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Nos Audietis: Is Danny Musovski the real deal?
422 Plays23 days ago
The Sounders are coming off a 1-1 tie with the Colorado Rapids. That leaves them with a 3-3-4 record and sitting eighth in the West. Jeremiah and Mark give some of their big picture assessments of the season up to this point. One big point of discussion is the play of Danny Musovski, who has now scored in three straight games and seems to be doing it in repeatable fashion.
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Transcript
Seattle Sounders' MLS Cup Victory Celebration
00:00:01
Speaker
Hi, I'm Will Bruin, and I was just recognized as a Seattle Sounders legend. Now I get to do voice reads for the Sounder at Heart podcast network. Here we go. Come on.
00:00:11
Speaker
one Hey, O'Shaughnessy. Let's go. What save by Frye. The Seattle Sounders have done it. MLS Cup winning.
00:00:23
Speaker
Here comes Ruiz Dias through the middle to crowd it for Seattle. And now they truly can start the celebrations. It's the Sounders MLS Cup.
00:00:35
Speaker
Nico Lodero leaves absolutely no doubt. The Sounders rule the region. Seattle, Sounders, it's got built.
00:00:52
Speaker
This feels fucking awesome. This is a tiny dog. Nice work on your little yacht yat thing. And Portland can't say shit. know, what was the thought process in terms of who you decided to use who you didn't?
00:01:06
Speaker
Ever since Southert Hart wrote a commentary that we didn't take over coming seriously. Go, not Seattle!
Full Pull Wines Sponsorship
00:01:18
Speaker
This episode of Nos Arietes is sponsored by Full Pull Wines, a Seattle-based wine retailer and proud sponsor of Nos Arietes since 2011. Full Pull was founded in 2009, is based in Seattle, and is owned and operated by longtime Sounder supporters.
00:01:32
Speaker
They offer the best boutique wines of the world to members of their mailing list, with special focus on their home, Pacific Northwest.
00:01:43
Speaker
Welcome to another episode of ah Nos Adientes, part of the Sounder at Heart podcast network, sponsored by Full Pull Wines and our subscribers. We're recording on Wednesday, April 30th,
Sounders' Recent Performance Discussion
00:01:53
Speaker
2025. I am your host, Jeremiah O'Shan.
00:01:55
Speaker
Joining me today is a friend of the show, Mark Kastner, and our producer, Lick It. Mark, you have been on the show maybe more frequently than Aaron and I at this point.
00:02:06
Speaker
It's good to have you back again, though. Thank you. Yeah, I feel like a pretty decent super sub. Yeah, this is last month or so. Yeah, this has been this has been fun. Aaron, in case you guys are curious, he had a concert to go to. so ah you know.
00:02:22
Speaker
Can't really blame him for that. love Love some rock and roll music. Yeah, so so the Sounders are coming off a 1-1 tie with the Colorado Rapids. They are now unbeaten in three, which is, you know, I suppose a fair way of putting it.
00:02:38
Speaker
Recently, I saw a – there's all kinds of different power rankings out there, and I just wanted to get your thoughts on this because I actually thought it made a lot of sense. So the Sounders were 12th in the 615 soccer power rankings.
00:02:54
Speaker
And why I found that notable is because they use a series of metrics to sort of come up with their rankings. It's not so much opinion based as it is. ah It's stat based, essentially. And so they break it down here.
00:03:10
Speaker
And they take points per game. That counts for 25%. Goals added. That's G+, plus if you're so inclined. 15% form. So they wait the last four matches.
00:03:20
Speaker
Then goal difference. Strength of schedule. Expected goal difference. And then home and away form ah rounds it out. So anyway, the Senators come in 12th on that list. And that felt right around where I feel like is a fair place to put them. Not quite...
00:03:36
Speaker
in the elite at well, not in the elite, but somewhere in that middle chunk of teams, maybe with the potential to trend upward, like Nashville, I guess is all the way up to second in this list on the strength of their last game. They jumped five spots, which is pretty remarkable.
00:03:51
Speaker
But what I thought was interesting about this also is that the Sounders have a really, ah pretty good record against the teams in the top half of this thing. The Sounders are three, one and three against teams in the top 15. And all of that sort of I feel like does a good job of summing up where the Sounders are right now. Like we've seen them at their best.
00:04:09
Speaker
That may have been Nashville. They look dangerous. They look like a stout defensive team. And then we see them the next week against the Rapids. And I don't think they looked bad, but they certainly weren't great in that game.
00:04:23
Speaker
And they were probably a little fortunate to get out of there with 1-1 tie. How do you assess this team right now, Mark? 12th best in mls feels right just in like kind of my gut yeah that's yeah you know i think like so for instance uh portland has like five or six more points than the sounders no actually fewer than that i think but anyway okay um
00:04:53
Speaker
It's jumbled though, for sure. Well, i'm I'm talking about like actual points that yeah no they have. that You're right. You're five. They have five points more. You're right. i was I was, I was, I was thinking they had less points than that, but you're right. They have five. watched, I watched their game against LA on Sunday night yeah and I thought they yeah actually like look pretty terrible.
00:05:11
Speaker
And, um but you know, they score a lot of goals. I think that the Nashville win that the Sounders had ah was like very understated in a really weird way because the next week Nashville goes and like beats the break up breaks off like I would say a pretty okay to good fire team like yeah at least for not just not down seven zero bad that's for sure yeah and so like yeah i think the Sounders have had
00:05:45
Speaker
Some things go their way this season. They've had a couple of setbacks. We may talk about another one of those setbacks like a little bit. But yeah, it just it it feels like probably not as bad as we felt a few weeks ago and maybe not as good as it could be.
00:06:04
Speaker
But yeah. it is It is kind of like getting in the rhythm, sort of like early on in a marathon where you're just trying to find your pace. so That's ah it's an interesting way of putting it. Yeah, I think, you know, to go back to these rankings, of the teams who are ranked above them, the only teams who I would say I feel like the Sounders are almost, I think are really better than are the Quakes. And they come in at 10.
00:06:29
Speaker
I think they're better than the Rapids, but they're 11. So they're only one spot ahead of the Sounders. ah Maybe Minnesota United, who comes in at eight. But other than that, I have a hard time arguing with anyone else over them. And I don't know if I even feel aggrieved that the Sounders would be below any of those teams.
00:06:48
Speaker
ah I'll add about the Timbers, not because I want to make this about the Timbers, but they gave up two goals to LA, which doesn't seem like that big of a deal, I suppose. But LA have scored two goals exactly twice this season.
00:06:59
Speaker
and And granted, this was on the road LA, but... The Timbers defense is not very good. And I think what and the the Timbers, by the way, are way down at 16 in this ranking in large part because they just their strength of schedule is they haven't played anybody.
00:07:17
Speaker
And the underlying metrics do not like them really at all. Like they they the underlying metrics think they're there may be a bad team. But this is not a Timbers podcast. I don't want to spend that much time about the Timbers. I was just sort of interested in this ranking. apparently a power ranking podcast.
00:07:32
Speaker
so It is a power ranking podcast. are going to have a power ranking later on in the show. But I did think this was sort of a good time to sort of take stock a little bit of the team. I wrote my column this week.
00:07:44
Speaker
It was called ah Things I Think I Know ah About the Sounders. And we're going to get into a few of these. And i we may as well sort of go through some of these items because they were already sort of on our list of things to talk about.
Danny Musovski's Rising Importance
00:07:58
Speaker
But of all the positives that have come out of this early start, I think at this point, the biggest positive is the emergence of Danny Masofsky as a very good, you know, very a viable backup forward who and this is a player who like a month ago, people were ready to throw out a window.
00:08:17
Speaker
And now i it would be a little scary to think where the Sounders might be right now without Mussovsky's contributions. Yeah, i think in a lot of ways, ah Moose, as as he's affectionately known.
00:08:32
Speaker
Now it's affectionate. Yeah. i mean I think you were calling him Moose like angrily before. oh I've never... No, i I don't think that's true. I was just joking.
00:08:43
Speaker
i've never i've never had I've never heard the word moose in like a negative connotation. Yeah, I think his insertion in the lineup, like Aaron and I talked about this a couple weeks ago, it allows the Sounders to play their best way, even if he's not...
00:09:00
Speaker
even if he's not as good of a player as Jordan Morris. And I think that because the Sounders are able to play in their best way, like their, their attack is able to do the things that they do the best.
00:09:13
Speaker
He's found himself in ah really good positions to score goals. And I think that that may sound a little bit like, um like, like a backhanded compliment, but I do really think like the positives he brings to the attack, especially in like, let's say like a set situation, not necessarily a set piece, but in a, in the Sounders have the ball in the final third, you know, the, the defense is kind of set in their position. They're not in transitional attack.
00:09:49
Speaker
I think his movement, I think what he, what he does, especially, in sort of like what's called chaotic situations, like on rebounds and stuff like the goalie scored in Dallas and stuff like that.
00:10:01
Speaker
I think he's, he's just like perfectly suited for this role. And I think as Pedro de la Vega comes back from injury, he gets more comfortable. He's just Ferrer gets more comfortable.
00:10:12
Speaker
i think those three really do form like a very interesting kind of like band of attack. And that allows, allows Brian Spencer to do some interesting things with the lineup, I think, over the next few weeks, especially if they're going to continue to miss Jordan Morris.
00:10:30
Speaker
Yeah, I think, you know, you you illustrate something I think is very that's been very good about Mussovsky is that he is making...
00:10:40
Speaker
predictable I don't know if predictable is the right word, but you know he's going to make the runs that you need someone to make. like He's not worried about making the near post run. like if so but How many times do we see the Sounders put it in a cross and you go, gosh, you'd really like to have someone at the near post there.
00:10:57
Speaker
And it's like, if Musavski is on the field, he's going to make that run. Like he's he's just, he's going to make the run that you want him to make. And I think one of the things that is jumped out at me over the last couple of weeks, especially is, is once you start digging into the data around him is that he's doing a really good job of putting himself in dangerous areas.
00:11:17
Speaker
And you know when When he wasn't scoring, it was easy to say, ah this guy's an XG merchant or whatever the whatever the ah the the term the kids are using is. and But when he start once he's actually scoring, it's like, well, no, no, he's doing all the stuff you want him to do. He's putting himself in dangerous areas.
00:11:37
Speaker
you know like ah There's a stat in that American Exotica Analysis uses called G+, plus which I alluded to earlier in this thing. And one and and and basically what it is, it compiles a bunch of different data points and it and it gives you like a metric that says how good of a player is compared to like the standard player.
00:11:59
Speaker
And Danny Wasofsky, his main his best attributes. is in an area called receiving. And he is essentially, you know, yeah at the top of this list, you've got Christian Benteke, Brian White, Hugo Kuypers, Anders Dreyer. These are all like some of the best players in the league this year. And you you keep going down the list and you have Bongi from Minnesota. You have Daniel Gosdog who just went, he just made this move to Philadelphia, Max Arvston. Here's another player who ah the the pundits just love.
00:12:34
Speaker
Joseph Martinez. I think everyone knows him. And then you have Danny Masofsky. who is ah what you basically a top 10 player when it comes to receiving the ball.
00:12:46
Speaker
And I think that does a pretty good job of illustrating what he's so good. Like he's just always seems to be in dangerous spots on the field. You know, we it was maybe best illustrated in the San Jose game where he you know, he missed a bunch of good chances.
00:13:00
Speaker
But to miss good chances, you've got to be in good spots. And he is just so good at that. And it's not like he is oh I mean, he he had a really nice finish against Nashville.
00:13:12
Speaker
I think you could say the finish against Colorado was a ah pretty decent finish in that he yeah had to reach behind him a little bit. But it's not like he's hitting 20 yard ropes.
00:13:23
Speaker
he's He's always in and around the box. Yeah, and I think everything you just talked about alludes to like he's a highly quote coachable player. And I think if...
00:13:36
Speaker
That's kind of the ideal type of player you want as like a backup striker to a DP like Jordan Morris is somebody that's just going to continue to make the runs the coaches are telling him to make because that's the way that the team needs to play to be successful.
00:13:52
Speaker
I think the the downside of playing Jesus Ferreira at the number nine for a few games was like Ferreira is the type of player that goes and finds the game very similar to...
00:14:05
Speaker
Similar but different to, let's say, like a Raul Ruiz Diaz who, yes if he wasn't getting his touches, if he wasn't getting his shots, he would like go find the game. Clint Dempsey was very similar in that sense too. Danny Mazofsky doesn't need to find the game because doesn't really have a game to find.
00:14:20
Speaker
like right the game that And to your point, the game finds him. So it it really has kind of been, i would say, a a nice like reprieve from just the conversation that happens around the Sounders attack whenever Jordan Morris gets hurt.
00:14:39
Speaker
So I think he's he's really coachable. He will do exactly what... he's very He plays the position in a very selfless way, which is a kind of an oxymoron when you're talking about strikers because of all the sort of like connotation and stuff that comes with that position.
00:14:59
Speaker
Yeah, and I'll i'll add up and again. i don't want to make I don't know how much I love the stat G+, plus so I don't want to lean too heavily on it. But I just think it's interesting. by On a per 96-minute basis, and that's the way that American Soccer Analysis does their their sort of breakdown, he's the second best player in the league ah by G+, plus on a per 96 basis. That's right below guy named Leo Messi. Yeah.
00:15:26
Speaker
which is kind of, kind of why I'm definitely not comparing the two. I just think it's very interesting. Yeah. g G plus one always makes me think of Google plus. Yeah. can never not think about that. 10 two.
00:15:41
Speaker
I, I don't know if I'm smart enough to like fully get it. i don't I'm with you. I'm with you on that. and And I do think that the other thing I don't love about G+, plus is that there' is some intuitive there's some players that you know intuitively or playing well, who end up grading out very poorly by this metric for a variety of reasons.
00:16:04
Speaker
and and so the other And the opposite is also true. Players that... right you are pretty sure are bad or at at the very least frustrating. And they end up scoring really well because of some outsized scoring in a certain metric.
00:16:20
Speaker
ah right But XG, on the other hand, i do like. and' that's ah that's ah so That's easy for me to understand. Yeah, that's that's a little bit more intuitive to understand. And I think, and again, the point I'm trying to make here is not that Danny Masofsky is...
00:16:37
Speaker
a superstar. It's just that he is, like you said, he, this is the exact type of player you want backing up your superstar striker. You don't need another superstar striker.
00:16:49
Speaker
That's just not how and MLS is built. You don't get to have two Jordan Morris is on your team for the most part. But what you, you can oftentimes do is, is have a guy behind them who is going to,
00:17:00
Speaker
do the dirty work and right now masovsky is averaging 1.27 xg per 96 minutes which uh for among players who have played at least 300 minutes that is a full third of a goal more than anyone else is averaging per 90 minutes uh which i think at least tells you he's playing really well and he's putting himself in a lot of really dangerous uh areas and i'll and i'll also say that the The top four of this category are all the guys you would probably expect. It's Hugo Kuyper, Sam Surridge, Christian Penteke. I mean, this is like these are players who you intuitively know are playing well right now.
00:17:37
Speaker
ah Sam Surridge, by the way, coming off a four-goal game, which I'm sure are boosting those numbers. And Benteke has the the the D.C. United tax. He's basically playing with the team that would be like the worst in the USL.
00:17:51
Speaker
So. Right. Exactly. And I show that Jordan Morris is also doing very well by a ah host of these same metrics. ah But again, that sort of illustrates why it's nice to have a ah player like that backing him backing him up.
00:18:05
Speaker
Yeah. I also think that like one of the things I also am appreciating more and more about Masovsky is that I just think he understands the game
Jesus Ferreira's Undefined Role
00:18:12
Speaker
really well. you and And i look at how often he finds himself to receive rebounds.
00:18:19
Speaker
you know he had a re He scored off a rebound in the Dallas game. he almost He would have scored a second goal in the Dallas game if he hadn't been flagged offside. He almost did it against... the rapids he seems to just always be in the right place and and it's tempting to if it happens once or twice you go okay well you know sometimes sometimes you get a little lucky but if you're consistently finding yourself in these spots that's that's something you're doing well and i i just want to i guess i'm i bring this all up just to say that
00:18:53
Speaker
ah I feel oddly okay with Jordan Morris's injury situation right now, at least until we know how long he's out. ah We still have not gotten an update as of Wednesday, how long he's going to be out.
00:19:05
Speaker
I guess Brian was on KJR yesterday and he gave them a range of three to eight weeks, which is a very large range, basically saying we don't know how serious it is yet at this point, but those are, that's sort of the, the scope of, of what we're talking about.
00:19:22
Speaker
ah On the other side of the coin, i don't know quite what to make of Jesus Ferreira. ah He is, you know, we've we've talked about him a lot over the over this season.
00:19:34
Speaker
He does seem to be a pretty good playmaker at this point. You know, maybe not elite level, but he is, you know, he's he's he's got five assists in MLS play. He's got seven assists overall.
00:19:47
Speaker
He has five primary assists overall. you know He's on pace to have a pretty solid season from an assist level, but he is to a shocking degree, not creating scoring chances for himself. Not getting on the end of scoring chances for himself, I should say.
00:20:06
Speaker
And it's at the point now where I am i am getting a little worried about his is goal scoring. Yeah, I think um that's probably fair. i don't share...
00:20:19
Speaker
I'm not like fully ready to board that boat with you yet. And, and I think there are people that are willing to like captain that boat already out there.
00:20:30
Speaker
and Yeah, for sure. and don't love everyone who's in the boat with me. I'll go be honest with you. Yeah. I'm, I'm, I'm chilling on the dock for now. um And the reason why I'm not too worried I think,
00:20:45
Speaker
ice I'm trying to work out if this is like player inefficiency. Is this like role inefficiency is little bit of both. Is it a little bit of like just unlucky? Like i I think that that chance he had is like pretty unlucky. Like they were playing at alto, like he had a really bad miss against Colorado. I think that most people would realize that, but like,
00:21:14
Speaker
That's at altitude. And like if that was happening. Pretty much in any other stadium and MLS at at least probably hits the bar. So it's just kind of like, well, that's annoying.
00:21:26
Speaker
And ah he's but I guess what's also annoying is he's not doing that two or three times a game. like Right. That's I think that's more my concern. It's not the miss that I'm concerned about. It's that he's not getting enough chances like that.
00:21:40
Speaker
Yeah, and that's that's where my my thinking starts going. Like, what is this role that he's playing? Like, what's the purpose of it? Because he might...
00:21:52
Speaker
he might be missing chances. He is. He obviously, he hasn't scored a goal in MLS yet. yeah So, or maybe at all. I can't remember. Yeah. he isn't yeah And so he isn't scoring and I'm, I'm, I'm not able to really figure out like what this position is that he's playing.
00:22:13
Speaker
It's like not a winger. It's not really ah reserved striker. It's also not really a number 10. It's a little bit of all three. And to play a position like that that doesn't really exist...
00:22:28
Speaker
ah because if it existed, we'd see it like a lot more. um takes like a like ah high amount of concentration. and takes ah It takes a very highly intelligent player to do so.
00:22:39
Speaker
He seems like the type of player that could do this. yeah In the long run, i feel pretty good, and I feel like we're going to end up having a very similar conversation at the end of this season about him that we've had over the last like three years with Albert Rusnak, where it's like,
00:22:58
Speaker
Oh, he actually ended up being pretty productive overall, but it just felt weird. And that's just where my head is at with Ferreira right now.
00:23:09
Speaker
I think he is just like, he's really incredible at
00:23:16
Speaker
like seeing ah play. one One of the criticisms I had early in the season is I thought that the Sounders lacked a lot of vision on the field. I didn't know he had this in his game.
00:23:28
Speaker
And it makes me feel a lot better that if you're pairing him with De La Vega, you're getting... and And then maybe we see a lineup with Ferreira, De La Vega, and...
00:23:41
Speaker
rusneck So you're getting like three players that have this ability. um That makes me feel really good, especially when you kind of take Jackson Reagan out of the equation for a little bit, like his ability to kind of build up and use the ball and and stuff like that. I feel, feel great about.
00:23:59
Speaker
So all in all, like, the lack of goals doesn't really bother me right now because of the lack of stability around him. He's been asked to do some different things.
00:24:11
Speaker
Um, But if, you know, let's say four or five more games playing with the same striker, the same kind of wingback partner on his left, the same midfield behind him, and then like the same dual number 10. And if we're still having this conversation in, let's say three, four or five games, maybe I'm, maybe I'm more kind of willing to get into that boat.
00:24:34
Speaker
But I just think with, the uncertainty and the kind of the unstableness of early in this season, it's going to affect a player like him the most because he's new.
00:24:46
Speaker
So I think that's a, that's a fair way of looking at it. I, and I, I would say that I'm inclined to certainly I'm inclined to want to agree with you for sure. And I, I, I'm inclined to agree with a lot of what you said. I just think that I look, I mean, he has, he's taken seven shots.
00:25:05
Speaker
In MLS play. yeah that is just That's indicative to me of something is wrong. ah Because I don't think, this is not a player who was, you know, who's only taking, you know, half a shot per 90 minutes, essentially, is almost like what we're at.
00:25:21
Speaker
And, well, I shouldn't say that's true. He's he's on 650 minutes or so, so he's taking about one shot per 90 minutes. Yeah. That's just not – he's not doing enough dangerous, I guess, is what is concerning me.
00:25:34
Speaker
And you know in some ways, it's it's in dick it's it seems similar to what Albert Rusinek was doing his first year, except for the excuse that Rusinek had was that, well, he's just like farther back in the field. And I guess maybe relatively speaking, maybe he is – that's a similar situation. Yeah.
00:25:49
Speaker
I think it's similar to a degree. um And then I think if you look at his like most productive seasons, he is taking like about two and a half shots a game. So I do i do kind of recognize that concern.
00:26:02
Speaker
Yeah. ah That said, I agree with you. I do think he seems to be a very intelligent player. He seems to understand spacing really well. He is a good – he's a really good passer. I think he's a better passer than I had anticipated being.
00:26:13
Speaker
and being And I think if you and I, I think as long as or, or Mussovsky are on the field. I feel really good really about almost any combination of the midfielders that they could put together, because I do think Mussovsky and Morris do a good enough job of sort of creating space that you, you, you'll give those attacking midfielders more of it at this. yeah But I am curious your
Sounders' Best Lineup Debate
00:26:41
Speaker
opinion here. And cause I think this is one of the things we really don't know yet is what the best,
00:26:48
Speaker
both formation and best grouping of players is in, especially in that midfield where they, you know, on paper, it seems like they, they really have Ferreira, De La Vega and Rusnak who, who should all, who all have really strong cases to be starters, I think on this team, but with the way that they're playing right now, which is essentially a three, two, four or three, four, two, one,
00:27:11
Speaker
They only have room for two of those players. And then that's not even accounting for a Ryan Kent who very well may, you know, we've only seen him play for about 30 minutes, but he looks like a player who will be pushing for starters minutes as well.
00:27:25
Speaker
And maybe doesn't fit quite as neatly into one of those two attacking those two midfield spots. I am curious to what you think is the, ideal grouping there? Like which two players would you like if you had to let's assume all three of those players are healthy this week. Who would you want to see starting?
00:27:42
Speaker
I would probably still go with Russ neck and De La Vega just because think at the beginning of the season, think that's what we expected to be the first choice 11 or like yeah the first choice partnership.
00:27:58
Speaker
unfortunate Unfortunately, Russknecht gets injured and that kind of changes things. And on top of that, given everything that is new and everything that has kind of not gone Ferreira's way, I don't mind him not being kind of a nailed on starter.
00:28:15
Speaker
I think part of, part of being a really intelligent player like he is and part of being, the new guy is um you don't need to be the guy that just plays through it.
00:28:28
Speaker
I think there are several seasons in our memory that a guy like Jordan Morris just needed to play through a slump. He just had to like he he had to play most of the game and just to like get it out of his system.
00:28:42
Speaker
I don't think for Ferrer's game isn't just like, ah okay If he just plays enough minutes, he'll score type of thing. I think you could pull him out of the starting 11, three out of the next five games, have him come off the bench, and maybe he scores two goals in that time, and and we're having completely different conversation about him.
00:29:04
Speaker
I do think he's on... The little bit of the short end of the stick, given like the injuries around him in particular, he's the one that ends up being kind of left on the field for the yeah longest amount of time out of any of the attackers. And so naturally fans will just get more frustrated with that player. So for instance, yeah that's a fair, that's an interesting point.
00:29:25
Speaker
for For instance, like Musowski comes off at halftime, which I thought was not a good idea, but I realized Smetzer wanted to get minutes into Jordan Morris' legs, which also ended up not being a good idea.
00:29:41
Speaker
paper, it's not a good idea. Yeah, sure. Like, get it get him back into fitness. He probably should like, maybe started. I don't know. De La Vega comes off early, and then probably the most frustrating 15 minutes of the game, it's, it's Jesus Ferreira's attack right there. And I think that that just also ends up being kind of a lasting memory. You have a from the Colorado game, but i I think that that has happened four or five times the season too, where he's just the one that's kind of left out there to deal with like the really annoying um situation.
00:30:19
Speaker
So. Yeah, I know that one of the other big talking points out of this game has been concern over Ferreira and Rusnak playing together. And I'm just not as i don't as long as it's just if it's the two of them and Mussovsky or Morris, I just feel like that that's that'll work itself out. Like I don't there's not a lot we don't have. I actually added up the minutes that they've played together. I think they've played together for about two hundred and 30 minutes or something like that in, in those positions.
00:30:50
Speaker
And the centers have been outscored three to two. That doesn't strike me as particularly compelling data set. Uh, but I, I'm just not as worried about them on the field together as long as there's a real number nine with them. Uh, but I'm with you. I Rusnak and, and De La Vega make the most sense as those two,
00:31:09
Speaker
as if you had to pick two of those players, where where I do think it's going to be really interesting is that once Ryan Kent is fully fit, you know, again, we've only seen them for 30 minutes. It's not been a whole lot, but I've, do like what I see. I i continue to really be encouraged by his play. He just seems to have very good feet.
00:31:30
Speaker
He seems to have good ideas. He has a little bit of sauce to his game. I don't know what his best position is at this point within the Sounders, but I feel like if he's given some freedom, he's going to be a fun player.
00:31:45
Speaker
Yeah, I think ah one I want to make one point real quick. I think the outside of the Nashville game and maybe the LAFC game, the best the Sounders attack has looked was the second half against San Jose.
00:31:58
Speaker
And the attacking trio in that half was Ferreira, Rusnak, and Musovsky. Yeah, that what makes sense. Yeah, no god that's good that's a good point. And I think Ferreira was just like kind of unlucky in that game. Yeah.
00:32:13
Speaker
we're probably talking about different things if he scores in that game. So yeah, no that's fair. That's fair. um I never, I never want to let a good point go wasted. So I wanted to make that, but as for Ryan, Ryan Kent seems like the supersized version of Paul Rothrock.
00:32:32
Speaker
So just guys just play him where Paul Rothrock's playing because Paul Rothrock, is a useful and I would even say good player, but at times can be frustrating.
00:32:45
Speaker
And probably like none of us were anticipating Paul Rothrock to be playing this much. So use the like supercharged twin turbo version of Paul Rothrock in the Paul Rothrock position. That's kind of how I think about Ryan Kent.
00:33:01
Speaker
I don't, I don't know. Like I, I obviously worry there about like, What does he do defensively? Because I think an underrated aspect of Paul Rothrock's game is his defensive contributions. But he seems like it's just his ability to run the line. like He's essentially playing as a a real wingback where he he is very much in the attack. When the Sounders have the ball, he is he is a winger.
00:33:26
Speaker
But when they don't have the ball, he is he's able to defend and be part of a back line of five. Yeah, and I i think Ryan ken can play there. I don't know, i don't know to be honest with you. i he's He's been a further forward attacker his entire career, but so was Paul Rothrock before this season. so Or you can kind of just do a a little bit of a 4-4-2 situation if you're really worried about it and affected it like They kind of...
00:34:00
Speaker
They kind play that against Colorado. So Yeah, i mean, the formation that they are in can easily morph into a 4-2-3-1 without really doing too much too much heavy lifting.
00:34:12
Speaker
and Yeah, and especially if you look at how it was playing with Paul Arriola, like... it He was at times on that left side, like the highest forward player. So, yeah, just I want to I want that's where I want to see Ryan Kent play.
00:34:31
Speaker
I'm a little bit worried that.
00:34:35
Speaker
Brian is a little is more conservative than me in that ah aspect, and i don't know if we'll see Ryan Kent play there, but I would really like to see that.
00:34:49
Speaker
Yeah, I think that's ah it's a it' that's that's a a fair point. ah Anything else that you are – and by the way, ah in the last segment today, we're in the final segment I should say, we're going to – the second segment – We're going to power rank our ah the next five games, which the Sounders have another three game road trip after this home game, which I don't know if I fully appreciated that they had two three game road trips this close together to start the season.
00:35:16
Speaker
But ah we're going to power rank the five games in terms of most important to least important games that they need to win. ah But was there any other anything else that you feel like we got from this first 10 games of the season that you feel like are either you feel feel pretty strongly or or are going to be big issues going forward?
00:35:38
Speaker
I think that we have ah two very legitimate starting right wing back options. um Yeah. And that is to my surprise. Yeah, that's good point.
00:35:49
Speaker
Coming into this season, I think. There were. probably two players most Sounders fans had worries about. and i And one one of them would be Nuhu and the other one would have been Alex Rodon, just based on like how fullbacks played last season.
00:36:07
Speaker
yeah I think Nuhu has been 7 of 10 this season, which is probably a shock for you. Coming from you. yeah yeah i mean it's just but You're basically building a statue of the guy. Yeah.
00:36:22
Speaker
i think he's i think he's played good. I think he's been fine. I think there's been really frustrating moments, but that's just New Who. No, agree. And then I thought Alex Rodon, this right wing pack position really, really suits him. And then Kalani Renzi is a real big surprise to me.
00:36:38
Speaker
um And I love what he has to offer that just... differs from Alex's game. yeah And I think, I think that you really, you really have two options depending on what type of game you want to play. And I just, I'm really kind of been pleased with that.
00:36:56
Speaker
So, yeah, I think Kalani has maybe been the biggest surprise of this early season. He has been, you know, i I wouldn't say, i think Alex is still the clearly superior defensive player.
00:37:11
Speaker
option, but Kalani very, I mean, he's a very good attacking player and he, and he's no slouch defensively. Like he's been caught out a couple times, but he, he uses his body. Well, he, he's obviously very athletic. He can get up and down the field with no problem.
00:37:29
Speaker
uh, the, the pass that he had to Masofsky to set up the assist, I thought was a good example of the kind type of play he has. The goal he scored against Nashville or against, uh, LAFC was another, was a good example of his sort of ability to find the, to find, to make something out of almost nothing.
00:37:45
Speaker
And that's, you know, not something the Sounders have been able to say about wingbacks really for a very long time. Uh, Calvin Leardam. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Kind of like a Calvin Leardam mask, uh, play there.
00:37:58
Speaker
i the The Sounders have just gotten a lot more productivity out of their wide players this year than they they got last year. Like really outside of Rothrock, they got almost no production from wide players. And I'm putting wingers and and fullbacks in that in that category.
00:38:14
Speaker
And this year, they've gotten quite a lot of production from from wingers, ah whether it's Georgie Minungu, whether it's Kalani Kosarianzi, whether it's Paul Areola.
00:38:25
Speaker
ah they are getting, they are getting goals and assists from more, like almost all their production came from through the middle of the field last year. And this year they are much more diversified in their production, which is great to see.
00:38:43
Speaker
Yeah. Which is, I think what you wanted, one of the main points coming into this off season was like, Is the outside of Jordan Morris and Albert Rusnak, where does a goal or assist come from? Right. It has been very shared, which pleases me.
00:39:00
Speaker
yeah Yeah, I mean, so far, Morris and Rusnak have been productive when they've been on the field, but both of them have missed more time this year than they missed last year, i believe.
00:39:11
Speaker
ah Certainly Morris has. And so the fact that they've been able to be reasonably productive without them carrying so much of the load is ah is a good sign. ah I suppose one other, and we don't need to get into this really, but I guess the other concern at this point is, i I'll just ask you,
00:39:28
Speaker
how How worried are you about the way the Senators handled Jackson Reagan's absence? who And he's probably going to be out another week or two, I would think. um I thought it was fine.
00:39:41
Speaker
um i don't think Kim Kihei played his best game, but you never really want players to be starting a lot of games that are older than me. Yeah.
00:39:54
Speaker
ah so I think that that's ah like hey that's just a thing you know yeah sure i you don't want to be too reliant on 35 year olds these days yeah yeah like i'm I'm at the age now where you you start people say some funny things about the athletes that are the same age as me so yeah yeah but and I don't even want to bring up your age um so thank you there's that yeah I do think the Sounders kind of missed an opportunity early this season to see about Stuart Hawkins.
Jackson Reagan's Injury Concerns
00:40:33
Speaker
um And that... because Because you don't know how you would fill in for Jackson-Regan, you're now kind of at the point where you can't really figure that out, um especially in the stretch of games that the Sounders have coming up.
00:40:49
Speaker
So if it's Kim Kihee, that's great. and and I really, really don't want to see the John Bell, New Who tandem there ever. so Yeah. i don't and And so if Kim Kihee gets hurt, then...
00:41:06
Speaker
I think you really worry. Or if while Reagan is out, EA markets hurt that that's a real big concern um to me. Yeah. yeah so yeah Well, ah that's probably a good note to end this segment on. We're going to come back. We're going to take a break and we're going to discuss the, the next stretch of games. The sound of five games coming up. Two of them are at home.
00:41:30
Speaker
Three of them are on the road, but the three on the road are all in a row. We're basically going to give our, our idea of how important each of those games are. You're listening to Nos Audietes on the Center at Heart podcast network, and we'll be right back.
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Speaker
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00:42:32
Speaker
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Speaker
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00:43:20
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00:44:27
Speaker
Welcome back to Nos Arietes on the Center at Heart Podcast Network. So before we get to our power rankings, I did want to share a little bit of a note. A friend of the show, um a personal, I guess a friend of mine as well, Tom Bureau, you may know as the ECS co-president, longtime ECS co-president, was apparently in a pretty bad accident the other day.
Community Support for Tom Bureau
00:44:48
Speaker
ah he was a victim in the hit and run down in Pioneer Square. Apparently he was on a scooter accident. wrong way driver hit him and that he's been in the hospital for the last couple of days.
00:44:59
Speaker
I think I heard that he is conscious, although it's unclear as to you know how serious his condition still is. So it's it's a pretty scary thing.
00:45:11
Speaker
ah I'll just share a note. please be mindful of, of if you're a driver, I and myself drive a car, please be mindful that people that are on bikes, that are on scooters, that are on ah that are walking, they might annoy you, but that does not, like, they are far, far, far, x so much more vulnerable in those situations, and we need to all be mindful at all hours of the day of
00:45:44
Speaker
of ah sharing the road and being responsible drivers. In this case, this is a hit and run situation. Obviously, this is like a criminal situation at this point. So I would hope that I doubt the person that is the ah perpetrator is listening to the show, but I would hope that they at least turn themselves in and ah not make a bad situation worse.
00:46:05
Speaker
ah That said, ah he has a GoFundMe page. People are, are I think he's raised about $8,000 this point. ah to help cover medical expenses and any lost wages.
00:46:16
Speaker
i we We'll put the note for that, or we'll put a link to that in our show notes. And if you can help out with anything, it's greatly appreciated. And ah with that, on that really wonderful note, I guess we can move on with the show. Do you want to add anything, Mark?
00:46:33
Speaker
Yeah, I think Bloodworks Northwest is doing a blood drive. kind of I think so some friends organized that in honor or um to kind of support ah Tom. So if you can't give financially, ah give your blood um or do both.
00:46:50
Speaker
If I lived in the Pacific Northwest still, I would and would love to donate blood. ah kind of in in Tom's honor. But yeah, I just kind of hope Tom pulls through.
00:47:02
Speaker
Obviously, we're all rooting for him and he's just a really kind of really important member of like the Sounders community. so yeah Absolutely. Yeah. All right. ah Well, that said, but all it's always feels awkward to to transition from that, but the show goes on, I guess. ah We have ah a bunch of upcoming games here.
00:47:24
Speaker
I'll just read through
Upcoming Sounders Games Significance
00:47:25
Speaker
the schedule. And I think we have enough of a differing opinion on how important these games are relative to one another that we'll each sort of give, uh, I'll let you go first and, and I'll, and I'll sort of commentate on that.
00:47:38
Speaker
But essentially here's this, the way the schedule lines up, they are playing at home against St. Louis on Saturday. Then they go on the road to play Houston. And then they have a midweek game against at LAFC and,
00:47:51
Speaker
And then at Portland, which that is a brutal back to back road, kit short rest road game. But hey that's how it is. And then they close it out with a home game against Dallas.
00:48:02
Speaker
So, Mark, in terms of importance, what is your least important game? What's the game you feel like the Sounders could, you know, obviously we want them to win them all. But which one do you think is the one they can most afford to drop points in?
00:48:16
Speaker
I am going to go with the Houston game being the least important. And that is mostly because um it is a road game in MLS in Texas.
00:48:34
Speaker
um i Honestly, I wrote that down as as least important, ah thinking that they haven't played very well in Houston. After I wrote it down, I kind of looked at their head-to-head in Houston, and they've they played fine.
00:48:47
Speaker
And like they've won playoff games and stuff there. So, ah but I, if, if I'm nothing, I am committed to the bit. So I'm going to say that Houston, the Houston game is the least important. If they lost the Houston game, I would be annoyed, but I would just kind of be like, well, that's playing in Texas for you.
00:49:08
Speaker
Yeah. I, I'm going to agree with you on that one. I, I think, if you can afford to drop point, if you can sort of drop points and not be stressed about it, ah it feels weird to say, because that feels also like a very winnable game.
00:49:23
Speaker
Oh yeah, absolutely. It's probably the easiest game. It's the, it's the worst opponent for sure. It's the most beatable opponent. Uh, so, but yeah, I'll agree with you there.
00:49:34
Speaker
ah who, who do you have next on the, on your list? Okay. The, the,
00:49:41
Speaker
The fourth most important, the second, i don't know how you want Yeah. Fourth most important game. um i have written down as the Dallas game.
00:49:52
Speaker
um Mostly because that game is the most in the future. And I don't really know. That's pretty good logic, actually. We're totally forgotten what we rank, where that ranks on this b list by the time we get there. That basically in a month.
00:50:09
Speaker
um yeah I will personally be out of the country for that game, so I don't know if I'm going to watch it. and then um But in a more kind of serious, like actual like analysis point of view, um I've already seen the Sounders play Dallas.
00:50:25
Speaker
I'm relatively confident that that game will be comfortable, uh, or at least should be. um and when it comes down to, um If for whatever reason the Sounders end up playing Dallas in the playoffs, I i i know what to expect. And I know that the Sounders should be a lot should comfortably beat Dallas in any sort of like playoff matchup.
00:50:50
Speaker
And so if for whatever reason they lay an egg at home or Dallas gets lucky or it's just kind of a drab 0-0, I'm not too worried about that because they just played Dallas and they played really, I think they played fine against Dallas in,
00:51:09
Speaker
in interesting circumstances so i'm just not worried about dallas they've already played dallas and it just doesn't it doesn't really excite me at the at the heart of it so i don't yeah and i all can't care about it i'm gonna disagree with you here ah but before i do that i want to add more fuel to why i think you could argue that it's not it's the first of a three-game homestand and i feel like you have the ability to make up for that in the, in the, as in fact, the following Wednesday, they have a game, they have a home game against San Diego. So,
00:51:46
Speaker
they They can make that up if they were to if they were to stumble there. But I actually, i'm I'm going to put that all the way up to number three. I think that's the third most important game. I just feel like the Sounders are at a point where they need to be winning home games.
00:51:59
Speaker
And so I think where you're, maybe your perspective on this is like how they should prioritize it in terms of like game planning. And I think that's a fair way of putting it. But I'm looking at this from which games do I think the Sounders need the most points from?
00:52:13
Speaker
And it's a home game. I'm putting that number three on my list. But who's number three on your list? Mark, look at that transition. Yeah. So number three on my list is the game on Saturday against St. Louis.
00:52:31
Speaker
A little bit of the same, like. and Well, maybe St. Louis is the worst team that the Sounders play in the next stretch. but Certainly the least ah effective offensive team, that's for sure. Yeah, but...
00:52:44
Speaker
but
00:52:47
Speaker
yeah I have it third just because it's it is like a very like middle game of the next five. it It doesn't speak to me in any way other than i would like to see the Sounders win the next game that they play.
00:53:00
Speaker
And that this is the next game that the Sounders play from when I am talking currently right now. um And i kind of like St. Louis a little bit.
00:53:13
Speaker
Their coach is so interesting to me. um he's a He's a very like kind of throwback ah type of manager like manager and coach. um He's very German looking.
00:53:28
Speaker
I don't know if he's actually German, but he's like... Are talking about Olaf Milberg? Yeah. yeah He's Swedish. okay. I can see what you mean. I see what you mean, though.
00:53:40
Speaker
He's just very like very burly. like And i yeah i guess I guess now that I think about it a little bit more kind of Viking-esque than German. that's a common ancestry. Hey, just depending on when you're talking about history, very similar. yeah it's just a few It's a couple hundred miles either way.
00:54:00
Speaker
So what's the big deal? And ultimately, like again, already played... ah i don't I don't like how I'm talking myself into this criteria too much. Yeah. No, this is perfect. This is what why we have... of the fight Yeah, four of the five teams they've already played.
00:54:20
Speaker
So ah that it just shouldn't matter to me. But it apparently does. so um And so I have St. Louis third. All right. Yeah, i I actually, again, sort of illustrating the way we approach this differently. I had St. Louis number one, ah A, because it's the game this weekend. So that's the most important game. I'm a Brian Schmetzer, you know, acolyte at heart, ah really, when it The next game is always the most important.
00:54:45
Speaker
But also, again, this is a home game. The Sounders need are still I think they're still very much in a we need to convince fans to care about us sort of thing. And winning home games is the best way to do that.
00:54:57
Speaker
So, hey, put on a good show against St. Louis and then let the let the chips fall where they made once you go on the road. But I feel
Importance of Winning Home Games
00:55:06
Speaker
like this St. Louis game is is a super important one to get three points, not necessarily because of.
00:55:11
Speaker
you know, any other, it's just, they need to get, they need to win home games. That's at least as far as I'm concerned. Uh, so who do you got in at number two? We're getting into the, uh, the meat, the meat of your, of your list.
00:55:25
Speaker
Yeah, i have the, I have the LAFC game as number two. okay Um, Off the top of my head, I don't think they play and a ofc a third time this season. Is that correct? No, they don't play anyone three times. So this is the last time they'll play LAFC. In the regular season. Yeah, yeah, So I wasn't... I don't even know how many and MLS teams there are anymore.
00:55:45
Speaker
And I just... I know that sometimes I believe they're 30. Are there really? Because there's like DC United. Right. who is Yeah, fair. Not really an MLS team.
00:55:55
Speaker
um You cannot convince me that like Charlotte actually has a team. Anyways, we don't have to get into that. but I have LAFC second on my list because...
00:56:07
Speaker
If you beat LAFC, you've beaten LAFC twice this season. Yeah. And you don't have to worry about them until October. And you get to win on the road in LA.
00:56:18
Speaker
They've got like a weird... vibe going like the coach wants to quit and move back to Germany. um They do. And they have just a weird, their vibes stink. And i think more people would be talking about their stinky vibes if the other LA team didn't have stinkier vibes.
00:56:41
Speaker
And i think just beating them could be another nail in the LAFC coffin. And I'm a big fan have a weird season. Yeah, I'm a big fan of that, like, really helping construct that coffin in particular.
00:56:58
Speaker
So, beating LAFC twice on the season and hopefully in convincing fashion, like, and then you don't have to think about them again until October, i think is great. I think I'm a, like...
00:57:11
Speaker
You're big fan of that. It was a real toss-up for me um between two and one. so Okay. Well, I had them down at fourth. I'm not going to stress about this game. They've already beaten LAFC once this year. That...
00:57:25
Speaker
i feels like they've sort of like accomplished that main point. I can appreciate what you're saying about sort of like kicking them when they're down. It was like a heavily rotated LAFC. It was. That's a good point. This will also probably be heavily rotated, but again, ah that doesn't speak to my point.
00:57:44
Speaker
So I'm not going to. Yeah. I'm, I think I'm more inclined just to give the Sounders a pass just because I i think they're going to have, they are almost certainly going to rotate for this one in part because of who your number one game is, Portland is going to be right after that one, which I hate that they scheduled these two so close together. It really sucks to be honest with you.
00:58:06
Speaker
I am going to be going down there with my daughter. i am going to be watching the game with my cousin and daughter. It's going to be in a family outing out of this game. So That's why it's number one for you, right? That's why it's your most important game because of the stakes that I have put on it.
00:58:25
Speaker
Yeah, it's the Ocean Derby. Yeah, exactly. Is your cousin Timbers fan? Uh, you know, I don't think i should say because we might be sitting in ECS and they might be, they might have to be agnostic for the day, but they, they might be Timbers fans. I don't know. You know, I'm going this is a don't ask, don't tell situation.
00:58:50
Speaker
I, I, I have told them not to wear Timbers colors. I don't know if they would have otherwise, but I have instructed them to behave. I think you have a lot of leverage in this situation, given what you do for a living.
00:59:03
Speaker
I um agree. Yeah. um Where they're going to be sitting. So if I were you, i i would be kind of twisting the screw on my family member to be like, no, you actually need to wear this Sounders outfit.
00:59:17
Speaker
No, I it wouldn't. It wouldn't be like forcing them to wear anything. It would it would be more like give them some sounder heart gear. There's that. Yep. um But i I would be doing like emotional and mental manipulation on my family member if I were you. Okay. i like In the sense of like.
00:59:37
Speaker
Like, do they really want to be a Timbers fan? Like, sure, they live in Portland, but really? i mean, there's a lot of reasons not to want to be a Timbers fan, and I could certainly go through that. And one of the people that are going is my cousin's son, who is at an age, an impressionable age. I think he's nine.
00:59:54
Speaker
So he's at a perfect age to, like, convince him that he needs to not root for the Timbers. Yeah, and when I was nine, I wanted to become a sports journalist. So maybe you can, like...
01:00:06
Speaker
be his hero. Yeah. I think that's a great idea. idea Love that. I'm glad we've got that figured out, but the reason why I have the Timbers is number one on my list is nothing to do with me.
01:00:22
Speaker
what I mean, I'm talking myself into it more and more. again but good And like I said, I'm nothing but committed to the bit. So, um, it's, it's,
01:00:36
Speaker
It's a game in Portland, and I think over the years, This rivalry has been in a weird spot, but for whatever reasons, the games in Portland tend to matter little bit more, or even in most cases, a lot more than the games in Seattle.
Sounders vs Portland Timbers Rivalry Game
01:00:54
Speaker
And I'm not having that this Portland team is actually good. It's annoying that they have more points than the Sounders. yeah I think Phil Neville's face is like deeply unpleasant.
01:01:06
Speaker
Yeah. And who he is as a person is even more unpleasant. I think it's so hard to have replaced Gio Savarese with a more unlikable man.
01:01:20
Speaker
And they found a way. um God bless Merrick Paulson and his ability to find that type of person to lead his soccer team.
01:01:30
Speaker
So, yeah, um I got to probably be careful with what I say. Yeah. Yeah, I just think like if you're coming off of this road trip and ending it with a win against Portland and with how I just talked about the LAFC game, you're talking about like at least six points out of nine um in my kind of fantasy, and I'm kind of really looking at like seven points in this scenario.
01:01:59
Speaker
um I think that that's really, really good. And you've beaten LAFC twice. you've already gone to Texas and you've come away um alive, which is good.
01:02:11
Speaker
And then you beat Portland at the end of it. It's really kind of cool to me. So, yeah, I mean, it would be a nice run. Yeah, I have.
01:02:23
Speaker
have for what it's worth. I have the Timbers second on my on my list behind only the St. Louis game. So I agree that this is a this is a big one. i think the yeah every game against Portland is big, but.
01:02:34
Speaker
You know, especially when I'm going to be there in person. That makes it even bigger. Are you? yo Yeah, you're in the stand, so you don't get to see my ah memorial press box seat unfortunately i will i i think i'm gonna do some work while i'm there but yeah gonna be sitting in the stands mostly i will go say hi to your seat of course it's the fate it's like one of the best seats in all of mls where you're sitting behind accordion window and you can only see about 70 the field it's like 30 of the field
01:03:06
Speaker
um it's like thirty percent of the field It's really better. No, it's a pre pretty bad seat. I am taking the train. One of my favorite things to do is take the train to Portland. So. Yeah, I think another kind of like another thing that kind of factored into my ranking is.
01:03:27
Speaker
There is really nothing better in my kind of Pacific Northwest experience than, like you said, taking the train down to Portland for a weekend and
01:03:39
Speaker
drinking their drinks, eating their food, enjoying, i mean enjoying what little enjoyable aspects of their culture they have. And then the going to that baseball stadium and winning a game.
01:03:53
Speaker
ah it's the best coming home. there's just nothing better. You, you have 72 hours of just bliss and, um I really want that for a lot of my friends that are going just Sounders fans in general.
01:04:08
Speaker
And most importantly, I want the people in Matt Doyle's mentions to be upset.
01:04:17
Speaker
That is one of my favorite ongoing bits of the year is, which I don't know how, how much I don't know if it's how much of a bit it is, but he's definitely leaned into it either way. ah Just every week, putting the the timbers behind the Sounders, no matter what the table says.
01:04:33
Speaker
ah So we'll see. We'll see how that, how that goes. But ah Mark, as always, thank you for, for filling in. It's, it's always great to to have you on here. Yeah, of course. Aaron, I'm sure we'll be back next week.
01:04:48
Speaker
ah But yeah, this is ah thank you to our sponsor, Full Pool Wines. Thank you to our subscribers. If you are on the fence about becoming a subscriber, I would just say you shouldn't be. You should join us.
01:05:01
Speaker
It's a lot of fun over here on um the subscriber feed. Of course, you can. And yeah yeah it's tariff free. It's tariff free. Exactly. yeah Exactly. We don't charge tariffs. We don't have to charge tariffs. We're an American-made podcast.
01:05:19
Speaker
Yeah. and no it's yeah It's fantastic money for the buck. Exactly. Exactly. Whatever that phrase is. With that said, i should we should probably get out of here. I'm Jeremiah Shan signing off for Mark Kastner.
01:05:31
Speaker
This is No Sadietes, part of the Sounder at Heart Podcast Network. And remember, you'll never get alone.
01:06:02
Speaker
I expect an LAFC who's motivated ah to prove themselves at home, to prove to their fans that that they're capable of winning in this league. And it's up to us to really ruin the party.
01:06:15
Speaker
You guys like that? and ah what Awkward joke, dad joke right there, huh?