their points now rather than later down the road.
00:38:41
Speaker
Absolutely. Well, that's probably a good note to end on. ah Once again, I'm going to give a plug to the video content that we're putting up on the SoundRite Heart ah YouTube page. You did a great interview with Precky.
00:38:53
Speaker
We just did a little tactical short on Paul Rothrock and why he continues to start and why he he's really he deserves to be starting right now ah because he's he's just making the most of his time.
00:39:05
Speaker
Of course, you can also follow us on YouTube for all our audio content. I would urge you know if you're listening to us primarily through audio probably be better experience uh through various audio readers but whatever you do you uh but all that said thank you to our sponsor full pool wines uh thank you to nico uh follow pulso sports of course nico is blue sky el rolo nw you can also watch him on soccer down here as well as lobbing scorchers anything else to plug nico
00:39:36
Speaker
No, a think I think that's it. Just ah those two and yours, of course, ah that those I call my, you know, podcast that I do consistently and including soccer down here, which has been really, really fun. We focused a lot of our efforts this morning to talking about Steph and, you know, his recuperation and things. So I really love that show. So go ahead and check those guys out at soccer down here.
00:39:58
Speaker
Awesome. Well, with all that said, this is Nosarriete as part of the Sounder Art Podcast Network. I am Jeremiah Oshan, and we'll catch you next time.
00:40:30
Speaker
I expect the LAFC who is motivated ah to prove themselves at home, to prove to their fans that that they're capable of winning in this league. And it's up to us to really ruin the party.
00:40:46
Speaker
i feel a lot better than