Transcript
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 we go.
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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.
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Speaker: Welcome back to another episode of Nos Adietes, part of the Sounder Heart Podcast Network, and now the SoccerWise Media Collective, sponsored by Full Pull Wines and our subscribers. We're recording on Tuesday, October 20th, 2026. I am your host, Jeremiah Shan.
Speaker: Today, I'm joined by Aaron Campo and our engineer, Lickett. Well, finally, riding some real momentum, the Sounders had a chance to make a move up the table against one of the worst teams in the league who were flying across the continent on short rest and already had a foot out the door as they prepared for the Canadian championship on Wednesday.
Speaker: Instead, the Sounders turned in one of their worst halves of the season, taking just one shot and falling behind 1-0. They followed that up with a much stronger second half but still had to settle for a single point.
Speaker: Aaron, I guess the question I will start with today is how freaked out should we be that the centers even had this kind of performance in them when we thought this was sort of like in the past?
Speaker: Yeah, I, it's a good question. Um, I hadn't actually thought of it in terms of freaking out. Uh, and, and now maybe I'm thinking that I should be freaking out. Uh, no it's It's not good. It's not good.
Speaker: um yeah i think that we're used to the Sounders putting in performances against bad teams where it's like, man, they really should have won that game. That's a bad team.
Speaker: And I think you could make a pretty compelling case that the Sounders are lucky they didn't lose this game. This was not a case of Montreal putting 10 men behind the ball and just catching the Sounders out on the break. I mean, they were the better team for, I think, most of the game, it's fair to say.
Speaker: When the Sounders turned it on, they were clearly much better. But by that point, they were already losing the game. And and Montreal could have luxury of putting Tim in behind and making it difficult to break it down.
Speaker: ah and And it's just, you know, it's a really it's it's a really bad performance. I think if this had been, let's say, Real Salt Lake coming in and saying, we are getting a point out of this game if it kills us and playing that way,
Speaker: Great. I don't think Montreal cares about getting a point at this point, right? Like what what good does it do? don't either. yeah No, they're going to, whatever lineup they put out there, I don't, they're not going to just sit back and bunker, right? That does them no good. They might as well go for it.
Speaker: They went for it in this game and they almost got out of their three points. And, and this is a historically bad team. The Sounders have been really, really shitty against historically bad teams this year. Montreal and ah sport in Kansas City both.
Speaker: And i mean, look, man, it's, i I don't think this is a team that's nearly as bad as they looked at their Nadir this season. But it's also just, it's so hard for me to say that they're as good as they've looked at their best points in the season, including that that you know recent unbeaten streak.
Speaker: And I think on their day, they're a really, really difficult team to beat. When everything is clicking, they can be really difficult to beat in and every phase of the game. But they just haven't had anywhere near enough consistency. Even when they were winning early in the season, they were overperforming a lot of their attacking metrics.
Speaker: They've just had... four or five complete performances all year long. and And I think it's just reasonable to say that this is just the middling team and they've, they've gone about it in very extreme ways. They haven't looked like a middling team all year long.
Speaker: They haven't gone about it the way like LAFC has, uh, right. I don't know the union have, right. Well, actually they have kind of gone about it the way they can have a Charlotte FC, right.
Speaker: Um, they've been very, it might be one of the elite teams in the league. Let's be real. Yeah. Yeah. And the Sounders have just been one extreme to the other all year. And, you know, they're going to they're going to make the playoffs. I have no doubt that they will make what however many games they're in interesting. i You know, I don't think this is a team that's ever going to lie down and and get thumped.
Speaker: But man, I just after the last couple of performances, it's really hard to see them making any kind of playoff run. And and they really had me convinced that they had a good shot at it.
Speaker: up until they know the unbeaten streak. Yeah. It's disappointing. It's, it is a little bit like, ah fool's gold or false dawn or whatever term you want to use. Like I was really during that wind streak, I was drinking the Kool-Aid. I thought, okay, if they play like this, why can't, why can't they win MLS cup?
Speaker: And, and I guess there's a truth to like, if they can't, but I think what we need to realize is that a, those were against bad teams. The revolution game though, really did change. Like it, that's the game that i went all in on. I got emotionally yeah where,
Speaker: all of a sudden the Sounders beat a good team. And then even the Dallas game, I thought ah they like that first half, they looked so good in the first half. And they even in losing, I thought, okay, look, they, they went toe to toe with one of the best teams in the Western conference. Why can't they, right?
Speaker: Why can't they be every bit as good as we want them to be? And then that first half against Montreal was so bad. And to your point, They were lucky that they were a, they were lucky that Montreal didn't decide to just close up shop and play for play for the, you know, just like deny the deny, deny. Right.
Speaker: But the Sounders also came really close to giving up another goal twice. Montreal hit the woodwork. One of which came in the 88th minute or whatever, after the the Sounders were, had been very much dominant at that point.
Speaker: And if it's not for Wiki Carmona banging a ball off the the post on an open shot, that's a 2-1 loss for the Sounders. And and that's that's bad. I mean, this is a team that just, I don't know. it's It's really frustrating. I really did not think that they had that in them in the first half. They just looked completely out of sorts.
Speaker: They had no passing... no passing rhythm. They weren't making runs. It was, it was just everything that you don't want to happen. And it happened at the worst possible time. And the best case scenario, I suppose, is that this serves as a sort of wake up call.
Speaker: Yeah. Yeah. And maybe maybe, maybe this is the game that just like, Oh, look, we can't cruise. We have to go all out, but really every point dropped,
Speaker: at from this point forward has to be, ah you know, considered a point, like a spot in the standings that they can't achieve. If they, you know, if they get old all, all 12 of the points that are left on the table, you know, it's possible that they, they managed may manage to climb all the way to fifth.
Speaker: I think fifth is probably the ceiling. And I don't, I don't know how much of a difference there is really between fifth. and and six and fifth and six really is, the is the big, the big difference. Like, I don't know how much difference there is now, if they can get up to fourth, which I don't think is really in the cards anymore, they would have to, i mean, they would have to make up six points in four games on San Jose. That doesn't seem super likely. Right.
Speaker: And, but I, I will say that I would much rather play San Jose right now than Dallas at a three game. series okay and if they get up to fifth i think you know they especially because san jose hasn't been great at home this year um and and so if they can get up to fifth i like their odds of getting out better but but i think ultimately your point is correct right like you're still having to go on the road two out of those three games you're still having to play a team that's just been better than you all season uh i think it's worth shooting for but ultimately you know who who cares all that much right
Speaker: Right. Yeah. To get to fourth, I still, the the reason I say fourth is still achievable or not fourth, but to get to fifth is seems achievable in part because they still have a game against Houston. They'd have to make up two more or yeah, two more points in addition to the Houston game.
Speaker: but that doesn't seem too, and that seems more within the realm of possibility. yeah I still like them for six. I think six is a very achievable ah position. All they really have to do is beat LAFC in the season finale, which is at home.
Speaker: And if they can't win that game, then honestly, like, what are we talking about? You know, and that's sort of like one of these things where it's like, if you can't beat Houston at home, if you can't beat, LAFC at home. Is there really any reason to think that they're going to go on some crazy run? I don't think there is.
Speaker: And then they have obviously road games against Vancouver and San Diego, but the San Diego game ends up being pretty big in in part because I think the Sounders need to figure out this is like, do they still have their mojo? Can they, can they get it back?
Speaker: And San Diego is basically playing for their playoff lives. If they don't win this game, I, I think you got to kind of stick a fork in them because yeah they are currently five points out of the playoffs with you know they would they would be at least five points out of the playoffs with three games left to play that's going to be tough to to overcome very much so yeah but i'm sure the sounders would love to help them get there uh you know yeah uh no i mean i i i do i am optimistic about this game it's not that i think that the sounders showed their true talent level against montreal
Speaker: It's that I think, and I don't want to be prescriptive about what the reason might be, I just think they're prone to putting in the occasional really, really bafflingly shitty performance. And they've been more prone to it this year than in other years. Every team in MLS is going to lay eggs over the course of the season, and that's just the way it goes.
Speaker: But the Sounders have just been so inconsistent with it. And i think they can... like easily beat San Diego on the road. San Diego has been bad. Yeah, they should. They should. They absolutely should.
Speaker: um But, you know, they also should have beaten Kansas City on the road. They should have beaten Montreal at home. Like there's all these games this year where you look and say, yep, they should have gotten points out of that game that they didn't get.
Speaker: They dropped points in that game. And if they get hot at the right time, sure. Like this, this team can certainly make a run. but that's the thing you want to be saying about your underdog baseball team going into the playoffs. That's full of like young cost controlled guys. It's not the thing you want to be saying about a Sounders team. That is certainly not in that sort of kind of team. This is a team that had really high expectations coming into the season.
Speaker: And, uh, you know, if they get hot and they do make a cup run, I'm going to enjoy every second of it, but it's just hard to feel super optimistic about it at this point. Yeah. And, you know, and I think that it's,
Speaker: You know, I do think that we have to be realistic that this is a roster that needs some retooling regardless of how they finish. i I don't know how much faith I have in them doing that. i i think that 2020, the sprint season, you know, you've heard Craig Weibel talk about this.
Speaker: The sprint season is going to be, from their mind, seems to be more about assessing what they have going into 26, 27, or going into 27, 28, than is about than it is about about anything to like, I don't, I don't think they're going into the sprint season with the idea that this is a title that this is a ah chance to win a ah cheap title or something like that.
Speaker: I think that they're going to be much more focused on figuring out like is Snyder Brunel starters, Stu Hawkins, a starter. ah How much time do we have left with Christian? Well, Don, we got to figure out the Jordan Morris situation.
Speaker: ah I mean, I will say that, in a weird way, i am maybe more encouraged by on Jovo, which is play the last two games than I was in the previous five games when he was finishing every decent chance that he got.
Speaker: Because I, I do like that. He's getting into these spots that he's, that the Sounders seem to figuring out how to use them. And, you know, I guess this is maybe some room for optimism from the Montreal game. If he just finishes, you know, he had two really good looks, I would say in this game.
Speaker: If he just finishes one of those, the Sounders probably end up winning the game. And so i I do feel like Jovolic is someone that they can really build around. And so that's a positive going coming out of this year.
Speaker: But there's just a lot of questions beyond that. And I think the biggest one was sort of highlighted in this game. And that's like, what do you do about the Jesus Ferreira, Albert Rusnek thing? Because best we can tell, Jordan Morris looks like he's most comfortable on the right.
Speaker: Albert Rusnak still looks like he's a pretty capable number 10, although he did not. he He may have had his worst game against Montreal, quite frustratingly. yeah And then Ferreira comes in and then totally changes the match, really, against Montreal. He had energy.
Speaker: you know it was his counter-pressing that forces the goal. he you know he He's involved in a couple other decent chances. And I think that is maybe going to be the biggest area, the sounder the biggest thing the center is going to have to figure out is who's your number 10? Is it, are you sticking with Albert Rusnak, who I'm inclined to to keep giving time because he's he's still putting up numbers.
Speaker: Right. But Jesus Ferreira undeniably brings a kind of energy to that position that they don't have other otherwise. Well, and I think too, if if you are looking at the sprint season as a time to assess what you've got going forward, do you really want to assess what you've got going forward in Albert Rusnak at the 10 or in Jesus Ferreira? Because if Azo's Ferreira gets to the none of the 10 and you say, we're going to see what you can do over with a consistent run at that position and he knocks it out of the park, that's pretty useful information.
Speaker: If he totally flounders and and isn't cut out to to play that position long term, that's even better information to have, right? ah What you have now is just this logjam of you've got four of your top six players, six, eight players.
Speaker: that are all kind of fighting for spots, right? Rusnak is kind of, you know, set at the 10. That's really the only place he can play effectively. I think, I know there are people that that like to see him at the eight, but.
Speaker: Let's be real about that. I'm not one of those people. I mean, I think, Yeah, I think the thing i keep seeing this and I, hey, i I appreciate everyone is trying to come up with solutions.
Speaker: And so I think that should be applauded that they're not just identifying problems or trying to come up with solutions. I am just very skeptical that Albert Rusnak is going to be a 90 minute upgrade.
Speaker: at the eight when he was passable playing as an eight 2022. He was okay in 2023 and that he hasn't played there at all effectively since then, other than in late games where the Sounders are just very clearly chasing goals.
Speaker: And so I suppose in a, like in a, an ideal situation and heck maybe, maybe Montreal would have been a good chance to try this to to play him at the eight. Cause they were, they should have assumed they were going lot of the ball.
Speaker: But you know the I think that the thing is that people underestimate, I think, is how much more exposed they are on the counter. yeah Because Rusnak just is not going to cover as much ground as a Snyder, Brunel, or a Hassani Dotson.
Speaker: And that like how do you cover for that? Right. And I think maybe, right, maybe there's a a world where you can play ah diamond four in midfield,
Speaker: with christian and albert as the eights and then a real true destroyer six and jesus at the tip of the diamond but you're not doing it with fullbacks the sounders have that's for sure like you you're not playing a diamond 442 with new and alex rolled on at fullback uh and you know they don't really like jordan morris is ah is a willing defender and he's he's pretty capable at it but do you really want him spending that much of his time tracking back and and playing sort of a ah less attacking role? I don't think that's, so it's just like, there's no, there's all these ways that you could conceivably get these guys all on the field together. And in all of those scenarios, you're asking at least one of the, of those players to play a position that doesn't maximize their potential.
Speaker: And that's the way it goes sometimes, right? Like it, so you're just sometimes you've got like ah a bit of a log jam but i think when you have something like the sprint season coming up it's a good time to say okay let's let's just make a difficult decision here and pick one or the other and reassess right like i think the expectations are probably going to be a little different maybe low isn't the right word but i think people are going to be willing to put up with a crappy sprint season more than they would a full season i think that's for sure especially if they
Speaker: Yeah. Like if they see major changes happen to the roster, I think that makes it even more likely that they're going to be willing to accept that. Yeah. I would say that the, I mean, the reality is that the sprint season, you sort of have a captive audience. Like you have people have already like your season ticket to holders have already paid for the most part for the, uh, for the full season. Now, of course they can claw back.
Speaker: We can go through all the machinations of that, but, uh, it, being cynical about it. 2027 sprint season is just a great opportunity to try stuff because you're probably going to get it. First of all, it's short.
Speaker: Like whatever pain you suffer is going to be relatively quick. Right. And then beyond that, it's, you know, what are you going to do Cancel your season tickets. And I guess some people will, but, uh, you know, as long as you sort of go into 27, 28 and be like, no, we're actually remaking the roster. We're going to spend some money. We're going to do all this kind of stuff.
Speaker: I mean, it's asyn as far as cynical plans go, it's not the worst one, ah i suppose. I think that... i guess I guess you could frame it as cynical, but but I think but because of the season tickets having to you know do the sprint season and the full season, I guess in that sense.
Speaker: But to me, it kind of makes sense to say, hey everybody, we know that you've been wanting some roster turnover for a long time, and this is the best time possible to rip the mandate off. Right. especially with the new CPA coming up. Like, and yeah and I'm not, I guess I am advocating for moving Albert Rusnak now that i I fully think it through. I guess that's exactly what I'm doing, but it's not ah Albert Rusnak problem as bad as he was against Montreal. He's been pretty fantastic this year for the most part. I think even when he wasn't at his best, he was getting a lot of stick for being the most visible player on a struggling team rather than performing really poorly.
Speaker: But he's much older than he is with Ferreira. He's on a contract now that I think would be pretty attracted to a lot of teams. So you might be able to get some value for him. He's also on a contract that allows you to justify not starting it.
Speaker: I mean, frankly. That's true. That is true. You know, especially in the new, in the twenty seven twenty eight season, I suppose there's going to be a lot of Albert Rusnak style contracts that aren't necessarily 34 game starters.
Speaker: And I do suppose that we're getting a little ahead of ourselves because we're not necessarily advocating for this change to happen now. Right. Like, like we think right now the best move is still to have,
Speaker: Albert Rusnak as the starter for the rest of the year. yeah And it's the real question is, what do you do with Jesus Ferreira? Cause you have Jordan Morris on the right. And so you could play Ferreira on the left. I don't know that we've seen him on the left almost at all this year.
Speaker: It's probably worth a shot. And I think maybe what the most frustrating thing about the Montreal game was, is that b Brian Schmetzer made a few changes. he most no ah He made six lineup changes, but the big ones that everyone's talking about are Ryan Saylor at center back,
Speaker: which was sort of forced, but not entirely. He could have used Tino Lopez there. Jackson Reagan was sick and Stu Hawkins picked up some sort of injury, ah both of whom should be available this week, or I should say Reagan should be available. We're not sure about Hawkins yet.
Speaker: but he opted to start Ryan sailor for just a third time this year. I don't think he's ever played with the AMR. They are, they clearly have a skill sets that do not overlap. Well, he he is not a strong, like you really want a strong possession center back next to YAMR. That is not Ryan sailor's game. It's certainly, at least it didn't look like it on, on, uh,
Speaker: sadturn Saturday, Saturday. And, and then the other big move that he made was starting Caden Clark at right mid. And that's a real head scratcher for me. First of all, it moves Jordan Morris over to the left where he's admitted that he's not quite as comfortable, but you also are benching Sebastian Gomez, who clearly Brian Schmetzer really likes you're benching Paul Areola and most baffingly, baffingly, baffingly,
Speaker: laughing Bafflingly. Bafflingly. Yeah, there we go. ah Jesus Ferreira, who you say it has 45 minutes in them. So why don't you, if you're trying to figure this out, it would have made a lot more sense experimental wise to throw Jesus out on the left wing, play Jordan on the right, and then see how it goes. And if it's a disaster, it's no worse than it actually was. Because I think Caden Clark and his best case, Caden Clark,
Speaker: is a really nice piece to bring off the bench. i don't see why you would feel like you have to start him, especially, especially when you have basically your entire winger contingent available to pick from.
Speaker: It's a very odd decision that I don't understand. Yeah, I mean, maybe the idea is that he's played really well and he's had a really good attitude and they wanted to reward him with a start, but then you end up Yankee him at halftime because he was so bad. i mean, right.
Speaker: It's it's it's a tough. I get that it's tough and that managing egos is tough and all of that. But like Caden Clark can't afford to have an ego where he's going to get hurt feelings by not being started and starting games yet. Right.
Speaker: Oh, totally. And so if you're worried about that, that's already a problem. and And I'm not saying that that's the case, right? I'm just saying, I think it's more like Brian wanted to reward him for doing what he'd asked him do and stuff like that. But this is, you're not sitting on 60 points coasting into the playoffs. This isn't the time to be doing stuff like that. You got to put out the lineup that gets you the chance to get the most points from the rest of the season.
Speaker: That has to be your your first consideration. You obviously can't put out your strongest lineup in every game. and And this was their third game in a week. I understand all that. There's got to be some rotation. But I'm with you. I would much rather say, Jesus, go give us 45 minutes in the first half. We'll pull you off at halftime. we want to see how it looks on the left, right? Because we we have the opportunity to to try some different stuff in this game because we should beat this shitty team.
Speaker: and And they just set themselves up for failure and in a really frustrating way. And I don't want to excuse the players either, because the reality is they had they had three of their four ideal starters at in defense.
Speaker: They had who I think we thought at least were their top two defensive mids. And then they had three of their best four attacking players all starting. So there were plenty of there was plenty of skill. It's not like they played.
Speaker: punted the the game at all. Like this is not that like this is a group who should have been more than capable of getting three points easily from Montreal impact team that came into this game having allowed 39 goals on the road, ah like far and away the most road goals And the Sounders made them look like a decent team. They made Alexis Sanchez look like a, like a dream signing almost like Alexis Sanchez had the assist, had a, had a secondary assist on the goal and he should have had two more assists in this game. He said, Fabian, uh,
Speaker: Herbers for seemed like a, an easy goal and that he he hit wide. And then he set up, he got put on his butt. And then he, from his butt, he sends a great cross to Carmona that he ends up putting off the post.
Speaker: It was so like lot of things defensively went wrong. A lot of things offensively went wrong, but maybe, you know, we had this debate in our discord about what's more frustrating.
Speaker: And I think there's room to be frustrated by both. Like you, we can talk about the breakdowns defensively because there were but plenty of some, But to my point that I was, I came into this thing making is there was plenty of talent on the field to create a lot more offense than they did. And I don't have a good, like I can explain what happened. They missed a bunch of passes. They were sort of lazy in their runs, but I i can't really tell you why any of that happened because it doesn't to me make sense.
Speaker: Right. There there's no, there's no like, there's no real tactical complaint you can make aside from some of the lineup choices. Right. they they weren't playing like a august lineup right like this no this wasn't ah the strongest lineup obviously but but it wasn't oh like they've played a lot weaker lineups let's it that way absolutely and gotten results with with weaker lineups absolutely uh it's yeah it was just it was just a shitty performance and and you're right like it's always tempting to talk about the lineups and the players and the the code the coach the coach's decisions but this was players that are better than the performance they put in putting in a bad performance. It's it's ultimately that simple.
Speaker: Caden Clark could have still put in a rough first half performance. Ryan Saylor could have still put in poor performance at center back. They could have still had the breakdown that allowed Montreal to score a goal.
Speaker: And they still should have won Yeah, they still should have won the game like by three goals. like It's just there's no getting away from that. and And I do think you can be critical of the defense in the sense that it's easier to create chances when you're not...
Speaker: falling apart defensively and allowing the opposition to to have good chances. But the attack, I mean, this is just the the attacking players they had on the field were good.
Speaker: We've seen them be good in recent times, especially in the second half. Like they were better in the second half. They put in a not embarrassing performance in the second half. They still should have run away with it in the second half.
Speaker: And, yeah and they just weren't, they just weren't executing when it mattered. and maybe you can chalk it up to fatigue. Maybe you can chalk it up to feeling the pressure. i don't know, but it's just not good enough from, you know, from a team that, that should just be better than that. Like, this is just not a team that should ever be dropping points at home to Montreal and you can be annoyed about it and get over it in a few days in a season where otherwise things are going well, but they've, they've just had too many of these games this year.
Speaker: Too many of these games this year. And, ah And I don't know. i don't know what to, it's like on one hand, you look at the roster and you go, there's plenty of talent here.
Speaker: Yeah. on On the other, you go, man, I wish this team would spend more money on bringing in talent. And on the other, and and it's like, like I'm stuck between both. Like that both things can be true. I think that there is a, a good core here.
Speaker: And I think we we were constantly reminded of how important Christian Roldan is. Christian Roldan played most of the second half as a, he played the whole second half as a center back.
Speaker: Yeah. Is that right? No. A lot of it though. Yeah.
Speaker: ah so I don't think that's the answer. i don't think they they want to, I have a feeling that was mainly about matching up with Sanchez, who was playing kind of as a low nine.
Speaker: And so they felt like they didn't have to worry about the size component as much, but I forgot to even mention that Montreal was missing Prince of Wusu, who has something like two thirds of their goal as accounted for something like two thirds of their goals.
Speaker: Like this could have been even worse, I suppose. Alexis Sanchez, by the way, born when Ronald Reagan was president. Just just going to throw that out there. Just really, that's really good disappointing. I do sometimes wonder with this team and I'm going apologize in advance for the tortured metaphor. But, you know, I really like Harissa, right?
Speaker: Great ingredient. m And i really like butterscotch. m Grew up eating butterscotch. butterscotch pudding great i'm not putting harissa on my my butterscotch pudding you know what i mean and so i wonder i do i do wonder sometimes right it's like yes this team has a lot of talented players but does it work holistically right like is there just something broken about and i don't want to get into ah ah another big overarching roster construction discussion necessarily
Speaker: But I do wonder if the issue is just saying like, yeah, we have some good players and it's not working out with them here. And so let's get what value we can for a couple of these good players and see if we can get equally good players who are a better fit for what we're trying to do.
Speaker: And I think you've got to look at your you're players that you want to build the next version of this team around. Daniela, you have which Jesus Ferreira, Jackson Reagan,
Speaker: and say, what other what are the kinds of players we need around these guys for them to be most successful? And say, maybe that's not Alberto Snack. Maybe that's not Jordan Morris, even. but Maybe that's not Hassani Dotson.
Speaker: Mm-hmm. It's probably Christian as long as he's capable of playing. Right. I think he's going to fit into any good team, but maybe we need more attacking fullbacks. And and i'm that's plural fullbacks, not just not just New Who, who, you know, has has been somebody I've criticized a lot.
Speaker: I'm not criticized. I mean, he's been he's been good, I think, on the back half of the season. Alex has been good since he's been healthy, but maybe they're not the right guys for where this team wants to go. And I think those are really tough questions that they have to be asking themselves in the offseason.
Speaker: Yeah, you'd you'd hope that they are asking them. I guess this is maybe a good transition to talk about. One of the players that they did move on recently from, Reed Baker Whiting, just got named to the 2222. I he came in at number 17.
Speaker: twenty two hundred twenty two i think he came in at number seventeen which, Hey, I, I think is awesome. I'm super stoked for him. think that, you this is a, a real Seattle kid went to Hamilton international, uh, middle school, which I, uh, which is where my, I'm doxing my kid, I suppose. But, uh, you know, uh, it's big school.
Speaker: And, and ah you know it's i So I think it's it's it is really cool that Reid found a a place that he is valued, that he is put in a a position to succeed, and who happens to be ah running away with a supporter shield.
Speaker: And so it's you know he's got something like two or three goals and five assists, I believe, in all competitions. He's having a ah really good year. And I think as Sounders fans, we should all just be sort of happy for him.
Speaker: I would have loved to have have that happen here. But I think we also have to face the reality that the coaching staff had decided that knew who was their starter and that as long as knew who was here, he was going to be the starter. And, and so I don't know what it would have taken for Reed to displace him as the starter, but ah I don't think it was going happen this year.
Speaker: And so given that, I think we just have to be sort of happy for Reed. And I think it's also a sign of a healthy Academy that, they are producing players who are doing well for other teams. ah By the way, Obed Vargas also got his Champions League debut, which I also think was his first team debut this year.
Speaker: Yeah, I don't think he played for Atletico until that game. So just as a fun little factoid, I am almost positive he is the first former sounder to play.
Speaker: You have not been looking at your Blue Sky timeline, brother. Oh, no. who who did Freddie Montero was the first. Oh, Freddie Montero. Henry Wingo played. No, Henry Wingo didn't play.
Speaker: He played in qualifying. but not the full Champions League. I still think it counts. Samuel Adenaroah notably played against Liverpool like a week ago. Oh, good point. ah there was There was one other. ah Yedlin played one game for Galatasaray. Again, a qualifying game, but i I think it still counts. But anyway, yeah. Freddie was the first.
Speaker: uh deandre yet then i looked yetlin up for sure he had one but it was qualifying one game with gal tusser yeah i'm not counting qualifying come on i think it still counts but i i but i will take the l on a denarin and i'm gonna take the l on uh who's the other one montera freddie montera was the first yeah okay freddie ah yeah that's my bad uh it's been a lot i think i did a dinner on not not as long but yeah i should have known one yeah but still impressive certainly the best champions league team for a former founder to play for.
Speaker: Yeah. ah Yeah. Well, I, I, well, I'm glad that I brought it up because you got a dunk on me on. Well, no, real life I was hoping you had seen it and I was trying to telepathically say, cause I didn't, I didn't want to have to do that to you yeah and on air, but you know, that's how it goes.
Speaker: Yeah, that's okay. Yeah. No, that's good. I appreciate it. Actually, yeah works I'm glad to that you did this. ah Freddy! I can't believe I missed Freddy. I am like really annoyed about the Freddy one.
Speaker: The Denran one, is I should have known better because I wrote about it. I wrote about Denran playing a champion. Anyway, yeah to your point though, I do think that it's a positive thing that these Swarmer Sounders are getting these accolades and getting these opportunities and I think that when you look at the list of young players that the Sounders have moved on from because Brian didn't give them playing time.
Speaker: Oh, Ike room. Ike room played in Champions League after he was here. Well, he played on the same team, the same old teams that. Oh, so that doesn't count. So qualifying. Yeah. So you're yeah you're not counting. this That's fair enough. I was definitely I was explicitly in my mind, not counting those. um But yeah, I think Brian Schmetzer's hit rate on.
Speaker: The younger players he hasn't given a lot of playing time to has been pretty good. I think it's fair to say. um Josh Atencio has played a lot in Colorado, but statistically, he's been one of the worst defensive midfielders in the last this year.
Speaker: um And Georgie Manungu has not been no really but that's are impressive. i think the Manungu move was that that's looking like maybe the best move they made. Yeah, I think so. I think so.
Speaker: The question, though, that i the thing that frustrated me about Rebaker Whiting specifically. Is that every explanation that I hear for why Brian Schmetzer so strongly preferred New Who over him, I think.
Speaker: ah Deserves a follow up question, right? It's like, well, the system and Schmetzer plays requires the left back to play like this. Well, OK, when was the last time that that system brought us a lot of consistent so success over a season because we are going to finish very close to the bottom of playoff spots this year.
Speaker: Fifth in the West last year, fourth in the West year before that. The year before that, they finished pretty high in the West, but flamed out in the playoffs.
Speaker: Now, when they looked at their best last year, when they looked like they could beat anybody in the league, they were very notably not playing that same system. And it's a system that Rebaker Whiting, I think, would have fitted really well in. mean, he did play well yeah when he, I mean, I think he, you know, famously, he looked great to get that. Let it go. Madrid won a pretty decent team yeah in club world cup.
Speaker: Absolutely. Reed was not the most consistent player with the Sounders. And I think what was really frustrating is that he never had a run of offensive form the way that he has this year where he's, you know, we've put up some decent numbers and someone in the discord actually asked us at one point, if he had been able to put up those types of numbers for the Sounders, would he have,
Speaker: gotten more playing time. And i felt like that's a little chicken and egg. Like he needed more playing time later to get to, but he, played I mean, he, he logged a lot of minutes for the Sounders never consistently, but he, you know, he, he played five seasons with the Sounders and he, yeah, he failed to get to without, i think he you never got to a thousand first team minutes, but he also never did a lot with the time that he had in terms of stats. Now sure you can see, I was a big believer in his abilities and his talents.
Speaker: But ah I don't know. I think it helped, obviously, that he's got a coach that just believes in him and and is using him in a way that is setting up his skill set.
Speaker: Yeah, i I do think that sometimes you just need ah a change of scenery, right? like i And I think that's ultimately what happens here. I think that moving to a moving from a team where you feel like you've been blocked and you've been frustrated by that and it's been difficult to get minutes and you know that you're not going to be able to win the starting job anytime soon,
Speaker: to a team where they're excited to have you and want you to be a big part of the plans right away. That's got to give you a lot of confidence, right? That's got to be ah a totally different world. And he's being put into a system that's just frankly a better fit, I think, for his skill set than the one he was going to play in here. totally.
Speaker: But... but I do just always think it's worth asking the question when you, when you move a player and they have more success elsewhere, that's not necessarily an indictment of your process. It doesn't mean you made a bad deal.
Speaker: It doesn't even mean the coach was wrong for not giving the player minutes in the context of of the the previous situation. But I think it's worth asking yourself the question of, could he have done that here?
Speaker: Could we have fostered the kind of environment for that player to succeed in the same way here? would it be worth the trade-offs we would have had to make? Right. Like you just always have to be asking yourself questions and trying to learn from these experiences. Cause I think Reed Baker Whiting is going to have a really, really good career and I'm happy for him. Like that's not going to hurt me to see, but I would have preferred he could have had it here.
Speaker: You know, there's, yeah, that have been, that would have been real nice. Yeah, I mean, I think you always want to have these guys do it here first. yeah And, you know, and I think Leiva's another player who I'm very much at peace with having left. Like, I liked his game, but he was another player who had been around for for a long time.
Speaker: I mean, he had he had he had been here. And I think also that he is getting... He's in a situation where he's getting time that he wasn't going to get. And, and frankly, he's not exactly lighting it up in, in Mexico. Like if you only see the highlights, you might see the the shots that almost go in But if you just look at the numbers,
Speaker: he doesn't have he He doesn't have a ah single goal contribution this year. he had a couple assists last year. he's a He's a nice player, but I think it's fair to say that the Sounders just, he didn't fit with the way that the Sounders wanted to play. As much as I liked what he did with the Sounders last year,
Speaker: And I'm at peace with that one. i do think that Reed though is, is like, as much as I, i am happy to see him succeed. I think you're right. It's always going to, it's probably always going to feel like the one who got away, like yeah we should have been able to figure out a way to use him more effectively.
Speaker: Right. And, and I'm, I will acknowledge my bias in the, in this particular situation, right? I just prefer that style of fullback much more than the style of fullback that, that sounders have there right now.
Speaker: Yeah, but it but it I mean, part of the reason I prefer it is because I think it's more conducive to success to have that kind of pullback in the modern game. So, you know, it's it's it's a tough one to see. But i'm I'm also it's tougher to see these guys that I really hoped would make it and be a big part of the Sounders future, go somewhere else and flame out like that's that's much harder than to see them thrive and and succeed.
Speaker: Absolutely. Well, I think we're going to take a break. We're going to do the ah soccer wise media collective ah bit that comes in and then we'll come back and and finish up the show.
Speaker: You're listening to No Sadie at This on the Sound at Heart podcast network.
Speaker: Hey everyone, David Goss here from SoccerWise and I am coming to you ahead of a massive week as we are going to be live on the ground in Columbus for the US Open Cup Final. But first, we have our MLS Minute presented by Continental, where we are so excited to be working with some of the best local mls coverage in the league as part of our new collective so when you're done listening here to your show about your team come on over and listen to myself and tom break down everything and you can listen to myself and matt doyle live from columbus reacting to the u.s open cup final the two finalists had a dramatic weekend heading into the big match st louis with a 21 game unbeaten streak loss for the first time in any competition since May 3rd on the road against Minnesota. They rotated their team a little bit, but were up 2-0 in 10 minutes. Ended up losing three two to save Minnesota's season. On the flip side, Columbus also rotated. They did so, though, in a derby match. hell is real against fc cincinnati and yet they got a dramatic 2-0 win led by young tahaha brun in midfield so columbus comes into the final riding high and we'll talk about the playoff scene in a moment for anyone who doesn't know the us open cup started in 1914 at the time of covet it was the second oldest continuous running cup
Speaker: in the world behind the FA Cup. And there is nothing better than a win or go home final. And I am so excited for Wednesday night. But thanks to Columbus's win in the Hell is Real Derby, we have chaos in the Eastern Conference playoff race.
Speaker: 8 to 13 is separated by three points toronto fc went on the road they got a massive victory one zero at red bulls to pull them into a points tie with the new york red bulls they are also in a tie with fc cincinnati nyc fc drew at home against la fc so they sit one point behind in DC United and Cincy.
Speaker: They play a makeup game on Wednesday that could see DC United move into a four way tie on 36 points between eight and eleventh place in the West.
Speaker: The race with Colorado and the LA Galaxy, they did what they had to do. They held off San Diego and Portland with withdraws both to keep them at orange length. But ah RSL has stuck within one result of the final playoff spot in the web.
Speaker: Speaking of streaks, Philadelphia's win streak has come to an end, but they kept their 14 match now unbeaten streak with a 2-2 draw at home against Charlotte. And we had some insane goals this weekend. Martino Heda for Orlando City in a 4-1 win scored not only maybe the goal of the year, it might be the greatest goal in MLS history, and it may end up being the world Puskas winner for goal of the year. There also was an unbelievable winner for Diaby for Vancouver in Austin to help Vancouver stretch their lead at the top of the Western Conference. And of course, Leo Messi making history. His 15th assist of the season in their win in Atlanta. It's his third straight year in MLS with 15 or more assists, which is the most...
Speaker: ever. San Jose clinched their spot in the playoffs in a draw with Nashville, who will probably clinch the shield next week now against Montreal on the road. Chicago clinched their spot in a loss at the New England Revolution, where the Rebs were really good, led by Peyton Miller, and Houston clinched their spot in a wild Copa Tejas draw against their rival's doubts. Two penalty kicks were called in stoppage type. One for either team. They both scored.
Speaker: It led to a 2-2 draw. And then Sammy Sarver returned a beer, you could say, to the crowd that was thrown onto the field as Dallas scored the equalizer on the road. He was sent off for the red card just eight minutes after coming onto the field.
Speaker: We will have all your MLS, NWSL, U.S. s national team coverage for you on the SoccerWise channels all week. This has been your MLS Minute, part of our SoccerWise media collective, sponsored by Continental Tire. We are proud to work with the best local soccer media partners across the country.
Speaker: Thank you for listening to the SoundRate Heart Podcast Network, which recently added Monday Soundcheck to our roster of shows. Soundcheck airs live on Mondays at 1pm. You can watch it on our YouTube channel or listen to it at your convenience, however you consume podcasts. It joins a roster that already includes Nos Adietes, which airs on Wednesdays and Fridays, and the Cooler Guild, who cover the Seattle rain. If you like what you hear, please consider becoming a member of SoundRate Heart.
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Speaker: oh Can you hear me okay, ah Aaron? I can. i think... Okay. Yeah, think I can.
Speaker: Okay. We have different sites muted, so this will be interesting. We're trying some new stuff tonight, so a yeah should be fine yeah I'm sure fine ah I'm sure it will be fine all right well uh So Sounders have a big game coming up on Saturday against San Diego FC. This is a team who took the league by storm last year. I think a lot of folks were joking around to have a Mickey, Mikey Varis sort of decoded MLS in his first season, albeit not from Germany, but from ah the youth ranks of ah American soccer.
Speaker: This year has not gone nearly as well. They are currently mired in 12th place. They're on an eight game winless run. They have failed to win any of their last three home games.
Speaker: They have a lot of talent. Anders Dreyer. Anders Dreyer is, uh, you know, in a different world where messy, isn't ripping up the league. He would be, you know, he is one of the top offensive players. You can kind of just go through their roster and you can find lots of really interesting talent, but they've just not been able to put it together to this year, you know ah but they've, they've stuck to their guns. They still play this ah pressing and possession based game.
Speaker: But this is a game that like, and it's a lot of ways, I think this is like a good test for the Sounders. Like if they, if they can't beat a down on their luck, San Diego, there's, there's, you know, again, these are looking for reasons to, to not believe this would be one of them, but if they can get a win here, that's a, that's a, a good feather in their cap.
Speaker: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, it's, It's not we're kind of past the like must win phase of the season. I think I think the Sounders are really going to have to fall off a cliff to miss the playoffs.
Speaker: ah Which, hey, you know what? It it could still happen, but they they do have six points on um RSL. ah i I feel pretty confident they're going to be able to to get into the playoffs without having to play in that playing game.
Speaker: Yeah. um So they could get a point here and it would be OK. But I think yeah that point I think point. works i think to get things back on the right track you have to get three points here i think to really feel like okay yes we had a little blip but we are that team that went on that unbeaten run ah we we just you know we need to play like it uh i think that goes a long way and i don't think the san diego team is very good and it's a team the sounders should be able to beat they do score a pretty decent clip um i think they are
Speaker: fourth in in the Western Conference and in goals scored this year, but they also give up a ton of goals. Now, unfortunately, that isn't necessarily the ratio the Sounders have had a ton of success with this year, right? Because they just don't score a lot of goals themselves.
Speaker: And they don't have an elite enough defense that good attacking teams can't score against them at all. So, you know, in that sense, maybe things don't favor them. But San Diego has been pretty mediocre at home.
Speaker: Sounders have been better on the road as of late. Still haven't been a great road team, but have been better on the road as of late. So, you know, it's just if you want people to have any hope that you're going to make any kind of run, that you're capable of making any kind of run, that they should really get invested in the playoffs.
Speaker: I think you've got to go in and make a statement win and sort of erase some of the bad feelings from the Montreal game. Yeah, I think that's really what, you know, it's it's more less about the numbers and more about the vibes.
Speaker: Like, you know, we the Sounders still have only won four games since the World Cup break. Obviously, the they've got a whole bunch of ties since then. So the the record is not looking totally awful.
Speaker: But... they they need to get They just need to show that they can win games. like They need to show that they can win games consistently. That they can they can go on the road and and get a win when they need it.
Speaker: And if this is if this is a team that's for real, they should that's what they should that's what they should be doing. yeah you know that's I think that's what it kind of comes down to is if they want us to believe that they're capable, then they've got to show us they're capable. Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah. And it it does get a little.
Speaker: It's their professional athletes and professional coaches. And so I understand that it's kind of what they have to say, but it does get a little tired of talk about how much belief that they have in each other and how much, you know, how they really believe that they can. It's like, man, just go do it.
Speaker: You know, just go yeah and just go win the games. Right. Like I don't. It's nice that they're all friends and they're a really tight group. But if you're not winning games, I don't really care about that.
Speaker: You could all hate each other's guts if you're winning trophies. I don't care. You could be the 2001 San Francisco Giants. Yeah. As long as you're winning trophies. Yeah.
Speaker: And yeah, that's that's just that's what I want to see. You know, it's nice that they haven't quit on each other or on Brian Schmetzer, and it's nice that they believe in themselves. It's great. But until you actually start consistently putting points on the board, it's, it's you know, so what?
Speaker: Right. Yeah, I totally agree. ah i I guess so the question going into this one is what what lineup do you want to see? like is this Should they try Jesus at left mid? should they What changes do you think you want to, like realistically, should we hope to see from Saturday? think it's worth a shot. I mean, I like Sabre Gomez a lot and i I'd like him to to get playing time, but he's not as good of a player as Jesus Ferreira. And so it would, it would be nice to know, like to actually see for an extended period of time in 2026, can Jesus play on the left?
Speaker: I think he can, like, I think that he, he has the ability to be creative out there. Like you can play as kind of a true winger. He can play as sort of the pocket 10, the way he's playing now on the right, but he can also cut in and be a striker.
Speaker: You know, he's, he's had a ton of success as a striker in this league. There's no reason he can't play as an inverted winger out there and and threaten goal. So I think it's worth taking a look at.
Speaker: It would not be the first time Brian Schmetzer has had a really good left winger on the team and didn't know about it. So, you know, like maybe maybe lightning can strike twice, right? Like right right at the right time. um And i just... We talked earlier about how this isn't really necessarily the time to experiment. Like you want to get as many points as you can, but I think this is one experiment that that's probably worth giving. up I mean, they kind of need to figure it out, right? Like I think they do it's, it's a different kind of experiment when you are trying to figure out if you can actually play a functional lineup with your best for attacking players on the field together. Yeah. Then if you're just trying to see like, can Kane Clark give us something?
Speaker: ah I guess the other, so the other question I think starting lineup wise who do you, do you want to see Brunel or Dotson in this one? Uh, Dotson had a rough outing against Montreal. i think that's fair to say, but he'd been really good for a while. Um, he, he was starting to look comfortable and he had the man of the match performance against new England.
Speaker: Yeah. The team was so bad against Montreal that I'm not going to say, Hassani Dotson and Hassani Dotson alone needs to pay the consequences for. Yeah. I think I just think that that's that's the best pairing they have. And I like Snyder's energy off the bench. I think he's been pretty effective when he's come in.
Speaker: often I really thought he was going to get a goal. I'll be honest. I really I saw a goal coming from him against Montreal, but yeah maybe I'll yeah you just delayed. And I think him getting some runs in like that, like coming in off the bench and and impacting the game, I think is going to be good for his confidence because we know he can be a good player.
Speaker: He just hasn't been a consistently good starter since the World Cup break. Right. So I would I would stick with Hassani, but I'd be happy to have a quick hook if if I felt like it was necessary.
Speaker: And then i the other big one, I think, I think we're going see Kalani at right back. And to me, this does not look like Alex is going to be ready to to start ah center back.
Speaker: hope reagan is my hope is reagan is fit enough to play he he apparently sounded like he had the flu is if i had to guess like it sounded like he was losing he lost some weight which is usually code for he was throwing up right uh something else uh and ah But ah it sounds like he was by practicing in full today. I would hope that he's back there.
Speaker: And so if we get new who Reagan, Yamar Kalani, that seems fine. Dotson rolled on. And then, yeah, i mean, I think we still want to see rust snack be the starter at 10. It just seems like it's the best option.
Speaker: Maybe this is just me trying to make myself feel better, but do you think it's possible that other guys were sick and just weren't so sick that they couldn't play? And that's why they look so bad against Montreal.
Speaker: Why not? You know, no one said that, but why not? Why not? ah I I'm willing to buy that as a possible explanation and it would feel better. I certainly would feel a lot better if they found out that like half the starting lineup was actually kind of It really would explain a lot.
Speaker: it all It would like if, if Albert Rusnak had the flu, that would make me feel much better things. Yeah. Fair enough. He, I mean, he had some pretty rough performances earlier this season when he still had the hip issue and none were as bad as that. yeah,
Speaker: I that's, that's totally fair. Yeah. So, all right. Well, i think that's, that's about what we have today. ah we we tried something new. We're going to put this out on YouTube as a, as a video.
Speaker: We don't have a lot of added content, but you can look at our beautiful faces, I suppose. ah If you, if you feel like doing that, but we're going to like, we've been trying to do create more, ah more, more video content.
Speaker: Cause that's apparently what people like. Yeah, it seems that way. And I don't know. Give us your feedback. I never why, but. i don't know why. It's a, will say YouTube a very, very powerful discovery tool. So at the very least people are finding it that might not know the way. Like, I don't know if the the video part of it is maybe not that important, but we're.
Speaker: Yeah. maybe talking to the wrong audience, but all right, well, let's get out of here. ah Thank you to our sponsor full pool wines. That's been awesome working with them all this time. Thank you to our subscribers. And just a reminder, if you like what we do on sound or heart, please consider becoming a subscriber.
Speaker: it's It really is what keeps the lights on. We are running a pretty ah robust operation here at that this point, and it is not cheap to maintain. So ah please do subscribe. Of course, like us on YouTube, subscribe on YouTube.
Speaker: maybe rate us on your favorite podcast app. That's always really appreciated. It helps with discovery and all that kind of stuff. But with all that said, let's get out of here. I'm Jeremiah O'Shan signing off for Aaron Campo and our producer Lickett. This is no Saudi at this part of the sound or heart podcast network. And remember you'll never get alone.
Speaker: Let's go, and Sounders.
