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Under The Lights: The Josh Atencio Revenge Game w/ Mark Asher Goodman
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In a re-scheduled Wednesday night edition of Under the Lights, the Mark Asher Goodman (aka the Soccer Rabbi) of Holding the High Line joins the show to preview Seattle's Matchday 10 matchup at Colorado. Subscribe to the Holding the Highline substack: https://holdingthehighline.com/
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Lobbing Scorchers is a Seattle Sounders and MLS focused show brought to you by Sounder at Heart. Hosted by Major League Soccer's Ari Liljenwall and Producer Noah Riffe. Join us as we lob our scorching takes on the American soccer landscape, Seattle Sounders, Major League Soccer, USMNT and more.
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Transcript
Introduction and Streaming Info
00:00:00
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.
00:00:22
Speaker
Well sir, we got a scorcher today. Gonna be real scorcher today. Why the scorcher today? Well it's gonna be a scorcher.
Seattle Sounders vs. Colorado Rapids Preview
00:00:43
Speaker
Good evening, everybody, and welcome in to a special rescheduled Wednesday night edition of Lobbing Scorchers Under the Lights. Got a great show for you all planned this evening. We're going be talking about the Seattle Sounders coming off their biggest win of the season and looking ahead to this weekend's matchup against the Colorado Rapids.
00:01:03
Speaker
ah Transfer... window closed today. There's some, some movement around the league. Going to talk about that later on. ah We're going to hit some Brian Schmetzer sound. We're going to hit some Stefan Fry sound.
00:01:13
Speaker
So appreciate everyone accommodating the schedule changes for a good reason. The reason that I'm doing this on Wednesday is because I'm working CCC tomorrow night, inter Miami versus Vancouver whitecaps.
00:01:27
Speaker
So I'm going to talk about that game later as well. Going to be a jam packed show. Um, Before we do all that, I did want to ah thank our new YouTube members. We have three new YouTube members. Shout out to Jake Klein, John, no last name, and Corey Watterson. Thank you all so much for becoming YouTube members, getting access to all the bonus content that we've been doing that people seem to be enjoying. So if you want to support the show, that's a great way to do that. Also,
00:01:55
Speaker
Like the video, get us in the algorithm, subscribe to the channel, like, comment, subscribe, rate five stars, review it, tell your friends, all that good stuff.
00:02:07
Speaker
um But the first order of business tonight is going to be previewing Seattle's upcoming opposition, the Colorado Rapids.
Guest Introduction: Mark Asher Goodman, the Soccer Rabbi
00:02:17
Speaker
And to do so, got another special guest that I'm very excited to welcome to the show here tonight.
00:02:23
Speaker
We have got Mark Asher Goodman, a.k.a. the soccer rabbi of holding the high line. He does great work sweating the Colorado Rapids coverage all year long.
00:02:36
Speaker
Mark, thank you so much for joining the show tonight, and thank you for staying up late. I know you're based on the East Coast, so appreciate you doing this late night MLS session talking Sounders Rapids. How are you doing this evening?
00:02:48
Speaker
Yeah, I'm good. You know, long day at work, you know, kicking it in the salt mines as a as a ah working rabbi um when I'm not covering the Colorado Rapids. We do our podcast usually on Tuesday nights, so it worked out really good.
00:03:02
Speaker
um And we did our little preview of Seattle. And, um you know, I'm not going to waste your time finding out what you think of your team, but it's a pretty, it's a, it's a pretty interesting year you guys are having. Yeah, no, you can ah absolutely at any point if you got questions about the Sounders, feel free to hit me. But, ah well, I'm excited to ah dig into this game with you and talk to you. You know, we followed yeah each other on Twitter for and like a decade for like a decade. And I've never actually gotten top You have a baby face, so you must have been 12 when you started following me.
00:03:31
Speaker
you know i i was probably. yeah ill look you still man. I appreciate that. um But ah excited to talk about the Colorado Rapids with you. But before we get into this game, I do. I did want to ask you, you know I've never gotten the backstory as a fellow Jew. I would like to know, ah how does one ah come across the moniker of the the soccer rabbi? rabbi What can share about the backstory how that came about?
Mark's Journey and Humor
00:04:00
Speaker
Yeah, I don't know if it's the world's most interesting story, but, you know, I'm full When you're a rabbi, you tell whatever story is available, because I am just spitting words, like, five nights a week.
00:04:11
Speaker
ah So, i started off on Twitter, I think, 13 years ago, and... um The first account I made was for work and for like, you know, politics and religion and all that stuff. And then very quickly, ah realized that a second persona that only handled sports was a good idea. So it was very alliterative to be the Rapids rabbi. And that was a no big deal.
00:04:34
Speaker
And then seven years ago, we left Colorado and I moved to Pittsburgh. And when I moved to Pittsburgh, I immediately hooked up with the local USL website, which is called Pittsburgh Soccer Now.
00:04:45
Speaker
And at that point, Rapids Rabbi didn't make a whole lot of sense anymore. And right around the same time, there was a Twitter handle for a guy who was the soccer rabbi.
Colorado Rapids' Moneyball Approach
00:04:56
Speaker
And the soccer rabbi ah was, um it was a little bit of a funny ah handle because the guy was an assistant coach.
00:05:07
Speaker
He's a Jewish guy whose name I forget. Unfortunately, he was an assistant coach for Phoenix rising. And um he changed his handle all, ah all of a sudden he was like, I think he decided it was unprofessional.
00:05:20
Speaker
and a little bit i think he'd probably gotten a bunch of people reaching out and asking if they could do his bar mitzvah and he's like i'm not actually a rabbi you know like i'm a soccer guy and i'm jewish i thought it was a funny name and so he dumped the handle and i just moved to pittsburgh and i went oh you know i kind of need to rebrand anyway so i changed my handle to soccer rabbi and and that's the history now the the quick other funny story is last year i did i usually do Since I live in Pittsburgh and I cover the Rapids, I don't have an MLS team in town. So I have to travel to see the Rapids anyways, which is kind of cool. It means, you know, you slap down $500 and you can go anywhere in the continental United States or Canada to go see your team. You're always an away fan, right? And sometimes I go to Colorado, but sometimes I go somewhere else.
00:06:03
Speaker
Last year, i was in L.A., which is where I was born and raised. And I took my dad and my son to a Galaxy game. And the Galaxy guys, a couple of the guys from a couple of the supporters groups were like, oh, you have to come by the tailgate. We've been following you for a really long time.
00:06:17
Speaker
Be so cool to meet you. We'll hook you up. And they did. They hooked me up with beers and tacos. And it was really, really nice. Like, you know, the ah MLS traveling scene, like people take good care of you if you're hooked up.
00:06:28
Speaker
So I was hanging out and there was this guy who was ripped. I mean, he was like six beers in. And he was like, oh, my God, I love you on Twitter. You're so awesome. And he started to tell me these stories about like things that I had said on Twitter.
00:06:41
Speaker
And the funny thing, it was the first thing he said. And I said,
Rapids' Management and Strategy
00:06:44
Speaker
ah kind of like furrowed my brow and just said to myself, I don't think I said that on Twitter. And then he said something else like five minutes later. And I went, I definitely didn't say that on Twitter.
00:06:53
Speaker
And I absolutely know who it was. There is another guy who is the sports rabbi. and he is also a rabbi. He's an Orthodox rabbi who lives in israel And he mostly covers Jerusalem and Tel Aviv basketball, but he also the soccer league in Israel a little bit, but he's not me. And I'm not, this guy who was drunk a tailgate was like, Oh my God, I love your stuff.
00:07:18
Speaker
And I had to figure, I had to be very politely just kind of like, Oh yeah, thanks. And it wasn't me. So. that that's awesome i love that backstory as many ah as many jews as we can get in uh mls media i'm all for it and uh you and yeah the last the last guest podcast i did was with dave goss who also is a fellow member of the tribe yeah yeah he is goss a lovely guy and ben bear who used to do um uh whatchamacallit um He used to be my boss, actually.
00:07:46
Speaker
Ben Bear? Yeah. Oh, wow. Yeah, so he also is a is a is a Hebrew, a Red Sea pedestrian, as we like to call ourselves. So yeah, been it's been a good time. It's good people. ah you and You and Matt Pollard do great work with ah holding the high line. Anytime I need Rapids takes or or news, you guys are are where I go. So ah excited to talk about this game with you.
00:08:09
Speaker
It's coming at an interesting time in the season for Seattle, like you mentioned. They have had a kind of, it's been like
Challenges and Opportunities for the Rapids
00:08:15
Speaker
an up and down start to the season out here, off a huge win against Nashville, looking to keep the momentum going. ah Mark,
00:08:22
Speaker
The first thing that I've been doing on these shows where I've been trying I've been trying to find guests for every opposition, upcoming opposition that Seattle has. And the first thing that I do is I like to give my outsider take on the the club in the team as just like a neutral observer.
00:08:37
Speaker
And then ah you can tell me if the way I perceive it from the outside is aligns with how you see it on the on the day to day following the team every single day. Yeah, I love that. That's great.
00:08:48
Speaker
So ah here's my take ah Colorado Rapids and you know usually I go more of an on field analysis with this like their recent form they're good players and we'll we'll get to all that, but I wanted to look at it ask about it from a little bit of a broader lens.
00:09:05
Speaker
um and kind of talk about the Rapids as a club a little more holistically before we get into the game. When I think about the Colorado Rapids, I i think about a club that has had on-field results that are respectable, if not amazing, throughout their history.
00:09:23
Speaker
ah They had that MLS Cup early in the 2010s. It seems like there have been periods of time where they've been a playoff contender or club that finishes up near the top of the West table.
00:09:35
Speaker
They made the West final in 2016. I'll never forget that because I was at the game, the Jordan Morris flu game, and they've had a, they won the West a couple of years ago. So there's been decent periods of success for the Rapids. um But I feel like it seems like there's always this prevailing feeling, ah whether it's related to ownership or something else, that there's this kind of gap between them becoming a really strong,
00:10:01
Speaker
like going from a good respectable team to an elite team and really competing with the upper tier clubs in the West. And like, and I think the perception at least is that ownership has a little bit, not necessarily their top priority, right? Like they have like five different things.
00:10:21
Speaker
ah So that's sort of how I think of the Rapids from the outside. Would you agree with that ah analysis? Yeah. Pretty much. I mean, so ah Stan Kroenke and his son Josh Kroenke own the Rapids.
00:10:33
Speaker
The complicated thing about this, which is a really interesting debate that you could have, is, you know, Stan Kroenke owns the LA Rams and Arsenal Football Club and the Nuggets and um the ah Avalanche.
00:10:47
Speaker
And so he has the experience of spending obscene amounts of money for high-end teams and high-end
Rapids' Stadium and Market Challenges
00:10:54
Speaker
talent. And then he also owns a lacrosse team and an MLS team. And we joke about the fact that we're not entirely aware.
00:11:01
Speaker
We're not entirely sure that Stan Kroenke knows that he owns an MLS team. and And that is ah fundamental problem. um A second fundamental problem with the way we've often talked about KFC as an entity is we think they like...
00:11:17
Speaker
to own an asset and maintain it at the minimal level so that appreciates in value right it's like owning a house right uh that you hope to sell in 15 years but you don't really want to live in so you don't need a jacuzzi and if the steps in the back are kind of broken you don't really care because i don't use them anyways so every couple of years you slap some paint on the outside and hope the neighbors don't complain Right. And that's kind of the Colorado Rapids. They're just not they're not a high priority, high spend need.
00:11:48
Speaker
The other thing is because they built their stadium in 2007 in the suburbs, it's not a downtown stadium because they're an MLS original team from MLS 1.0. And because they kind of haven't really made any significant upgrades since the MLS 2.0 era.
00:12:06
Speaker
They don't have kind of the cool sex appeal of any of the other cool teams in MLS. um LAFC, Seattle Sounders, Atlanta United, and NYFC,
Academy Success and Player Development
00:12:19
Speaker
NYCFC. Like, we just don't have the cool cachet.
00:12:22
Speaker
And so the stadium holds 15,000. You know, early spring before kids are, like, out of school and the weather's good, you can regularly see, like, 9,000 people in the stands, um although they'll list it as 12.
00:12:38
Speaker
um It's hard to compete at that level. They've never until MLS went to the wraparound Apple deal. Their TV deals were awful. um They were one of the last teams in the league to have a front of kit sponsor.
00:12:51
Speaker
So they've always been kind of like a small market team in the league. Their management have been really good. I mean, they use high end analytics. Pork Smith was the GM. Now he's the president.
00:13:03
Speaker
He's good. I think he's good. He's great. And the former assistant GM was a guy I did a phenomenal interview with a number of years ago for American soccer analysis named Fran Taylor. He's the. sporting director now the dude just absolutely has been using advanced metrics and math and the highest level data science to analyze players on opposing teams on ah prospective players that they want to sign on current players they're just ah as far ahead on the curve as they possibly can while also playing money ball so they've basically been we've been calling them the money ball rapids for almost eight years now since um poor came in as the manager
00:13:41
Speaker
They get a lot done, but ultimately, you know, the famous line from Billy Bean is, you know, my system works in the playoffs. And then when you get to the playoffs, yeah expletive, expletive, expletive, like you just don't know.
00:13:55
Speaker
And that's kind of how the Rapids are, which is they're probably not good enough with high enough end DP talent to do anything in the playoffs, but they they're built to kind of like sneak into the playoffs and or not sneak into the playoffs every single year. And that's the book on Colorado. And it's been the book on Colorado for years, 10 years now. And I've been covering the team for 10 years.
Current Rapids Roster Analysis
00:14:16
Speaker
Yeah, see, on one level, that's impressive that they've managed to stay as consistently competitive as they have, ah given all those things that you just mentioned. On another level, I think it's unfortunate, because, you know, I've been to Dick's Sporting Goods Park a few times now. I went and for when it was, ah they had a game on the 4th of July, like a long time ago. Sure, they actually have a 4th of July game, and they're the only one of the only teams in MLS who get who get the got the league to guarantee them a 4th of July game since...
00:14:44
Speaker
Since 1996, they've never not had 4th of July. It's crazy. Yeah, and there's there seems to be like a genuine appetite and enthusiasm for the game like in Denver. And you kind of you wish they would ah maybe spend a little more, not be the Moneyball Rapids, and capitalize that more than they have.
00:15:04
Speaker
But I think you do have to acknowledge that... ah ah like Pedrag is that Pedrag Smith is that his name ah yeah it's pronounced Porrick because it's Irish oh Porrick okay but you're good you like he honestly i mean i never knew that in depth about how much he uses analytics and how much he really like finagles it like that but he was he's good He was the FIFA financial fair play compliance officer in ah ah based out of Ireland before he came to the Rapids. And Fran was in the data analytics um department of Arsenal.
00:15:36
Speaker
And he I think they met at some sort of thing. And when Pork moved to the Rapids, he kind of went over to Arsenal. He's like, hey, you got one of these guys and like the 12th guy on your analytics staff. Can I have him? And they were like, sure. And so they moved him over.
00:15:50
Speaker
But, um yeah, they're they're both really smart guys. And then on top of that, the director of development, I think he's changed titles recently. Brian Crookham has been there for 15 years. And the one thing that the Rapids have that probably is better than, you know, almost all the Cascadia teams, except maybe Vancouver,
00:16:07
Speaker
um there aren't too many teams in the league who have, um, the system that the Rapids have, except maybe the galaxy, which is a phenomenal, um, soccer Academy system. You know, the Rapids spent money on their Academy before it was cool.
00:16:23
Speaker
And also the other high end, um, so-called travel teams in Colorado are really, really good. I mean, I live in Pittsburgh and I've been following club soccer and high school soccer in Pittsburgh, and it's like levels below where they're at in Colorado. And the Rapids will churn out um one or two high-end homegrown players who are ready to join the team almost every year.
00:16:49
Speaker
And it's a remarkable thing, which helps the money ball aspect because the the HGP program and caught in in MLS is among the best in the world.
00:17:00
Speaker
There are so many advantages to developing your own players. Cole Bassett and Ali Liraz, the Rapids second and third goalkeepers are all homegrowns. And basically that means financially for guys like Josh and Stan Kroenke, they're free.
00:17:14
Speaker
And those guys love, you know, cheap players. And then, you know, both Cole and Sam Vines um have been flipped to Europe for money and then got flipped back, you know, when it didn't work out. So, you know, it's it's all profit to KSC and they've they're thrilled with it. And so if you can do that, and they have for the last couple of years, it's it's been, it keeps the team kind of mid table, which is, you know, pretty pretty decent. i'm i am I'm not looking at gift horse in the mouth. I don't think this team...
00:17:45
Speaker
net generally deserves based on the money they spend to be any higher than 12th or 11th in the table. The fact that they regularly finish between seven and five, you know, I'd love an MLS club, but I'll take it.
00:17:56
Speaker
Yeah, that's fair enough. That's interesting. ah Mark, we got a question from, ah from ah our chat for you. Actually Zippy tuna with the $5 super chat. Thank you so much for the support. yeah Says I'll be at the game on Saturday. What should a visiting fan do around a Rapids game? Thanks for the great coverage. All thank you. Zippy tuna.
00:18:14
Speaker
ah You got two good options. One is to head downtown and go to one of the Rapids bars. I forget which ones C-38 is doing bus service to, but people will roll into the bar around, you you know, noon one or two, have a couple of drinks, watch some of the European games.
00:18:32
Speaker
Then they'll hop on the bus, have a few more drinks and show up at Dick's. um The other thing is ah visiting fans at the C-38 tailgate. C-38 is the one supporters group the Rapids have. um The history of that very quickly is there were like four or five small supporters groups and they, um with the team's help, they kind of like joined and changed names and became Centennial 38.
Game Day Experiences and Fan Culture
00:18:54
Speaker
The name is, of course, because the state of Colorado was the 38th state and it was ah founded it in 1876, 100 years after the founding of the United States. So C38 has a great tailgate.
00:19:06
Speaker
I think it's $9.00. And it's all you can drink and all you can eat, which is insane. It's on the south side of the stadium. They usually kick off. If the game is at 730, the tailgate starts at like 430. I went to the one this year before the CONCACAF Champions Cup match against LAFC.
00:19:27
Speaker
It was the third coldest game Major League Soccer history. um That's the second time I've been to the coldest game in Major League Soccer history. i am an idiot. Was that the one where it like snowing?
00:19:39
Speaker
I went to one where it was snowing. This one, it was not snowing. it was just really cold. And I was, I shoot all the photography for our website and for our blog, ah for for our Substack. um I basically try and shoot all of it for the year, all in one game that I'm at.
00:19:55
Speaker
And so I was shooting everything. And I i got really good shots of LAFC coming out of the tunnel. And the look on the face of Hugo Lloris and Olivier Giroux,
00:20:05
Speaker
when they walked out into that six degree Colorado winter with a little bit of wind chill, they looked horrified. They were like, put me back on a plane to France.
00:20:17
Speaker
They looked so unhappy. It was really, it was that the look on their face was kind of worth it. I love a good reality check for players like that. Like, you know, you think you're going to l LA, Hollywood beach vacation. No, you're going to commerce city, freaking Colorado, and you're going to play in six degree weather and you're going to. Yeah.
00:20:34
Speaker
The last time of that game happened, it was ah the the last year I lived in Colorado, 2017. The Rapids played because they because they made it to the Western Conference championship in 2016 against Seattle Sounders.
00:20:46
Speaker
And um they played Toronto in the first round. And and that was also miserable, miserable game. In both games, by the way, fans, ah players kind of vaguely or overtly complained that the game should have never been played because the conditions were too bad and dangerous. i was going to say, like, I went to Toronto both times. Seattle played an MLS Cup there.
00:21:08
Speaker
And, it like, my take has always been it was like – It was inhumane. It was more of a survival test than a soccer game. But, you know, I don't get sometimes. So I was ah so my day job as a rabbi, I am a pulpit rabbi now. I have a synagogue here in Pittsburgh. but But in Colorado, I was a school rabbi. I worked at the Jewish day school and I was a big booster of our boys and girls soccer teams and our boys and girls basketball teams in Colorado when it snows.
00:21:35
Speaker
every high school soccer player knows the drill, which is the kids all grab shovels and they shovel the lines because then you know where the lines are and you kick the ball in the snow and that's it. That's
Player and Coaching Evaluations
00:21:47
Speaker
how you play. And you just, you know, you, you run, you wear two pairs of socks, you run in into the half, you warm up and you go out and you do it for 40 more minutes. And that's how it is.
00:21:54
Speaker
Like, that's one of the great things about Colorado soccer, which is the kids are tough. They are just absolutely Cole Bassett and Ali LaRoz, they They complained a little because I heard him yelling on the field.
00:22:06
Speaker
But, like, they grew up this way. This is just how it is. And I love that. Yeah, no, it's great. um All right, Mark, let's get into ah this game itself a little bit. um And the first thing I have to ask you about, because I know everyone who's ah who's watching right now is going to want to know, we need the Josh Atencio update. Obviously, these two teams made a pretty big trade over the offseason. Josh Atencio, homegrown player for Seattle, went to the Rapids for, I think it was $1.3 million in conditional games. So a pretty big interleague trade.
00:22:38
Speaker
And I think... The reaction here was i think a lot of people were sad to see Josh Atencio go. He grew up here. He came up through Seattle's Youth Academy. He broke through with the first team. He had some really genuinely good stretches of play for the first team.
00:22:53
Speaker
He got his first MLS goal, which was a banger. So he really came of age here. And I think the fan base, he had endeared himself to the fan base. All the homegrown guys that come up and break through like that.
00:23:03
Speaker
uh do but i think he he and obed vargas really really did so uh i think people got it because it was a big sum of money for the most part but for the most part people got it but definitely sad to see him go so what can you tell us about how josh has uh fit in with the rapids so far i know he's starting week in week out which is what i wanted to see him get the opportunity to do but what do you make of him as a player and for just his future as a colorado rapid coming there from seattle So knowing the formation the Rapids have been playing at the beginning of the season and now is is useful in this conversation.
00:23:38
Speaker
The beginning of the season, the Rapids rolled out the same ah formation they were in last year, which is a 4-2-3-1. So double pivot, two defensive midfielders. And last year, their most successful way of doing that was Ali LaRoz and Cole Bassett. And Cole Bassett's a bit more of a natural eight. He's more of a shuttler, box-to-box midfield kind of guy, can kind of do everything. And he's a bit offensively minded.
00:24:01
Speaker
Cole Bassett is kind of famous in MLS last year. And every ah broadcast, you would hear the broadcasters say, Cole Bassett has run the most miles of any player in Major League Soccer. Like, the dude just has a motor.
00:24:13
Speaker
um that won't quit the challenge was that the rapids had rumored to be going to some other formation and there was talk about it being a three four three or a five two two one um and then ultimately what it turned out to be which was i think a surprise to almost all the pundits is a four four two that's really more of a four two two two which was something that if you're a real nerd in soccer you know that um Red Bull International, all three of the major Red Bull teams were running about four or five years ago.
00:24:46
Speaker
It kind of looks like an empty bucket 4-4-2 where there's two defensive midfielders, but those two deep-lying midfielders have a lot of responsibility. They're kind of, they could be a little bit more box-to-box. They can sometimes kind of work out to the wings while the the two front midfielders kind of pinch in.
00:25:02
Speaker
I think what the Rapids thought was Atencio was an undervalued asset for Seattle. He was coming off the bench a lot. He wasn't starting as much as he could. The Rapids were going to rate him higher.
00:25:13
Speaker
And the problem that Colorado had was they basically chucked in the offseason everybody who was a natural winger except Kevin Cabral, whose contract was unmovable.
00:25:24
Speaker
And then they moved their team into, and then they just stacked central midfielders. They went out and got Atencio. ah They went ah out and got Ted Kudipietro from DC United.
00:25:35
Speaker
They already had Ali LaRoz, Cole Bassett, Georgi Mihailovic, and... and ah um Connor Ronan. And so I just named six central midfielders, all of whom are supposed to start.
00:25:51
Speaker
And the question was, what the hell are they doing? um And the answer was basically that they were reformulating the midfield around central midfielders and central midfielders who are kind of Capable of doing everything guys who could be a six, but if you needed, they could be an eight.
00:26:09
Speaker
The only guys on that roster on that list of of the six midfield, as I mentioned, who are properly a natural 10 is Georgi Mihailovic. Everybody else is like a six or an eight. It's a little bit, the four, two, two, two kind of plays a little bit like total football.
00:26:23
Speaker
They make little triangles. They press in spots. They're running a lot. They have to provide defense a lot. They're they're, they They move into transition from defense to offense very quickly.
00:26:37
Speaker
And I think what they saw in Josh Atencio was a guy who possessed the ball very well. He received
Zach Steffen's Goalkeeping Impact
00:26:43
Speaker
the ball very well. um He was neat and clean and he was pretty dangerous in the tackle. He was a reliable defender.
00:26:52
Speaker
And I think they thought, well, this is an upgrade over Connor Ronan or Ali Liraz. And so Ronan wound up starting the season with a series of injuries. They had no choice but to go with LaRoz.
00:27:04
Speaker
And so it's been LaRoz and Atencio. LaRoz has been the pit bull kind of running around causing mayhem. And Atencio has been the kind of safety, you know, deep line guy. And he's mostly done the job. i My only complaint about Atencio is...
00:27:19
Speaker
I think both statistically and in terms of just the eye test, his ability to create dangerous progressive passes or progressive dribbles is a little underwhelming.
00:27:30
Speaker
And I think that that bodes poorly for whether he winds up staying, you know, like I mentioned, there's six midfielders for four positions and, And Ted Cudipietro started the season with a shoulder injury that required surgery, and then he was recovering from that.
00:27:45
Speaker
So I think Atencio might go to the bench if he can't start to develop one of those dimensions and become more of an offensive threat. That being said, right now, he's the most um reliable lockdown defensive D-mid the Rapids have.
00:27:58
Speaker
um and he's very quietly doing the job. You know, he doesn't get as many touches as the other guys, but he's he's often, when I watch the game, he's the guy that you don't see, who, I think it's a Busquets quote that I'm thinking, or maybe it's Xavi quote, right?
00:28:16
Speaker
if you don't watch ah If you don't watch him, you don't see all the things he does, but if you watch him, you see the whole game. And and that's a little bit of tensio, which is he steps into...
00:28:28
Speaker
lanes really, really well. And he really confounds the opposing attack quite well. So that's something that I've noticed about him that I really appreciate, but it doesn't wind up on the score sheet and it's not as impressive as, as, uh, some of the metrics of the other players.
Historical Controversies and Tactics
00:28:42
Speaker
Yeah. It's kind of a similar, a similar storyline to when he was here in that, uh, Yeah, like you said, he does all those little things really well that you might not notice, ah but you would have wanted to see him yeah like contribute on the stat sheet or contribute on offense more. And I still think there's plenty of time for him to develop that facet of his game. I think the whole thing, really, which Nathan mentioned right here, for sure, Sadie is gone, but happy to see him get a chance to be a regular starter. That's exactly how I felt about it.
00:29:08
Speaker
I was sad to see him go, but like... realistically, he was buried on the depth chart here, especially with ah the full-on breakout of Obed Vargas. He wasn't going to be getting the minutes that he needed here to develop that stuff that you're talking about. So I'm rooting for him to do that in Colorado. And, you know, I was watching an interview that he gave leading up to this game with the, like, official Colorado Rapids team.
00:29:30
Speaker
like a podcast with drew more. And ah he, he made, he was not hiding it. He was like, I'm up for this game. Like I'm really looking forward to it. Looking forward to competing against my old teammates and taking three points off them. That's what he was saying. So I love that.
00:29:44
Speaker
I love that. I love that. He's motivated for it. He wants to stick it to Seattle. I expect him to be going hard in this game. ah Mark, the next topic I wanted to hit with you. Chris Armas, this this hire, last year was his first year ah with the Rapids. And I remember the ah widespread sentiment among ah MLS fans when that hire was made. It got clowned on, honestly. like People were like, that is a bad hire. yeah he had a really bad run with Toronto.
00:30:13
Speaker
ah But i even at the time, I was like, I don't i don't really think this is as crazy a hire as People are making it out to be. Obviously, everything in Toronto blew up, but look at how it's gone since he left. It's not like that organization was on very much stable ground. and like How much of that could you really blame on Armas? At the time, maybe people thought that it was his fault. I think since he's left, you can kind of see that. I think no matter who the coach there was, they were going to have Armas.
00:30:40
Speaker
a hard time. And if you go back to his Red Bulls days, he had that team plan really well at certain points. He went and was an assistant at man. You for a while has talked about how much he learned from that. And before he came back to the Rapids.
00:30:54
Speaker
ah So I guess, what have you just made of the Chris Armas era so far? Because ah when you look at how it's actually panned out on the field, I feel like the returns have actually been pretty good. Certainly a lot better than people were predicting when he got hired.
00:31:08
Speaker
ah First of all, all of what you said, Ari, is spot on. So well done. You did your homework. you know I know my Chris Armas. um I got to talk before the season started. We called up Mark Fishkin, who's the Seeing Red podcast. and He's the NYRB dude.
00:31:22
Speaker
And he's been covering that team forever. he's I think he started with the team in 96 when they were MetroStars. So he's OG. And I love that guy. He was pretty down on him. He was pretty much like, yeah, um Armus is not the sharpest tool in the shed.
00:31:39
Speaker
It's pretty simplistic and lunk-headed. So our NYRB made him do the press. It kind of made him look good. um He kind of squandered everything in the playoffs. And, you know, they were a really good team in the regular season. And then they got blown out in the playoffs. And then he went over to Toronto and was part of their staff when they were a train wreck.
00:32:00
Speaker
um So I don't think much of him. And then he came over to the Rapids and I was kind of like, well, we'll see. And i think the thing that we didn't know coming in that I gathered really quickly from both press conferences that I was at or press conferences that my podcast partner Matt was at, because Matt covers every single match the Rapids are in as well as.
00:32:20
Speaker
all the open cup games of all the, um, you know, like smaller teams in Colorado. The dude is a madman. So he's the managing editor of Burgundy wave, which is the one Colorado, soccer website that's been around since 2011, think so, or 22, 2009. Anyhow,
00:32:35
Speaker
two thousand and nine anyhow um Matt's take and he's kind of like talking to to Chris and seeing him at training regularly was he's a great players coach. He's really good with players.
00:32:49
Speaker
He really talks to them and knows them very well. um He's warm and bubbly and effusive. He's good with the media, um which was not the way Robin Frazier was. You know, when we met, when we,
00:33:02
Speaker
When we talked to Robin Frazier, he was, I'm going to use a big vocab word for USAT seniors out there who are trying to get ready for the, for next year in college. Taciturn.
00:33:14
Speaker
He was quite taciturn. he, he kept his, he, he, everything was, um ah you know, kind of like, standard quotations from coaches and there wasn't a lot of information coming out he kept those cards close to the vest and i think that that wasn't great um and before that was um anthony hudson and anthony hudson was probably woefully underqualified for the job yeah and he didn't do very well um he he hudson's biggest problem was not that he couldn't come up with the tactics or that he couldn't identify um young players who were good, which is why he wound up with the USMNT working with their young players.
00:33:53
Speaker
His biggest problem was he made um ah lineup selections that weren't very good. Armus seems to have a good grasp of all of those fundamentals. He he likes oppressing attack.
00:34:06
Speaker
He has a flexible approach to um formation. He seems to be working well with the front office in terms of identifying players that he wants and getting the right ones and not just getting his guys, but also getting guys who should are available and will fit a system.
00:34:23
Speaker
um he He works really well with players and he gives them confidence and he gets trust. I mean, I think the the flowering and the rebirth of Zach Steffen is probably a function somewhat of Chris Armas.
00:34:38
Speaker
um Zach Steffen was obviously on the outs at Manchester City and with his loan teams. um He went to Europe and it kind of all fell apart. And that meant that he... was dropped from the USMNT.
00:34:50
Speaker
You know, i'm I'm sure his agents reached out to MLS and were like, can you find this guy a job? And Colorado was like, come on. And he came to Colorado for a decent amount of money, but not a lot. And they gave him the starting job. And statistically last year and with the eye test, he wasn't great.
00:35:07
Speaker
And Armis kept him. And whatever they did over the offseason and whatever they told him worked because he's literally... He's had a really insane year. He's far and away the best goalkeeper in the league right now.
00:35:17
Speaker
Yeah, statistically speaking, his goals minus expected goals is off the charts good. It's better. Matt Doyle pointed out and in a post last week and in his um article for MLSsoccer.com that statistically speaking, he's having a season that is like...
00:35:33
Speaker
a huge by a huge margin better than even the season that matt turner had the year that arsenal snapped him up so he is having dumped for him for mvp he literally dumped for him and it's not a bad take that's no good he's been no and it's it's pure insane shot stopping and if you've watched the rapids weekend week in week out like i have it's like a shot like the rapids will have three shots at them that should normally go in that Zach will turn away and they will win that game one to nothing.
00:36:00
Speaker
And they've had like two or three of those games. So statistically speaking, the Rapids, I think are supposed to be an 11th and they're like in fourth. yeah And the reason is Zach Stephan and that's it. Oh man. God, I totally forgot about ah the Anthony Hudson era, but ah Anthony, we have tried to Anthony Hudson is the author of what is still to this day, my favorite quote MLS coach quote in the history of the league, which is when no one you're going to say it was after like a really ah tough loss, the team wasn't doing very well. He was under fire from the fan base. Everyone knew probably that he was getting fired soon.
00:36:35
Speaker
And they're like, you know, Anthony, what's ah what's going on with the team right now? Like, how do you get them to play better? And he says, We are fighting at the bottom with a bottom group of players. That's right. Can't say that.
00:36:46
Speaker
My favorite. He was right, but you don't say that publicly. That was his second to last game. it was an away game in Atlanta. And of course, you know how and MLS works. So away games, there's no report. There's no independent Colorado reporters who flew to Atlanta to cover that game.
00:37:02
Speaker
That was a softball question yeah from the official audience. And Rapids flack. You know, that was like, that was, I believe that was Jordan Angeli, who no longer works for the team and is now or does does a little bit of stuff on the side for the team, but it's really working to help bring Denver and NWSL team, which is like moving ahead really quickly.
00:37:23
Speaker
Jordan's ah like going to be ah and in senior leadership there, which is great. She's a friend of our podcast. We love Jordan. She's amazing.
Seattle Sounders Media Engagement
00:37:30
Speaker
um So she threw out a softball question like, Anthony, what's going wrong with the Rapids right now that you guys are struggling?
00:37:36
Speaker
And not only did that in that little clip get I'm giving you the famous backstory here that you would never know otherwise. Not only did that clip get picked up, but the only reason that that clip got picked up was that was the raw seven-minute interview of Anthony Hudson, our five-minute interview after the game.
00:37:53
Speaker
When the Rapids comms team got that interviewed, and they were the only people who really had it, they just took it. you know They were, to be blunt, I'm going to be a little harsher, they were lazy.
00:38:03
Speaker
They just threw it up on the internet and left it there. And a couple of smart people were like, holy crap, I can't believe you said this. about i was among those people. About eight hours after the Rapids comms team threw that up, they took it off their website and they re-edited it down to a one-minute interview without all the nasty things that Anthony Hudson said. However, the damage was done.
00:38:27
Speaker
He managed one more game and they fired him. And that was that. It was that's that's a wonder. I don't know if that if I you think that's as shocking as I was, but that's a wonderful little backstory, which was the only reason that quote ever got out was basically because the Rapids comp team probably didn't realize that they really should have edited their stuff before they threw it up.
00:38:47
Speaker
See, nah, you can't edit it out retroactive. once Once it's out there, you got to just leave it. For real. Because like when when you when you retroactive edit, it like brings even more attention to it.
00:38:58
Speaker
ah But it was a legendary moment. The president's deleted tweets are a big deal, right? like Once you delete a tweet, the the internet remembers, yeah. Yeah. um I just got ah one more player question for you. And then a little bit just looking ahead at what you're expecting from this game. And then I'll let you go, Mark. Thanks so much for the time.
Match Strategy and Speculations
00:39:19
Speaker
We got yeah man Mark Asher Goodman from holding the high line here, previewing Seattle Sounders versus Colorado Rapids.
00:39:24
Speaker
ah I was going to ask you about Zach Steffen, but we covered that. I mean, he's he's having an insane year. He's the best ah goalkeeper in the league right now. Statistically, um we did have a chatter say, can you confirm this? Zach Steffen got two yellows after the final whistle last weekend. How's the backup? Is is he suspended?
00:39:41
Speaker
We don't know. And Matt brought that up on the website, which was that what had what the way Matt explained on the ah sorry on the on our podcast last night, what Matt understood had happened was that a yellow card had been issued to Zach Steffen.
00:39:57
Speaker
But nobody knows why at the very end of the game against Houston. And um Foot Mob also reported that same yellow card actually as a red card. Then they undid that and called it a yellow card.
00:40:10
Speaker
And now nobody knows what happened or whether that card is holding. So Matt was also pointing that out yesterday. So we're still kind of waiting to see what happens. Well, so I got people in chat saying that the- I think it's a mistake. I think i think it's a yellow.
00:40:26
Speaker
That means, I think it was one yellow that got accidentally recorded as two yellows. And it means that Zach Steffen will be playing this week. We got people in chat saying that it's ah confirmed that he's out on the disciplinary committee decisions. So i I'll have to look into that and find out what if he is out, ah who would be getting the nod?
00:40:46
Speaker
So Adam Baudry is the backup. He was playing with Rapids 2, and he's a Denver University graduate. Phenomenal player. he had his first game ever um for the Rapids in a loss. I think it was a 3-0 loss. That was not his fault. He didn't concede anything that wasn't obviously ticketed for the back of the goal anyways.
00:41:09
Speaker
Um, so he's a solid kid. Um, he's been called up by the U S youth national team on multiple occasions. Um, in the last open window, there was a moment where, um,
00:41:25
Speaker
the Rapids number one goalkeeper, the Rapids number three goalkeeper, and potentially also Beaudry, their number two goalkeeper, how all had experienced call-ups with youth teams or senior teams.
00:41:38
Speaker
um So Stefan was called up to the senior team for the Nations Cup. um The number three goalkeeper, ah a guy named Zach Campagnolo, who was originally from Florida and moved to Colorado, he was called up too.
00:41:51
Speaker
And Beaudry was the only the only reason i think we think the U.S. youth national team didn't call up for the U23s was because the Rapids desperately needed him. And so they kept him So he's a great player, a phenomenal shot stopper commands his box very well for a 19 year old. He's he's great. So um it is definitely a step down from Zach Steffen. But that's like saying, you know, um Maimonides is a step down from Moses.
00:42:15
Speaker
Yeah, it's like that's not even an exaggeration right now. Like Zach Steffen is Moses right now between the post. It's a. I wonder if he keeps, keeps this up or like how sustainable it is. Cause like Doyle pointed it out. If he sustains this, it's like usually the greatest.
00:42:30
Speaker
Math says it's impossible to keep doing this. And I think it is. I believe, I believe in God, but I also believe in math. so Yeah, exactly. um ah i wanted to ask about ah the the player who seems to be the centerpiece of everything the Colorado Rapids do right now, and that is Georgie Mihailovic.
00:42:48
Speaker
yeah This is an underrated number 10 in the league, and you know, Mark, he kind of ah reminds me of a certain other underrated number 10 in the league that we have in Seattle by the name of ah Albert Rusnak.
00:42:58
Speaker
i The more I was thinking about it, the more there were kind of ah parallels there, and it's like 10 that... ah ten that if the national pundits are rattling off all the best attackers in the league, uh, their names might not come up in the, in the first five. But then if you look at, uh, the production and, uh, the eye test, maybe they do deserve to be talked about in that vein more than they are.
00:43:22
Speaker
I definitely think, you know, I know a lot of, uh, our audience doesn't agree with me on the Roosnack thing, but I definitely view Mihailovic as that sort of player. This is a guy that, ah He started his career as a homegrown with Chicago, ah god traded to CF Montreal for whatever reason, broke, really broke out there, went to the Air DeVisa.
00:43:42
Speaker
I feel like he did OK, but not amazing. Ends up coming back to the Rapids and ah he's a very good player. I really like watching him play. Great vision, great passer. ah And he's really he's like the heartbeat of the team.
00:43:57
Speaker
what What do you think about Mihailovic's standing in the in the league in terms of the upper tier attackers and just like from watching him every single game, what are those things that he does really, really well that Seattle is going to have to watch out for in this game coming up?
00:44:11
Speaker
um I think the comparison to Albert Rusnak is a phenomenal one. The only big difference is that you're the difference is between age, which is that Mihailovic is 26 and Rusnak is 30.
00:44:24
Speaker
yeah So what you're getting with Mihailovic is in his prime Rusnak. ah And the comparison is phenomenal in the sense that they both... feel like they play better in traffic.
00:44:39
Speaker
Not like the way Messi does, where Messi has such tight ball control that if you surround him with four
Community and Fan Engagement
00:44:46
Speaker
guys, you feel like he's going to Houdini his way out of it anyways.
00:44:50
Speaker
But With Mihailovic, it's more likely that you're going to he's going to see three guys and he's going to steer through them like traffic cones at very high speed.
00:45:02
Speaker
So I think the notable thing about the way both Rusnak in his prime and Mihailovic play... is they play on the dribble at speed very well. And they have, they run at you.
00:45:15
Speaker
um They're not like incredibly fast players, but they're incredibly good, fast dribblers. Like they dribble with the ball at players and they make turns that are very good. And they also see the field in the final third very well while moving it at high speed. So those are extremely deadly things that,
00:45:35
Speaker
looking at the Rapids over the last eight, 10 years, they have not historically had, which is extremely dangerous players who break through into the final third and create mayhem. The Rapids have historically been very good in their own third or in the middle third, but couldn't do it in the final third. And that is really what Mihaljevic gives them.
00:45:54
Speaker
The thing that Mihaljevic really gives the team is, and I think last year he led the league in um overall scoring contributions, 12 goals and 10 assists.
00:46:05
Speaker
um And he did something like that with Montreal also. And then when he was with Azed Almar in in um the Eredivisie, it just, you know, they didn't use him that much. He came off the bench. He wasn't you know, used properly. And so it didn't work out for him. So he's been great. um The Rapids have also done a great job of finding him support.
00:46:27
Speaker
Hoffa Navajo, who's their Brazilian striker, has partnered really well with him and they found ways of going. Cole Bassett ah provides relief for him in really good ways. um Historically, the last year and a half, Kevin Cabral has stretched the field for them.
00:46:42
Speaker
So you had to kind of like, drop the defense really deep to make sure that Cabral didn't run past you and go around you on the end. And then that meant that you took some pressure off the middle of the field.
00:46:55
Speaker
And then you have Georgie Mihailovic in there creating mayhem. So that's what he does. It's really great. um We'll see how it turns out on Saturday. Yeah, i'm um I'm proud of the Roosnack comp. I kind of just thought of that. but It's good.
00:47:07
Speaker
It's a good comp. And like all the things you mentioned about the parallels between them, i agree with. And i would i would add that they're both excellent on set pieces. So yeah that's something that ah Seattle is really going to have to watch out for. This guy can hit these free kicks with the best of them.
00:47:24
Speaker
if they If the Rapids get any sort of... dangerous area type set piece. I will not feel good about that. Seattle's got to, uh, got to minimize that, uh, in the same way that teams who play Seattle, uh, have to think about that with Rusnak who Colorado's good on free kicks. They're not great on corners that, you know, a couple of years ago, they had a, um, a midfielder named Jack price who was absolutely dead. Oh, he was one of the best free kickers I've ever seen. I think he contributed 10 assists all on corner kicks in one MLS year, which was like among the best ah ah in history.
00:47:58
Speaker
um It was a great year or two with Jack. Jack is a, he's also a phenomenal guy. he was one of the most fun players to interview. The only problem is if you use transcription software to, to turn his words into um writing um his thick Midlands accent was so deep that that like transcription um software could not understand anything he said. And when you did an interview with him, you would have to go back and listen to something he said four times in order to figure out what he said, because he was so hard but he was an amazing soccer player.
00:48:31
Speaker
He's still playing, um I think in league one this year. But anyways, the Rapids do not have that level of free kickery um and corner kickery this year. They're actually a very different team now. They mostly are going to try and score from open play.
00:48:45
Speaker
um And then they're going to press and they're going to defend very well.
Seattle's Tactical Options and Team Dynamics
00:48:49
Speaker
So those are the things for Seattle to watch out for. But Seattle's a very good team. They're going to be hard to beat. Jack Price hit not only the nicest free kicks that I've ever seen in MLS, he might've hit the nicest free kicks I've ever seen, period. That guy was unbelievable on those set pieces.
00:49:05
Speaker
He would rack these like 15 plus assist seasons. And like you said, like the majority of them were literally set pieces. like And the nicest guy in the world. I was going to ask who on the current Seattle Sounders team that you've talked to is like, just really like you would really enjoy interviewing them or you really find them to be pleasant and kind.
00:49:24
Speaker
uh stefan fry definitely comes to mind there he yeah he's a really uh interesting good guy to talk to christian rolled on is really really good with media uh and those guys are more like they have what to say or they just kind of they're just chill well they'll give you they're they're chill but they'll actually like like steph fry if you ask him a question i'm was going to play some of his sound later in the show because did an interview this week but like he really will like internalize what you're asking, think about it and then give you the real thoughtful answer. And it's not necessarily all boilerplate athlete quotes. There's a, you they're all going to have our, some element of that, but he really like tries to genuinely answer your question, which I've always appreciated.
00:50:05
Speaker
Christian was, we used to joke that he was the, uh, like if he was talking after the game, that's how you knew they lost because even when he was 19, 20 years old on the team, ah they would like send them out there in times where I was like, why is Christian the one talking? Like, shouldn't this be Dempsey right now? Shouldn't this be like one, but he would always do it. He would always be professional about it. Even when he was literally like 19.
00:50:28
Speaker
nineteen And then throughout his career, he's just become a very like, uh, insightful guy. When you ask him, when you ask him questions and, like neither of those guys mind doing media too. Like sometimes, you know, you get guys who very clearly like resent that they have to do it. Like don't like doing it.
00:50:45
Speaker
And they, I think they are examples of guys who really understand that it's literally like part of the job to do this. So even if it's after a loss or it's not your favorite thing in the world, you got to do it. And Fry will always stand up after an L and like talk about it. Christian will always do that as well. So yeah those are the two guys that, ah that I would name, but I would say like,
00:51:06
Speaker
Honestly, a critique of the team that I've had in recent years is it's, like, too many nice guys. Like, they're all just, like, such nice, happy, friendly guys, which is great. Like, you need that.
00:51:19
Speaker
But, like, i've all I've been campaigning for a little more, like... Nasty presence, like guys with... Like, Ozzy Alonso-type guys. yeah So I'm hoping that this Ryan Kent guy that they brought in can provide a little bit of that sort like, swagger and ah and attitude. I don't know. Raul Ruiz Diaz did not seem like the most pleasant human being in the world.
00:51:40
Speaker
I don't know you know. he was actually a a very like quiet friendly guy off the field okay on the field he was right right right that's the thing and i think that that is really common in major league soccer the nicest one of the nicest players the rapids ever had was sam cronin um and sam cronin as a defensive midfielder would murder you he would go through you two-footed without thinking twice and that's a thing we're like i hear that about um diego chara down at uh portland which is like the nicest sweetest most pleasant human being in the world with two or three little cute little kids you know in tow and whatever but he will go through you and commit a red card and then wink at the referee and get himself a yellow instead like
00:52:23
Speaker
you know, like it's breathing. Amazing. Amazing. Interesting how that, that switch flips, you know, you can go from one thing to the other like that. All right, Mark, I just honestly had one more for you about this, ah about this game and then I'll let you go. I know it's late out there on the East coast. Um,
00:52:40
Speaker
When you're looking at this Sounders-Rapids game, based on how the Rapids have started the season, which is 1.5-whatever points per game, up in the top five of the West, but also a couple of negative results in there as well, right?
00:52:54
Speaker
ah May or may not have Zach Steffen, but you do have it at home against the Seattle team coming off a big win. What are you hoping to see from the the Rapids, and what are your what are your hopes and expectations for what they can get out of this game?
00:53:08
Speaker
So Colorado, the last couple of games has been scuffling and it's hard to figure out, um, if they have a true identity and if they've locked in on this new formation that they've done the last two games. So um it's been loss. So go looking backwards, it's draw, win, loss, win, loss.
00:53:30
Speaker
um They looked utterly befuddled against Vancouver, who are a very good team this year, of course. yeah um But they also kind of bossed San Diego, who have been the darlings of the league to start. san Diego smoked Seattle.
00:53:44
Speaker
um That game was really even and see and San Diego is a phenomenally talented team with guys like Irving Lozano, um
00:53:56
Speaker
Lovelson at fullback who they poached from um ah RSL, you know, just some really neat players and Colorado didn't, you know, really were up on them and just tore them apart. No problem.
00:54:07
Speaker
And then they also look terrible against Portland. ah That was the three Oh game that the kid I was telling you about, um, Adam Beaudry, you know, wasn't responsible for the goals, but Colorado just got torn limb from limb. They were never in control of that match. So and then they, you know, Houston's an OK team and Colorado dropped that one to death.
00:54:25
Speaker
So to to draw to two So it's been um it's been a kind of ah a tale of two teams. There's been a little bit of a lack of consistency.
00:54:36
Speaker
um The back line, which we haven't talked about at all, has been ah bit of a work in progress. There have been injuries. Sam Vines, who's the natural left back for the Rapids, started the season with, um I think, a pulled hamstring.
00:54:50
Speaker
um And so the Rapids were playing their um right back, Keegan Rosenberry, at left back. and they were playing Reggie Cannon at right back. um Now both of those guys are healthy, but Reggie Cannon's missed some games for injury. so um And Keegan Rosenberry is, you know, I think he spent three seasons with the Rapids playing every single minute of every single game, and now he's been kind of relegated to the bench. That's an interesting transition also.
00:55:17
Speaker
Anyways, um in the middle and on on central defense, it's a new pairing – for this season, Chidozi Awaziem, who comes over from FC Cincinnati.
00:55:29
Speaker
i think ah we've seen him be pretty good so far, but, you know, remember at
Segment Conclusion and Guest Farewell
00:55:35
Speaker
the beginning of last season, the Colorado Rapids had Moise Bombito, who is now... Oh, so good. The starting center back for OGC Nice in France and the starting center back for the Canadian national team.
00:55:47
Speaker
And last year was clipped as the fastest player in major league soccer um as a center back. He had recovery speed on transition ah plays last year against opposing teams that were clipped and, and shown on um all the socials by MLS soccer.com nonstop, like on replay. Cause he was so phenomenal.
00:56:08
Speaker
So that was the guy that we had last year who was really helping the team to be phenomenal. The guy who steps in in his place is not as good. um And next to him is a guy named Andreas Maxo, who was a Rapids DP out of Brondby in Denmark.
00:56:24
Speaker
And he's OK. I mean, I think I think he's basically a league average center back who the Rapids are paying DP money for. So that's not great, right? like So that's ah that's those are some of our little weaknesses and some of our little holes that I think Seattle can exploit if they want to. um they you know That was the thing that happened with Houston. They kind of pulled apart the back line on a couple different plays.
00:56:45
Speaker
So, you know, a good attack and Seattle can get in there. I think Colorado has this one. um The Rapids tend to do very well at home. They tend to grind for 65 minutes and then ah opposing teams get gassed and they nick a goal in the 75th.
00:57:03
Speaker
um If they can get a goal earlier than that, they can even capitalize even more on that. So I think this one's going to be a 2-0 win for the Rapids. That's dangerous thing for a a a guy to say.
00:57:14
Speaker
You know, i have been deeply personally burned by um the Seattle Sounders on many occasions that DSGP, when we lived in Colorado, I took my wife to a game. We hired a babysitter um when the kids were really little and we went to a match and Obafemi Martins received a ball on a 40 yard ping.
00:57:38
Speaker
Oh my God. Yeah. That's one of the best goals in club history. You know what I'm about to say? Yeah. and Did a three quarter spin around his defender, left him naked and fallen down and then dribbled in on goal and, and put it away. It was the sickest.
00:57:52
Speaker
My wife, who is not a soccer fan turned to me and her eyebrows went up like off the top of her head, like she had never seen anything like that. I mean, it was really, and if you're a Seattle Sounders fan, if you're OG so Sounders, you know exactly the play I'm talking about. You can picture it in your mind's eye.
00:58:10
Speaker
We were there in the flesh, like so like very, he was right in front of us when we made that three quarter spin. And we were like, that is literally one of the five best plays I've ever seen in MLS history. And I was, it was in front of me. It was awesome.
00:58:23
Speaker
So Seattle burns us on the regular. and i would, I totally recognize recognize that I might be eating these words and that's okay. That's not a, that Oba goal is one of the best first touches you'll ever see like world-class and you're right. It's one of the most legendary goals in my god history, even though random game against the Rapids. That's the thing. I wonder how many of the listeners are like, Oh yeah, that was against the Rapids or, Oh yeah, that was in Colorado. Like, Oh yeah. It was like, it was, ah it's kind of crazy that one of the most legendary goals in,
00:58:53
Speaker
Seattle history, like, didn't happen in Seattle. And so a lot of the fans didn't see it. But you guys travel really well, and you know that. Yeah, no, and I promise you everyone ah everyone in our chat remembers exactly what goal you're talking about. Because that was like the ah respect quintessential Oba goal. Oh, man, i ah when you name-dropped Bombito, man, I forgot about him. that ah That guy is incredible. Like, I loved watching him play in MLS. Like you mentioned, the speed was just like...
00:59:21
Speaker
the fastest CBI I've ever seen. he fully deserved like the movie got nice. Isn't that great this year? They had a rough, I've got to watch him play a couple of games in the Europa league and they got bounced from Europa, like in six matches. They, they, it was not great for them, but you know, Bobby's really, i think we're all really excited for what he's going to do.
00:59:40
Speaker
um Mostly Rapids fans are really excited about how much money we made off that sale. He was sold for either six or 7 million and three of it turned into gam. and TAM for the tam for the Rapids.
00:59:51
Speaker
And so that's been like, you know, just absolute, you know, um huge money for the club. They could do whatever they want with. So good. Mark, that is ah all I had for you this evening. a lot Thank you so much for joining the show. Staying out East. ah Before you go, please ah tell our audience what you're doing with holding the high line, where they can find your work and like just the type of stuff you guys are doing covering the Colorado Rapids day in, day out.
01:00:18
Speaker
Yeah, you can catch me on Blue Sky. My handle is at RabbiMarkAsherG. um We do a sub stack, but everything on it is wide open. We don't um put anything behind the paywall except a few old archive stuff.
01:00:34
Speaker
It's holdingthehighline.com. We have a podcast, same deal. You can get it on any of the podcast places. If you'd like to hear me and Matt spit and and drop a all the information,
01:00:47
Speaker
um If you want to hear our preview of Seattle and have us talk incoherently and unintelligibly about your team, ah you can download that right now.
01:00:57
Speaker
You can also check out some of our old stuff on on the Substack and the the website, like I said, holdingthehighline.com. So you can catch all that. So thanks to your listeners for and your your YouTubers to for tuning into this. I really appreciate it.
01:01:10
Speaker
And thanks for having me on, man. This was a lot of fun. We'll pimp your stuff out to our podcast next week when we get back on it. And I hope I see you in the playoffs. and Absolutely. Yeah. Appreciate the time, man.
01:01:23
Speaker
Keep going with holding the high line. Everyone go check out holding the high line, their, ah their podcast and their sub stack. They do great work covering the Rapids. Mark, we'll get you on. to We'll get you on again when the Rapids come to Seattle and let's get Matt in here too and do the panel idea, you know, we'll lob some scorchers at you next time. Okay.
01:01:41
Speaker
Thank you, man. Appreciate the time. i Have a great rest of your night. Thanks man. You too.
01:01:47
Speaker
That was Mark Asher Goodman, a.k.a. the Soccer Rabbi, stopping by to preview this weekend the Sounders match at Colorado. Great insight there. a lot of ah lot of great backstory on stuff that I that i didn't know. and i've been in I've been enjoying these Under the Lights Thursday night streams where I've been talking to uh people who cover all the other teams and really like you know i was already a sicko for this league but the uh the depth of my knowledge uh about all these teams that the sounders are playing now it's getting a little uh disturbing um all right i had a a few more things planned for you guys tonight if you have any uh questions or topics you want me to hit feel free to uh
01:02:30
Speaker
drop them in chat. um I guess the ah the first thing i was going to do is ah play some Brian Schmetzer sound, hear from Schmetz and react to it. ah he had some ah He had some things to say about this ah win at Nashville and how the squad is going to try and ah build on it. So let's ah I'm going to pull up the screen here and let's hear from Schmetz.
01:02:52
Speaker
And while we're listening to this, like I said, if you've got any topics or questions, feel free to drop them in there.
01:03:09
Speaker
With your not direct lineups, but you kind of intimated a little bit that the, you know, like Muscovsky playing well, getting another start, obviously played well again. how do you kind of look at the balancing, getting your designated players back, but the other players fill in the fill in inches?
01:03:30
Speaker
It's my job to win games. It's the player's job to play to their potential and make those choices hard for me. It's just about as easy as that. So Musaski has made it challenging for me.
01:03:42
Speaker
The team has had two gritty, gutty performances, different, completely different from away at Dallas and home. And there will be some tough choices this week.
01:03:54
Speaker
If Musaski was able against San Diego, do you think that ah outcome would have been different? That's hard to say, Jada. i mean, the team didn't play well, maybe. I mean, maybe.
01:04:05
Speaker
That's hard to say. When you look back at the game today, I mean, is there anything that stands out that you're particularly proud of, ah of that performance against Nashville? Yeah, the effort that the guys put in. you know Their connection with the fans was good because of their effort. You know you kind of got momentum, the three goals in quick succession.
01:04:25
Speaker
Because we didn't start off great. We talked about that. Was there some tactical things that we could have done better? Was it just the technical piece of, you know, loose, giving balls away, loose touches?
01:04:38
Speaker
But once we got rolling, they were into it. And, you know, there's a couple sequences where we didn't score, but guys were tackling and running and chasing and fighting. And, you know, one of them ended with Obed's yellow card. But that sequence, I mean, you watch that sequence.
01:04:56
Speaker
sequence. Again, guys are putting it in there. They're competing. right
01:05:08
Speaker
That was not all of it, but that was the main thing I wanted to hit on with the with that Schmetz sound, which was a good good first question by ah Jada Evans. Shout out, Jada, for hitting on what I think is like the most interesting thing to consider from a Seattle perspective for this game, which is it's the kind of the age-old question of when you have a really good game like Seattle just had, a big win.
01:05:30
Speaker
And it's a situation where it came with a lineup that didn't have guys that are normally – your regular starters, Albert Rusnak and Jordan Morris specifically, ah the two most statistically productive attackers on the team last year weren't starting. So the question is like, do you ride the hot hand or do you work your starters back in now that they're more fit in the, uh,
01:05:54
Speaker
ready to go theoretically. So there's different schools of thought on that different schools of thought on that. But I'll tell you guys what I would do. Tell you guys what I would do. um I guess, I guess my take on it is that the team performed so well against Nashville and you're really in a situation where Rusnak and Jordan Morris,
01:06:16
Speaker
only got so much run they only got what like 20 30 minutes or or whatever I think Jordan went 30 um so i don't think either of those players are necessarily 90 fit yet what I would do honestly what I would do is I would I would ride the hot hand to start the game see if you can replicate that magic you know You're in a good way right now.
01:06:42
Speaker
Uh, and like, so like I would, uh, I would let Moose go 60 and bring Jordan on right at 60, which I'm pretty sure if I'm remembering correctly, that's what Schmetzer did against Nashville. I think I would do that.
01:06:53
Speaker
I think I would do that again. And if it goes off the rails or it's like going really poorly, maybe you can make the changes sooner, but, uh, I think that's how I would how i would play it. But like I definitely see the countering. What do you guys think, Chad? What should I do?
01:07:10
Speaker
You ride the hot hand, or do you work Rusnak and Morris right back in the 11?
01:07:15
Speaker
It's a good problem to have, but I'm um i'm honestly curious to see what Schmetz does. I feel like I've gotten decently good at reading what he's going to do in situations like this, but I honestly don't know.
01:07:28
Speaker
i honestly don't know, but I do know that you could for sure rationalize Schmetz giving Moose another run and giving Ferreira another run in that more central spot.
01:07:38
Speaker
And really, you know, whatever happens this game, there's going to be, to have to figure out the Ferreira Rusnak rotation, if that's rotation, if they're going to keep trying to ah play those guys together at the same time.
01:07:54
Speaker
Noah and I have talked about that a lot. He's on the, he's kind of, it seems like Noah's on the train that ah you should rotate them, mix and match them because it hasn't looked super great when they've played together so far this season.
01:08:06
Speaker
I'm a little more of the mind that, uh,
01:08:11
Speaker
they really have not realistically had a lot of time to drill playing together. So while it hasn't necessarily looked that great to start, I don't think that means that it can't get there and you're not going to be able to get it there unless you run it in games.
01:08:25
Speaker
So I think that depends on what they see ah and training, but ah yeah, I don't know. He was amped to start Jordan two weeks ago. Clearly that would have been a bad idea.
01:08:39
Speaker
Yeah, like you don't want any – I feel like you're in a situation where you don't need to press the issue with that. The the team has looked really good with Moose. Moose is scoring goals. He's got two ah games in a row with a goal. And honestly, guys, I watched the ah one that got waved offside and at FC Dallas, the second one that didn't count.
01:09:04
Speaker
Got a little tilted all over again. Feel like he wasn't offside. Moose should really have another goal.
01:09:12
Speaker
Ferrero when pressing, attacking, Rusnak when you're possessing. I like that take. ah like Or just in general, like I can rock with the idea of ah mixing and matching them based on lineup like that.
01:09:27
Speaker
I don't want to just throw out. I think you have to at least try to have both those players playing together at the same time. I do. My blue-white went off there. Damn it.
01:09:37
Speaker
Yeah. But I see what you're saying, and, like, ah i so I think if we're taking what ah what you're proposing there, this would be a Roosnack game because I think when you're on the road, you want to be more possession-oriented than really, like, throwing numbers forward like you're the home team and potentially leaving your yourself exposed.
01:10:04
Speaker
So... I could see that, but ah we'll see we'll see what he does. We'll see what he does. What about rotating the squad needed depending on the matchup? We seem to be getting everyone back and healthy now. And yeah, like I think at the end of the day, that's sort of what's going to make these decisions is, you know, who's fit, what's the matchup.
01:10:26
Speaker
But it's still, you know, it's fun to talk about because now you have a situation where at least as at this juncture, as it stands right now, the team is actually a little healthier and you can start making these decisions. I haven't even mentioned Ryan Kent yet.
01:10:39
Speaker
And, uh, Ryan Kent looked pretty good. i definite I think we all want to see more of him. ah But that that situation in particular, i don't think he's probably particularly close to 90 fit.
01:10:54
Speaker
But that's a heck that's a heck of a super sub to have at your disposal for a game like this, especially because hopefully he's going to be even more integrated with the team now that he's got some game reps, some more training. So Moose DP escalators incoming. Hey, be careful what you predict because none of us knew about the JMO escalator.
01:11:13
Speaker
How sick would it be if Moose had DP escalators and then he hits them?
01:11:18
Speaker
I mean, i here i was thinking about this because on the postgame live, someone called ah someone called the Moose goal against Nashville lucky, which I thought that was – that was just ridiculous off rip because that was one of the best pieces of skill I've seen from a Seattle player all season.
01:11:40
Speaker
Like that was like, he absolutely was trying to do that. That is what he was trying to do with that little, he was trying to, ah he saw, it was an incredible play. Honestly, he saw that the Ferreira shot coming in at pretty good pace.
01:11:54
Speaker
ah It wasn't like a laser shot, but for how close Ferreira was to him, it was coming in at pretty good pace. And he actually reacted quick enough with the backfield ah back heel and got it on target. It was a great piece of skill, not luck at all.
01:12:07
Speaker
And you guys realize like what would happen if a manual latte lot scored a goal like that for Atlanta United, everyone would be talking about that's what you pay $22 million dollars for the striker who can do stuff like that because it's moose. No one gives a shit. You haven't seen a single pundit talk about that goal, which I get it.
01:12:26
Speaker
It's, you know, They didn't spend $22 million dollars on him. I'm just saying, like, that was a class goal. That was a class goal.
01:12:36
Speaker
Make your own luck and don't do that without talent. yeah Lucky it worked, sure, but, like, can you say that about, like, any goal if you really boil it down? Like... I don't know if that's more true of the Moose goal, but like your first point is dead on like ah you don't get unless unless you have the audacity to try something like that you'll never find out if it's a if it's going to work.
01:12:59
Speaker
And it was a great finish.
01:13:04
Speaker
Latte Loth early bust. See, I feel like. ah I mean, I don't know, just by just by looking at the stat sheet, he's doing OK. Like, I think he has five goals for them already. But it's sort of when I look at Atlanta, it's like.
01:13:19
Speaker
It feels like always dating back to the Boca days and even now, it's just like spending a ton of money on talented guys without regard for how you want to play or how they fit together.
01:13:32
Speaker
Atlanta United's tactics. I'm getting on a tangent, but yeah it's under the lights. I can get on a tangent. Atlanta United's tactics right now. was looking into it more because I was like, why are they so bad despite spending $30 million dollars in transfers over the off season?
01:13:44
Speaker
And they just got absolutely destroyed by the Philly union in their last game. Their fan base is calling it the worst performance in club history. So that's where things are at. That's what they paid 30 million
Atlanta United's Strategy and Struggles
01:13:54
Speaker
for. But apparently they're,
01:13:58
Speaker
whole game plan week to week is to give Brooks Lennon just as many goddamn touches as possible. The whole thing runs through Brooks Lennon on a team where you've got Miguel Ameliron and Latte Loth for a combined $30 million. dollars Brooks Lennon, apparently, based on what I read on Five Stripe Final, and which is a great Atlanta United sub stack, apparently he regularly leads the touches and the team in touches every week. And basically what they do is they just bomb him down the right and have him cross it.
01:14:31
Speaker
And he went one for 10 on crosses last week. One for 10. And I think just in general, like you don't want your ah right back to be your sole game plan attacking focal point.
01:14:46
Speaker
ah But Brooks Lennon in particular has been a good productive player in the league, but it's club like Atlanta United. I don't know if they should be running the whole thing through him, but how does that, that's my question. How does that happen?
01:14:59
Speaker
how does that how do How do you get to a place where you're dropping $30 million dollars of Arthur Blank money and you you're still spamming Brooks Lennon and you're off to the worst start in club history? it's It's kind of crazy, man.
01:15:15
Speaker
It's kind of crazy. i i was i mean I was saying during the offseason that I was really high on their offseason and I expected them to be again. This year.
01:15:27
Speaker
And instead they're off to the worst start in club history. So go figure. I know I have to, I make this point every week, but it just shows me, man, just shows you, you can drop it all the bags that you want. But if you're, if your organization isn't on solid ground, if your team building philosophy isn't sound, if your youth development isn't there, you can't latte loth your way out of that.
01:15:55
Speaker
You would need the salary cap capability to so buy eight of them to get out of it if you don't have all the other infrastructure in place. So it's tough scenes for them right now. It's tough scenes for them.
01:16:11
Speaker
I know Seattle had a rough start to the year, but at least they look like they're kind of putting it together a little bit. Atlanta United really don't. Martinez and Almiron were the excitement with a decent back line, but now there's no back line. Maybe it was McCarty holding them together.
01:16:26
Speaker
Well, Dax only joined last year when they were still bad. But I mean, i think I think you're right that what happened was... they hit the lotto their first two years in the league with Joseph Martinez, basically putting up like Ronaldo numbers in MLS every year. And, uh, Almi Roan was one of the best players in the league at that time. And they just lit up the league. And then you had guys like, uh, you know, Parkhurst and Lorenowitz. That's like those type of like, uh, MLS signings.
01:17:00
Speaker
Those matter too. And they, they hit on those in the early days. And now, like now they just, uh, Now they just didn't.
01:17:10
Speaker
Schmetz could fix Atlanta. It's weird though. It seems like no matter what they do, it doesn't work. Remember they hired a Gabriel Heinze, which famously ah did not work out.
01:17:23
Speaker
he He was brought in as this big name from Argentina, I believe. And ended up just being hella toxic. Like remember he, ah it came out that he was like making the players train super hard. And then when they were like, I need water. He was like, no, you can't have water.
01:17:39
Speaker
He was like, dehydrating them and he got fired. Gonzo Pineda came in with ah the most pedigree of any assistant in MLS.
01:17:51
Speaker
We all thought that that hire was a hit. He was the the most highly sought off ah sought after assistant coach in the league for a head coaching job at that time. I feel like the process with that hire, even if it didn't work out, makes sense. And it's like, well, why didn't it work out?
01:18:06
Speaker
We're looking at it now, and it's gotten even worse since he left. How much of that was Gonzo Pineda's fault? And how much of it is there something just like actually dysfunctional? deeply dysfunctional within their organization, but I don't know what it is.
01:18:21
Speaker
Like, why? You have the nicest facilities. You have Arthur Blank, who Arthur Blank doesn't give a shit. yeah they They go to our Chris Henderson and Garth go to Arthur Blank and they're like, we need this much money for this guy. and Arthur Blank, it's not like a Hanauer situation. You know, we all love the money ball.
01:18:40
Speaker
Arthur Blank just says, yeah, just, I don't care. I'm Arthur Blank. I got, more money than I can ever know what to do with. What do I give a shit about $22 million? dollars Go get him. that's That's his approach to ownership. ownership It's phenomenal.
01:18:53
Speaker
He should be getting way more return than he's getting from the people who are running the club based on the support he's given them with the facilities and the transfer fees and all that. Bro, I swear if you gave me as much money as that, I could build a at least ah top five team in the East.
01:19:11
Speaker
Kind of joking. But... It is crazy.
01:19:17
Speaker
Guzan is done.
01:19:20
Speaker
Maybe, but like i feel like I feel like there's more to it than just like kind of subpar goalkeeping. It seems deeper than that. Do the ends justify the means? Royce is the first name that comes to mind. He has been bad, but Galaxy won MLS Cup after adding him.
01:19:34
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, if we're talking about the Galaxy specifically, I've been saying ah during this whole horrendous start for them that ah the ends do justify the means and you trade ah season like this for that trophy seven days a week, twice on Sunday, like no question in my mind.
01:19:54
Speaker
Same calculation that I made for Seattle going all in on Champions League in 2022. And I still think that's true. I think you take missing the playoffs if it means winning Champions League.
01:20:08
Speaker
I will say the galaxy are kind of pushing that to its absolute limit right now. They're not just having a down year. They're not just taking a step back from where they were.
01:20:20
Speaker
They're like the worst. If they're one of the worst, if not the worst teams in the league through 10 matches, which is unexpected. And, uh, it makes me question more than I would have thought like, man,
01:20:35
Speaker
they had a phenomenal team last year. you know, Noah and I had the whole bit about how we're in LA galaxy podcast because of how much we loved watching Ricky Pooge, Joey paints, Gabrielle Peck and the boys, you know,
01:20:47
Speaker
That was what and was one of the sickest and MLS attacks of the last few years. um But you look at how it's devolved this year, um I get that they had to kind of blow their whole team up.
01:21:02
Speaker
They had to ship Mark Delgado, who is honestly a key part of their team, to LAFC, which is tough. Gaston Brugman, who was a really good player for them, who got benched in the Sounders game, but they had to move him to Nashville SC.
01:21:17
Speaker
There's like five other Jalen Neal their highest upside young defender had to trade him. There's a lot of other moves. So I get it. I get why a step back would happen but the worst team in the league like really like there's one is one thing to be mid or not good but to take that far a step back.
01:21:39
Speaker
I don't I don't see how that happens.
01:21:46
Speaker
It's like Loggerway got overwhelmed when he actually got the money to buy peeps.
01:21:53
Speaker
Yeah, man. I just don't. The thing that doesn't make sense about it is that we all know as much as anyone how effective the duo, the Garth Loggerway and Chris Henderson duo was at building MLS clubs here.
01:22:08
Speaker
They built a team that won damn Champions League. And really, one of the reasons that Seattle is considered one of the most stable
01:22:18
Speaker
organizations is because of them. So how does it make any sense at all that you put them at a club that they have a blank check? They can spend whatever they want on whoever they want.
01:22:33
Speaker
And then you put it out on the field to start the year. And it looks like, I don't get it. i don't get it. I can't explain it. I fell for it. I fall for it every year with Atlanta because, uh, truth be told, uh,
01:22:46
Speaker
I get a lot of like shot and Freud out of their struggling. I think it's pretty funny, but every year I go into it prepared to be like, all right, they're going to be good again.
01:22:57
Speaker
They spent this much money. They got this guy, this guy, and this guy. I see no way that that doesn't. And then every year they do this, except this year it's even worse.
01:23:11
Speaker
My friend said it's Brugman, Pooj, and Jovulic holding them together. Yeah, ive yo I didn't even mention Jovulic, but that's one. Another one that that hurts, man. I get it. But like honestly, like just go look at the Galaxy roster.
01:23:25
Speaker
I would not peg it as as that bad. I would not peg it as that bad.
01:23:32
Speaker
Academy saved Seattle in CCL Vargas for JP. It did. I mean, I think there's like a, ah there's something to that Vargas. Jackson Reagan honestly played a huge role in that tournament.
Seattle's Success and Infrastructure
01:23:47
Speaker
That was his rookie year and he was starting all those games.
01:23:51
Speaker
um
01:23:53
Speaker
But that's what I, that's kind of what I was getting at earlier uh,
01:23:59
Speaker
to be a truly elite team, like you need all of that infrastructure. And I think including at this point, I include youth development in that some clubs are further along with it than others.
01:24:10
Speaker
Obviously Seattle is one of the clubs that's further along and ah they are definitely, you can't deny that they've but they've benefited from that.
01:24:22
Speaker
A lot. And i think that is honestly probably one of the biggest reasons, uh, why they can not spend necessarily like in Atlanta and still be a, uh,
01:24:39
Speaker
a good team you're in and you're out. And actually, you know what? That's a good segue to the next topic that I wanted to hit, which what I was, what I was going to do is play some Chris Armas sound head coach, Colorado Rapids.
01:24:52
Speaker
ah He was doing his media availability down in a commerce city, Colorado this week, talking about this game. And I want you guys to listen to how he talks about Seattle, because I think sometimes ah You know, we all are, we're we're all in it every day. We follow it every day.
01:25:12
Speaker
we're We're the obsessive inside perspective of it. And we kind of don't always pay attention to what people on the outside have to say about it. And I wanted to play this Armas sound because he kind of, he he talks about it in a way that this is what most people talk about.
01:25:36
Speaker
when the Seattle Sounders come up. So i'm going to pull this up. want you guys to listen to this. This is Colorado Rapids head coach Chris Armas talking about this upcoming game with the Seattle Sounders.
01:25:53
Speaker
Thought this was in interesting.
01:26:00
Speaker
Yeah, we're really excited for this next one. and we love We love all the games, but... um Back at home um against a a really good Seattle team. They're hot. They're they're coming in a good, decisive victory against Nashville. and yeah we we We love the idea of just getting back out there. Big test for us. test are where these These types of games kind of let you know where you're you're at, especially at home when we think we can push the tempo and things. But we'll have a big test on our hands. We're excited for it.
01:26:31
Speaker
And again, to to get back home and and challenge ourselves with probably how good we can be at being us, our consistency, our DNA, our style of play against a good opponent.
01:26:43
Speaker
You just spoke it. It's going to be a very interesting match. Matcher wants a tight ship. How do you expect that playing out tactically? Listen, it's it's it's ah to understand Seattle, I think you really have to know that they're they just solid.
01:26:57
Speaker
they They can attack. They can break you down and in the build. They can hurt you in transition. Guys got like Jordan Morris coming back from injury, but obviously Ferreira and Rosnett. They have so many weapons up the pitch.
01:27:11
Speaker
but they're also really strong defensively. They're organized. It looks like they're playing the three in the back these days. So they're very aggressive with the wingbacks to jump and put yeah but you under pressure.
01:27:22
Speaker
And then I think they are a benchmark in this league for you know winning and what winning looks like. and And they've created a beautiful culture over there of of winning and winning.
01:27:34
Speaker
I'm envious of it. I'm striving to to do that here in many ways. So I love that that this challenge is is one against a team that I think has so many good things going and have lot of respect for them.
01:27:47
Speaker
And like you mentioned, we're going to be back at home this weekend. The last two. That was that was ah the main part that I wanted to play there. thought that was interesting.
01:28:00
Speaker
Called it a like a measuring stick. a benchmark to like see where they're at. Uh, and he, he said, you know, he said he was envious.
01:28:12
Speaker
He said the, the culture he is trying to instill at the Rapids, they're trying to replicate what Seattle has in terms of what I think is the most, really the most important thing at the end of the day, when, uh, when you talk about these things, which is, you know, obviously uh, scouting, the talent acquisition and, uh,
01:28:34
Speaker
salary cap, how you manage it, all that stuff, youth development. But the winning culture is what Chris Armas was talking about right there. And I think it's ah it's a reminder, at least, that, you know, we've all been in it all season, but, like, that's sort of a...
01:28:54
Speaker
that's sort of the reputation that Seattle has rightfully cultivated. If you listen to anyone from the outside who objectively analyzes this league, like Chris Armas does, they'll tell you that same thing like about winning culture. And that's really like, that's the essence to me of how you get that foundation of consistency, a winning club, like not just for a year here there,
01:29:21
Speaker
but like year in, year out. um So
01:29:28
Speaker
thought that was thought that was some interesting sound because like I said, we all we all ah we all we all see it every day. We all get frustrated when you know you have a new player come in, maybe he doesn't fit in right right away. But at the end of the day, man, if you've got that winning culture that he's talking about and you really cultivate really cultivate that That's really what gets results. And that's what win wins trophies.
01:29:55
Speaker
It's not what Atlanta is doing with like, which we were talking about, which is spending money seemingly without regard for all those other things.
01:30:08
Speaker
It's exactly what Chris Armitz points out as to why our power rankings stick near the top of the table regardless of our sour starts. Exactly. Exactly. It's because everyone because everyone knows what's up. Everyone knows what's up.
01:30:19
Speaker
you might ah You might have poor runs of form here and there, but realistically, like you're never going to be a team that only ever dominates, only ever has good runs of form.
01:30:33
Speaker
It's about like who are who are you actually as a as a team and as an organization. And i remember ah Doyle was talking about this the year that ah Seattle won CCL.
01:30:49
Speaker
And the example that he brought up was when Rui Diaz scored the the goal in that final game against Pumas. The first thing he did, remember this? First thing he did was he ran over to the academy kids and who were, like, down on the – they were seated, like, in those rows those rows, like, right on top of the field.
01:31:09
Speaker
He ran over there, and they were all celebrating with him. And at that point, it was this, like, such a great moment because you could – it was the first goal, actually, of the game, I'm pretty sure. And that breakthrough, it released so much tension in the stadium of, like, all right, like, this is real. Like, Seattle might actually be about to win Champions League right now.
01:31:27
Speaker
This is happening. And the first thing Rui Diaz does in that moment, which is such a credit to him, by the way, First thing Rui Diaz does in that moment is he goes and runs over and celebrates with the academy kids who
01:31:40
Speaker
who he took on a great mantle of mentoring at training every day. Rui Diaz, man, if you ever watched him at training, which I did a lot, he would always stay after and work on. At the time, it was like Ocampo Chavez and ah whatever young forwards or players that they would bring to training.
01:31:59
Speaker
He would always mentor them. He always had time for that. That's winning culture. That's winning culture. It's not necessarily spending $22 million dollars on Latte Loth.
01:32:11
Speaker
And that's the example that Doyle brought up. But I think everything that everything that Chris Armas is talking about right there is that's a common sentiment from how ah Seattle is regarded around the league. He said he was envious, guys.
01:32:25
Speaker
He said he was envious. That's kind of cool to be the envy of somebody.
01:32:31
Speaker
That's sick.
01:32:36
Speaker
Rui Diaz is a Sounders goat. He's a Sounders goat for like those reasons that, uh, that I was talking about as much as the goal scoring.
01:32:47
Speaker
And like, I would throw Ladero in there too. It's like, it's standard setters. That's what you, uh, that's what you need. I think if there's one,
01:32:59
Speaker
question maybe about Seattle's roster right now is it's like, have they truly filled the void of those standard setters? I'll never forget the night before the CCL final. We were out at the media, media mixer. That was actually the, that was the first night I ever met Noah, but I'll never forget. We were talking with someone from the Sounders and we were like, you know, do you, what are you thinking for tomorrow? Do you think you guys are going to win this? Or like, are you worried?
01:33:23
Speaker
And he was like, I'm not worried at all. We're going win. Like, Why are you so confident? Said El Capitan's not going to let us lose. He's just not.
01:33:34
Speaker
That's what we're talking about with, ah that's what I'm talking about with standard setters. Ladero, he said that every single day. He and Rui Diaz both. I think that there's guys who are starting to take up that mantle as we get further away from the Ladero and Rui Diaz era.
01:33:51
Speaker
Christian is a name that I would, uh, that I would bring up in there. Stephen Fry, I think, is a guy that I would bring up in there. um But I do think there's an argument to be made that, like, ah in terms of those standards and that leadership, it's made I would say it's arguably unclear right now to what effect that they filled that void because, like, realistically, that is void.
01:34:21
Speaker
that they had to fill. And, you know, maybe, maybe to an extent, that's part of why Seattle started the season a little slowly here. Cause
01:34:32
Speaker
it can take a while to fill that void. Although I don't know, maybe I'm making too much of that because you know, they didn't have Ladero last year. Rui Diaz was on the, on the back end of his best MLS days and they won 16 games and made the West final.
01:34:48
Speaker
So I don't know if it's like that much an issue, but it is, it's like, ah it's just stuff like that. That is people maybe don't always talk about in terms of team building, but that's like, that's how, that's how you win. That's how you stack trophies.
01:35:08
Speaker
What did he, I think he's talking about Mark. What did he call you when he was recalling the Martin's goal? Did he call, did he call you Z? Not sure. Tiago. I'll have to go back and look at that. I didn't catch that.
01:35:21
Speaker
um All right. ah All right. Let's do some Stephen Fry sound. Stephen Fry also talked. Always like to hear from him. or Oh, actually, actually, i got something for you guys. I got some for you guys. This was funny.
01:35:35
Speaker
This was funny. All right. So I was listening to SoccerWise this morning. ah Shout out Tom Bogert. Shout out ah David Goss. ah And they were talking about... um This Portuguese club, ah Boa Vista, who have guys, they've created an innovative strategy on the on the global transfer market that I didn't know was an option.
Boa Vista's Transfer Strategy Issues
01:35:58
Speaker
I didn't know it was an option, but apparently this club just doesn't pay their transfer fees. They just don't pay. They say we're going to buy that player from you. Here's the paperwork.
01:36:10
Speaker
We'll take them for this amount of money and then they just don't pay it. They just don't pay it. They've done it like four times. And this is a club that's turned out a lot of players that have gone to MLS. This is a club that Albert Thalese played for, that Reggie Cannon played for.
01:36:23
Speaker
And what's happening right now, which is a kind of funny story in MLS, is Real Salt Lake bought a striker from them, from Boa Vista. And they're like doing all this weird, shady business stuff where the dude is literally in Salt Lake.
01:36:39
Speaker
And they're trying to hold up the deal. I think that i've as far as I know right now, the deal is like still not going through because they're they're trying to say like they need to be paid in Portuguese money or not U.S. Anyway, going to play this clip from ah soccer wise because the way that to Tom explains the situation is better than I'm doing. And it's absolutely hilarious.
01:36:59
Speaker
And it's just a funny story from the world of global soccer and and MLS. So I'm just going to play this and then we'll react to it.
01:37:15
Speaker
All right, Tom, I need you to get out financial details. We need to get currency exchange numbers produced. we need to talk international law and sporting law. Let's break down what's going on for RSL right now in their quest to find their DP number nine.
01:37:32
Speaker
Real Salt Lake are at the final stage of signing DP center forward Robert Boznik from Bovista. Boznik is in Utah right now, Tuesday, doing a medical. He flowed, he traveled.
01:37:44
Speaker
As I was kind of saying on the show in recent weeks, this deal has, for the most part, been agreed for a number of weeks. um But the disarray that Boa Vista are constantly in means it's never, ever simple.
01:37:59
Speaker
It's been a situation of, I mean, I'm trying to be where I can be specific and we're gonna have to be vague so I don't want to get caught saying something that I don't know this finance world. I don't understand why they're still allowed to make transfers when they don't pay anybody.
01:38:13
Speaker
and all the details of this is going on so bosanek pushed for this he was like i'm traveling i'm doing the medical we're doing this like this this is a deal all this right the deal is for 2 million what i was told 2 million us dollars Boznik gets here and now Bovisa is saying, ah well, actually, we you know we actually thought that it was 2 million euros, right?
01:38:33
Speaker
Because that's like 2.3 million US right now. Despite the fact that everything was being negotiated in US dollars and just ah somebody maybe did a quick Google search of, oh, you know, the the translate. like How to more money in 10 seconds.
01:38:45
Speaker
um And my, I, we need to talk about what this means for our cell, right? Like that's, we need our cell to create a cryptocurrency that they're able to do this in for Boa Vista immediately.
01:38:57
Speaker
My favorite detail is five years ago, five years ago, Boa Vista bought Reggie Cannon from FC Dallas. They have not paid a single penny.
01:39:09
Speaker
They have been today. We're taking a court two or three years ago by Dallas. And near by Reggie, right? Reggie took them to court and lost on a technicality, which I feel bad for the player. Like they didn't pay him any wages, but he filed the lawsuit a couple of days, something stupid where they gave him like, yeah, $10 and be like, look, we're on our way to paying your wages.
01:39:31
Speaker
Whatever was. Even that is besides the point, which is funny as it sounds. Dallas requested, hey, can RSL just directly pay us the fee that they're going to pay Boa Vista? And Boa Vista were obviously like, no, because apparently they have zero intention of paying anybody.
01:39:45
Speaker
Voa Vista feels very strongly that you should pay for what you receive. ah RSL has to pay Voa Vista. It's the only proper thing to do. As I'm reporting this, they signed Bozenich from Feyenoord.
01:40:00
Speaker
I get a text from Feyenoord asking about this deal because, hey, they haven't paid us a penny for Bozenich that they signed from us to on loan three years ago and two years ago as a purchase option.
01:40:12
Speaker
they don't pay anybody and now they're haggling over well actually it's in euros and not in dollars and the dude's doing a medical he's probably wearing a real salt lake shirt right now what i was told from rso is they hope to just complete everything today um and hopefully that they'll get off this stupid euros versus dollars i don't know man it's a mess i don't understand how they're allowed to be run somebody sent me like somebody i thought somebody was making a joke that they didn't pay their electric bill There's a report in Portugal that they didn't pay their electrons the training facility.
01:40:41
Speaker
And they're not training at the training facility because they can't turn the lights on. And then somebody else texted me said, Joe, he's like, yeah, like only called showers ah cold water for the showers. i I have no idea if that's a joke or if that's serious.
01:40:55
Speaker
I don't know what's true anymore. It's just like, dude, man.
01:41:07
Speaker
How good is that? I respect the strategy. I respect the strategy. Just don't pay. I never thought of that. I never thought of that.
01:41:18
Speaker
Just don't pay. Yeah, we'll give you, oh yeah, that too, that couple we're good for that. We're good for that. Just don't pay.
01:41:28
Speaker
It's genius.
01:41:31
Speaker
Heard Bo Vista is going to be sponsored by Enron and FTX next season. Fire Festival, kid sponsor. Chad's on fire right now. Oh, my God. I just ah i wanted to play that for you guys just because like the Tom's recounting of it is hilarious. Well, because imagine being him. you know like you get it get into tech you're You're covering this saga of how they won't pay, and then you get a text from another team that's like, yeah, they didn't pay us five years, they and they just don't pay.
01:42:02
Speaker
How was that is that possible? Like, I feel like ah there should be a rule against that. Like, if you don't pay your transfer fee, you can't use the player.
01:42:18
Speaker
Or, frankly, you can't play your games. What the hell, man? Reggie Cannon, that was like that was literally five years four or five years ago. They still haven't paid that.
01:42:31
Speaker
that
01:42:34
Speaker
Still haven't paid.
01:42:39
Speaker
Can we try to get that fourth EP? Can't be above the cap if he's not getting any money. Exactly. Exactly.
01:42:48
Speaker
You're saying Reggie Cannon like never got paid wages? And then they did some like loophole to to win the lawsuit of like giving him $10. That shit is so cynical, man. That's it's a that's a pyramid scheme.
01:43:01
Speaker
That club is a pyramid scheme. RSL is struggling to buy a striker. Poor RSL. Dude, theyve they um
01:43:13
Speaker
they got announced they traded for Willie Agata today. And maybe that, i don't I didn't even think of this, but maybe that's a sign that the Bosnick deal actually fell through. literally flew to Utah.
01:43:25
Speaker
Might actually never suit up for them. I don't know.
01:43:29
Speaker
It's crazy. The reason I bring it up is because It's funny, but I think the Seattle Sounders should, and really all MLS clubs should consider adopting this strategy.
01:43:43
Speaker
Should consider adopting the strategy. Just don't pay. Just don't say you're going to pay, and then just don't pay. That rips.
01:43:56
Speaker
Guys, how did we never think of this?
01:44:00
Speaker
Confirmed off per Bogert. i didn't I didn't know that. confirmed off.
01:44:07
Speaker
Oh my God. That's tough. I feel, I honestly, like it's funny, but I feel bad for that guy. Imagine like being all excited to get to your new club. You literally fly. Oh yeah, it's a done deal.
01:44:20
Speaker
I'm doing my medicals.
01:44:24
Speaker
Nah, brother. Get back to Portugal where you're going to play for no money.
01:44:30
Speaker
They aren't paying that. They aren't paying that guy.
01:44:36
Speaker
Speaking of cap, are we paying Paul Areola's wages for Ryan Kent or just Paul's Sounders cap hit? It's a good question. I actually and not sure how that works. Like if like if he's being on season ending injury.
01:44:50
Speaker
Oh, I think there's I'm not. ah Don't quote any of this, but I think there's something where with Areola, the reason they were able to get Ryan Kent. Part of it was, i think, because when you're on the season injury list, it like gives you a certain amount that you can spend or something. I don't know.
01:45:09
Speaker
I could be. I am totally freestyling there.
01:45:15
Speaker
No Boznik to RSL. Who is your favorite Sounders player? Are we talking right now or all-time? All-time.
01:45:26
Speaker
I'm an Ozzy Alonso guy. I am. There's a lot of different ways you could go with that question.
01:45:35
Speaker
I just, Ozzy was the best. God, that guy ruled. Such a sick player. Right now, um who's my favorite sounder right now?
01:45:52
Speaker
It's a tie between Albert Rusnak and Danny Musavsky.
01:46:00
Speaker
jp JP is up there.
01:46:06
Speaker
i mighty i might say... Hmm. Hmm. That's tough. I'm kind of struggling with this.
01:46:15
Speaker
Maybe Obed, man. Especially after that last game.
01:46:28
Speaker
might...
01:46:32
Speaker
I got to look at the list. got to look at the list. Having trouble, like, coming up but with ah candidates off the top for some reason.
01:46:44
Speaker
Chat, who's your favorite Sounders? Who's your favorite Sounders, all-time or current?
01:46:59
Speaker
I think I'm going Obed. He's so good, man.
01:47:05
Speaker
The price went up. i like I really like dirty work players. That's kind of why Ozzy is my pick for all-time favorite. I like the guys that ah that are the unsung heroes.
01:47:18
Speaker
That's just me, though.
01:47:22
Speaker
Obed, 20 Kajiller, hang up the phone. Exactly. Exactly. That move that he, I mean, I've watched the Nashville highlights a lot of times now. He mossed that guy. That was sad. The little acceleration.
01:47:36
Speaker
a little acceleration.
01:47:40
Speaker
Such a good assist. Balling out of his mind. And he's so like ah versatile, multifaceted.
01:47:50
Speaker
Might have a weird one, but in terms of story-generating player, I think Thomas, Andy T, has shot up my list of favorites. it's honestly a good shout. like Stuff like what he did in the Open Cup last year, talking trash to the Quakes after winning the penalty shootout.
01:48:03
Speaker
Andy T, that that swagger that I was talking to Mark Asher Goodman about.
01:48:12
Speaker
Andy T, I think, low-key, as a goalkeeper, kind of brings that.
01:48:18
Speaker
Always made an argument that Fry is the greatest of all time. Most would say, Nico, though, what do you think? I think it's kind of like you kind of have to separate goalkeeper from field player. It's like such a different criteria that they're judged on under.
01:48:32
Speaker
So I think, I think it's almost like Fry's in a separate category. i think the better question with Fry, because he's obviously the best ah Sounders goalkeeper of all time. I mean, Casey Keller might've been the more accomplished player during his playing career, as far as the clubs he played for and stuff like that.
01:48:50
Speaker
But there's no goalkeeper in MLS history that can mess with Fry's trophy case. There's just not. And he's been an MLS Cup MVP, and he's won Champions League as a CCL Best XI keeper.
01:49:01
Speaker
So
01:49:04
Speaker
Fry's in, like, his own category as great Sounders Goat goalie, but also, like, with Fry, you've got to start talking about, and we have talked about on our show, like, where he ranks all-time in MLS.
01:49:17
Speaker
I really think, man, like, you know, you can judge it by like raw skill or by winning. And I think when you look at the amount that Fry has won, it's like him or Nick Raimondo. And if you argue Raimondo, are like, we were talking about this on the show like a year ago.
01:49:35
Speaker
And we were saying that we think Fry is the MLS go over Raimondo, but like anyone who argued Raimondo, I'm not going to like say that that's a bad take. But yeah,
01:49:48
Speaker
but
01:49:50
Speaker
Doesn't the trophy case have to play into that at a certain... Like, Raimondo might have been the better pure goalkeeper in terms of, like, the saves he could make, making highlight reel saves, stopping penalties.
01:50:02
Speaker
you were say Raimondo is, like, a superior player on all that stuff, i've I tend to think that that's honestly more of a wash. I think Fry is a great technical goalkeeper.
01:50:13
Speaker
But if you were to take Raimondo, wouldn't, like, argue with you. But Raimondo never won... never won champions league. So
01:50:23
Speaker
Oba is a great shout. That's one that a lot of people would have. We got a new who shout Chad Marshall. i was talking about him, uh, I think last week, but that's an underrated Lee.
01:50:38
Speaker
I would put, man, I would put him up with Ozzy for me, at least in my top two or three, uh, because of just how, uh, It was like watching a flawless CB. It was crazy.
01:50:55
Speaker
We need the next Aussie. Exactly, man. I've been saying it.
01:51:02
Speaker
It doesn't have to be like a carbon copy.
01:51:05
Speaker
But like someone in that mold with that attitude, that bite, that nastiness, that swagger.
01:51:12
Speaker
I'm hoping that ah like Ryan Kent has some of that.
01:51:21
Speaker
If Obed and Christian play like that every week, no one can stop us. Yeah. When you're, when you're beasting a game in midfield like that, it's tough to stop.
01:51:34
Speaker
Gustav Svensson. I love that shout.
01:51:43
Speaker
Is Fry leaving this year? I mean, I don't know. ah Right now to me, he looks like he could play like another five years. people i've People always talk about like the but drop off of Fry. They always have like all these stats.
01:51:57
Speaker
See, like he let this goal in when it should have been. i Like, I don't really care about that.
01:52:04
Speaker
I'll take Fry in any big game between the posts over just about anybody, even at he just turned 39. I'll still, i don't think I would, uh, I would take anyone else in there for if I, if I need to win one game, I don't think I would take anyone else in MLS in there.
01:52:23
Speaker
Raimondo has always been such a big player in my heart growing up in MLS. Every time we scored against him, it felt like all the much better knowing who he is. He was phenomenal. Like his status as the perceived unquestioned MLS goat goalkeeper is fully earned. Like there is no question about that.
01:52:43
Speaker
It's fully earned, and I think the thing about Raimondo, it wasn't just the crazy saves he would make. He was very much, like Frye, a rise-to-the-occasion type player.
01:52:56
Speaker
He would do it when it mattered the most, and he was just so consistent.
01:53:05
Speaker
And i think he probably... reason Raimondo stands out so much to so many people is because he would make those like highlight reel saves, which Fry has a lot of too.
01:53:18
Speaker
But like, if you put, if you made like an and one mixtape of Raimondo saves, it would probably be crazier than it would probably be as crazy as, uh, any goalkeeper you're ever going to see. I learned tonight that, uh, Seattle is not my, it sounds like they're not going to have to play Zach Steffen on Saturday, which that was a whole thing going into this Rapids game that, uh,
01:53:39
Speaker
was like, all right, well, you're you are playing the hottest goalkeeper in the league right now on the road. ah Mark and I were talking about it, but really the reason that the Rapids are top five in the West right now is because of Zach Steffen.
01:53:52
Speaker
If you look at their underlying numbers, how they formed, they would not have nearly taken the amount of points that they have, honestly, if Zach Steffen wasn't just going crazy. And when Doyle stumped for him for MVP, his low-key, like...
01:54:08
Speaker
not a bad but Not a bad take.
01:54:14
Speaker
Do you know why Georgie is demoted to defiance? um Not for sure, but ah feel like, well, number one, don't know.
01:54:26
Speaker
I think the the realistic, the the the truth of the matter is that Ryan Kent being in the mix eats into Georgie's role on the first team really through no fault of Georgie.
01:54:40
Speaker
He's been playing well this year. He has a couple assists. He's looked dangerous. I think it's clear that he's still... is a work in progress as far as like consistently bringing those moments that we see in him. And we're like, wow, that was awesome.
01:54:56
Speaker
um But Ryan Kent's a lot more polished, got a lot more pedigree. He's probably going to be getting those minutes. So that's one thing. ah But also you have this defiance open cup match against the Timbs coming up.
01:55:09
Speaker
And ah Georgie is one of the players that's like eligible to get loaned down. i guess you can like, do that with him. So I think they probably are planning on using him in that game.
01:55:20
Speaker
And I think that may be part of the reason why he was playing in this game with defiance tonight was to get him back, getting reps with those guys looking ahead to that game. i don't know. I'm just theorizing.
01:55:33
Speaker
Um, But someone mentioned earlier that ah RBW, Travion Sosa, and Georgie were all playing for Defiance tonight, and they absolutely slammed Sporting Kansas City two four to 4-1. Georgie two assists.
01:55:47
Speaker
So I don't know how much of a difference that's going to make against the Timbs, but i ah I think if you have NDT out there, rb w
01:55:58
Speaker
Sosa and Georgie you have guys that are MLS level players theoretically right and that have played with defiance a lot they've all like played on that team so he played 90 in Kansas boss KC2 today yeah he'll and exactly Joel he'll get he'll keep getting his minutes
01:56:27
Speaker
Honestly, finding a way to guarantee Georgie minutes every chance week in, week out feels like his biggest need. Those talents are immense and only polishable with time. It's tough because that is true. but At the same time, like how much is his development really progressing if he's just playing in a league that he's way too good for every week and he's just slamming MLS Next Pro competition?
MLS Next Pro and Player Development Challenges
01:56:54
Speaker
um Maybe that helps your development, but I feel like the key is that he needs to be getting the competition against and MLS level competition.
01:57:07
Speaker
But if it's ah if it's a situation where there's just not enough minutes for go to go around for both him and Ryan Kent, I mean, these things are fleshed out on the training ground, right? whoever ah Whoever wins those internal competitions, that's who's going to play.
01:57:23
Speaker
Schmetz runs a pretty merit-based system, I feel like. Some people might think he plays favorites, but like if he really thought that playing Georgie instead of Ryan Kent in those moments would help the Sounders win games, I don't i don't think that he wouldn't do that.
01:57:40
Speaker
Ooh, here's a good shout. Do we still were ah regret letting Sam and slam and Sam walk? Always thought he wasn't a good fit and it was a bad narrative just because he had a breakout year after he left. That whole thing kind of, I'm going look it up right now.
01:57:52
Speaker
That was a hot storyline for a minute last year because the Sounders did let him go. And then he ended up balling for St. Louis city. But then he actually really fell out of favor there.
01:58:05
Speaker
They benched him. They weren't playing him at all. He got traded to the Philly Union and the Philly Union transferred him, I believe. um He went to the Philly Union and he had
01:58:23
Speaker
One assist in 130 minutes. Didn't really get on the field. And 2023 was the breakout. He had eight MLS goals in 950 minutes. That's excellent production for what ah St. Louis gave up for him. And frankly, they could use him. They could use that now.
01:58:42
Speaker
They have one of the worst offenses in the league right now. So, I mean, if they had a striker that could produce like that, like that, it might be a little better off, but Len, last year before he, uh, went to Philly, he had two goals, one assist in 588 minutes, which is fine, but not amazing.
01:59:04
Speaker
Didn't really break in at Philly. And now he's on Lask in Austria.
01:59:12
Speaker
He's toiling in Austria. Doesn't look like he has any goals yet for them. Although I was looking at Wikipedia, I'm going to look at transfer market.
01:59:28
Speaker
Yeah, he's not really doing much in Austria.
01:59:32
Speaker
i think I think the Sounders actually ended up like winning that trade. I can't remember what they gave up, but the whole... like um Noah and I were would joke a lot about it at the time. every We would be tracking it every time he would bam for St. Louis, which he did eight times.
01:59:45
Speaker
We'd be like, up why didn't they keep slamming Sam? Why didn't they keep him? They need this guy. They need a number nine like this. Rui Diaz isn't scoring. This was before they discovered that Jordan is the number nine.
01:59:59
Speaker
Worked fine. And he put up 14 and five playing that position. We were campaigning for slamming Sam. That's how tough the start of last season was.
02:00:10
Speaker
We were adamantly pining for slamming Sam and criticizing the club for trading him.
02:00:18
Speaker
But... That's why you kind of got to give it time before you judge that stuff.
02:00:28
Speaker
Got have the same situation as Adinaron with Osaze, I feel. ah Yeah, honestly, i think that kid is clearly too good for Next Pro. I kind of...
02:00:40
Speaker
observed that just from being at the defiance game the other day. well, like he was literally and he was playing in the Canadian prime before he went to defiance and banging in goals, which the Canadian prime is obviously not like, uh,
02:00:55
Speaker
the best league in the world, but it's, it's not bad. Like for him to be one of the leading goal scorers over there, that's not nothing. And when they were, when defines for playing the roots, just from watching the day Rosario is like, he, he's more like, he, he looks like he is not only hanging with these USL guys, which that was sort of the measuring stick.
02:01:17
Speaker
He looks like he's not only hanging with them, but he is, he's kind of cooking. He excelling. against these guys. So I think his, I think his level is very clearly higher than next pro.
02:01:28
Speaker
I don't know if it's and MLS level. I think it's at least USL level.
02:01:36
Speaker
So we'll see, but no, he's got some, he's got some game. Yeah, he really does. Like it wasn't just the extra time game winner, you know, stepping up in the big moment. He, he put one off the post like three minutes into the game. And honestly that like set the tone.
02:01:52
Speaker
Just being there, that was the moment where like the crowd was like, okay, it's on. It's on. These USL guys are not going to come in here and just take this game. like This is going to be a game.
02:02:10
Speaker
I agree. He needs to make a move if he wants to continue. to like what what What's the ceiling of what he can get at this point from playing in Knicks Pro? Maybe the next step for him is is USL because I feel like his resume and pedigree not necessarily at a place yet where an MLS squad is going to be inclined to bring him in and give him the minutes that he would need to develop.
02:02:34
Speaker
But I could see a USL club doing that, and I think he could do well there.
02:02:40
Speaker
But I had the same thought, Reese. How much is NextPro really getting him to the next level? Probably not that much.
02:02:52
Speaker
And his dad, I mean, his dad's one of the best MLS players ever, right? So, yeah, two first half goals tonight. He's just feasting. He's feasting.
02:03:06
Speaker
Noah was at one point campaigning for him to ah get ah get ah go to the first team, I think, when he was especially disgruntled. I could be misremembering that.
02:03:21
Speaker
Does he bail if we buy U22 striker? I don't even think it's connected to that. I think realistically with the season he's having a next pro, he's going to be looking to move somewhere either way, whatever happens with it.
02:03:32
Speaker
I don't, I don't really get the sense. I don't know this. I'm just speculating, but I don't really get the sense that the organization
02:03:40
Speaker
at this point views him as like a, this is a potential player.
02:03:46
Speaker
long-term answer at this position, either as a depth piece or a potential starter. think when you're filling out a next pro roster, you're balancing getting a ton of competitive minutes for your academy kids and developmental players with ah building a team that is trying to be competitive and win games.
02:04:10
Speaker
And so you kind of need both, both things. Like if it's all your freaking like you 16s,
02:04:18
Speaker
that might be a little harder when you're playing these other sides that have these guys who are a little more seasoned. So kind of, I think you want both presences ideally when you're constructing a next pro roster.
02:04:28
Speaker
So the idea with him is more provide that type of presence. Yeah. with the With the thought, I would imagine that, all right, if he really if we really like what we see from him, we'll give him like a chance. like If we really like what we see from him and we think it could translate, we'll consider giving him a shot. But to answer the original question, like I don't think it's got it's going to have that he'll have any bearing on the U22 spot one way or the other.
02:04:54
Speaker
And that's a that's an exciting little thing on the horizon. Who are they going to go get with that? I think Tim Foss was doing transfer targets for Sounder at Heart.
02:05:06
Speaker
I don't know if that's out yet. I might have spilled the beans there.
02:05:10
Speaker
I haven't looked around at like who might be available, but Craig Wibes did say that whoever it is,
02:05:22
Speaker
they want it to be like a Yolich type situation where they can come in and contribute off rip. They don't want it to be like a developmental spot of like, okay, you'll be ready in like a year or two. Like Craig said that they want whoever it is to be able to to contribute now, which would honestly be such a necessary addition to this team.
02:05:43
Speaker
I think even with Moose playing a lot better and starting to score goals, that's great. And that'll work that That looks like right now. mean We'll see how it pans out. like Maybe this is just like a flash in the pan hot streak.
02:05:59
Speaker
But assuming that Moose is a viable depth striker, that works for this year. Maybe next year. But like realistically, long term, especially with Jordan getting up into his 30s, these are things you got to think about.
02:06:11
Speaker
was talking to Nico about that the other day. like You got to gotta to make some of these moves with an eye towards the future.
02:06:26
Speaker
Next Pro still just feels like college ball. i i ah I get like ah almost indoor vibes at times from it. It's just like such a frantic, fast-paced style back and forth the whole time, especially especially at Starfire. But really, like if you watch any of the games, it's just like like cracked out, which is fun.
02:06:59
Speaker
Benjamin Sesko. All right. Yeah, i like if you got names that you know about, go ahead and drop them in. I'll look them up.
02:07:08
Speaker
Moose is hitting it. This is a good bit with the Moose DPS escalators. You're actually on to something with this. um Summer window is about MLS playoffs. Window closes after Club World Cup.
02:07:20
Speaker
Um, that's a good reminder of, uh, one of the, I'm at two hours, but I'm honestly, I'm good to keep hanging around for a little bit. Cause I had one more thing I wanted to get to, uh, take this question first.
02:07:32
Speaker
Well, the Sounders ever have a player like Christian or Jordan develop and stay again. I feel like a player like them would be headed abroad if they came up today. Well, even back then, you remember how controversial it was that Jordan chose to, uh, stay here instead of, uh,
02:07:51
Speaker
signing with Werder Bremen.
Jordan Morris' MLS Decision Debate
02:07:52
Speaker
That was the genesis of why USMNT fans don't like me. It's because they had the most brain-dead takes of all time about how Jordan was like less of a man for not going to Germany. He wanted to stay in Seattle and play for the club he grew up watching and rooting for and dreaming about playing for. He wanted to play for that club.
02:08:21
Speaker
instead of a mid table Bundesliga side, what does this guy think he's doing?
02:08:30
Speaker
What a, what a loser. These tastes were, these takes were flying around everywhere. And I always, I always called it out. I defended him. And one time and defended him in a way that was probably, i probably came in too hot.
02:08:47
Speaker
I will admit that. Uh, But a couple of the national pundits who cover the USMNT came after me. They came after me. They replied to my tweet.
02:09:00
Speaker
They replied to my tweet knowing that their fan base is the bot accounts with Pulisic avatars.
02:09:12
Speaker
who are abusive to everyone that they talk to, they knew they know they know what they're doing. when They know that their fan base is the Hornet's Nest, and they sicked it on me.
02:09:25
Speaker
And it wasn't a fun day for your boy on the internet. I was the main character of USMNT Twitter that day. And i don't regret it.
02:09:37
Speaker
I don't regret it.
02:09:40
Speaker
Because even if I acknowledge that I could have come in less hot, I was right. I was right. My take was about his USMNT stock, which everyone was hating on.
02:09:57
Speaker
At the time. But it was all it's all related to this decision he made. To go play. To play stay home and play for Seattle. Instead of going to the Bundesliga. USMNT fans had this take. That it would like hinder his.
02:10:11
Speaker
Development. And he would never be good enough for the USMNT. You know what's funny about that?
02:10:20
Speaker
I hope some of them are watching right now. He's literally better than. Most of the. Strikers.
02:10:28
Speaker
that that that our trash ass team has thrown out there in the last eight years.
02:10:34
Speaker
And I don't just mean that at the club level. I mean that literally like at the international level, he has 11 goals in 55 caps, which is not amazing. That's more goals than freaking, who are these guys? Haji Wright?
02:10:46
Speaker
got That's more more goals than Haji Wright, who the bots love. He's got more goals than... but you know You know who the guys with the most, like, best goals and assists per 90 are?
02:10:58
Speaker
Jordan Morris and Jesus Ferreira. That's literally who it is. No one will ever... None of those pundits who came after me that day, they'll never admit that. It's literally just the truth, statistically.
02:11:12
Speaker
And I don't even, like, say bring that up to be like, Jordan is the greatest U.S. striker ever. it's Everyone else didn't outperform him. They didn't. They made me one number nine.
02:11:25
Speaker
that the U.S. has trotted out there in the last five years, that's meaningfully outperformed Jesus Ferreira and Jordan Morris. Name one.
02:11:36
Speaker
I don't think anyone could, which is funny.
02:11:45
Speaker
He might have been better if he went to Germany. um But my my, okay, my thing is like, There's no way to know that. People state that like a fact when when you don't know.
02:11:56
Speaker
And the whole idea that MLS players are kneecapped by playing for the national team by playing in MLS has not necessarily been proven by history.
02:12:08
Speaker
you if your're If your form in MLS is good, you can get called into the U.S. and contribute. I think that's clear, and I think he did do that. But the other thing is that the whole idea when he stayed here originally was he was going to do – However long he wanted in Seattle for the first two, three years of his career, whatever it was.
02:12:28
Speaker
And then at that point, if he felt like it's something that he wanted to do, then he was goingnna then he was going to go to Europe. that was that was though That was why the whole debate was so stupid, is because him staying and not going to Werder Bremen at the beginning of his career did not preclude him from going to Europe someday.
02:12:48
Speaker
ah like i think the idea was always, if he tears it up in MLS or it becomes a thing where he wants to challenge himself at a higher level, he was going to go do that. And you know what? He did do that. He got, he got loaned to a Swansea city in the English championship.
02:13:04
Speaker
And that was, it's unfortunate because that was going to be, that was going to be like a good test, a good way to gauge like what his level on, on a, in a league like that really is. I think he was, the whole thing was he was going to try and help them get promoted.
02:13:21
Speaker
And he did his ACL in his like third or fourth game with them. And we never got to see it. We never got to see it, and that is unfortunate because I really, i have little doubt in my mind that he would have done pretty well there, if not really well.
02:13:38
Speaker
the thing The things about Jordan's game that make him effective in MLS, speed and power like that doesn't go away just because you're in the English championship. it ah It's a lot harder use those tools to to great effect, theoretically, although I don't even know how good the championship really is.
02:14:01
Speaker
Everyone would tell you that it's like light years beyond MLS. I'm sure the level's a little higher.
02:14:09
Speaker
i don't know if it's like as crazy a difference as people would have you believe. Is the championship like that good? um don't think so. I think ah players who are in the championship, if they were that good, they'd be in the Prem, would they not be?
02:14:24
Speaker
like not the most amazing league of all time just because it's in England. I don't know. I just, I think that ah the whole thing about how he like stayed home for his dog and he's not like cut out for it.
02:14:40
Speaker
It was always bullshit. I called it as such at the time. USMNT fans don't like me for it. That's fine. I don't really like them either. That's why I sent my blazing hot tweets back in the day.
02:14:56
Speaker
So
02:15:00
Speaker
Pepe, I don't know, man.
02:15:05
Speaker
I don't know.
02:15:09
Speaker
People will tell you that Pepe is light years better than Jordan Morris. Is he really? I know you're right. You guys are right that like statistically he's one of the ones that has more goals. I forgot about him.
02:15:19
Speaker
Is Pepe so much better than Jordan Morris because he's banging in some goals in the air to VCA? Yeah. And he has 30. All right, so he's got 13 goals and 33 caps.
02:15:30
Speaker
i Like, if you want to argue Pepe, I'll accept it. I'll accept it. I don't think it's, like, that big of a difference between the two. I'm obviously biased, but if you showed me a U.S. starting 11 with Jordan Morris at the 9 or Pepe at the 9, I wouldn't think of it that differently. I wouldn't.
02:15:48
Speaker
You know why? Because Jordan has actually scored goal his goals in big moments for the USMNT, which Pepe is not, really. Pepe scored one in World Cup qualifying, I want to say.
02:16:04
Speaker
looking at Pepe's goals right now.
02:16:08
Speaker
Jordan scored against Mexico when he was in college. He scored against El Salvador on the road in Nations League. He doesn't have the same, like, Pirate of the Caribbean narrative that Ferreira had. He actually, like...
02:16:26
Speaker
He had way more important good moments for the USMNT than people give him credit for. it
02:16:37
Speaker
right, apparently Pepe's better than I'm saying.
02:16:42
Speaker
You really, why like, what is ah Reese, what is Pepe,
02:16:49
Speaker
what has Pepe done that's so, like, that makes that makes you rate him so high? Like,
02:16:57
Speaker
He's good.
02:16:59
Speaker
Scored a lot in the Dutch league, which is a league where it's... I think, you know, i'm not trying to say the goals don't count. It's it it's known as a high-scoring league.
02:17:18
Speaker
All right, all right. We got Pepe. we got pey I'm not ah i'm not going to like ah not going to argue with the peppy thing, but okay, that's like one example. That's one example.
02:17:30
Speaker
Everyone else, I consider pretty much a joke. I had someone coming at me talking about how Haji Wright scored at the World Cup. that is That goal that he scored at the World Cup, that is the one goal I will ever argue doesn't count.
02:17:46
Speaker
Okay. That was the luckiest thing. I couldn't believe someone brought that goal up as like an example of why Haji Wright is the chosen one. like He was not trying to do that at all.
02:17:58
Speaker
Not even close.
02:18:09
Speaker
Pepe is good, but doesn't have that dog in him like Jordan does. Jordan has the clinton Dempsey influence and Pepe doesn't.
02:18:17
Speaker
I really like, ah yeah if you rate Pepe, it's it's fine. i'm I'm sure he's pretty good. I haven't followed him that much in Nerida Vista. So, Reese, I honestly trust your judgment on it more than mine. If you if you rate him and yet you say that he's been playing really well and could be the striker that the USMNT needs.
02:18:37
Speaker
I personally didn't ah don't rate them that differently.
02:18:45
Speaker
but we can't develop a a nine to save our lives. So I think the fact that Jordan actually has some of the best stats, both in terms of goals scored and like there was a period of time. I don't know if this is still true, but there was a period of time where he was the only, he was had the highest goals and assists per 90 of any player in the pool besides Pulisic.
02:19:06
Speaker
That's not like to even say that Jordan is the most incredible striker of all, of all time. That's just like what a sad ass sorry state U S soccer is in that. They can't develop and any nine at all.
02:19:23
Speaker
It's bad.
02:19:31
Speaker
Daryl DK forgot about him. He was looking like he could be the guy for a minute there. I feel like he got derailed by injury.
02:19:43
Speaker
Starting nine in the Dutch league, but like... If you drop Jordan into the Dutch league, do we think he would just like go silent? I feel like he would score a lot of of goals in that league. That league is like a
02:19:58
Speaker
As I understand it, I don't... Admittedly don't follow that league that much, but as I understand it, that league's reputation is like... If you're ah if you're a striker... or any attacking player that like needs minutes and confidence because you're in a bad run of form, get loaned to the Dutch league. that sort of And I think that's sort of what they were doing with Pepe.
02:20:17
Speaker
so
02:20:27
Speaker
Deuce is the Hanauer-friendly dude. oh This is responding to Jesus Ferreira is a Hanauer-budget-friendly dude slash Pepe.
02:20:40
Speaker
I guess I think like the idea is that ah
02:20:46
Speaker
they got for air for less than he's worth like realistically. um
02:20:52
Speaker
He's been a like a DP quality player in the league and they got him for less than that. So that's like the idea. but Maybe that's what you mean by budget friendly.
02:21:04
Speaker
What will be the more positive outcome, Sounders in the Club World Cup or USMNT in the 26 World Cup? I mean, if I had to guess that right now, I would honestly say Sounders in the Club World Cup.
USMNT Performance and Criticism
02:21:14
Speaker
USMNT is a joke, man.
02:21:20
Speaker
It's like Atlanta United, man. There's there's something like rotten to the core. Because these games that they've been playing ah under Pochettino, it's like embarrassing.
02:21:32
Speaker
I don't think there's any other way to put it.
02:21:43
Speaker
Feel if a USMNT in club World cup does worst or inworl Cup does worse than the Sounders in Club World Cup, something has gone wrong. Yeah. Yeah, you're right. And something has gone wrong.
02:21:57
Speaker
Deeply. Because that team is ass. They're not good. They're just, if they want to, ah if they want to stop guys like me from saying that and clowning on them, they got to play better, a lot better than they were playing in Nations League because that was sorry as hell.
02:22:16
Speaker
And, you know, I've been doing a bit about how I defect to Canada for a while. And a lot of that is rooted in ah bitterness about a how I was treated during the famous Jordan do Morris debate of like 2019 or whatever that was that I'm referencing.
02:22:34
Speaker
But they make it pretty easy to clown on them. They do. And if they want to stop getting clowned on by me or anyone else, they got to like become a real team and not whatever that was in Nations League because this Pochettino stuff.
02:22:48
Speaker
All
02:22:52
Speaker
right. Reese, are these peppy stats?
02:23:00
Speaker
Okay. Okay. I like this. You're, you're bringing back, you're bringing in facts. You're bringing in facts to support your point. I can always support that because like I don't pay attention to this. 1.27 non-penalty goals from 0.82 expected goals per game.
02:23:18
Speaker
Those are pretty insane numbers.
02:23:25
Speaker
I don't know. I don't think I can even say that that doesn't count because it's the Dutch league. I think that, I think you're right. i think you're probably right. He's balling. He's balling. I think my original point stands.
02:23:37
Speaker
It's not like there's a wealth of options that are better than than Jordan Morris. I'm not even saying they should call him in. um My point is that it's sorry as hell that they haven't, they don't, like they, all the fans talk about ah how big of a joke he is for staying in MLS and not going to the Bundesliga. And then why have all the, what why have all the forwards other than Pepe been totally useless? Even Balogun.
02:24:05
Speaker
I was super high on Balogin when they pulled that one off. I feel like he hasn't done that much. Has he even done that much? feel like he's injured, scored a few goals.
02:24:18
Speaker
He scored a few goals in the Nations League where the USMNT played well a couple years ago. Balogin looked good. But he has not been the needle mover that he was billed as, I think it's fair to say.
02:24:34
Speaker
We are still here workflow. I'm about to wrap it up though. I'm coming up on two and a half hours. I guess I was feeling it tonight.
02:24:42
Speaker
Striker problems since Lando and Deuce. Yeah, exactly. They never, i think Dempsey is just the best player that we ever could create. That's what it seems like.
02:24:52
Speaker
Pulisic is good. i know i'm know I'm a hater, or like I'm a hater on the team and on him a little bit in particular, but he is a player. He is a player.
02:25:04
Speaker
His run at Chelsea a couple years ago was genuinely impressive, the COVID year. So five years ago. But as I understand it, he is doing quite well in Syria with AC Milan.
02:25:20
Speaker
And he's like, you he's good. He's good. There's a couple guys who are in that player pool that actually have standing to be like, I'm a worthy player for this team and at this level.
02:25:32
Speaker
He is one of them.
02:25:35
Speaker
put Weston, I guess, in that category, although he looked pretty bad in Nations League, I thought.
02:25:41
Speaker
Tyler Adams, knowing I make fun of him a lot because of his famous, I'm the best in the world, I'm the best midfielder in the world quote. aye Noah says he's ass. I don't think he's ass. I think he's good.
02:25:54
Speaker
He's just not what claimed to be. And that quote, honestly, was more, it was an example of like this self-importance that I think we got going on in that player pool.
02:26:06
Speaker
That's not earned. You earn self-importance like that.
02:26:12
Speaker
Tyler Adams, like, if he wants to be considered like that,
02:26:19
Speaker
team's got to be performing a lot better.
02:26:25
Speaker
BC Place, no, I'm not traveling. I'm i'm just working from right here. working it for right here
02:26:34
Speaker
I don't think they would ever have me traveling for like a CCC game like this. I would travel if the if Seattle was playing in it. And maybe maybe if the final was at a West Coast place, they would send me to that.
02:26:49
Speaker
They've sent me to two of the West Coast MLS Cubs. Three. Three. Send me the the West Finals and the Cubs both years that LAFC and the Galaxy were in it.
02:27:05
Speaker
They sent me to Portland the year that Portland lost it to and NYC, which that was ah kind of weird getting like being in Portland for a game that the Sounders weren't playing them in and it being MLS Cup.
02:27:16
Speaker
But I honestly had the best time of anybody at that game because it was that was a really awesome game, like entertainment-wise. And then the Timbs lost in heartbreaking fashion. And, you know, the whole stadium was super devastated. And I was just sitting there like, I don't know.
02:27:31
Speaker
That's fine with me. fine with me. Yeah, I usually, I've been to BC Place a bunch of times for Sounders games. It's sick. And also, this is the best Whitecaps team I've ever seen. So I'm definitely trying to go in Seattle.
02:27:47
Speaker
They didn't already go there this year, did they? Am I tripping?
02:27:53
Speaker
um don't think they did. I'll probably go to that. I'm going to go to Portland next month as well. We're going to try and do some content from down there. All right, guys, I'm coming up on two and a half hours. This was a marathon sesh.
02:28:06
Speaker
So you guys know what you guys already know what time it is. You guys already know. It's time to turn on the lo-fi, wrap it up here. you got any last questions, topics, agendas, grievances,
02:28:21
Speaker
go ahead and drop them in chat. I'll try and get to them before i
02:28:30
Speaker
call it a night.
02:28:36
Speaker
How do you get your start with MLS? It's a good question.
Journey into Sports Journalism
02:28:39
Speaker
i don't know if I've ever divulged that lore.
02:28:44
Speaker
I got started with MLS because i was looking for any any jobs when I was graduating college.
02:29:01
Speaker
And I had done PI where they basically gave me the Sounders beat
02:29:08
Speaker
And I got some really good writing samples out of that. And the story is, i went and shadowed at the Seattle Times. I was like trying to do journalism stuff. I interned for Seattle PI, I like was sports editor for the school paper.
02:29:22
Speaker
I ah shadowed at the Seattle Times and i had a meeting with a guy by the name of Josh Mayers, who used to be the seattle Sounders beat reporter for the Seattle Times. And, uh, they were, he was leaving the beat at the time. And I was kind of asking him like about being his replacement, which at the time I was literally, I hadn't even graduated college yet. So the idea that I would slide right in as like the full-time Seattle times sounders beat writer was probably a little pie in the sky.
02:29:49
Speaker
But at the time I was like, I could do that. I have these samples covered a few of the games. I know what's up. I could do this. And he was like, you know, they'll probably, they're probably going book for someone who's done this before,
02:30:01
Speaker
but
02:30:03
Speaker
i'm going to give you the contact info for a guy by the name of Jeremiah Oshan, who's the beat writer for MLS soccer, who's leaving his position. And it's more of like a freelance part-time role, but I'll give you his contact info and have him talk to you about baby being his replacement.
02:30:24
Speaker
And I was like, wow, thank you, Josh Mayers. I just met you five minutes ago and you're going to hook me up like that. Goddamn. So I emailed Jeremiah and I sent him my clips from PI.
02:30:38
Speaker
He sent those to a guy by the name of ah Matthew Doyle, the armchair analyst who was doing more editing at the time. Got an email from Matt Doyle at my house in Bellingham.
02:30:51
Speaker
And he said, we need you to do a trial run on the Sounders beat. We're gonna you cover training and cover a couple games. And if you do a good job, you're the new Sounders beat writer for em soccer. Congratulations.
02:31:05
Speaker
I was like, sick. Don't live in Seattle right now. Didn't tell him that. Called up my friend who had just moved there. We were all like graduating right at this time. I called up my friend who had just moved in in Seattle and I said, I really need to stay on your couch for like two weeks while I do this trial.
02:31:22
Speaker
He was like, hell yeah.
02:31:26
Speaker
So I drove to Seattle before I graduated. Crashed on my friend's couch.
02:31:33
Speaker
did a Did my two week trial on the Sounders beat.
02:31:41
Speaker
And I never went back to Bellingham. I went back to Bellingham to get all my shit and move it to Seattle when I found my own place. But that was it. That's the story.
02:31:50
Speaker
Never went back to school. i did I did my last class online. and i I did graduate. I can show you guys the diploma. I did graduate. Cut it close, though. It was funny, though, because they didn't ask if I graduated.
02:32:04
Speaker
Which I was like, don't you guys want to see my... Literally, didn't ask. Yeah, I went to WWU.
02:32:14
Speaker
Western Front. Exactly.
02:32:19
Speaker
i was a sports editor for the Western Front.
02:32:23
Speaker
Most memorable Sounders match you've covered. um Dude, honestly, Red Card Wedding. I'll never forget that night. That was unbelievable.
02:32:36
Speaker
that was That was one of those games that was so good that, like... Like, the content was so good that the Sounders,
02:32:48
Speaker
like, I wasn't even mad that they lost. I
02:32:53
Speaker
wasn't even mad. Like, I think most Sounders fans were like, i whatever, like, that was awesome. I don't care.
02:33:02
Speaker
But then I think you got to throw and MLS Cup 2019 and the Champions League final in there just for the magnitude and history of it. But there's something just different about the red card wedding because it being at Starfire and just like the lore that came out of it.
02:33:19
Speaker
And that was like my second year on the beat. So I was still pretty new to it. It's like, damn.
02:33:31
Speaker
That was a really good one.
02:33:36
Speaker
Jordan starting over Moose Saturday. That's the question. We were talking about that earlier. and You know, like the the ride the hot hand versus get your normal first choice starters back in debate.
02:33:47
Speaker
And ah my take Reese was with, I think for this game in particular, more of a question in the weeks ahead, but this game in particular, you can justify riding the hot hand and giving the team that destroyed Nashville another run.
02:34:05
Speaker
and then give uh morrison rusnak more like 30. i would like when talking about moose and jordan specifically i would i would if i was the coach if schmetz i would do um moose 60 jordan 30. kind of like they did against nashville or maybe jordan might not have even gotten that i would do moose 60 jordan 30. just because of fitness not like even because of the hot hand necessarily
02:34:37
Speaker
But if if they feel like Jordan's good for 60, then I don't mind Jordan 60 moves 30.
02:34:47
Speaker
He does love his starters, but it is also a situation where the team he put out there in the last game balled out. So I feel like when this situation has happened in the past, he actually does.
02:35:03
Speaker
He actually just did it from the Dallas game to the Nashville game. The team that put in put in the work and got the dub in Dallas ended up being the, he ran it back when Morris and Rusnak were on the bench, which that is probably fitness related, but maybe means that, I don't know. I'm kind of curious.
02:35:23
Speaker
Now that they're a little healthier, curious to see how they do it. But I'm really looking forward to watching De La Vega play again. Him scoring that goal.
02:35:36
Speaker
That was great to see. Man, what if he becomes like an impact player?
02:35:43
Speaker
Team could be good.
02:35:49
Speaker
Joined late. You probably covered this. How many minutes for Kent in the upcoming match? We didn't really actually cover, talk about that specifically. um I hope it's more like 20 or 30 than like five to 10 or whatever it was in this last game.
02:36:05
Speaker
I hope it's enough. Like 20 to 30 is what I consider like enough time to actually make your mark on the game. Right. And, uh, I'm excited to see like what he can do given that many minutes, you know, like I saw some intriguing stuff, folks.
02:36:28
Speaker
The no-looker, like two minutes into his MLS debut, I'm fiending i'm fiending for it too. He teased us with that no look. He was like, look, this is the stuff that I do.
02:36:43
Speaker
I lift bums off seats, to quote him directly.
02:36:49
Speaker
My bum wasn't off the seat because you're not supposed to do that in the press box, but I think there was a few at Lumen when he did that. Oh, man, the Sounders posted a clip of, like, the the field view of that assist. It was a true no-looker.
02:37:04
Speaker
Wasn't like one of those fake no-looks.
02:37:08
Speaker
Wasn't like a fake Matthew Stafford in the Super Bowl no-look. It was like a real no-looker. He was. he was, like... ah In those 10 minutes, he did like three things where i was like, wasn't even expecting that.
02:37:24
Speaker
All right, guys, I'm gonna call it on that. Went 240. Goddamn, that was a long one, but that was fun. Thank you guys for tuning in. Like, like the video, comment, subscribe.
02:37:38
Speaker
Follow us on Instagram. We just hit 400 on there, which our journey to credibility on Instagram is going pretty well. want I want 1K on Instagram and then I'll never shill it again.
02:37:49
Speaker
But we got to 400. Follow us on Instagram. Shout out to ah Mark Asher Goodman and holding the high line for doing our opponent preview tonight. was really good stuff.
02:38:05
Speaker
What else? What else? What else? Like, comment, subscribe on all everything and tell all your friends. Tell Ryan Kent.
02:38:19
Speaker
I'm going to be, oh man, I didn't even talk about CCC. I was going to. um covering that game tomorrow night, so this this is the stream that's replacing that. But we'll be back at it.
02:38:33
Speaker
I think we can do a post-game live for sure because it's a road game, so it's really no problem. It's really the home games where we, I'm kind of figuring that we have to do those the next day. At least right now.
02:38:45
Speaker
So we can figure out more workable set up to maybe do the shows actually from. Well, yeah, we should have post game live and take calls on Saturday. Nico and I will be back at it on Monday morning at 8am for Lobbing Scorchers kickoff.
02:39:07
Speaker
So the content's going to keep churning, not going anywhere. See you guys post-game on Saturday. Thanks for tuning in, guys.
02:39:19
Speaker
Appreciate it. Peace.