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Kickoff: Are the Seattle Sounders FINALLY turning it around?
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The Seattle Sounders' seven-match losing streak is mercifully over after their 3-0 win over Querétaro, so it’s time for another round of Cope or Hope where we'll assess what this result means for Seattle’s 2026 chances. We unpack whether Alex Roldán can be a true double-pivot solution, whether Albert Rusnák’s goal signals a return to form, and if Danny Musovski’s breakthrough proves he can rediscover last season’s production. We also assess Sebastián Gómez’s first senior strike and whether it earns him more minutes, and whether Paul Rothrock can shoulder an even bigger creative load with Pedro De La Vega unfortunately sidelined once again.
Plus: reactions to Leagues Cup Phase One and what the competition’s early results mean for team momentum heading into the season.
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Supporting Local Businesses and New Website Launch
00:00:00
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As you know, we're huge fans of supporting local business. We've partnered with Seattle coffee roaster, Huey D Coffee, to bring a full spectrum of coffees to our listeners. Matt, the owner, is a diehard Sounders fan and inaugural season ticket holder who can often be overheard talking about the latest match while he works behind the bar. Thankfully, you don't have to live in Seattle to get great coffee.
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00:00:50
Speaker
This episode of Lobbing Scorchers was previously recorded and streamed live on YouTube.com slash at Lobbing Scorchers. If you want to listen or catch these episodes live, see the video, and see all the rest of our content, go to YouTube.com slash at Lobbing Scorchers or LobbingScorchers.com slash YouTube.
Seattle Sounders' Win Analysis: Cope or Hope?
00:01:12
Speaker
Well, sir, we got a scorcher today. Gonna be real scorcher today. What? A scorcher today? Well, it's gonna be a scorcher.
00:01:33
Speaker
Good morning, everybody, and welcome to another episode of Lobbing Scorchers Kickoff presented by QED Coffee. I'm Ari, and that's Noah tapping in for co-hosting duties this week as we continue to figure out the co-hosting future of Lobbing Scorchers Kickoff. But we got Noah here today, got myself here today, and we got a big show, the Seattle Sounders.
00:01:52
Speaker
won a game for the first time in a while. Wait, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. i blinked and like, I felt like my eyes and my ears didn't work. Did you just say the Seattle Sounders won a match? The Seattle Sounders won a match, ah a seven match losing streak across all competitions is over after Sunday's three zero beat down of Caratro FC. I hope I'm saying that right. So back to winning ways.
00:02:22
Speaker
Are all the problems for this team solved? No, but we're going to play a little round of a cope or hope to establish just how much this dub might or might not change this team's outlook going forward in leagues cup and for the rest of the 2026 season. And then we were going to react to some other leagues cup results and news around major league soccer later on in the show. So a lot to get to Noah. What's up, man? Thanks for tapping in long time. No, see, I mean, we were doing this post game show ah several hours ago, it feels like, but now we're back. We're going be playing Coper hope. We're going to be talking some ah Seattle Sounders. We're going be talking about a Seattle Sounders win a dub show, a dub kickoff. How are you feeling early here this morning?
00:03:03
Speaker
It feels good to be here. It feels great to see you again. um not Not enough time has passed, so I feel like I haven't even been able to absorb how good it feels to win again. But yeah, 3-0 win is great. It is a little bit, as we talked about on our post-game show, which I will say, if you haven't listened, if you haven't watched, don't worry.
00:03:27
Speaker
There's time. You can listen into it on our audio feed, on our video feed, all of that. I would go do that. um lot of you guys had some great takes. So I'm ready to cope. I'm ready to hope.
00:03:38
Speaker
I am ready to maybe not do either of them certain of these topics. It's going to be a great show today. It's going to be a great show. Before we do get into it, if you're watching on YouTube, please like the video, but mainly subscribe to the new website, lobingscorchers.com. It's going to be popping off this week. Can't emphasize enough how helpful and supportive this It is for you to sign up, subscribe to lobbying scorchers.com. It's going to great content, a new centralized location for all our content as we become an independent media enterprise. So exciting times. And I think this week I'm planning on turning up this week, Noah and, uh, getting a lot more written content out there and really getting our new little operation churning and seeing what we can do with it. But if you haven't done so yet, toss us a sub and get ready for a new era. Also support our title sponsor, QED Coffee.
00:04:38
Speaker
Lobbingscorchers.com slash coffee. can go ahead and ah use code LS74, 25% off anything site-wide, but also toss them a sub as well and support our show and a great local business and also lobingscorchers.com slash sauce. ah And one last thing to plug, it looks like if you are listening to this podcast on Spotify, we are two reviews away from 100.
00:05:01
Speaker
If you drop a review, takes like five seconds. And that's a great way to help new friends find the show. Two reviews away from 100 on Spotify. that's kind of That's kind of cool. And follow us on Spotify too. We're on the slow burn towards ah like 1K followers on there. So that would be a ah fun little milestone. Also Road to 4K on YouTube is, this is the final stretch of that.
00:05:24
Speaker
So, yeah, I think that's everything to plug. Is that everything to plug? You got anything else? That's everything plug. All right. All right. Hell yeah. Well, welcome in. If you guys got questions, observations, takes,
Sounders' Midfield Performance and Key Players
00:05:36
Speaker
agendas, go ahead, drop them in chat. We'll get to as many as we can. But I think without further ado, Noah, should we should we hit some cope or hope?
00:05:44
Speaker
Let's cope and hope. Okay. Yeah. I mean, so, you know, just to set the stage as we get into Coper hope here this morning, seven match losing streak. Gianni saying this is the most apathetic he's ever felt after a three zero win. And, i think, you know, people at least judging from the post game show last night, uh,
00:06:05
Speaker
People are more on that end of the spectrum than they are super cloud nine, especially with the De La Vega situation. ah But I think what I wanted to talk about Noah was let's start with anything that maybe we can take from this game that could, that could change this team's outlook, even if one win doesn't solve everything. I think a lot of the stuff we were hitting on last night and what we're going to talk about this morning It could be instructive. It could affect whether this team has a chance of contending for anything in, in, uh, 2026. So that's more what I want to talk about more than saying, Oh, one win over a bad league. I'm Becky's team.
00:06:47
Speaker
fixes everything. No, no, it doesn't. I know it doesn't count. I know nothing, nothing counts. Uh, but I think there is stuff we're talking about that happened within the game itself. And, uh, the first thing for this morning's edition of Coper Hope that I wanted to talk about was, uh, Alex rolled on, you know, we talked about it last night, but, I think, I'm not going to say vindication for lobbing scorchers, but leading up to the game, that was one of the topics that we talked about extensively was how to shore up that area of the field, barring a signing that they're famously too broke to make. And our idea, which again, not that innovative. It's what the Seattle Sounders have been been doing for years, put a rolled on.
00:07:30
Speaker
On it ah but They they did that and I really don't Think it's a coincidence that They looked that much better i know i know everyone's going to automatically attribute that result in that performance to the yeah inferiority of the opponent. And yes, I do think that played into why they were able to do that team. What they did team is ah is not good. But when you look at ah Alex rolled on and the effect, the stabilizing effect that he had,
00:08:02
Speaker
on this midfield. I think it's at least worth asking, you know, did this team finally found a, find a functional midfield combination, entire recent discussion of this team had been surrounding losing midfield control that they had with Christian rolled on and Obed Vargas. So you slap her rolled on in there. And I don't, I don't think Alex is necessarily a long-term number six solution.
00:08:25
Speaker
but he definitely brought a lot of qualities that Seattle badly needed to that spot. So no, I'll kick it to you to start Alex rolled on as the short term number six, uh, defensive midfield solution, ah to say that this actually could be a a meaningful change in this team's outlook simply from, from that change right there. Do you think that's a, is that cope or hope?
00:08:50
Speaker
i I don't think that that's cope. I think it's a little bit hope. I think that it is. in a It's a little bit of just a reality. I think you you have a player who is able to hold down and kind of play like his brother in a sense. I mean, he was a little bit all over the field.
00:09:13
Speaker
moving the ball around, changing the pace of play, being able to play defensively. I mean, if you look at his stats, he he played pretty well. I mean, he was about 80% in his passing across the board on all of those statistics, if not in not in the 90s.
00:09:30
Speaker
um He was, i mean, you can even look at the stats. We were outshot. The Sounders were outshot in this match. But again, it never felt like that midfield was getting completely overrun. There were times in which i I kind of felt that it was still not to the standard of like, you're not beating Club America with this team. You're not beating an LAFC with this double pivot. But what I will say
00:10:03
Speaker
is that it looked so much better than Hassani Dotson. It looked so much better than, um i don't even know who else has been playing there, Peter Kingston in in that role more than like kind of a progressing role. So I don't think that it's cope.
00:10:20
Speaker
um I think that it's hope and it's nice to have him back. But again, he was just injured. How much is he going to be able to continuously play in that position?
00:10:33
Speaker
Again, we're using a band-aid solution here. So it is it is a good thing that it's working out. But long-term, what's the solution for this position? So I'm coping and I'm hoping that we figure out a solution for this position.
00:10:50
Speaker
But honestly, how it played, I'm very glad to have him back. And he's been someone who we both have said is one of the most important players on this team because you can put him anywhere. Because he is successful to a serviceable degree in a lot of positions of need. And frankly, you do not get players in and MLS like that.
00:11:10
Speaker
Like, you you really don't. There's not a lot of players like Alex Rowland in MLS. And honestly... I'm saying honestly a lot, but if you look at his baseline numbers, he is actually one of the best players in Major League Soccer.
00:11:23
Speaker
Just simply based on what he's able to do, his performances week in and week out. I know people are not going to love to hear that, but it's like a guy who... been on the You've been on the Alex agenda for years now. so A guy who was almost cut from the team is now like one of the most important pieces to the Sounders' depth.
00:11:44
Speaker
and And that's... To have him back is great. Yeah, definitely. It looked better. You know, he brought, I thought, a lot of positional awareness. ah He's a lot. He's very comfortable under pressure. Just a lot better sense of like spacing and and tempo.
00:12:04
Speaker
And all that stuff that we talked about. So that was good to see. As yeah ah Kenny was pointing out in chat as well, ah there was a couple of chances that they yielded in the first half where it was hard not to feel like, man, like a better team probably punishes that. And there was still... ah ah To me, it seemed like a lot of those or a couple of those early in the game. it was just bad giveaways, honestly, from the back line. If I'm remembering correctly, I think Jackson and well there was a that specific one that I remember that was like a square ball across the box from Albert. That was like, I was shocked at how bad it was. And then there was a couple of Jackson Reagan risky passes, but
00:12:50
Speaker
Tino had one as well where it's just like these miscommunications where you're giving the ball away in your own attacking. And when you really like, just don't need to, you could just keep recycling it or eat it And, uh, they're like kind of trying to play out of the back, get a little too cute. And then these giveaways, like the one miss that the guy had, uh,
00:13:09
Speaker
the, he was just wide ass open and scuffed it. And then Fry, Stefan Fry, unc turning back the clock again, he had another incredible save off a deflection where there, were there was those two early, but honestly, after that, i feel like it, it was shored up relatively after that, there was two really bad giveaways and very open chances for Thoreau that, you know,
00:13:35
Speaker
really could have and should have been goals. But then after that, you know, the the XG ended up like 2.3 for Seattle to zero point, whatever for them. So I think that's, uh, that, that I think was reflected in the game in the second half after the beginning of the game. But I think as, as they grew into the game, it did look a lot better, even though I was, I was thinking the same thing. Kenny was like, man, like a better team probably pumps at least one, if not both of those by you. And then,
00:14:05
Speaker
the entire way we're talking about the game changes. So I think you got to acknowledge that with along with the improvements that we're talking about. Gianni brings up a good point here too. Alex looked solid in that position. It's because of the team we were playing or definitely possible. Will we get wrong?
00:14:21
Speaker
Will we, Will we get run on by betters? Also possible. Definitely possible. you say, like, we're going to play Chivas next, and that's going to be a very big test. It's going to be a very very big test for this entire roster. Definitely that that double pivot specifically. So, I mean, i'm I'm not excited, but I'm also way less stressed out about that game now knowing that Alex Roldan is available to play and that it's at least more shored up than it was.
00:14:56
Speaker
And should we have to feel that way? No, we should we should have a good backup. We should be able to sign someone to fill that position. But when the resources are as such, and here we are, I'm coping.
00:15:10
Speaker
Look, if there's anyone on this roster as it stands who has a chance of offering a like-for-like skill set for Christian Roldan, it's got to be his brother. I mean, come on. like this roll on Put a it. Have they thought about signing his other brother who's the LA Galaxy trainer? Someone re-suggested that on the postgame last night. They got a break they got assignesssar next yeah just to Just to round out the round out the trio. Well, the medical staff, you know, is if they don't have any injuries, they don't have um many yeah they don't have as many injuries on their team this year, as ah certainly as Seattle does. Just pretend Giles doesn't exist.
00:15:54
Speaker
Oh, okay. Wow. That's a name that I haven't thought about in a while. But, you know, i mean, I feel like They have average injury luck. Okay. This team and does not have that, but, uh, all right. Well, it sounds like, it sounds like the verdict on the Alex rolled on situation is like actually more towards the hope end than the cop. I think it's, it's like hope as it pertains to it. Uh, like what I've been saying through this losing streak is like, you just, you have to get,
00:16:24
Speaker
to a baseline of functionality. First, you have to look like a competitive MLS operation again. And ah I think we're going to find out if they're on the road to that more in the weeks to come. There's that's the thing about a game like this against an opponent like this is like, no one's going to acknowledge that it, that it counts until we see ah few more of these games. And if they can build on it,
00:16:51
Speaker
from from this but based off this game i don't know if you can really say yet but it it's fair to say it it was a step in the right direction i think we got a 10 bomb from rhombus let's go first super chat of the stream he says taking and holding the ball helps prevent bad things and can lead to good things pedro de la vega's legs are held together with 40 year old dry rubber bands in the back of your grandparents mid-century desk oh man it's
00:17:17
Speaker
Yeah, to to the point of, to the first point, holding the ball leads to good things. That's exactly what Alex Roldan brought you in this match. That's exactly what, you know, Peter Kingston continuing to feel more natural in that, that center midfield position brought you.
00:17:36
Speaker
Are, is the team bad that we were playing? Yes, but also we can only do what we can do. You can only play who you can play and getting that win is undoubtedly good for confidence. Will it last long term?
00:17:50
Speaker
yeah man, I thought Pete, I thought Pete, he definitely, like you said, he looked the best he has at that spot. And it did kind of, uh, it gave me more. I've been, I've been thinking like, man, I just, this plan P as like this six or an eight, like they've been kind of trying to do. I just don't know if that's the best use of his skillset. He is really good at generating danger from wide areas. I kind of just see him as more of that type of player, But, dude, a couple of the dimes that he hit, especially the one he hit to Rothrock on the moose goal, that was was that not like a world-class dime? that was No, he's absolutely – If a DP player like on some other team hit that, people would be like, oh, wow, what – But it's Pete Kingston, so he's not going to get any any love or national hype for it. He's not going to get pass of the week from the armchair analyst. But, like, goddamn, that was a genuinely –
00:18:42
Speaker
Maybe we need to start lobbying. We need to start lobbying Mr. Doyle for a ah for a Peter Kingston pass of the week. That should have got pass of the week. i think the two Hawkins assists a couple of weeks ago should have gotten pass of the week, but you know.
00:18:57
Speaker
What do I know? I'm not, I'm not, I am not an analyst, nor am I sitting in an armchair. Some of the, ah some of the young guns are coming up with the, with these dimes in these last couple of games, but I did, I loved that pass from, ah from Pete. And if he can do stuff like that, maybe they are onto something with, ah with him playing at that spot. ah Noah, this is, this going to a good topic. People are going to like this, but the next topic I have for Co-Pro is ah Albert Rusnak, which yeah look,
00:19:27
Speaker
Let's just, let's just get it out of the way. I've said it. I've said it 15 times already. So if you're, if you're getting typing in the chat about how the goal doesn't count, I get it. Okay.
00:19:38
Speaker
I get it. But I think part of what we're talking about with the ripple effect of an improved midfield is, and this goes back to our ah discussion about Albert Rusnak from the pod last week about just the areas where he's receiving the ball and, uh,
00:19:54
Speaker
trying to create danger. Didn't this game feel a lot more like at least he was playing more how he normally played. Yeah. We got some comment, uh, because I was talking about, you know, where he's getting the ball is just not where he can be,
00:20:10
Speaker
effective And we got some comment that was saying, well, he is getting the ball. What are you talking about? He is getting the ball in more advanced areas. He's just not doing anything with it. And I'm just like, no, no, he's not though. No, he's not like, yes. If you go through the film of any 90 minute game, you could, you could find three or four instances of like any scenario, but like even in the Toluca game, yeah, there was like three or four instances where they got out in transition or they found him centrally higher up the field like they normally did. And then yes, he did not do anything. with it it to to the analogy I was making about it being like the, ah the offensive line can't block. ah So how do you evaluate the quarterback and the wide receivers? Yeah.
00:20:51
Speaker
there If there was three or four times in a given game where the offensive line does block and the quarterback can throw to the receivers, yes, the receivers are dropping the ball in those instances. But it's about consistency and repetition was the point that I was making. And there was none of that with this offense, and there was more of that in this game. So we'll see if it means anything. But I was at least encouraged to like see him look more like he was – in a cohesive natural role. And he, it looked at the whole, he looked better in the whole offense looked a lot better. am I coping or like, is that, oh you're literally correct. Like I wanted to bring up here if I can, if I can figure how to do it, you can look at his heat map, his heat map. Yeah. You can measure these things. Yeah. Like if you look at his heat map in the Toluca match, he is literally playing a much more defensive player.
00:21:44
Speaker
roll His touches in the box or in the attacking third were much less than his touches in the defensive third. Like his, if you look at his positioning, it's way less advanced in that game, in the Toluca game. So I, i but I mean, by literally the metrics in which you can measure those things, you are correct.
00:22:09
Speaker
What I also think is, is true is that you are playing a shittier opponent. You are playing a shittier opponent. And so he has less of a job to do. He is allowed to play a little bit less in that attacking position. and or or not less in the attacking position, but have to pay play less hard in that offensive position.
00:22:35
Speaker
I think the problem is that the way that this team is operating right now, you need someone a lot more mobile than him. You need someone a lot more... To have the ability in times like these where you are a designated player to drop back and get forward while also having eyes towards the goal. And that's not the type player You're describing Nico Ladero.
00:22:59
Speaker
Exactly. But yeah that's not the type of player he is. So if we're looking at the player that he is, this game that he's playing in now fits... Yeah, yeah it it fits when you can control possession in that midfield, when you can hold the ball, when you could build up, when you don't have to constantly be defending and counterattacking. So by that logic, yes, our midfield double pivot played better. The team that we were playing was not as challenging to play. And therefore he had a better game.
00:23:31
Speaker
Cope or hope. I think it's a little bit of code because I think the problems that still exist are there. And while it works when it works, as your competition increases, how much better is he going to be?
00:23:49
Speaker
Is he going to continue to elevate or is he going to revert back to how he's been playing this season? Kenny with the $1.99. Thank you, man. He says, Snag, zero shots, zero chances created, zero duels, right one first half. I mean, okay but like the whole offense looked a lot more cohesive and more functional.
Goalkeeper Highlights and Injury Impacts
00:24:13
Speaker
And also it's kind of the stuff I'm talking about, like the sequence that led to the Gomez That's an example of what I'm talking about, just purely about where he receiving the the ball. Look at where he is on the field in that scenario. Is he back by the, the midfield line? Is he like receiving the ball in the totally other end of the field? Whereas like the Toluca game that happened like so many times where he had to do that on that, on the Sebastian Gomez goal, he's playing like a normal number 10, like we're used to seeing him play on this team. And yeah, it's a, it's hockey point.
00:24:50
Speaker
That's another point that i have not that we haven't talked about is how Sebastian Gomez and the way that you were basically playing a second winger instead of a pocket winger helped elevate Albert Rusnak. Albert Rusnak was able to stay up higher and was didn't have to play as much transition because he had two outside wingers who were moving the ball.
00:25:12
Speaker
Yeah. And and he's able to leave it to, yeah, he's able to leave it to, to Rothrock in that scenario, plays them into space. That's the right pass that's unlocked. That is, that's the, that's your number 10, unlocking the sequence that led to the goal. I understand the goal doesn't count because of the opponent, but like I'm saying like tactically in that.
00:25:30
Speaker
So, is it, Does that make Am talking to myself over here? okay I don't think you're wrong. I think that it's... Al Rosanak in this version of the Sounders is an interesting choice considering all of these factors because of where we are, because of how this roster is built. So and when you can get him to unlock, incredible.
00:25:55
Speaker
ah But playing that pocket winger... This is why I think that I was always saying, like, in questioning, can Jesus Ferreira and Albert Rostak play together? Like, I think that was a genuinely valid question. i think what it goes back to is how you're setting up your offense, how you're getting that ball to move. Jesus Ferreira can also go go sometimes because what's what is his position, right? Like, what is his position? Is he playing a 10? Is he playing a winger? There's times when there's teams that you're playing that that's just not effective. And so I think...
00:26:32
Speaker
I think unlocking Albert in this phase of his career, in this phase of his life, as with those two wingers, has has been interesting in a time when you kind of needed ah a little bit of new ideas. So I'm interested to see if they bring that...
00:26:47
Speaker
um into this Chivas match. Chad's saying his his hockey assist on the on the Gomez goal doesn't count. I get it. I get it. All right. i'm just The pre-pass matters, all right? And yes, Paul Rothrock was open, but like the whole point is that there was a sequence where they were able to get him the ball to find in in open pass. what do you want him to do, James? not Not hit the open guy? I think Johnny...
00:27:14
Speaker
has the best take about this. they kind of That kind of plays in the middle of what I'm trying to get at is that Noah's basically describing a luxury attacking player. Currently, we don't really have that luxury, unfortunately. We need someone who can also do the dirty work. And that's exactly what I'm saying. Rosnag, I'm not going I don't think he is a bad player. I don't think he has been a... complete failure of a DP signing. I just think that when push comes to shove in major league soccer and the way that this team is built, you need someone who could do that dirty work. You need someone who could get back. You need someone who doesn't necessarily need to always be unlocked to be good.
00:27:51
Speaker
We were able to get away with that for so long because we had a giant double pivot. yeah Yeah. Because we had a Christian rolled on because we had these things because you had people who their own work rate was just so insane that like you could make up for it. But when the, when the dominoes start to fall and guess what they can fall, you get into this situation what you do?
00:28:14
Speaker
what do you do Yeah. ah Let's ah let's move on to the next topic. And I'm going to I'm going to jump around a little bit because you brought out you brought up something that I think is relevant to this conversation. But ah Sebastian Gomez looking like a ah ah first team senior team contributor. That was cool. That was exciting. That was probably.
00:28:37
Speaker
My favorite part of the game from the standpoint of we've talked a lot about how this team's developmental track record is good, but it's kind of like feels like it's honed in on one area of the field. we yeah and we joke about how this is number six and number eight FC, ah but. I think the reality is it is much more difficult to develop these productive attacking players than it is to develop like a holding midfielder. And if there's a critique of this youth development system with this organization, it's that, you know, you could go around the league and teams develop guys like, uh,
00:29:10
Speaker
like Brian Gutierrez or Philly has ah developed a lot of guys that are impact attackers at the MLS level that contribute on the statute FC Dallas, man. That's a club that developed Ricardo Pepe and Jesus Ferreira. Who are the like Ricardo Pepe's and Jesus Ferreira's of Seattle's youth development system. You got Jordan Morris, but I always, I kind of, I always categorize him a little differently. i feel like that he,
00:29:37
Speaker
that situation kind of fell onto their lap in a way with the whole connection of his dad being the medical officer and him being brought up around the club and with the club when he was a kid and stuff like that's all fine. And they did great to capitalize on that, but it's, to me, it's a little different than really like what they're trying to do with Christopher Batiste right now. But Sebastian Gomez is a guy that ah a young guy coming up who's played a lot for Tacoma Defiance, been in the organization for a while. They've said that they're high on him and he has not really gotten extended run with the first team this year. And when he has, there's been nice moments, but the reality is like he's an attacking player and his value is going to be determined by how many goals and assists he gets, how dangerous he looks in attack.
00:30:25
Speaker
And we hadn't really seen that yet. And he hadn't really gotten all that much of an opportunity to show it yet. To be fair, he gets the start in this game. It's his first first first team start. And he gets a goal and an assist. And I thought the way he got both the goal and the assists were very encouraging him crashing the back post like Rothrock on the other side. That was we were joking about it, but it's like, oh, wait, the other winger can do that. and We can do that.
00:30:50
Speaker
Look at that. Look at that run. Like I thought, I thought you had to play as like the pocket winger number 10 at that spot, but no, he's crashing the back, ah back post just like Paul Rothrock. And that's like, Oh man, maybe that's, that's a different thing that you guys did that you hadn't been doing that. Actually you got a goal out of it. So that was cool, but it was nice to see him make that run. And then his, his assist on the roost, that goal, I thought that was just so heads up. Like,
00:31:13
Speaker
I think Gianni was saying on the postgame show last night, but most players, most especially young players, they're just going they're just going try and shoot that and score themselves. So I thought it was good maturity and composure for him to be like, OK, actually, I'm just going to lay this off to my number 10 and let him finish
Development Challenges and League's Cup Skepticism
00:31:29
Speaker
it. And they got to go out of that as well.
00:31:32
Speaker
ah This team's been struggling a lot on offense. Noah, Sebastian Gomez gave a spark in this game. Again, doesn't count because it was a bad team. But ah do you think that there is something to build on there? And do you think that he his presence and development and hopefully he keeps contributing?
00:31:49
Speaker
What effect do you think that is it? Cope or hope to say that that could meaningfully boost this offense to have an exciting young guy in there, ideally contributing. I think that it is a good take.
00:32:03
Speaker
I don't think it's cope or it's hope. I do think it's a little bit early to say of what his impact is actually going to be. I fully expect him to just be like a substitute. And the thing that the biggest thing that I fear is that he doesn't get any run. We get a Stu Hawkins moment. We get a Reed Baker Whiting moment. We get something where there's a great young player. He's a bench player. he has a great game. Maybe he breaks through and then when's the next time we see him? um I think that in his position, he has a little bit more opportunity to break through, but this is winger FC. So you never know. Something that I was personally kind of um intrigued with was his play with Kalani. I think that them playing off of each other was great because Sebastian,
00:32:50
Speaker
also was pretty damn good defensively. like he he had he write he he had great eight ground duels. He won five of them. he won his ah he He won all of his tackles that he made. he Again, those are things that you need out of a Sounders player, out of a Rothrock-esque player, out of someone who can be...
00:33:14
Speaker
all over the field. And that is that is that is interesting to me. That's intriguing to me. And no hate to Jesus Ferreira. I think he's awesome, but I think this is a great a great plan to slowly, if you don't res re-sign Albert Rosnack. And i don't I don't expect them to. If Jesus Ferraro does move into that 10 position, which i think you and I both think is his prime position at this point in his career, which again, he's 25, so he has a world of a career left.
00:33:47
Speaker
Slide him into that number 10, you have a Paul Rothrock, a Sebastian Gomez there with him. He is someone who's able to play those quick balls out on the counterattack, play someone in, play someone through.
00:33:59
Speaker
i mean, is that not... that That look would be perfect. I mean, even Albert was able to do that. And, you know, Jesus is going to get back. So um I hope we see more of him. I don't know how much more of him we'll see. Undoubtedly, he'll play against Chivas, I assume, because of how well he played you. generally would want to reward a player like him with another start. So, you know, ah i'm i'm interested to see how that goes.
00:34:28
Speaker
um Maybe we see him on the other side. Maybe Paul Rothrock gets a little bit of rest against Chivas, just considering how many minutes he's racked up. But i I hope that we see more of him. And I hope that, again, we don't see a Reed Baker writing situation. We don't see, you know, um I'm trying to think of other players that we've like... Oh, man, if if they trade Seabass for GAM, I'm going to be pissed if they trade Seabass for GAM. To my point, yeah you know who scored last night, Ari?
00:35:00
Speaker
RBW. yeah RBW had a nice goal last night. wow in Nashville won 4-1 RBW goal, and it's... Man, at least you got the game war chest right in time for the roster rules to change. Am I right? Thank God. yeah on the ah On the topic of Jesus Ferrer, I think it's worth talking about that ah a little bit because ah he he looked better as well. Like at least his influence on the on the third goal, I think is worth highlighting because that's the that's the type of stuff that I want to see from him. Again, doesn't count. Bad team caveats acknowledged. ah But the sequence, that whole sequence on that last goal,
00:35:36
Speaker
That begins with him advancing the attack and initiating the move. I really like got those those dimes and those three balls that he can hit are there. It was just good to see him do that because during the losing streak, he hasn't been effective like he hasn't. So it was yeah I'll take what I can get. right now as far as individual moments. And he did provide one. So that was good. ah And i think we've seen like he doesn't necessarily need to be a crazy carry the load volume goal score to influence this offense positively. ah If he can kind of play that
00:36:07
Speaker
that connector role consistently connecting midfield to attack just like in the way that he, uh, that he did on that ball to moose. Like when the shape is functioning, ah he becomes a lot easier to integrate because we talk about him as the pocket winger and that's like what his role is fundamentally, but he can float. He can combine fine pockets rather than having to rescue possession. Like yeah You just can't have like what happened in Toluca where it's him and Albert Rufsnack dropping back to rescue possession constantly the ah the whole game. Like I think we should all be able to agree that that's not the best use of either of their skill sets. And that was what was happening, at least in Toluca, that's what happened. So it was good to see him back kind of doing what he does naturally. And you you they got to they got a goal out of it, and it was just –
00:36:53
Speaker
I don't know. he He's a guy that I always trust to at least work hard and compete and stay engaged. And i don't think he wasn't, it's not like he wasn't doing all that stuff during the losing streak, but when the team is struggling that much and you can tell he's getting frustrated on him, it was wearing on him. him Yeah.
00:37:12
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. So at least maybe I think it is, uh, Staying on the Coper hope theme. think there's a little bit of hope here that this was a sign that he's kind of back on the right track, hopefully.
00:37:26
Speaker
And also I think it just, it similar to the discussion with Rusnak, I think it kind of shows how much a broken midfield structure has made the whole attack.
00:37:38
Speaker
look probably like worse than it actually is is that is that cope to to say like i think that's sort of what we've been uh we've been getting at but then i think what like you saw yeah we we saw like once that got shored up like both of them looked more effective because they were doing like the types of stuff that they're supposed to be doing so yeah completely agree yeah that's uh do you have any thoughts on uh on jesus and then we got our ah next topic No, i think you I think you hit it perfectly with that.
00:38:04
Speaker
Sick. ah Paul Rothrock, let's talk a little poly prime time. You brought it up, but two assists. ah primary assists. So those those, well, they don't count because of the opponent, but they count on the basis of them being a primary, but probably prime time. mail account for him Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Every poly prime time stat counts. I don't care who they were playing, ah but he can, he's just still one of the guys who's consistently creating,
00:38:33
Speaker
Even when the team around him isn't functioning, you can rely on poly prime time to do something out there. Uh, first senior goal for Sebastian Gomez Roth rock assist that there, there was some really good dime dishing in the goals in this game where I was wearing very good for whatever it's worth. Like that, uh,
00:38:52
Speaker
Rothrock to Seabass at the far post. That was a ah feeder of of families. That was a a great time. Moose finally breaking through. We'll talk about him, but that was another Rothrock assist. There's just something valuable, I think, about his directness. you know He doesn't need perfect conditions to to influence games, and he's making like 400k. He was getting double teamed the whole time as well. And fouled to all hell. like they were trying They tried to kill him several times. They tried. He's always going to run hard. He's always going to attack space, get into dangerous areas, and make decisive plays. So on a team that spent the last few weeks, God knows, looking tentative and overthinking everything, that mentality matters. And he's increasingly become...
00:39:34
Speaker
one of this team, the this team's most dependable attacking contributor and goal score. But I was the Coper hope would be like, you know, did what he showed as a facilitator, something to build on in this game. Because what I was talking about leading into this game is how, like when you have him, when you have Paul Rothrock as your leading goal score, it actually takes away from a lot of the stuff that he does well that we're talking about, which is his creativity and ability to generate chances from out wide. Yeah.
00:40:02
Speaker
He's been just, it's been like pulling teeth trying to get him these, these goals at the back post that he hasn't really really been able to do that as much. And, and like the rest of the attackers, it's been so disjointed that he hasn't had as much of a consistent chance to do that. So that was another thing that was nice to see, but I guess Cobra hope Paul Rothrock, uh, helping fill some of the creative void that, uh,
00:40:29
Speaker
you know Now they're going to have to be playing without Pedro de la Vega again for the foreseeable future, which that it's like ah they've been playing. They played without Pedro de la Vega and Jordan Morris for most of the last two years. So to me, it's more about just like they know they know how to deal with that. One of the ways to deal with that is relying more on poly prime time. it was nice to see poly prime time do poly prime time stuff that wasn't just scoring at the at the back post. ah What do you what did you think? what do you think of poly prime time?
00:40:58
Speaker
My take on all of this is that the Seattle Sounders are so lucky that Paul Rothrock is absolutely loyal to Seattle because they paid him less money than other teams were offering, and he is by far their best attacking piece.
00:41:18
Speaker
He had offers to go to the championship. He had offers to go to other and MLS teams and make more money. He chose to stay in Seattle for less money.
00:41:28
Speaker
And so again, i hope that the Seattle Sounders remember that when it comes time to renew his contract or when it comes time that he maybe wants to elevate his game, go play somewhere else.
00:41:43
Speaker
And, um,
00:41:47
Speaker
him being the best attacking piece on this entire roster is... it's a good bit. It's a good bit. um and I think that, again, vindication for us, as always...
00:42:01
Speaker
But, yeah, yeah I don't know. he can He can be creative, but, you know, I think what was more interesting to me was he was able to be more creative because of the pieces around him were functioning a lot better.
00:42:15
Speaker
Because even when he's double teamed, he has outlet passes. I've been pointing this out. Like, there's been no outlet... A lot of times, especially on the counterattack, Rosanak is way too far back. He's not able to track forward to be an outlet pass. Nuhu's never, ever going to be an effective outlet pass. You have...
00:42:34
Speaker
You really, like, your midfield was just not there. Your other winger in Jesus Ferreira generally was tucked in Maybe he was back defending. Maybe he was getting forward. So the way that this kind of looked and played as as a formation unlocked Rothrock even more to be creative. But again, I think that that's awesome. But I do, I do like...
00:42:59
Speaker
I do wonder if that'll continue. I hope it does. But, you know, they can continue to unlock him if they if they put more pieces around him. i think I think this one is ah is hope. i was ah i was encouraged by seeing the Rothrock Dimes and really like get is someone else scoring. and that kind of That's a good segue into the into the next topic, which Danny Mussovsky finally gets the goal. that Seattle Sounders have a goal from ah from a starting number nine. so Not in league play, though.
00:43:37
Speaker
not in league play, but you know, incremental baby steps. All right. We got to take what we can get at ah this point. This really, we had to do a segment on this because obviously, obviously there's been a lot of conversation about Seattle's number nine production moves. Finally gets the breakthrough after an extremely frustrating stretch. And I, you know, I think regardless of a opponent getting a striker on the score sheet, a starting striker on the score sheet that can matter psychologically. And more importantly, ah his overall involvement, like I feel it's been a recurring theme on the, on this show, but his overall involvement looked better because Seattle was getting the ball into the attacking third under control. And also he was a bit, Moose was a contributor in the, in the third goal too. You know, everyone says all Moose can do is poach and he's bad at soccer and he can't do anything else. All he does is the most important part of the game, but he doesn't do anything else. He was very involved in the buildup on that. ah
00:44:37
Speaker
on that third goal, he helps create the sequence that ends with Bruce snack scoring, uh, the buildup between Ferreira, Moose, sea bass, Bruce snack. That was good stuff. Uh, so that's, that's more representative. I would say what you want to see from him than, uh, simply standing between two center backs waiting for service. That's never going to come. So I think, you know, we can acknowledge that one goal doesn't solve the striker question, but, ah if this team can create more coherent,
00:45:03
Speaker
attacking possession, it becomes easier to evaluate whether Moose can actually actually contribute. And also it's, ah I just think like, it's very, very, couldn't be more clear at this point that he's just, he's a player that's dependent on surroundings and the players around him and the chance generation around him.
00:45:22
Speaker
If he gets those chances like he did on that, on that sequence, all 1000 miles per hour directly into his knee, he's going to score is what you're saying. Hey, well, look, I know, uh, uh,
00:45:36
Speaker
Nico called it a lucky a lucky tap-in on no he he was talking about Twitter. about on those one No, no, no. he corrected He corrected. He said he was like, my bad. I meant to i meant to say that was about the about the Moose goal. I don't know. I looked at that. ah that That cross was coming in at at pace. But also, that's like, I don't think it's lucky when ah that's what he does. That's his whole thing is he gets into really high percentage teams spots which if that was as easy to do as people make it out to be then uh everyone would be as good or better at it than uh than moose's so but like that's also a skill that is again dependent on factors other than him right so uh coper hoped that uh
00:46:26
Speaker
Moose finally got on the score sheet starting number nine. I think I know where he'll come down, but ah what do you think? hope It's for sure. Cope, but it's, it's good to see him scoring, you know, like that's it's cope. He's not, um he's not a creative striker. He's, he's not necessarily lethal, but if you can get him finishing those chances or even just giving him service, that's like, you kind of have to like, again, be really bad to not finish.
00:46:56
Speaker
doesn't really matter, i guess. um But yeah, no, I mean, is it the long-term solution? Probably not, but you you have to get him going if you're going to be successful this season.
00:47:08
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah, I guess. And that's, ah you know, we're still in this, like, neither one of here or Osaze is like the like chosen option at this point, they're still like competing for it, which it's like, is this has been going on for like a year and a half. I mean, just be done with the competing for it thing. Just fucking put one out there. And I'm just, but every time, every time they put one out there and like, say they do get a goal now, it's like, okay, now Moose has to start. And then like the next game, Moose doesn't score. And then they're like, all right, well, let's try Osaze. And then Osaze scores. And you're like, all right, put him out there the next game. And then he doesn't score. So you put Moose back out there and it's just a virtuous cycle of number nine.
00:47:51
Speaker
like yeah How do they how do they kind of create a streak? How do they don't understand. Getting service to the number nines leads to goals. It's crazy how that works, Gianni. We got 440 jewels. Noah, did you ever find out what a jewel does?
00:48:08
Speaker
Some money in our pocket. It says Unc Alert. step right so basically you can buy you can buy little things and they pop up in the chat. And so like the Unc Alert is literally, it says Unc Alert on it and it's an alarm and it just like flashes and then goes away.
00:48:26
Speaker
It's like a sticker or something. Yeah. All right. Well, speaking of Uncle Lert, Steph Fry turned back the clock once again with that save in the first half. He really didn't have much to do after that but that was a point in the game where ah they were putting under Seattle under pressure a little bit, and there was a couple of bad giveaways. And then Steph Fry came through.
00:48:48
Speaker
ah Uh, tired is Pedro. The leagues cup, 2025, Pedro la Vega wired leagues cup, 2026, Stefan Fry apparently, because had, think, step and fry apparently because he had i think one of the, I've been calling it one of the single greatest goalkeeping performances of all time at Toluca, which I'm, you know, I'm being a little facetious, but it was like, I definitely think that was one of the best games of his career.
00:49:14
Speaker
Just from a pure like quality of the individual saves standpoint. mean, he made 15 saves, but some of them were just like, when you get 45 shots, thermoblasted at your head, you're definitely going to be able to have some high savings. That's going to inflate the save numbers, but there was handful of them in there that were just like, that's a goalkeeping freaking clinic, man. Like he was balling out there. And even like the one that he spilled, I don't care. don't blame him at all, but it's been, don't know where do you, this is, this is a total aside. I didn't have it written down, but yeah.
00:49:50
Speaker
What do you think of the goalkeeper so situation? Because as we've talked a lot about how the number six has offered a stabilizing presence. ah I don't know if ah if the goalkeeping change has contributed to that at all. And I don't really consider Andrew Thomas as all that culpable in the losing streak, although there was a couple of instances where maybe he could have done better. But I don't know. what are your thoughts on that?
00:50:16
Speaker
I mean, I'm really glad that Stephen Fry is able to live out his dream of playing until he's 40. I mean, that was his goal. He said it. He said, I want to play until I'm 40. And he's been able to get so much rest. He's been able to prepare for League's Cup knowing this is going to be my moment. This could be my curtain call. You know, this is this is what what I have, right? And I think he's shown that. He's playing out of his mind because of it.
00:50:41
Speaker
I think there there are people who are ah calling for him to be the starter. I think that you will slowly start to see his performances degrade just based based on age, just based on more minutes, just based on all of those things. So I'm i'm really happy for Seth getting to play in League's Cup, and i'm really his performances have been incredible. So that's kind of my take on it. is like It doesn't change...
00:51:06
Speaker
The my idea that Andrew Thomas is your starter again has he played poorly um while the rest of the team has also played poorly. Yes has that does that have a lot to do with him personally or a lot more to do with the team.
00:51:24
Speaker
I think it's a mixture of both, but again, goalkeeper is always going to be blamed. You know, a defender's always like it's, it's the culpability kind of trickles down. And like we said, when you can't hold possession, which they have not been able to do more shots happen, you put a goalkeeper in harder positions. So yeah,
00:51:47
Speaker
And then week after week, you're getting scored on every single week and you have no hope and you lose seven straight. I mean, you get beat down and, you know, goalkeeping is as much of a psyche thing as it is a physical thing. So I think that this break will be good for Andrew Thomas. And I'm i'm happy. I'm really happy for Steph.
00:52:13
Speaker
Yeah, no, I mean, I think it's just ah you've already the the decisions already been made that you're committing to Andrew Thomas as the as the number one of the future. And if I really felt like Andrew Thomas's performance had nosedived and he was in like terrible form and he was a big reason for the losing streak, maybe I would be like, man, Steph's playing his way back into being the. ah being the starter, but I really, i really don't think that's what was going on, but it has, it has been fun to watch Steph turn back the clock with these, with these saves.
00:52:44
Speaker
I'll say that. And I pretty much agree with what Jerome is saying. You know, Steph said he's enjoying AT t grow during this time. Why would we take that mentorship away from him? Yeah. I don't think it's really a goalkeeping process. controversy per se, but ah all right. No, that's all the Cope or Hope topics that I had ah written down. If you had to ah put a percentage of how hopeful versus copeful you're feeling about the general state of affairs after, after that win, are you more on the none of it counts because the other team sucked end of the spectrum or are you more on the, all right, maybe there actually was something to ah work on and then build off of of that. Yeah.
00:53:22
Speaker
Oh, that's a very tough question, Ari. It is. That's why we're talking about it. yeah I think that I sit a little bit. I'm going to fence it on this a little bit. It's an encouraging performance because it shows that the team can fight perfectly.
00:53:36
Speaker
the opponent is bad. They were very not good. Not good. They definitely, if on a scale of bad to good, they were not good. They were not good. they're Not good. yeah and And so I think where I land is what I saw was a great team performance so the slump of the team that body language the demeanor that just amplified all of the problems with the roster yes that makes me hopeful but it doesn't fix any of the problems that we have been talking about for the last two years it doesn't fix any of the problems that we've been talking about for the last two months so and again
00:54:20
Speaker
What makes it all the more worse and something that we have just casually not even talked about is Pedro de la Vega is injured again. He is not on this team. The guy who you were banking on coming back and helping your season, turning things around your summer signing, right?
00:54:40
Speaker
He is no longer in the picture. And if you think that Brian Schmetzer is going to just let him come back quickly, you've got something else coming because i don't think we see that guy for five to six weeks. And when we do, I think it's going to be in very, very, very short spurts for the rest of the season. Yeah.
00:55:00
Speaker
I don't really know what you do with that information. That's just my assumption. i was I'm not in those locker rooms. I don't know. i wasn't in that locker room, you know, whatever at this game. But it's, um again, it doesn't solve the problems. And I can cope a little bit, but I'm not going to say that I'm hopeful that this is a massive change in this world.
00:55:25
Speaker
Yeah, you know, definitely doesn't erase the losing streak. Definitely does not ease the ah the discourse regarding the general manager. Definitely doesn't eliminate the yeah questions that need to be answered regarding this roster and how to improve it. i do think psychologically getting a convincing win...
00:55:44
Speaker
that actually i think could be huge for this team right now, just as it pertains to getting back to what I've been talking about of just like, look like a competent and MLS operation again. So now you, now you at least have the psychological hurt.
00:55:59
Speaker
What was good? What had been going, the losing streak was in this team's head, like collective head for sure. I agree. And getting a win like that, no matter how bad the opponent is, I think that, uh, that's helpful. Uh, and,
00:56:13
Speaker
yeah They like, they just needed evidence that this season isn't spiraling uncontrollably. Okay. So you have just like a brief reprieve from, ah from that. And then, you know, you got Moose getting off the mark. You got CBass scoring his first senior goal. Roosnack looking a little better for error, looking a little better. yeah,
00:56:30
Speaker
But I think, I guess, if there's anything that ah I would take hope from, it would be that it does seem like the coaches now have something repeatable tactically rather than just saying, we competed harder but still got outshot Well, they still got outshot, by the way. So, I mean, that's something to look at as well. Because that's not going work against Chivas, I'll tell you that much. But I don't know. I think that's a little misleading in this case. There was the two really good chances they had in the first half. But outside of that, was there any shots that were dangerous, like, at all? But again...
00:57:04
Speaker
terrible team you have to look at how is that going to translate to playing a galactico in mexico and chivas they're going to be way more efficient with their chances yeah they're not going to need to out shoot you to hurt you like they're gonna they're gonna generate a lot more of those good chances that this really bad team did and they're gonna have guys that can actually finish him so yeah that is that is uh that is true uh what else Yeah, I mean, it's just you can point to the structural change that we talked about with ah put a rolled on on it. And you could say this worked build from here.
00:57:39
Speaker
So that's kind of kind of where I'm at. Put a rolled on on it. Thank you for following our advice, Brian. You know, glad you listened to the pod. Anything else on your mind as far as ah the Seattle Sounders go? We can, I think... ah you know I have to bounce around 9.30 usually, but we can take off a little earlier than that so I can go get some food before work. so yeah um I mean, i think we should discuss Patrick De La Vega. yeah i know i know you don't want to. i know we don't know exactly what his status is. I mean, I thought we kind of covered it last night, but ah but yeah i mean let's yeah, let's talk about it more.
00:58:18
Speaker
I mean, he... he Is out. i mean, does that change the calculation of this season for you at all? Does this change the calculation for you in In the way that you felt like this team could bounce back from where they were at in the pits of hell.
00:58:39
Speaker
it changes the calculation from the standpoint of if we're talking about it from a lens of like, can this team actually get back on track to the point where they're relevant for silverware in 2026, um, it,
00:58:55
Speaker
um Not having him just it makes that it makes it tough to see the path to having the needle moving attacking upside that you need to to win these playoff games when you're talking about getting to Western Conference Championships and towards MLS Cups, you're gonna have to play teams that have these needle movers like you know, Denny Bwonga and Sun Kyung Min. And this team, La Vega is that this, this team's answer to that. And there's proof of concept that he can be that guy on the field from what we saw from him last year. It's just that, as we all know, he has not been able to stay on the field and he was not able to stay on the field this time either. So I think it changes the calculation in that it just, it makes the idea of, if you're trying to formulate the path in your mind you know,
00:59:45
Speaker
No, this team actually, you know, yeah, it's bad right now, but you get Christian back, you get De La Vega back. That's two huge pieces right there. And then who knows, you get in the playoffs, you have those two guys fit and healthy. You could get hot, you could make a run. There's no reason. It doesn't matter what seed you are. There's no reason why that that's impossible if you have that. And now you're not going to.
01:00:05
Speaker
ah have that. But as far as how I think about this team on a week to week basis, I mean, like I said, man, they've been playing without De La Vega and Jordan for most of the last two years at this point. So really, i think it's about figuring out the formula to where you can get this offense firing to some percentage of what it would be if you had De La Vega out there. And I think we talked about ways to do that. ah Paul Rothrock is a guy who's going to have to step up and I trust that he's going to be able to step up. He looked great in this game. ah
01:00:40
Speaker
is he, is that, is building your entire attack or a lot of your attack around Paul Rothrock. Is that a formula for an MLS cup run? I mean, i don't know. I would feel better about those prospects if Dale Vega was available, ah but he's not. But I also think of what we've talked about with shoring up the midfield, put her in, putting a rolled on on it, put Alex on it in this case.
01:01:03
Speaker
ah That clearly looks like it's at least going to help the situation. And that could also, that's going to help. The attack. We talked about how this front four, even without De La Vega and and Jordan, like, yeah, those are two big losses and it's not going to be as good. The offense isn't going to be as good without those guys as it is with them. But it's also...
01:01:26
Speaker
not a front four that's as bad as it's looked during the losing streak. So I think once we find out what the actual level is with this personnel, be able to answer that better. But like the, honestly, man, the idea of playing without De La Vega does not like move or phase me that much. I'm not crashing out over it. That's the same situation that we've been in. So like, it is what it is.
01:01:51
Speaker
Okay. I mean, I guess I'm a little bit shocked by that. Taking a sense because, If it doesn't matter, like, what? So we're just, he he's just on the team, but not on the team.
01:02:05
Speaker
Like, I don't know. Like, it's, he he's supposed to be this needle moving player, but we're never going to be able to have him play. And that's, like, not not completely concerning.
01:02:17
Speaker
I mean, obviously it's concerning. It has to be, it has to be, it's concerning and has to be addressed in the roster. Can't like look the same next season as it does this season. I just don't like for now, there's nothing there. What's to be done about it, I guess is my point. Like, no, I mean, I think that's fair. I just i just think that it is an absolute total and utter disaster.
01:02:37
Speaker
Like you are, you were legitimately, you are legitimately continuing. You lose Jordan, by the way, which, yes, we've not had him, but you lose him again for a very extended period of time. And then when you're attacking kind of firepower finally comes back 10 minutes, seven minutes, however fucking long it was into the game, gone, done, like it never even happened. And
01:03:09
Speaker
I mean, I think that that's that's disastrous, not only for this season, but moving forward and like what it means for the past seasons, what it means for betting on him, what it means to this club to spend $7 million dollars on a transfer, what it means for all of that. like I think that
01:03:29
Speaker
i just think that that injury, even for Pedro, which... I feel so bad for him. It's just such a disaster. And like, if this club wanted contend for anything this season, this was, I think, a take that we both agreed on. You needed him to not only come back, but be in good form.
01:03:49
Speaker
And...
01:03:52
Speaker
I mean, how do you come back from that? Like now we're hamstrung. He's going to literally hamstrung. ah He's not going to be playing. He's a designated player. He's just going to sit there. We're not going to, we're not going to fill that in this transfer window. Jordan Morris injured. We're not going to fill that in this transfer window. Albert Rusnak. He's gone after this season. We're now in this situation where it's like,
01:04:16
Speaker
It's just, it's, yeah, like I think Gianni's saying it here, and this is kind of what I'm trying to say is hand-waving the injury away, it's belittling how bad the decision was to rely on him coming back to boost our end of the season. And kicking this can down the road continuously has just been so frustrating.
01:04:32
Speaker
And this was their game plan. And it popped at a time in which it legitimately cannot pop because there is nothing left.
01:04:43
Speaker
There is nothing left. And so now we're sat here and it's like, do I think this team can get healthier and can get better? Yes. But how much better? And they have lost...
01:04:55
Speaker
A lot. A lot with losing Pedro de la Vega. Yeah, I'm not i'm not trying i notm trying to hand wave the the decision or like justify how bad a game plan it turned out to be. I guess i guess I'm just resigned to it. like Because we all know that...
01:05:16
Speaker
there it's not it's not like there is a like for like replacement coming in this season and that's its own separate issue and I think I mean at this point we all understand that this team has spent the better part of two years now playing with one DP and it is very hard if not impossible like You can say built, not bought all you want, but at a certain point that does catch up to you. And if you look at the trophy that they won last year, it was in large part because of Pedro de la Vega.
01:05:47
Speaker
So ah it is kind of hard to see the path towards them making a run at any trophies, rocking one DP. It's just, to me, it's more of an issue that like,
01:06:01
Speaker
Yeah, it's definitely worth talking about how the plan backfired and blew up and they're in this situation where they don't have two out of their three DPs. It's just also, ah like I said, I'm resigned to it because that's well like what do what do i What do I gain by crashing out over it at this point, man? like it's that's what it is it is It is what it is.
01:06:23
Speaker
I think it says a lot more about where this team is at in terms of their planning, in terms of um what they're willing to do to win, and it's just not there.
01:06:34
Speaker
like and also that It's just not there. And that's disappointing to me. And like I'm not someone who's going to be like, it's all Craig Weibel and it's all blah, bla blah, blah. I think that it's just a...
01:06:48
Speaker
This is like a, i hope that people and fans and the front office and everyone take this moment as a watershed moment. Because the last seven watershed moments have not been taken.
01:07:02
Speaker
The last, the last, you know, all of these other moments in which we could have had time to reflect and change course. Is it going to be now? Or is it going to continue to get worse? And it's like, I just, I fear that it's going to continue to get worse. And that's why I think that this is a disaster because we always talk about resource allocation.
01:07:21
Speaker
We have to, like what we have, we have to treat so precious because we don't ever know what we're going to get ever again. Right? Like when you get a brand new car, every little scratch is like the end of the world. But if you have a beater who gives a shit and that,
01:07:39
Speaker
Pedro de la Vega was the brand new car, man. And we we drove five we drove five minutes. We pulled out the the parking lot and got fucking T-boned. We pulled out the dealership and got T-boned. And it's like, well, insurance is going to total it, but I can't afford to buy the car again.
01:07:59
Speaker
And it's... um i'm just I'm just disappointed and sad. And, like, I fear that...
01:08:08
Speaker
all of this situation is just going to inform a lot moving forward. And it's, and it's just, it's tragic. Well, and the whole, the whole thing of, cause I like, look, man, injuries can be a fickle random thing, but this whole thing of them getting ah Jordan and Pedro getting injured, doing all the rehab staying on the sidelines, working with the staff, ramping up, getting fit, coming back, and then being unable, like once it comes to getting out there in games, either re-aggravating or having these compensation injuries. We were talking about it last night, but it's like,
01:08:51
Speaker
That is happening to this team more than average. And I say that as somebody who has kind of never known what to make of the conspiracy theories surrounding the injuries on this team and the medical staff and all that stuff, because ah MLS, I think, is a higher rate of injury league inherently There's a ton of injuries in this league for every team. And there's a lot of, yeah. And then there's, there's turf. Maybe, you know, I think a lot of people probably think that factors into what's going on with Seattle, but they've been playing on turf forever. Like, and yeah, maybe, maybe their injury rate has been a little higher than average. I don't know. Someone should run the numbers on that.
01:09:31
Speaker
but this specific issue of ramping up, it's not just ah Jordan and Pedro that this has happened to, by the way, like ah it was more behind the scenes because this guy's just starting to play now. But like Stu Hawks was in a cycle last year where he kept getting so close to being ready to play and then would re aggravate in, in training or whatever. And there, there's other examples too. Like, yeah, yeah, yeah.
01:09:57
Speaker
Why also game are, Yeah. Yeah. Mar exactly, dude. So this, this it's gotten to the point where I can't, I can't hand wave that because there's a lot of injury situations where you could say, man, I don't know. It's is's like, maybe it's just bad luck, you know, maybe or maybe what James was talking about of like, when you invest in players with injury histories, you make yourself more susceptible to this, but I don't know. I feel like there's gotta be more. There's gotta be, there's something, i feel like I'm taking crazy pills with how,
01:10:30
Speaker
This keeps happening over and over. What's going on? to, yeah you know what I got to do, man? I got to like find a hamstring doctor to come on the show and like explain to us what's going on. Cause this is like,
01:10:41
Speaker
how does it How does it keep happening, man? I don't know. I'm just venting at this point. but It's just, yeah, no, it's it's awesome to have a a league in which you are required by law to spend $0, and you have three roster positions in which you're allowed to spend as much money as possible.
01:10:59
Speaker
And... They just don't do that. Like, they just don't do... Like, yeah like even Pedro de la Vega, again, was a DP because of his transfer fee, wasn't because of his salary, you know, whatever.
01:11:14
Speaker
And then even when, let's say you use the position and you don't love it, at least they'll play. Well, guess what? They don't play, even in the roster position that they're occupying. And it's just like, man, what what is happening?
01:11:25
Speaker
What is happening? Why? Why? Why? Where are we? What is happening? I what i don't know. what god what What hamstring- Legitimately spiraling me into psychosis. What hamstring god have we forsaken to to be in this type of situation? Muscle injury FC, I guess. Yeah. Hamstring FC. yeah All right, Noah, ah let's ah let's wrap it up with some talk about the League's Cup Phase 1 so far. There was a couple notable results last night. I mean, I can report to you guys that, ah you know, what did ah what did I tell you guys about the ah about the ah Portland Timbs? What did I tell you? They've been they've been flying high.
01:12:05
Speaker
they've been flying close to the sun there. They, they think that they're, that they're cooking. They think that they're onto something, which for all we know, they, they might've been. And honestly, I'm not even here to like chirp them after, ah after you went, after you sweep the season series against your rivals by a combined score of seven to two I believe they can, frankly, they can, they can chirp us. They can trip Seattle as much as they want. I don't, I really don't think anyone can really say anything, but I did say that,
01:12:36
Speaker
when push comes to shove and when they have to show if they're actually about it, we're going to, we're going to find out, we're going find out what's going on with the, ah with the Portland Timbs and, you know, lo and behold, they're playing club America. That's that, that was a match to me where it's like, all right, let's see if these guys are for real. You know, that's it. I know club America is maybe not what they used to be, but they're still one of the biggest teams in Mexico. They have, they have a bigger fan base in the United States than any um MLS team that's And you saw that at Providence park last night, their fans packed the stadium, their fans packed stadiums in the U S like pretty much no one else. So that was kind of cool. But anyway, the Timbs lost three to one. So hey at least they scored a goal.
01:13:16
Speaker
They did score a goal and it was one, one in the like 20th minute or whatever, but it was Rodriguez. Bamming on them is pretty fire.
01:13:26
Speaker
That was just, a I think, a confirmation of what I suspected was going on, which was a little bit of smoke and mirrors. But hey, you know, maybe i don't want to like ah say that I've dug their grave either. I'm just saying like that to me, that's like a sign of like, OK, OK.
01:13:44
Speaker
Are you who I thought you were? I think, ah I think you might be. So I thought that was the, that was the most notable result from last night, in my opinion, but you did have ah the Philly. What's it like have a DP that will play 90 minutes after immediately transferring in someone like David DeCosta. What's that like? You think?
01:14:02
Speaker
yeah Oh man. Yeah. I don't know, but ah they had David DaCosta and Christopher Velda and Kevin Kelsey, who I think are all three of their, their DPs. If I'm not mistaken, is Kevin Kelsey DP?
01:14:15
Speaker
I don't know, but they had them all out there and they still got all their guys out there and still got three ones. So that's, that's where things stand for them. anti adp i don't know. Who cares? ah the The fighting Kevin Sullivan's ah be Danny Leva's Nekoxa three to one. And ah Kevin looked good. I watched a lot of that game. he had a goal and an assist.
01:14:37
Speaker
What did we say? What did we say? We said, why in the world? Bradley Carnell are you not playing this kid you are bungling his development in fact we had sources that were like what the hell are they doing yeah like they are legitimately ruining this kid's and the interim coach is like fuck it I don't care I'll put him out there and look what's happening he's fuck what's happening again Lobbing Scorchers vindicated on all accounts we were trying to tell you that this kid is good So not, not based off like a impressive scouting or anything. That's just what every, every youth scout or a guy who knows about this stuff was, we were just parroting what they were saying. But it turns out there was actually something ah to that. And also they were, that was weird. Cause they were the worst team in the league when they refused. like yeah um something like What are we doing?
01:15:29
Speaker
um ah Bob Lewandowski with another goal ah for a, Bob Louie, Bob Louie scored for Chicago. I still don't like that signing when you give up Hugo Kuypers. I don't care about like, I legitimately, I get it. Can I devils advocate that? Can I devils advocate that? ah Outside of the Bob Louie thing, ah selling high on Kuypers actually, I think is ah potentially, it could, it could, that could age well. He was, he was, he had, he was leading the golden boot.
01:15:59
Speaker
race but it it was it could have been a type of thing where he was you know like like like a ah ah moose situation i know i realize kipers is a lot more pedigree than moose but like remember everyone was advocating sell high when he's at the peak of his uh his value maybe they figured they know something about kipers that other people uh other people don't that's the only reason i can think of why you would do that I just, i don't know.
MLS Signings: Youth vs Experience
01:16:27
Speaker
i don't love it. I mean, we'll see how it all plays out. He's a lot younger and he's already bamming goals for CF Monterey. So I think that was just something I was thinking of like, you know, why would you do that for a 70 or 70 year old, 37 year old? Yeah. In soccer years, he's basically 70 year old. Why would you do that for a 37 year old?
01:16:46
Speaker
You get so few opportunities to have good young strikers in MLS. God forbid they're leading the golden boot. I just... Oh, man, i would take I would have taken Hugo Kuypers on the Sounders all Yeah, okay, well, that was never going happen, Ari, because why would you have not much ambition? i know. um It's, yeah, we would have to... And look at us. were're ah we're We're ambition discoursing now, man. we we We would have to cash and that's not all we are. but i im i'm nots I mean, listen, Lewandowski's an incredible player. I'm sure he will score a bajillion goals in MLS, but again...
01:17:21
Speaker
I look at what's the long-term Chicago fire have been in this constant churn of just like almost being there, like just so close, almost being there.
01:17:33
Speaker
And it finally felt like a guy who had given it all to Chicago and Kuypers through the shit, through all the shit, he was there and cared.
01:17:43
Speaker
They were like, Sorry, we got Unk. Unk's coming in now, so you got to get that out of here. Yeah, I don't know. This is not based on anything. I just have a... I just have a feeling there's something going on there that we're like not seeing or that they, maybe, maybe there was like some sort of disagreement or I don't know. think they just had the opportunity to sign Lewandowski and they took it. And guess what? At 36, he was insane playing for, he was at Barcelona, right? or Yeah. No, he's still, he's still yeah like, yes, duh.
01:18:16
Speaker
You're going to, if you have an opportunity to do it, you're going to do it. But like, I just, I still, again, I don't know. It it felt like a very old school um MLS move to be like, yeah, we're going to ship off this like fucking really good. the difference is they have, ah they have good infrastructure now. It's not like the whole team is a mess and then you're dropping. and just me They were my, they were my cup pick. They were my MLS cup pick. And like, I guess they still can be, but.
01:18:41
Speaker
I would not, i would not waver off that based on Lewandowski replacing Kuypers. I think like, yeah, I think when we're talking about their long-term planning, ah Lewandowski is 37, but for this year, he looks nails so far. So like, and they've got pumpernickel and yeah. He's hella good. Yeah.
01:19:01
Speaker
And they actually can like defend and hold leads. Now they're like a real team. Greg Berhalter is a good coach. So and chris Brady is good. chris Brady is good. they got the Chicago fire gun. I got it going on. And like the thing about Lewandowski too, is he gives me a lot of like, uh,
01:19:19
Speaker
Tommy Mule, Thomas Miller vibes. Like he he is not going there to do the vacation retirement tour thing. Like, you you know how locked in Thomas Mueller is. You know how every time you watch him play for the Whitecaps, it looks like for the Whitecaps.
01:19:34
Speaker
I swear to God, Thomas Miller plays harder for the Vancouver Whitecaps than he ever did for, uh, Bayern Munich. like i watch Watch a Whitecaps game and you'll see what I mean, dude. like he is i saw I watched that man play. It was like Cavalry FC in the Canadian Championship the other day. Thomas Mueller is going out there. There's like a high school track around the field. It's a CPL opponent. And I was like, this is going to be the the tell of how much Tommy Mueller really cares about this. I've never seen anyone more locked in than Thomas Mueller playing Cavalry FC in the Canadian Championship. He was absolutely...
01:20:10
Speaker
he couldn't have been more about it and i i get similar vibes from uh from lewandowski here come the the pronunciation police bro dosky the live stream you're never ever going to be happy at all ever with anything we ever pronounce how do you say it how do you say it i don't know i'm not german or whatever i'm polish not polish Polish? my god, whatever. i
Xavier Gozo's Transfer and MLS Talent Development
01:20:34
Speaker
think ah that's a good place to ah wrap it for this morning, Noah. Can we get quickly the Gozo transfer? it's joe yeah, no yeah.
01:20:43
Speaker
Obviously, for those who don't know, Xavier Gozo is going to Crystal Palace allegedly for $15 million. dollars I wanted to ask you this question quickly and then we can get out of here. yeah um Is this the fastest ascension to stardom in MLS history?
01:21:03
Speaker
And do you think he will be successful at Crystal Palace? He only made 50 first-team appearances for ah RSL total. I think second fastest ascent I've seen in MLS, I would still put Alphonso Davies the top there. But the fact that he's in that conversation and that his rise is as rapid and similar as Alphonso Davies, I think that tells you a lot about ah how good he is. And I think he is going to be successful, man. I've watched him play a lot this year. We watch we have watched, you and I both watched a fair amount of Real Salt Lake.
01:21:35
Speaker
I think he's the real deal. And he reminds me, he reminds me a lot of Davies. He's electric. He's got electric physical talent. Uh, he seems like a really like just cool kid, you know, cool customer got a good head on his shoulders.
01:21:53
Speaker
Uh, I think he, think he's class. I think he's world-class and we're going to see that. I think 15 million is going to be a great investment for crystal palace. So it that shouldn't be a surprise. I'm a gozo head, but, uh,
01:22:06
Speaker
I think that I like the skills I think that we saw from him this year, that stuff plays in any league. I really think so. i don't know where you at on it. No, I agree. I mean, and I've been up, but we've both been up on Gozo a lot this year. um i think that it is it's awesome to see a young MLS player getting recognized and getting moved. I mean, I think it just continues to show that this league is able to develop legitimate world-class players, players, and and also that leagues are now looking MLS to with the same value that they are looking at other, you know, South American um and Central American teams.
01:22:46
Speaker
That's amazing. That's huge. That's a huge move for the league. And while it is sad to see a lot of our young talent exported so quickly when we were for a long time able to enjoy them in major league soccer. And that, that is something that made us, you know, very excited. Yeah.
01:23:03
Speaker
It's awesome, man. I think he's going to be the real deal. And that's great for him. And it's great for the U.S. Men's National Team. And it's great for all of that kind of stuff. I still think they should have brought him to the World Cup. They really should have, man. That's a whole other situation. And, um I mean, we've been gozo heads for going on a year now. And um I'm excited for him.
01:23:25
Speaker
this is He always said he wanted to move. to Europe and I mean is Crystal Palace going to win anything maybe maybe not but teaming up with a Chris Richards shout out yeah which we we're we're both Chris Richards heads so it'll be i Chris Richards head after after the World Cup for sure yeah so it'll be cool it'll be great I'm i'm excited for him and um let me get some 15 million let me get 15 million for a young player can we do that is that allowed we're only allowed to get like 2 million
01:23:56
Speaker
and some change for our best ever young player.
01:24:03
Speaker
Congrats to Gozo. Good job by a ah RSL. It does suck to see two guys two guys that we've been ah like Sebastian Berhalter and Gozo. That's like LS lore right there. So to see both of those guys go is kind of tough for us ah on our show, but it's good for them and good for their clubs.
01:24:23
Speaker
so uh all right no let's call it on that good stuff thank you for tapping in running co-host duty uh thank you all for tuning in toss a sub lobbing scorchers.com more content on the way this week it's gonna be good stuff you're not gonna want to miss out it's the best way to support the show right now also like the video uh follow it write us two reviews on spotify was that the yes reviews on spotify Two reviews on Spotify from 100. know a lot of you have not written us reviews on Spotify. for Who writes Spotify reviews? Apparently almost 100 people. are It's really easy. Oh, okay. So it's just a star that you don't need to like write. You can write a review. Two five-star reviews, please. and
01:25:06
Speaker
yeah We will be ah back at it this week. League's Cup coverage. The grind don't stop. but Until then, we out. Appreciate you all. i Love you all. Peace. Bye.