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Episode 345: Are Sounders favorites in CCL final?
68 Plays3 years ago
Jeremiah and Aaron get comfortable with the idea that the Sounders should actually be favored over Pumas in the CCL final based on virtually everything except the league in which they play.
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 Book Release
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. Fulpel's unique writing style is applied to recipes like leftover Thanksgiving turkey, schmaltz-a-ball soup, and pregnancy nachos. This book can be purchased through Sasquatch Books.
Podcast Hosts Introduction
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. What? Hey, Ocean! Let's go! Jordan Morris getting in behind Florian Youngford. Jordan Morris! Scores!
00:00:50
Speaker
And how's this for a save from Steph and Fry? Here comes Roy Deers from the middle to crowd it to Seattle. What do the Tigers dream of? They take a little Tigers in. It's the Sounders and an S-Com. I feel a lot better than Bob.
00:01:34
Speaker
I didn't know what it was. Is that what you young people call twerking? I have no idea. I don't know.
00:01:46
Speaker
Welcome to another edition of Nos Adietta, sponsored by Fullpool Wines and our newest sponsor, Watson's Counter. This is episode 345 and we're recording on Tuesday, April 19th, 2022. I am your host, Jeremiah Shan.
Seattle Sounders' Historic Achievement
00:01:58
Speaker
Joining me as usual is my co-host, Aaron Campo and our engineer, Lickett. So, kind of a weird place that we come to today. On one hand,
00:02:10
Speaker
The Sounders achieved legitimate MLS history. They are the fifth team to qualify for the CONCACAF Champions League final.
Sounders' Recent Loss and Focus Shift
00:02:23
Speaker
They are arguably favorites going against Pumas. We'll get into that in a bit.
00:02:30
Speaker
Over the weekend, they lost at home to one of the league's worst teams, a team that had never beaten a Western Conference opponent, a team that came in having given up the most goals in the league, and a team that was missing a lot of their highest-paid players anyway. And the Senators rotated their whole lineup, basically,
00:02:53
Speaker
it wasn't exactly like I didn't know that the centers played badly but they definitely look like a team that was rotating a whole lot of players and I think you know we'll also get into this but this is a good starting point I think I think we both agree that oh like in the big picture you you just can't get that upset about that result but
00:03:16
Speaker
And I think our overarching feeling is probably the same that it's like, Oh no, the much more important game was on Wednesday.
Playoff Prospects and Challenges
00:03:22
Speaker
And I don't, I would have taken this trade in a heartbeat, but it's just a weird place to be, right? It is. Yeah. Because you, the only thing I really care about with the Sounders right now is CCL. Um, that's, that's about all I've been thinking about for most of the season, frankly. Yeah.
00:03:42
Speaker
but you do like you get to a point where you realize and I had this like moment last week when we're recording of like Jesus they've only got seven points to track games like they're way out of the playoffs and like obviously not important at this phase right but we're six games in seven points from six games especially some of the points they've dropped losing to that at Miami FC team at home is pretty bad so
00:04:05
Speaker
You know, it's certainly not panic time. It's certainly like I think this team is going to comfortably make the playoffs probably as a fairly high seed, but
00:04:14
Speaker
I think that they've probably lost any chance they had at winning a shield, for example. Maybe. I mean, they've lost two games at home already. Yeah. One of them to Miami again. One again to Miami, a game that you run
Lineup Rotation Strategy
00:04:29
Speaker
the sim of the season. And I would guess that 95 to 99 times out of 100, you would expect to win that game. Maybe that's overstanding it. But you certainly don't expect to lose it.
00:04:45
Speaker
Um, yeah. And, and like, I, but at the same time, like, I don't, I didn't think they were bad. Like, and I think you can even go individually, like all 10 of the new starters in that game, I think you can say deserve to start, but. You know, starting them all together was a risk. I don't know if it was the bad choice, even given the result, but like, it's hard to think like, Oh, well they should, like,
Bench Depth Analysis
00:05:14
Speaker
I don't think they played so well as to deserve a better result. A 1-1 game or a 2-1 game would have been a fair result, but I think 1-0, given the way it played out, was well within the margin of possibility. Yeah, I think so.
00:05:34
Speaker
That's a team that you, if that was your team the whole season, you probably would not expect them to make the playoffs I don't think. I wouldn't at least. And that doesn't mean that they shouldn't be bad teams at home, you know, like you would expect teams like that to be able to get results occasionally but
00:05:52
Speaker
Um, you would also expect him to lose games to bad teams. So, you know, it's the sounders have a lot of depth, but there are very few teams in the world that any level that can rotate 11 players and not have a big drop off, you know, whether we're talking about the premier league or what we got or the windows leader, there are not a lot of teams that are not going to have a
Debate on Lineup Choices
00:06:15
Speaker
big drop off. It's just that some of the teams, our first teams are so good and so much better than everybody else's that.
00:06:23
Speaker
even a big drop-off is enough to feel pretty good that you're going to get results, but the margins in MLS were just a lot finer than that. Yeah. You know, I will say that I think that the drop-off is not as big as most teams would be. Like, I think you can, like, I think you go through that roster of the, go through the starters.
00:06:50
Speaker
And those are all legitimate. Those are players who would contend for regular minutes on any team in the league, I think. Will Bruin, Freddie Monteiro, Steph Cleveland.
00:07:03
Speaker
Abdullis Sisoko, Obed Vargas, Josh Atencio, Danny Leyva, Jimmy Madrand, Killen Rowe. These are all players that are like, they hadn't all played games for the Sounders this year, but there are players who have at some point gotten regular minutes for a competitive Sounders team. And I have every reason to believe that they would be competing for significant minutes almost anywhere in the league.
00:07:29
Speaker
And so in that way, I think you can justify the level of rotation, but I, I don't know, like should, is there something that Brian Spencer could have done differently?
Schedule Constraints and Player Rotation
00:07:42
Speaker
Uh, probably. Right. Like, yeah.
00:07:47
Speaker
Maybe, you know, maybe, maybe Alex or Christian could have started and they look great. You know, they, they definitely changed the game when they came in at halftime. Maybe Lidero could get more than 10 minutes. Uh, you know, Rui Diaz plate played, I don't know what 30 minutes, something like that, but I don't know. Like at the same time, maybe Obed Vargas as a right-winger was maybe that was maybe the one where.
00:08:14
Speaker
Is that the right call? Like he didn't have a great game out there. They didn't generate a lot offensively. Maybe you put a player, like that's not putting him in a position to succeed. Maybe you can use him there if you really want to in a different scenario where he's surrounded by other starters. But if you're asking him to be one of your main creators, like you are essentially asking him to do in that game, maybe that's too much. Maybe you could put,
00:08:40
Speaker
Christian, like I would have expected Christian to start. But if they said he couldn't start, I believe you. Right. I think, I mean, I think that that's the thing, right, is that you, Vargas is a young enough player that like,
00:08:58
Speaker
You might as well try it. You know, I'm sure that there's things he's shown in training that have suggested he's capable of playing there. And I think also like the thought process had to be, I can't ask all of my big guns to go 90 minutes, you know, three times in the space of however many days or four times in the space of however many days. We need to do some heavy rotation. The game against NYCFC was
00:09:23
Speaker
intense. I mean, it was intense game. It was a ton of running. It had to take a lot out of them. I think that the, I think that, you know, those guys only had one day of training, one day of training.
Focus on Champions League
00:09:33
Speaker
And they got in at, at 4 AM on Thursday or whatever. So yeah, I mean, it's, it's a, it's a difficult situation. And so, um, you know, you have to,
00:09:47
Speaker
have to accept that probably that level of rotation was necessary. Like I don't think Christian Roldan is asking for days off. I don't think Stephen Fry is asking for days off. And I'm sure the thought process is if we can just like keep it close with this lineup and it was reasonable to expect them to do that. And they did. I mean, it was one nil, right? It's not like the sounders were down three nil before Rudy Dios came on or whatever. And you would expect like against a bad team like that, that
00:10:16
Speaker
the starting caliber players had time to make a difference. And they made a difference, but it wasn't enough along. I mean, it's easy in a Monday morning quarterback, something like that. And there were a lot of people that I think were very angry about the lineup and about the results. And for me, it's frustrating. It's certainly frustrating to drop points in a game like that. And I do want the Sounders to win every trophy. I want them to win a treble every year, or even a quadruple every year.
00:10:45
Speaker
But it's not realistic to expect that of any team anywhere in the world. And I think especially in a league like MLS where
00:10:54
Speaker
there are these constraints on the teams and the
Champions League Journey Challenges
00:10:57
Speaker
way that the rosters have to be built, that it's just gonna be difficult to compete on multiple fronts at the same time, especially when you've got as much travel and you've got games of that level of intensity. I think, you know, every CCO game for the Sounders since the Matagua, the home leg against Matagua has been a very intense game, because the away leg against Matagua was as well.
00:11:26
Speaker
can you expect more with the constraints they have? I don't know that you can, you know? And I think, and I know, you know, Brian Schmetzer is official line. And I think it's one that he tries to instill in the players. And I think it's one the organization believes is that like, we're not gonna accept this as an excuse for bad results. And I think that's the right mentality, right? Like I'm not calling that a dumb thing to believe, but I think from a fan perspective, if you're just kind of, you know, taking the facts as they are, like,
00:11:48
Speaker
And I just think the question is like,
00:11:56
Speaker
I think there's a reason that teams that make deep CCL runs tend to struggle. And fortunately, they're not in as bad a position as TFC was a few years back, where it just completely blew up their season. I don't foresee that happening at all. So it's frustrating. I almost kind of weirdly, in a way, wish that the Sounders were playing
Sounders vs NYCFC: Game Analysis
00:12:18
Speaker
tougher opponents at home, like they were playing the Revs or something.
00:12:23
Speaker
Columbus, teams expected, Orlando, whoever, Philly. Orlando was not good. I don't know what that was about. But Philly, if you're losing those games at home, you can maybe live with it a little more than what should be three easy points. But I guess the lesson is that they're just not easy points in MLS, maybe.
00:12:43
Speaker
Right. Yeah. I mean, I don't know that that's a fair point. Um, it would feel better if, like, I think dropping points against Miami obviously is one that hurts. On the other hand, if they beat San Jose this weekend, I suppose I would take three points out of those two matches, even though San Jose is also a team.
00:13:01
Speaker
Yeah. Sounds like a road game is a game that you can reasonably circle as like, well, this is one of the road games we should win. They've won a lot there recently. Sounds like it's very bad right now. They are coming off a 5-0 win today against Bay Cities FC in the Open Cup. Bay Cities, who I believe was playing their second ever game today, their other game being the first game they played in the Open Cup.
00:13:30
Speaker
but uh yes i don't know it's it's an interesting balancing act that those hundreds are having to do but before we get to like i don't want to move on too quickly though because there was a big result last week we talked about it like it was a foregone conclusion the last time we recorded
00:13:49
Speaker
I think we expressed some like trepidation, but we also were ready to move on a little bit. And I think all of that was, I think we placed it well. Like the Sounders did win, they held their two goal advantage, but boy,
Handling Physical Play Strategically
00:14:07
Speaker
it was a, they had to sweat out those last 45, last 35 minutes or so. Yeah, it was definitely the kind of game where I never felt like,
00:14:20
Speaker
too nervous because they did have that cushion, but it was one of those situations where like if NYC FC gets another one, I'm going to throw extremely bad. Like it's not going to be fun the rest of the way. So it was just teetering on the edge of being a nail biter. Um, it was a rugby match. It was not a whole lot of fun to watch, um, really from whistle to whistle, but that's the way a lot, you know, that's like the way these,
00:14:48
Speaker
Cups go. NYCFC knew what they had to do. I'm not endorsing it, but I don't think trying to set a very physical tone to take the sounders off their game is necessarily a bad strategy. I don't think it was successful in this case, but I can understand the thought process there of like, we want to make this physical game.
00:15:12
Speaker
and take the Sounders out of it, but it didn't work. I mean, the Sounders got the first goal and that made the proceedings much more comfortable. I think it's fair to say.
00:15:23
Speaker
That's just a professional result. This is a veteran team. A lot of experience. They've been in these situations before. They didn't go in and say, we're just going to hold on for dear life this whole game. But they also didn't need to come out guns blazing. And they didn't. And they just
00:15:43
Speaker
If you go into an environment like that and it's that uncomfortable and you still come out even on the night and with a big
Champions League Final Preview
00:15:51
Speaker
advantage over the course of the tie, I think you've got to feel great about it. It would have been nice if they had been able to come out of there without being as beaten up as they ended up. But thankfully, I don't think anyone was hurt for any appreciable length of time and they had a little chance to get a little bit of a rest.
00:16:11
Speaker
Yeah, I think you can't ask for more, right? I think you can even talk yourself into the idea that it was a good test for them too, like that they, you know, maybe if they would been, you know, we'll see right when next week when the sounders go down to Mexico and play.
00:16:28
Speaker
in front of what apparently is a sellout crowd. I don't know how big it will be, but they sold out in 15 minutes. However many tickets they decided to sell. So that should be an interesting atmosphere in Mexico against Pumas. But maybe it was a good test for them. Maybe they needed to struggle. And we need to be reminded that Stephen Fry is capable of having a game like he had. That save that he had on Talos Magno where he
00:16:56
Speaker
It's a one-on-one. He's made saves like that before too, where there's a player that gets put in one-on-one on him and they just have to kind of slot it into an open net and somehow he comes up with the massive kick save or whatever in this case. And so maybe it was good. Maybe it was good for the Sounders to be reminded that like, and maybe it was good for Steph. It feels like it's been a little while since he's had sort of one of those games where he just played out of his mind. And he made probably four or five
00:17:27
Speaker
amazing saves in that one. And that doesn't even include the two butt saves that Kellen Rowe had.
00:17:35
Speaker
Yeah, it was an extremely gutsy and complete performance, I think. Having Stephen Fry come up big like that, it is always nice to have a reminder that he's still capable of that. I don't think there have been any signs that he rapidly declined or anything, but it's definitely like to see him put in a performance like that in a big game is refreshing. And yeah, I mean, I think that
00:18:04
Speaker
There are definitely games where a team is under the gun and they're facing a barrage and it just feels like a matter of time and I just didn't feel that way in this game. I didn't think the sounders were disorganized. I thought they did a good job. NYCFC had some great looks.
00:18:20
Speaker
If they had managed to get a goal, if stuff I hadn't come up with a couple of big saves, you know, maybe the tenor of the game changes, but it just never felt to me like the Sounders weren't going to hold on. They just had like it felt like they had things under control as nerve wracking as it got at times. Yeah, and they and they came close to scoring a second, too. In fact, you can probably argue that they should have. Christian Roldana made a great move to set up Jordan Morris on an open net and Morris actually takes an OK shot.
00:18:50
Speaker
But it gets it's right out of defender who's standing on the line, essentially, so it wasn't.
00:18:57
Speaker
It wasn't a great shot. He had areas of the goal he could have shot at that he didn't, but like that's neither here nor there. They get out of that. They move on to Pumas. Pumas, who are one of the historic Cuatro's Grandes of Mexico. They are one of the teams that has a big fan base. They're a historical team. They, you know,
00:19:24
Speaker
They've they they're very popular, but have not been really one of the top teams over the last.
00:19:31
Speaker
10 or so years, their last title was back in 2011. And I think they've only been to their final once they have to, you know, they have two tournaments every year. Uh, so that's like 20 odd opportunities to go to a final. I think they've only been to
Team Dynamics and Strengths Comparison
00:19:47
Speaker
one they lost. That was, uh, they lost to, uh, Leon, uh, coincidentally enough. And that was, must've been two, three season, three tournaments ago.
00:20:01
Speaker
But they haven't played, they haven't won a Champions League since 1989, which is way before, like in the old era of Champions League. I think they played in a final in 2006, I wanna say. It was the last time that they actually lost. They were the last Mexican team to lose a final, if I remember correctly. But yeah, this is a team where I think on paper,
00:20:31
Speaker
sounders are maybe the favorites. I think you could even make a case that they are the no maybe like on paper I think you you can say the sounders are favorites. Yeah I mean I think that I don't think there's a player Tigris or Tigris god Tigris would definitely I think the sounders would not be the favorites in that in that matchup but that's not the matchup we're talking about. I don't think Pumas has a player
00:20:56
Speaker
that I say that is clearly better than their counterpart on the Sounders. I mean, maybe Alamozo, their right back is extremely good. He's going to be kind of a handful, I think, especially that will be an interesting matchup with him against Jordan Morris. He's, I think, second in the league in assists. So that maybe is a clear edge, as much as I do love Alex. I mean, I think he's a great right back.
00:21:26
Speaker
But there's no one, I mean they've got some great players, but there's no one where I say, you know, that's just the caliber of play the Sounders don't have and that I think historically like when you look at the matchups like this like
00:21:40
Speaker
the League of MX teams has one or two pretty clear advantages. And similarly, there are no areas where I feel like the sounders are lacking. And I think it's going to be close. I think they're fairly evenly matched teams. I think that Pumas are probably
00:22:02
Speaker
like holistically better, I guess, if that makes sense. Like they probably have like a more consistent talent level throughout the team. But I think the sellers have a pretty clear edge in some cases. I don't even know if that's true. Like I went through their roster and I'm not like going to sit here and say like I watch all Puma's games and I can tell you a lot about these players. But going off of what's what you can find data wise. Yeah. Like I thought it was interesting.
00:22:31
Speaker
You know that traditionally the way that MLS and Ligue Mackey's are differentiated is like a few categories. It's oftentimes recognized like, okay, well the top players in MLS can play pretty favorably, but then, and maybe your starters.
00:22:47
Speaker
can, can line up, but like, once you get below that, once you dig below that, it's, it starts to get really wonky. Well, Pumas are a team who they are, you know, they have some good players and I, you know, like they're probably their best player is, uh, Deneno, who is an Argentinian player, but I, he's a, they're striker and he's been very good for them during this, during this tournament. I think he's got, I think he's leading with like seven goals, something like that.
00:23:14
Speaker
But I don't know that man-to-man I would take him over Rui Diaz. And like you said, MOSO is probably their one advantage, but compared to Alex Roldon, I don't know.
00:23:30
Speaker
It's, I'm not saying rolled, like I'm not saying clearly rolled on is better, but like, and then, but then once you get beyond that, it's, I think you have pretty clear advantages for the sounders. And then what's really interesting is that once you get beyond those starters, you know, you're talking about guys like, uh, Sebastian Saucedo, who sounders fans may remember as a former RSL player that goes by Bofo, uh, Saucedo and.
00:23:54
Speaker
He's a good player, but he's he's nothing special like he's not a player who is like he's, you know, he would be playing a very similar role if he was still an MLS like, you know, 13th guy on the roster.
00:24:08
Speaker
that was the role he was playing with RSL. I think the couple of games I've watched him this year, he's looked better than he did with RSL. He's improved, as you would expect, because he's gotten a couple years older and played at a sensibly higher level, but he's not a different player. He's just improved, as you would expect from a guy
00:24:30
Speaker
gaining experience. And he's pretty much exactly the same role, like you said. And I think that that does, like, that is kind of illustrative of the level we're talking about here. Yeah, I think the one thing that I need to credit the person that told me this, so Artur Ortiz is going to miss the first leg.
00:24:54
Speaker
He's a center back and I have been informed that that is a big, big miss for them. This person described it as the biggest issue that they have going into the first leg, which is good to know. Because I think if the sounders can take advantage of that and score,
00:25:12
Speaker
a goal or two, that's a huge advantage to have. New England went into the second leg against Pumas with a 3-0 lead and they got completely road raced in Mexico City and ended up losing on penalties. So I think that that
International Experience Comparison
00:25:35
Speaker
First leg is going to be critical like how the Sounders can hold it together in Mexico City is going to be very critical. And any advantage they can have in doing that because I mean that's a tough place to travel to and play no matter what level of competition right like that's a long way to go. It's going to be probably a fairly hostile environment, so not that.
00:25:56
Speaker
sounders aren't used to that. Um, and I think that like, even when you look at guys that don't have CCL experience on the roster or like a ton of it, or like a ton of big game CCL experience, you've got guys that have played in CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers. You've got guys that have played for big teams in Mexico. Um, you just, you have to feel really good about their ability to handle playing in an environment like that, which has not always been the case.
00:26:22
Speaker
Yeah, like I actually did I dug into this a little bit, and I compared the number of caps for their national team that the sounders had the projected sounder starters had, and their number of international appearances in tournaments like CCL so like the Berta Doris were included and things like that.
00:26:43
Speaker
Oh, the Sounders collectively, the starters have 257 caps among their starters. Only three players in their starting lineup probably don't have, don't have any caps. One of them is Steph Fry. The other is Zhao Paolo, who I think
00:26:59
Speaker
I'm not worried about. And then Jackson Reagan, who, OK, fair enough. But then you go to their international appearances and everyone has at least five, everyone. But and then, yeah, that's Jackson Reagan. All five of us came here this year. New who has only eight, which I was a little surprised by. But then like and like Jordan Morris has eleven.
00:27:25
Speaker
Albert Rusnak has 12, but these are like everyone, like most of these guys, like the, the median number of, of international appearances that the, that the center starters have is 21, which is like pretty, pretty impressive, I think, uh, in terms of experience. And then you go over to, uh, Pumas' players and they have a whole bunch of players who have, they only have three players that have any international caps.
00:27:51
Speaker
sorry, four players that have any international caps. Talavera is the only player, their goalkeeper, who's 38, I think? Is that 39? 39, yeah. He's got 26 caps for the Mexican national team. At one point, I think he was their starter, but he was on a World Cup roster, never actually played in the World Cup. But, you know, he's a experienced player.
00:28:16
Speaker
But like everyone else, the most caps anyone has is nine. The median number of caps that their starters have is zero. And then the median number of international appearances that their starters have is 12, which is basically half of what their sounders counterparts have. So it's like traditionally you say, oh, well, the Mexican teams just have more experience. I don't think that's true at all in this case.
Sounders Favored to Win CCL?
00:28:43
Speaker
No, I don't think so. I think that, and when you look at MLS teams that have made deep runs before, you've had a lot of teams with like a lot of talent and you've had teams with maybe not as much talent, but a lot of big game experience. Montreal is, I think, springs immediately to mind as a team that didn't have a lot of talent, but had some pretty good veteran presence. RSL, was it 2013 that day?
00:29:11
Speaker
2011 actually. Oh my god. Yeah, so long ago. That was a team I think with a good amount of talent, maybe not a ton of big game experience. So I think the Sounders fare pretty well, you know, on both fronts. And I don't, it's like, I love two minds about this kind of similar to how we talked about the second leg and looking ahead last week of like, I don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves because
00:29:38
Speaker
I think Pumas could comfortably win this thing over two legs and it wouldn't be a shock to anyone. Right. But if I'm handicapping this, like I think I probably would consider the Sounders to be the favorites. If only slightly. Yeah. And I think really.
00:29:56
Speaker
I think the only thing that's keeping us from being like, no, the Sounders are the favorites. Why are we talking about? There's there's no question. Is that Puma's playing League of Yankees, Sounders playing MLS, MLS has never won this tournament. League of Yankees has won it every year since 2006. Right. So like there's, you know, like, but I don't know, is that
00:30:19
Speaker
There's nothing magical. There's nothing preordained about that, right? And I don't know that there's anything that is inherent in playing in Liga and Meccis that makes players better in CCL. There's always been a reason why these teams win. It's that they're more talented. It's that they're deeper. It's that they have more bigger gaming experience. You go down the list and ignore which league these two teams are from and just look at their resumes.
00:30:47
Speaker
And I really do think the Sounders are favorites. Now, like you said, that doesn't guarantee anything. We've seen lots of updates. The Sounders were upsets. The Sounders were also prohibitive favorites against the crew back in 2020. We've seen upsets as Sounders fans. We've been upset by four.
00:31:09
Speaker
like you got to like the sounder's chances like this is if they're good and i would say beyond that if mls is going to end this drought it's going to be a situation like this right like right i think so i mean and i will say that i think the intangible stuff matters right like i think the fact that an mls team hasn't won is a factor because i think that it there is like a potential um
00:31:35
Speaker
element of that pressure. I think you've seen teams that should have won that had a lot of expectations.
00:31:44
Speaker
fold under that pressure, right? I don't think that those things are as big of factors as a lot of people do, you know? Like I think that, but I think that they're, whether or not they're measurable effects, like they exist and they have to be acknowledged. And, you know, it's like both of us have said, like we're not experts about Pumas. There might be a huge matchup issue that we're not noticing. There might be, um,
00:32:10
Speaker
They just might not be playing up to their potential in League MX for the last three tournaments, I guess it would be. Who knows, right? And they have talented players. And I think that's always going to be a factor.
00:32:28
Speaker
like Denino definitely worries me. He's a big physical dude that you know there aren't it felt like there used to be like that was like the prototypical MLS striker and I don't feel like there are as many guys like that in the league anymore so I don't know how the Sounders are gonna fare you know it's like a big target forward kind of striker that that has like pretty decent skill as well.
00:32:52
Speaker
Um, you know, you never know, um, until you play the teams, but I feel as confident as I think an MLS fan has ever had reason to feel going into this, this final. Yeah. I mean, who knows? Maybe we'll get smacked in the mouth and we'll be talking about hubris. Uh, but right where we sit today.
00:33:16
Speaker
Like, yeah, if you can't, if you can't feel good about this, why are we doing this? Why are we watching these games? Like, allow yourself to feel confident. Yeah. And it's, I feel like it's so, there's like this, it plays into the American soccer interiority complex of like,
00:33:36
Speaker
never wanting to feel like never wanting to acknowledge when a team is the better team, right? Like by every, I think reasonable metric, RSL choked in 2011. And there were people that were so resistant to that idea. Cause it's like, well, they were playing, you know, Monterey, right? And that at that time that Monterey team was one of the best teams in the hemisphere.
00:33:59
Speaker
And it's like, yeah, they still had like a 2-0 lead coming home, you know? Like it's okay to say like they should have won that game and it's okay to say that the Sounders like should have like reasonable expectations of lifting
Psychological Challenges in CCL
00:34:13
Speaker
the trophy. Like it's fine to say that. You're not going to jinx anything. You're not going to like kill anything if they don't. Like that's why they play the games, right? We're all worried. I think we're all just worried about banter. That's the problem. We get too worried about like the banter being thrown in our face and
00:34:28
Speaker
Oh, that's like, I'm here to say like, let go of that concern. Yeah. Like if write it, if you're Pumas, I think you have to be a lot more concerned about the banter because like, yeah, how is that going to feel to be the Mexican team that lost to an MLS team? Exactly. You know, like we've, we've seen the way the Mexican teams treat this tournament. Like we've seen the way that changed over the years. Like it used to be.
00:34:52
Speaker
guys with triple digit numbers playing in the semifinals. And now we can expect to see like the best teams of these teams every year.
00:35:00
Speaker
And, you know, they aren't gonna want to be those guys plus I don't speak Spanish so if people want to, you know, banter at me about about it. I'm not gonna. I'm not gonna hit translate on Twitter. I won't know. And like, no MLS, no fan of any MLS team can say anything to a Sounders fan, it's just you can't you can't do it like it's just pointless. So, you know.
00:35:24
Speaker
I will I will add if the Sounders get a little bit of a break here, it looks like Pumas actually have to play a league game in between the two legs of the of the final. And they also play, you know, they also play on Saturday. Yeah. So, you know, like good for Mexico, not. Oh, man. Then last game of this is the last game of their season after the Sounders game. That's interesting. Oh, wow.
00:35:53
Speaker
And I, I think they're in a play off. I think that could be a play off. I don't, I don't think, cause they finished like, they finished like, uh, well, they're in, they're currently a night. Yeah. And they, and they finished 11th and the, um, yeah, I don't know exactly how the playoffs stretch set up right now, but they, uh,
00:36:21
Speaker
Like they're in the, I think they have a plan tournament. They, they've redid their playoffs. I think they're, they're probably solid. I think they, they appear to be pretty, well, no, maybe not. They're only, they're only two points.
00:36:33
Speaker
ahead of like the playing thing. So I don't know. They have a lot to play for. So I don't know. I guess the point is like we're catching them at a good time, you know, in a way. And even the argument of like, oh, but the timing of this tournament is not great for Malice. I mean, at this point, the Sounders have played 11 games, 12 games. Like, right. They should be in something like
00:36:55
Speaker
mid-season, maybe not quite mid-season form, but like they're not pretty close. I think that stuff mattered so much more when it was you were playing the toughest teams, right? Sort of the season or before the season. Now it's like you're playing a cupcake, no offense to the photographer, but you know, um, yeah. And so I think that that's much less of an excuse than it used to be, but I think that's also kind of born out by the results we've seen over the last few years. Right. Well, yeah. So.
00:37:25
Speaker
It's going to be fun. I'm I'm planning on going to Mexico. This is the first time I've ever been to Mexico City unless something happens. Plan change plans wise, I'm going to be there for not
Travel Plans and Cultural Immersion
00:37:37
Speaker
too long. It's going to I'm going to get in on Tuesday and come back on Thursday and and basically try to get some food and drink some coffee on Wednesday and and do it up to the best I can. Well, hopefully staying safe.
00:37:54
Speaker
I'm not worried about the flight. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That was a fun little change yet spring on yet, but you know, but all right. Well, we're going to take a break. We're going to come back, take your questions. Uh, you're listening to notice audio.
00:38:13
Speaker
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Speaker
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00:38:52
Speaker
Thanks to Watson's Counter for sponsoring this episode. Located in Ballard, Watson's Counter is your neighborhood specialty coffee shop, brunch spot, and now, coffee roaster. Sourcing exclusively high scoring coffees, Watson's Counter has started their coffee roasting project to showcase amazing coffees grown around the world. Their first featured coffee is the beautifully complex washed Ethiopian Odola.
00:39:14
Speaker
Follow them on Instagram at watsonscounter to keep up with all the upcoming releases or check out their website at www.watsonscounter.com. Whether you want to stop by for your daily coffee to go or sit down for delicious Korean inspired brunch, Watson's Counter has got you covered. Welcome back to NOS Adiatus. So we have a couple housekeeping items we wanted to get through first.
Youth Academy Achievements
00:39:41
Speaker
Aaron, what was the first one you wanted to do?
00:39:43
Speaker
Oh yeah, so I just wanted to shout out Carlos Eustace, Carlos Eustace TV, Y-U-S-T-I-S TV on Twitter. He's a Telenu no anchor in the Bay Area and he helped me make some sense with Pumas roster. I would not have been able to do that without, you know, without his help. So thank you.
00:40:03
Speaker
Yeah, and so the other thing we wanted to do, we didn't get any questions about this, so we feel like a good place to get into it. Congratulate the Sounders on winning back-to-back GA Cups. Might not feel like back-to-back, but yes, 2019 was the last one that was contested. They won again this year. They are the only MLS-affiliated academy to have won this tournament in its current
00:40:29
Speaker
iteration. Basically, ever since they started inviting international teams, it had been dominated by international teams for the first, I think, six years that it had been contested. And now the sounders have won it twice. So that's pretty cool. And they beat Tigris of League of Mechis, and they did it with a roster of
00:40:51
Speaker
kids that were some underage, like 15, 16, 17 year old, I think there might have been some 17 year olds, but a young roster, none of whom on the last like Reed Baker Whiting and Obed Vargas are almost certainly the best.
00:41:07
Speaker
eligible players for that team. Obed didn't even make the trip to GA Cup because it was too important to the first team. Reed played the first three games, but then went home to play for the Defiance. And so the rest of it was all like amateurs. None of these kids, they're all like real academy players, like not pros playing in the academy, which I thought was pretty cool.
00:41:33
Speaker
Yeah. And I think it's always like a sign of like a really healthy and functional Academy when you have situations like that, where it's like, well, you know, we're not sending our best you 17s because they're playing for the big team, you know, right. And, and they aren't just trying to win just to say we won Jacob. We're not, we're not, we're not stacking the roster just so we can say we won this. Yeah.
00:41:55
Speaker
Yeah. And I think that's, that's super encouraging. And then to, you know, to continue to still go out and win the thing, even though like some of the best guys in that age group are, um, are not available is, is I think extremely impressive. And, um, you know, like all the, the academy stuff is like, the proof is in the pudding, right? Like it's not necessarily what you want at that level. It's what they do when they get to the professional level. But I think the signs are pretty good in that, in that regard, I would say.
00:42:25
Speaker
Yeah, uh, two standouts from that tournament. Uh, Stuart Hawkins is the center back who had actually spent a fair amount of preseason with the Sounders. I think he's only 15 and he ended up being MVP. Uh, I think he said he anchored the back line that only gave up one goal in the whole tournament. Uh, and then the other guy is a kid named, I think it's white Nelson. Is that right? Uh, he's the goalkeeper.
00:42:52
Speaker
Very well thought of in the organization. I don't know that he is, how close he is to necessarily signing a pro contract, but he's already made his Defiance debut and looks like he belongs. He's very confident player. There was a video that caught him saying we're coming for CONCACAF next, which I thought was great. I love that stuff from the kids. But yeah, this is a fun team.
00:43:21
Speaker
they they play they like it wasn't like they were you know they played a distinct style it looks like the sounders they you know had some exciting moments they they won in a shoot they beat Monterey in a shootout they beat Santos Laguna so they beat three League Amakis teams they beat the Philadelphia Union which are considered one of the the top academies in the country so it was a it was a nice little run they put it then they beat Inter Miami and the semi-finals
00:43:48
Speaker
But anyway, just wanted to say congratulations to them. Chris Aquino led them in scoring. He's a fun little player. I think he's probably a little farther away from being MLS-ready, pro-ready, but some fun players on that team. And it'll be fun watching him anyway. Yeah, very cool. Yeah, it's exciting to have an academy.
00:44:14
Speaker
Yeah, so for so long with the Sounders, it was not the thing that they did. And I mean, no, very few teams in MLS did, you know, but I think that that's like one of the things like that was one of the reasons that Garst was brought in. And it's really hard to ignore, you know, the results of that of that effort.
00:44:35
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, it's, yeah, exciting times. It's a good, it feels good time to be rooting for the sounders these days. I guess the other thing we should probably talk about, I don't know if we have questions on this. Yeah, we have, do we have some sounds like questions? We do have some sounds like questions. Why don't we just start with that? Sounds good. Well, I gotta actually have the questions opened on it.
Upcoming Game Lineup Speculation
00:45:05
Speaker
All right, so the first question is from 80 to six coaching staff is going to have an interesting time balancing rhythm and rest when choosing the lineup for the San Jose game. What sort of lineup do you think we'll see? Well, Brian sort of alluded to the likelihood that this would be maybe not an entirely first choice lineup, but sort of like implied that they gave the starters.
00:45:30
Speaker
last Saturday off with the idea that they would probably be playing this weekend with the idea that they would use that to sort of lead into Pumas rather than, you know, flip-flop those two games. So I don't think a plausibly for like, I don't know, maybe one or two guys sits, like, I don't know, maybe Lidero doesn't start, but I have a feeling it's going to be pretty much a first choice lineup.
00:45:59
Speaker
in San Jose. Yeah, I think I kind of, I mean, that seems like the reasonable impression when I saw that lineup and I think maybe that was like some of the consternation about the lineup and the result was that, well, they're just going to do that again at San Jose, but I think that
00:46:16
Speaker
If you're going to give the starters a game off, it made sense for it to be that one. And, um, you know, if they're, I mean, they're probably going straight from San Jose to Mexico city. I would assume so. Yeah. One, one, if not. Yeah. Like they, it's like a intense training session, right? Yeah. Almost. Yeah. I would imagine they'll probably, I'll probably come back. I don't know. I mean, it's such a, it's a relatively easy flight, especially when you're flying charters down to San Jose, but yeah, it's, it'll, it'll be something close to that. And.
00:46:47
Speaker
And I think that's probably that makes sense. Like it's, and if you get through three points in this one, I think the dropping the three dropping points against the Miami at home goes down a little easier. You're sitting on 10 points through seven games. It's not great, but you're nothing that you need to be freaking out about. I don't think.
00:47:13
Speaker
but you gotta get those three points. It would be nice to beat sound as A. This is from Dave Montgomery. He says, if the sounders have to play short-handed again in sound as A, which sounders would you love to see as a field player? And you don't get to pick Andy Rose. Yeah, that's a fair restriction, I would say. Sounders coaches, which coaches do you wanna see? Yeah, I'll go with, it's tempting to say,
00:47:44
Speaker
Tim didn't just say do true, but I think I'm going to go with Craig Weibel because he's, Oh, I don't know. He's probably still pretty good. Yeah. He probably is. I was going to say I want to see Precky. I want to see if Precky can still do the job. Fair enough. That's that's fair enough. I'm going with Weibel because he's younger, although he's not really, I guess a coach, but I think I'll allow it. I'll allow it. Yeah. Thank you. I appreciate it. Um, if, if you didn't allow it, I would probably go to a truck because he's got to know something, right? Like he's pretty good track record. Yeah.
00:48:14
Speaker
Next one is from Bill Jones TRPT, which current or former sounders assistant coach will be the new coach at San Jose? So I actually was half expecting him to be the coach now. But Ian Russell is actually a former USL sounder.
00:48:34
Speaker
who is from the Seattle area, coached in the earthquakes organization when he was at Reno. And I think he was in Toronto as an assistant. And he felt like the kind of coach, he was very successful in Reno. He felt like the kind of hire that the quakes would make.
00:48:58
Speaker
Maybe that's not the case, but if they're going to take someone off the current staff, I got to think Freddie Juarez is the closest to being.
00:49:08
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, he has been a head coach. He has been a head coach. Exactly. Yeah. I guess Ian Russell was the interim coach in San Jose in 2014. Yeah. That's, I think that's, that sounds right. I know, um, whatever poor sap they've got running the team down there. Alex Cabelo. Alex Cabelo. Yeah. He was coaching the MLS next pro team for San Jose.
San Jose Earthquakes' Challenges
00:49:31
Speaker
Well, whoever, whoever's the GM or Chris Leach. Yeah. He was saying that they were definitely emphasizing MLS experience because the problem, as you know, is that the coach was not, did not have a MLS experience. That is definitely the problem that San Jose has and needs to solve.
00:49:52
Speaker
Yeah, I mean they have a lot of problems there. I was lamenting this the other day on on Twitter that San Jose has been around basically since the like the team I used to live in San Jose as you may or may not know.
00:50:09
Speaker
I grew up there. I was there for much of the quake's early days. It drives me a little crazy that they have sort of resigned themselves to being just a South Bay team. They don't market themselves
00:50:26
Speaker
north of Palo Alto, they don't market themselves to the east bay at all. They certainly don't try to get into San Francisco, like every now and then they would, they used to play some games in San Francisco, either an open cup as 700 fans probably know, but they would sometimes play some exhibition games there too. They haven't, they don't do that anymore. They don't market themselves outside. I don't understand how you could have a team in the bay area that doesn't
00:50:54
Speaker
Like that acts like it's a small market. It's crazy to me. Yeah. I mean, even if it were just San Jose at this point, like the rest of the Bay Area, it doesn't exist. That's not that's still a big market. Right. But when you when it is like the only game in town for top level professional soccer in that whole area, which seems like it should be a great soccer market. I mean, maybe the thought process is like, well, people from San Francisco or say or
00:51:21
Speaker
Oakland are not going to like debase themselves by rooting. Right. Kind of true. Right. But like, there's got to be like soccer desperate people, you know, that want an MLS team to root for. I don't know. Yeah. And I think like the barrier is so weird now that I don't think like I certainly don't know anything about it, what it's like now. But I feel like maybe that stigma is less of an issue than it used to be. I don't know.
00:51:49
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I think even if they were to just be like the South Bay's team, they still should not act so small. It's wild to me. They probably underbuilt their stadium.
00:52:05
Speaker
not just in size, but in terms of amenities. So they sort of like hamstrung themselves a little bit, but God, it's like, there's a lot of money in San Jose and in the Silicon Valley. And you would think you could get someone to come in and like make a real investment. But anyway, onto the CCL, this is from Jay Mantello, put the cart before the horse. How would a CCL triumph affect Garth's tenure here? Onto the next challenge.
00:52:34
Speaker
This is an interesting question because I hadn't actually had that thought before of, huh, maybe, I mean, but.
00:52:43
Speaker
I think that there are some people who are like, well, I've accomplished everything I can here. Now it's time to do the next thing. But there are also a lot of people who are like, why would I leave when I've had so much success and I continue having success? Like, so, I mean, it's always dependent on like, does Garth like living in the area? Does he like working with the team? Does he, or can he find challenges in the current job that are not just,
00:53:10
Speaker
winning everything. I'm sure that that has to be a factor when you're a competitive person that's had so much success. Maybe you do want to keep challenging yourself, but maybe you don't. Maybe you're happy. I think also there's something to be said about
00:53:38
Speaker
Like the challenges are that MLS is a constantly evolving league. And so it's like, you can't really ever afford to just sit back and enjoy it. Like I don't know Garth that well, but I feel like I have a pretty good read on him. And I get the sense that he really likes this job. Now, don't get me wrong. If US soccer comes and says like, hey, we want you to be the president of US soccer,
00:54:05
Speaker
That's a hard one to turn down, right? But aside from that, I don't think he's looking to decamp Seattle to go to Chicago, even though that's where he's from. I think he probably thinks this is a better deal. I'll just give you a real real example.
00:54:24
Speaker
You know, he's been spending, he got here in 2015. He's been here, what? That's like eight years. This is his eighth season, I think with the Saunders. Seventh season with Saunders, something like that. Anyway, and he's been working out at Starfire and at home. And like Starfire is nice, but it's nothing special. And in two years, they're going to be opening up this brand new facility at Long Acres. It's going to be one of the nicest facilities in all of MLS. Like, don't you think he kind of wants to like, enjoy that a little bit too?
00:54:54
Speaker
I have to imagine he has been very involved in that process.
Garth Lagerwey's Future Speculation
00:54:57
Speaker
I mean, to hear Adrian tell it like it was almost his idea. Yeah, it kind of works. And I think there are things about, I think that, and it's reasonable to feel this way, like sports fans, when they think about jobs in sports, they think about it in those terms of like, well, they've won, he's won the biggest trophy you can win. What's the next challenge? But it's like, there's so much to that job that's like,
00:55:24
Speaker
building out the infrastructure of the Academy and building out the infrastructure in the first team and overseeing how all that goes and building out the analytics staff and the scouting. There's so much work to do, and especially, like you said, in a league like MLS that is constantly changing and evolving that. I'm sure that there's stuff to keep him busy and to keep him motivated. I'm sure there's also a dollar amount somebody could offer him that
00:55:49
Speaker
would make him think twice, but right. No, right. Exactly. I think, but I, aside from someone backing up a Brinks truck, I, yeah, you know, I'll give you an example. Like he, he went to Duke. I guarantee he looks at someone like Mike Krzyzewski and says,
00:56:07
Speaker
you know, he had a lot of success, like there, you can, you can have, there's like different kinds of success that you can have at one place for a long time. Why wouldn't I want that for myself? Why, why wouldn't I want to be here for 25 years or whatever, and be just the most successful GM and MLS history. And, and like the sounders don't, you know, there are plenty of challenges. Like I, sometimes it might feel easy, at least when you look at it in hindsight, but
00:56:37
Speaker
Like they're not the highest spending team, but there's not, I don't think there's a lot of cultures that are better. I think he has, he feels like a, like his family, his kids have all grown up here now. I think he feels connected to the region and I think the lifestyle kind of suits him. I think the pace sort of suits him.
00:56:56
Speaker
And I think Seattle has, for the sounders to be working for the sounders, I think offers a lot of best of both worlds type of things where on game day, you get to feel like the biggest deal in the world and you can still go about your life and have a normal life. Yeah. Like I doubt people are harassing him at the supermarket. Right. You know, like that's, you know, like you look at like a DeAndre Yedlin was talking about how like,
00:57:23
Speaker
The last year he was in Istanbul, he basically didn't leave his apartment. Yeah. Yeah. That can't be fun. No. So the next one is from Chris Cho. Last year, the consensus was that the Sounders needed to win Sport of Shield for Brian to get Coach of the Year. Still the same? How does the CCL run affect his chances, assuming they win? Does success without Gonzo and Jimmy play into consideration? I don't know. That's an interesting question.
00:57:54
Speaker
I think the CCL is going to weigh heavily in his favor. Let's say like, I don't think the centers are going to win the supporters shield, but let's just say they cussed, they finished in their customary, uh, top four spot in the West top eight in the supporter shield. He wins CCL, uh,
00:58:14
Speaker
I think he's got to be in consideration for coach of the year, uh, barring some other coach having a outstanding season. Like, I don't know, right, right now, Steve Truandolo looks like he is putting together a pretty good run at LAFC. If they end up, you know, setting a points record, you know, maybe there's a recalculation, but like, if, if, if the center's finished with 60 ish points,
00:58:39
Speaker
They have a CCL trophy. Maybe they have an open cup trophy. I don't know. I think it's gonna be pretty tempting. I think he's gonna have a pretty good candidacy. I don't know that the Jimmy and Gonzo stuff will factor into it as much, but it could. It deserves to be. Yeah. I mean, I would say on that front that
00:58:59
Speaker
part of being a head coach is picking a good staff. And so there was something to be said for like, hey, he's lost two of his top assistants and, you know, no problem. He picked a good, but, you know, I do think that Sounders fans are used to
00:59:18
Speaker
There's a perception that the national media roots against the Sounders and doesn't want them to succeed and find some annoying. And there's probably some truth to some elements of that, but I think that there.
Impact of CCL Win on Schmetzer's Reputation
00:59:31
Speaker
I think people don't realize how big of a deal the sounders winning CCL would be to MLS media types. Yeah. The MLS blue checks, right? Like, um, that's going to be a big deal to those guys. I mean, these are guys that have been invested in this league for, uh, through some pretty lean times. And so to see that as like a combination of like, you know, an MLS team is like the,
00:59:57
Speaker
preeminent team in the region. That's a huge deal. And I think that those people are going to be inclined to want to recognize the coach that helped deliver that. Yeah, I do too. And I think
01:00:14
Speaker
It's tempting, I agree with you. I think that if anything, what the MLS blue check mark types get tired of is the sounders always being right there, but not necessarily being a dynasty in the way that we traditionally think of dynasties, where they just go on this kind of like amazing run. And it's like, they're always just good enough to contend.
01:00:39
Speaker
and they win their fair share. But winning CCL is like a whole other thing. I can tell you that the extra time guys are planning on coming out here for the final. There's going to be no shortage of hype. If they win this, there's going to be a lot of hype. For sure. I remember vividly, there was that whole MLS for RSL campaign. And I remember the next year, the Sounders made a pretty deep run.
01:01:09
Speaker
And so many of the people, not like media types, but just like regular and lost fans were like, oh, I'm not doing that for them.
01:01:17
Speaker
You know, I want them to get destroyed and like, Hey, they got what they were looking for. And so, and I think people kind of remember that, but it's like, man, the MLS media types are going to be all over it. They're going to be biggest sounder fans from day one, if they want it.
Attendance Expectations for CCL Final
01:01:31
Speaker
And that'll be, that'll be a nice little change. Yeah. So this is from Snoke Bradley. Uh, what are the odds we have a sellout for the second match of the final?
01:01:41
Speaker
Um, I mean, I don't think they're going to sell out the whole stadium most likely. Um, I don't know what kind of tickets they're selling. Like, I don't know what they're. I'm assuming they're just going to sell tickets until they don't sell anymore. Um, like they're, I think, yeah, they're, they're not going to limit. I don't think they're going to cut sales off until they.
01:02:01
Speaker
they're going to try to sell it out, but they're not going to offer $5 seats in order to sell it out. Yeah. I think a full stadium sellout would be something like they got for MLS Cup in 2019, $69,000-ish. That seems unlikely to me given
01:02:24
Speaker
The fact that CCL is what it is, right? Like the short turnaround and the fact that it's not an MLS cup. Um, but I think, I mean, I feel like they're probably going to sell 50 plus. Oh, I mean, I, like I'm looking at the, at the, uh, the ticket master map right now. And this morning I looked at it and I guess there were probably about 45,000 seats sold. I'd guess it's probably closer to 47,000. Like they'll hit 50,000. I think before.
01:02:55
Speaker
the game on Wednesday. And I think how far over that they go will be determined by the result. Like if they, if they get a tie or better. Yeah. Against Puma input in Mexico city. I think they'll top 60,000 and maybe even sell out. Yeah. It's pretty good blown out. Maybe 55,000.
01:03:21
Speaker
Yeah. I think, I mean, I don't want to say that it's impossible, especially because you're right. Like they'll have another leg where they can say, Hey, like we're probably going to win this trophy. They wouldn't say that obviously, but like people can infer like they're coming into the home leg with a pretty good advantage and they can do a pretty good media blitz on that. Try to get some tickets. Yeah. I mean, I think if you can put it in a situation where it's like a straight forward, they just need a straight forward result. Like you don't need to do math.
01:03:49
Speaker
Like, if the Sounders win, like, let's just say that if the Sounders win, they win. Like, that's, if you can pitch it that way, I think they will be in good shape. Yeah. God, attendance-wise. I mean, they're in already in good shape, I suppose. I think, too, it's like the timing of it is pretty good because I feel like, I really hope I'm not jinxing anything, but I feel like
01:04:16
Speaker
most people like feel comfortable going to get like something like a game now, people that are going to feel comfortable going to the next couple of years at least. Um, so you're not going to have that limiting factor. Like I think if they were playing a CCL final last year, like you would have struggled the top 40,000, but I think now it's like, there's all this pent up energy and demand for leaving the house and doing stuff around other people that that could help them out as well.
01:04:41
Speaker
So last question on this subject, and I'm glad you're getting asked because this is actually applicable to you. Would you feel safe attending the away match in Mexico City? Is my wife listening to this? I mean, you're in the same house. So yeah, it's possible. Yeah, I mean, I wouldn't. I feel safe. I actually feel safer based on what I'm seeing in the the videos. I think there's more people wearing masks.
01:05:11
Speaker
and probably being more careful at Mexican soccer games than there are in the United States. So I feel pretty safe at the game. I think I feel actually reasonably safe in Mexico. I have some anxiety about the flight, not gonna lie. But yeah, I feel safe. I don't feel like the, I assume this is a COVID question, not a violence question. I feel like the violence issue is not something
01:05:41
Speaker
super worried about. Like, I felt like that got portrayed as like, this is a problem in Mexican soccer and not, and I don't think that that's really the reality of it. Like you can see what you want about the response and I don't think the response was great.
01:05:58
Speaker
But like, it's just not a thing that like happens frequently. Yeah, and even on that scale like Pumas are traditionally like apparently one of the more family friendly teams they they're actually like on the campus of a university I think they're technically even owned by the university. They're traditionally sort of like an upper
01:06:17
Speaker
kind of like a more educated fans team. Like the fans literally have more education. And so it's like, I think they don't have the same kind of bodice that a lot of teams in Mexico sometimes have. So it's like, even on the scale of Mexico, I think Pumas is a relatively safe one and Mexico City is
01:06:42
Speaker
very, like relatively speaking, I think, especially if you're in the touristy areas, it feels like it's a pretty safe place to be. I'm definitely jealous. That's a game I'd love to be at, for sure.
Player Transfer Speculations
01:06:58
Speaker
Yeah, I felt like I had the opportunity and I needed to try to make it happen, so hopefully it works out. I'm jealous of the plane though.
01:07:06
Speaker
Yeah, right. I know this is from Edelfeld. Is Rusnak a number eight a season long answer or just a short term way to get him on the field?
01:07:15
Speaker
I think I'm on the record of saying I really like him in that position on this team and that role on this team. Maybe if you're building a team around him, that's not where you put him. But I think with the personnel the Sounders have and and what he brings to that role, I think it's a great fit. I think it's I think it's a long term answer for sure, assuming, you know, hopefully this doesn't happen. Like if Nico Ledero goes out for any extended period of time, then yeah, it probably makes sense to move him up the line. But as of now, I think he's he's
01:07:44
Speaker
looking really good in that role. Yeah, I think this is maybe his best role. Like, you know, we'll see as time progresses, but like, he looks great there. And if he doesn't need to score 10 goal, you know, if he doesn't need to be a 10 goal, 10 assist guy, that's fine.
01:08:06
Speaker
I'm I'm I feel like this is his position, at least with the Sounders, and it's not just to get him on the field. I think this is maybe with the way that the team is assembled. It might be his his best, his best spot. Yeah. And then O'Connell wants to know, is new who better served leaving in the summer or waiting until winter? Also, how will the Winter World Cup impact transfers this year? Well, I think the Winter World Cup will definitely
01:08:32
Speaker
Uh, cool, the transfer market in the summer, because there's a lot of players who are going to be reluctant to leave teens while they are competing for roster spots. And like, I think a player like new who is a prime example where he's probably going to get some decent offers, but he knows if he goes someplace.
01:08:54
Speaker
and there's a chance he won't get as much playing time. And his spot, I don't think in Cameroon is so secure that he could like not be playing all summer and still make the World Cup roster. So I think unless the Sounders get an amazing offer and Nuhu really wants them to take it, I kind of feel like he's going to be back
01:09:19
Speaker
And, and I think you can also sell new who on the idea that if you have a good world cup, you're going to get paid for sure. Like we can sell you now. We'll get what we get. But if you, if you ball out in, in the summer, you're going to have way, or in the world cup, you're going to have way more opportunities, way bigger opportunities.
01:09:41
Speaker
If you go now, you might be going to Belgium or like a mid-table team in France or something like that. Without guaranteed playing time. Yep. If you play well at the World Cup, you could be going to Marseille or something like that. Or even La Liga or something. Yeah, I think that's true. I do think, and this isn't related to the question, but it could be interesting for a team like the Sounders.
01:10:04
Speaker
where I think you are going to have players like Nu who are getting playing time, who feel confident that they'll be able to make a World Cup roster if they stand pat, but you're also going to have players who are maybe not getting playing time, who are desperate for moves somewhere that maybe they can get some more playing time, be it loan permanent or whatever. And I do wonder if teams like the Sounders can take advantage like that, where players that aren't necessarily attainable
01:10:29
Speaker
are going to come that way because they just want to move to somewhere they feel pretty comfortable they're going to get to play a game in and game out. I don't know. I think maybe MLS isn't going to benefit as much from that just because there is somewhat of a stigma in the league, although less than there used to be. But I do think it'll be interesting to watch. Yeah, I do too. All right. This is from D-height MLS power rankings. Why?
01:10:59
Speaker
Uh, I think specifically to make Twitter unusable for me is the answer to that. Uh, I hate, I hate it so much. And you and I are talking about this and this is, I think I'm increasingly of the opinion that this is like a me problem because it's not like I'm talking about anything important on Twitter. Like I don't remember the last time I said anything interesting on there. It's been years.
01:11:23
Speaker
Don't tell yourself, sure. But it shouldn't bother me that people want to spend all day on 400 reply threads, never untagging the MLS account, and having a pissing match about the power rankings. If that's what you want to do instead of working, it's fine. But I don't get it. I cannot
01:11:47
Speaker
understand carrying like because the sounders were obviously moved up as a troll like it was clear that that's why it happened like
01:11:58
Speaker
It was designed specifically to elicit this kind of reaction in such a way that I find it fascinating that it did. It's the most bizarre thing in the world. People get pissed, man. Union fans were losing their shit. LAFC fans were losing their shit. I've had for years just a column in my tweet deck for
01:12:20
Speaker
just keyword sounders. And I was trying to keep it usable today and just kept adding terms. And I was just like, well, I'm still seeing all the replies. I'm still seeing these guys like, well, who cares if you beat Puma as you lost it into Miami for the 57th time. And it's just like, so I had to delete the column. But I don't get it. But man, I guess if it makes your day a little brighter,
01:12:47
Speaker
That's fine. I shouldn't be judgmental, but it just seems like I would rather slam my hand in a car door repeatedly than ever engage in that. So you know what I love though about this? MLS moves the sounders up to the number one spot. ESPN knocks them down from 12, which was pretty low to begin with, to 20.
01:13:11
Speaker
The cylinders are ranked 20 in ESPN's power rankings. Equally funny. Yeah. I agree. I know like SB Nation used to do power rankings and I remember participating in them and I remember people I know for a fact because they would tell me had not watched a single MS game. Yeah. Voting in them.
01:13:38
Speaker
And like that to me is like an AI doing power rankings. So that's like almost interesting, but it's just like people that ostensibly do this for a living and watch every game coming up with that disparate of rankings should kind of key you in to like what the game is here,
MLS Power Rankings Debate
01:13:57
Speaker
right? Like it's not, it's not real. Like none of it's maybe start doing them 24 games into the season, you know?
01:14:07
Speaker
Yeah, but I mean, I obviously even halfway like half. Yeah. But it's like, that's the thing is that it's like, it's content. It's just content for the sake of content. There's no, like no one is out there to even defining what power rankings are. Like, what are we ranking? Are we ranking their MLS performance? Why don't we just look at the standings? Are we ranking who we think would beat each other on any given week?
01:14:34
Speaker
Um, mate, are we like, is that what this is? Cause we couldn't, we just say that if that's what we were doing, but there's no, if there's no, we don't even want to call it. It's just like, here's a list of teams. Right. In a way that we think we'll elicit some discussion. That's the thing is they're just so clearly.
01:14:54
Speaker
designed to elicit discussion and reaction and engagement. And I think that that's why it pisses me off. They just drives me crazy is that it's not real. It's not real analysis. We've dropped the facade of that so long ago. It's designed to do exactly what it's doing, but what it's doing isn't useful. Yeah, it's nothing. It's just like dudes with player avatars calling each other slurs. That's all it is.
01:15:22
Speaker
I don't know, whatever. I mean, that's like, I know that the MLS guys and everybody else who does power rankings, like that's how they pay their bills is getting clicks and engagement and all that stuff. I would like to know what, like how, like if, if this is actually like one of their best read features or not. Yeah, probably. Yeah. OAN has a ton of viewers too. So, you know, it's like,
01:15:48
Speaker
All right, here's a literal palate cleanser for our last question from Adam P 360 dark milk or white chocolate. Well, I think this is probably the worst answer. No, it's not the worst answer because I know what the worst answer is, but I'm a milk chocolate guy. I'm just not into dark chocolate.
01:16:07
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, I can respect that because white chocolate's not even chocolate. It's not. It's just sugar and milk. Um, I used to really dislike white chocolate. Um, it's, it's okay. It's too sweet for me generally, but like in some applications it's, it's not bad. Um, but it's easily the worst of the three. I respect the milk chocolate answer because I feel like
01:16:29
Speaker
This is one of those questions that people lie when they're answering it a lot of the time. Because they don't like, I do prefer dark chocolate, I think, generally, but I like, like, no chocolate's good, man, like. So it's like, base.
01:16:47
Speaker
Yeah, and like, I don't think anybody's talking about like a Hershey's bar, you know, and I think like when people think it's like, people think the question is like, Oh, would you rather have like, you know, what's that good chocolate place over there in Fremont or whatever? Oh,
01:17:05
Speaker
Why am I blanking on it? It's driving me crazy. Anyway, everybody, you know what I'm talking about. Yes. It's not like their best dark chocolate versus her Dios. Dios, right. Like they make really good milk chocolate, you know, and it hits the spot sometimes. Yeah. And sometimes that's what you want. I wish they would bring back the one that had like little pieces of French bread in it, but you know, can't can't always get what you want. But yeah, they're all good. They're all good. It's okay to, you know,
01:17:33
Speaker
It doesn't always have to be a competition, right? I guess we are doing chocolate power rankings right now. I just realized that, but that's okay. Yeah. Well, I'll tell you, I'll give a shout out to Tony's chocolate. That's my wife's jam. That's good. That's good stuff. Yeah. It's, I also find that it's like one of the best value chocolates that's out there. Yeah. Cause it's like, you can, you can find it for like, uh,
01:18:00
Speaker
four to five bucks a bar and like comparable chocolates oftentimes are like eight or nine bucks for a comparably sized bar. But it's good stuff. My wife is a big, big van and they have some good flavors and it seems like they source it well. So.
01:18:21
Speaker
You know what I've gotten into? My wife and I both have really gotten into the stuff that's pathetic is that smart sweet stuff. Never had that. It's like, they're like gummy candies. And they're, they use like, they're like super low sugar. And they, they're really good. And it's like, you know, a whole bag of them is like a hundred calories. Oh, they're great. They're great. You can get them at like PCC and stuff, but I think you can actually get them at Fred Meyer too.
01:18:45
Speaker
But yeah, it's, it's messed up how good it is and also how excited I am about it. Like that's, I think the true mark of being washed is like, Oh, I found this really good low sugar candy.
01:18:58
Speaker
You know, but it's it is good. It's worth a try. If only 2005 you could see you now. I know. Well, 2005 me was broke, so. Right. Yeah. Screw that guy. Yeah, that's right. All right. Well, thanks for that's our show. That's our show. Thank you to our sponsors, full pool wines and Watson's counter.
Closing Segment and New Introduction
01:19:26
Speaker
I am Jeremiah O'Shan, signing off for Aaron and Lick It. This is No Study Yetis. Remember, you'll never get alone.
Columbia River Tribute
01:19:37
Speaker
Green Douglas, where were the waters cut through? Down to wild mountains and tangents you flew. Canadian Northwest to the ocean so blue. It's roll on, Columbia roll on.
01:19:52
Speaker
Roll on, Columbia Roll on. Roll on, Columbia Roll on. Your power is turning our darkness to dawn. Roll on, Columbia Roll on. We love you. Let's win another one!