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Will the Seattle Sounders EVER break the Curse of Real Salt Lake?
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Another trip to America First Field, another unfortunate L. We discuss the positives and negatives coming off Saturday's 2-1 defeat against Real Salt Lake and whether it's cause for concern ahead of another road matchup at St. Louis CITY SC. Later on, we'll react to some of the other results from around MLS in Matchday 2, including a troubling performance from Atlanta United and a resurgent one from the LA Galaxy.
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Lobbing Scorchers is a production of Just Once Media.
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.
Contact: lobbingscorchers@justoncemedia.com
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Transcript
Introduction and Show Promotion
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. Quite the scorcher today. Well it's gonna be a scorcher.
Show Topics Introduction
00:00:44
Speaker
Good morning, everybody, and welcome to another episode of Lobbing Scorchers Kickoff. I'm Ari, that's Nico. We've got a big show for you all here this morning. We're going to be hanging out, talking Seattle Sounders and Major League Soccer.
Seattle vs Real Salt Lake Match Overview
00:00:57
Speaker
We're going to be talking about the curse of America First, Seattle's 2-1 defeat against Real Salt Lake in in Match Day 2. We're going to be previewing their upcoming matchup this weekend at St. Louis City SC. It's another road match for the Rave Green. We're going to be reacting to some of the other results from around Major League Soccer in match day two. So a lot to get to. Nico, welcome in. Thanks for tapping in. As always, what's up, man? How you feeling?
00:01:24
Speaker
Feeling all right. You know what? It was a a loss for the Sounders, but um it was a it was a valiant effort. I feel like the team put in a good shift in many areas. It's not what everybody wants to hear, but it is what it is. It's a sunny, beautiful day in the city of Seattle and its surrounding cities here near Maple Valley. looks pretty good. So, man, excited to talk to you, hear what the audience has to say about the team. Are they freaking out? Are they crashing out like you guys say, and Noah? So, yeah, man, let's get to it.
00:02:03
Speaker
Yeah, no, I mean, the discourse is always flowing a little more after an L than even it is after a, ah after a W. And this was an L that, you know, was not necessarily unexpected. In fact, we, Noah and I both predicted and L on our show before the game. So what I mean... Just purely based off the history and nothing nothing else. like My biggest point was that it was not my prediction was not based on the the quality of the teams or where their rosters are at or anything else. It's just if you look at the history of Seattle going to that cursed venue, it does not tend to go very well. And that's what happened again. So yeah, I mean, ah let's let's start
Engagement and Promotional Content
00:02:45
Speaker
right there. Before we get into it, though, Nico, I do need everyone who's tuned in to like the video Sub to the channel, like, comment, subscribe, rate five stars, follow us on IG, follow us on TikTok, ah write us reviews, lobbingscorchers.com slash kit, as you saw at the beginning of the show here, and lobbingscorchers.com slash sauce for the Lobbing Scorchers hot sauce, which the second batch is out now. But ah yeah, Nico, without further ado, let's... ah Let's talk about this at RSL because i think that's what ah that's what's on everyone's mind.
Seattle's Performance Analysis
00:03:17
Speaker
I was thinking, you know, we could go through and do ah do something that we used to do in our game reviews more, which is like, you know, positives and negatives or crash up or crash out, whatever you want to call it. ah
00:03:28
Speaker
We can talk about both things because i do think, you know, I always say that all L's are not created equal. You know, some L's are worse than other L's. You can have an L where you play pretty well. You can have a W where you play it really poorly. So we can we can assess where we feel like this L is on on at that spectrum. But Nico, ill I'll give the floor to you first because already ripped a lot of my takes on the postgame show. So I feel like my takes are out there. But ah let's start with just your general takeaways from this L at America First Field, latest L at America First Field. And then we can talk about some positives and negatives.
00:04:07
Speaker
It was a ah very inconsistent game from the Sounders. And that was both in their play, that was in their ability to execute their concepts.
00:04:25
Speaker
I thought that, as you said, we all knew that it was going to be a difficult game. The elevation, the stadium, the history that you have been able to not shake. A Real Salt Lake team that, if anything,
00:04:39
Speaker
was going to make the game difficult defensively. They did it to Vancouver, a very good team, a team that in my opinion has a lot of similarities to the Sounders.
00:04:51
Speaker
I did think that this was the time for the Sounders to get this win. I was almost certain that ah it was now or never type of situation because of the injuries that they had because of the the quality and the,
00:05:07
Speaker
chemistry that we saw from the Sounders on the first game, the defensive discipline, the individual performances in that first game. and And you saw Colorado, ah you know, put up ah a really good game and and and beat beat the Timbers this weekend. and So that was a good or ah or at least a decent enough Colorado team where I don't think any of us were being hyperbolic about saying that the Sounders had a good game and and they were off to a strong start. So,
00:05:38
Speaker
Going back to the game, the the biggest issue and and maybe the biggest concern that I have with this game, and you heard it from Brian directly after the game, was just the defense.
00:05:52
Speaker
Going into this game... Brian and I and, you know, the people that that that cover the team, we had asked about playing the team that was direct, that was going to play with balls over the top, that was going to play in transition. They practiced it. They knew what they were going to go about. If you listen to what we learned this weekend with Jeremiah and I,
00:06:14
Speaker
We literally dissected exactly how, and it's not nothing crazy because it was pretty obvious what RSL was going to do with Pio kind of cheating a little bit, waiting for those bolts over the top with Gossel getting forward. And the only way that you were going to be able to keep Gossel back was obligating him to defend and and using that space behind Gossel, which the Sounders did. But all in all, it was just...
00:06:36
Speaker
difficulties dealing with direct balls over the top and direct transition moments. The first goal is just a switch that it feels like catches the Sounders off guard. Then Gossel picks up the ball. He dribbles through the Sounders and cuts through them like a knife through butter, get gets a chance off. I do think that that first goal was, if not decided, it ended in a fortunate way for Real Saleh, because if Hassani Dotson does a better job at either clearing the ball that he gets or finding feet with with with the pass that he's trying to link up, there's no opportunity. But all of a sudden things go out of whack because Hassani is unable to clear that ball. Sanabria puts a wonderful ball and you get the first goal of the game. And that started the game off-
00:07:31
Speaker
in a negative way because it obligates the Sounders to go chase that game and it allows RSL to play what they came to do. Beat you off the counter, transition, wait for the Sounders to up that line of confrontation, get high with that back line, and then you play behind them. And they did that pretty consistently. So for me, it's just the concern of you knew what they were gonna do, you practice for what they were gonna do, and you weren't able to do it.
00:08:01
Speaker
Nuhu had a hard time with Gozo. I mean, it's not every time that you see Nuhu struggle a bit with one particular player. And Gozo, whether it was cutting inside in that inside channel or the overlaps, he was just a handful. It was difficult to really gauge him. um And then on offense, I think that, look,
00:08:22
Speaker
Osas is trying to find his way, but the Sounders just didn't look in sync in the final third. They had possession. You knew that you were going to have it. You had to be purposeful with that possession, and they were really unable to do that.
00:08:34
Speaker
Osas is 16 touches on the ball, just not good enough. And you you were unable to put him in prime scoring positions. I thought Jesus Ferreira, maybe not outstanding in the stat sheet, but he gave you something. He was a guy that was trying to get to the end line, trying to find guys in Maybe could have been a little bit more ambitious with a couple of opportunities you had near the box where instead of making that extra pass, maybe you you shoot that ball. I thought On set pieces, the Sounders were dangerous. They obviously got that one goal, but I thought they were dangerous in many other times. They just weren't able to really put the ball in the back of the net. So there were positives on the offense. And I don't think this is a scenario where you're blaming the fact that Osase or Masavsky weren't able to do their job because...
00:09:25
Speaker
Look, Osace, he had a difficult time. I'm not going to deny that. When Danny Misofsky comes on, he looks a little bit better. He gets that goal that gets rightfully, rightfully turned down by VAR. He gets disallowed.
00:09:39
Speaker
Paul Rothrock is just a foot ahead. And I asked Brian, you look, I thought Paul Rothrock did a really good job at exposing the space behind Gossel. That was going to be a key component for what the Sanders wanted to do. But he's You need to be sharper, simple as that. You need to do more with those opportunities. And you just didn't have that. That half step in that goal that's on that um offsides, it's a little bit on Paul. It's something that you, it's hard to blame him just on him, but he's gotta be aware of that. There was a couple of moments that Paul had inside the 18 and on top of the 18 where there could have been a little bit more of a better decision made. So regardless of what happens, it was inconsistent and not good enough. to beat an RSL team that at home is pretty good.
00:10:25
Speaker
Yeah, let's talk about the attacking performance a little more because i think, you know, that was a big talking point coming out of the game. I saw i already i saw some commentary in chat this morning here on that.
00:10:38
Speaker
And I think maybe maybe I see that a little bit differently than some people. I mean, you hit on it a little bit at the end there, but when I was writing out my positives and negatives.
00:10:50
Speaker
and i was you know I was trying to think of what positives to highlight. I feel like the chance generation in this game was actually pretty good. Like, I don't know what the XG came out to. I didn't look at that. But just going through the big chances they had in this game, in my mind, they had at least two or three ah chances that...
00:11:10
Speaker
technically qualify as big chances, but you had ah the the set piece early off the corner kick where ja Jackson Reagan heads it back across to Yamar. That was extremely close to being a goal, and Rafa Cabral made it he made an insane save on that. That was...
00:11:28
Speaker
one of those saves that you just you can't really argue with that's just the goalkeeper standing on his head uh they get they get the one goal in this game uh again off a set piece albert rusnak to uh to christian rolled on but then you also had a pretty uh really good chance in the first half on that one where rusnak uh made the run in and he kind of tried to head it around the keeper and cabral made another really good save on that really good and then yeah that's that's another really good save and then you also have the the moose non-goal that you referenced where rothrock is offside like you said but uh that's one of those ones where you know maybe on another day he's just He's standing six inches six to eight inches back, and you get the goal off that, and it was a good finish by Moose. So I didn't think it was an incredible virtuoso performance in attack. They only scored one goal. But to me, when I look at just the pure chance generation in this game, it was good enough to take a result in a Western Conference road game.
Defensive Concerns and Historical Context
00:12:32
Speaker
To me, where this game was lost ah was, again, on ah on defense. And if I have a concern, a negative coming out of this game, I mean, ah that would be what it is. And, you know, we've been talking about this dating back to last year, but these these concessions are the type of concessions that you can't really...
00:12:50
Speaker
afford, especially in a road game, even against an ah RSL team that, like you said, it was now or never to break this curse. I said before the game that if they didn't break the curse against this ah RSL lineup, I don't think they're ever going to do it because they did not have their best player, Diego Luna, out there. They have this new DP that they signed who debuted in this game, but he he that was his first game with the team. It's not like he's been a factor with them or played for them at all before this. You had Aiden, Caden, Braxton, and Braden, and Kyle, and Tyler. you had You had their whole academy, half their academy out there, and you give up a goal to Aiden in the first half. That puts you behind the eight ball. And honestly, if we're talking about the defense, ah looking back at the highlights,
00:13:34
Speaker
Again, like Seattle, honestly, they they they could have had a a couple of goals themselves, like on the on the set piece and the Moose goal, but they also, frankly, got a little lucky not to concede a couple more. Real Salt Lake, they kept letting Aiden and the gang get out on the on the counter, and they had a lot a couple of really good chances themselves. ah You know, Seattle could have had two or three goals in this game. RSL also could have had three or four goals.
00:14:01
Speaker
in this game so i think to me that was the bigger issue that's the bigger concern uh you know i had a couple more positives uh out of this or that i think you could take from this l i i thought the chanter chance generation was pretty good uh the albert rusnak set pieces i thought were really good uh he creates that first really good chance early in the match and then he gets the assist on the christian goal so that was nice to see you know I felt like his set pieces were not as good last year as they were the year before that. So was good to see him looking locked in on those, gets an assist off one, almost gets an assist on another. I thought Paul Rothrock played pretty well in this game. Honestly, like if I was listing the guys that played well, he would be on the list. I thought whatever danger that they did generate, especially in the first half, it was coming from that left side through Paul Rothrock. He was given that Quinton...
00:14:52
Speaker
kid some hell out there. So was good to see Paul Rothrock still looking dangerous. And then ah I thought Moose looked really good after he came on. And I guess that's the the second thing. It's good segue into the second thing I wanted to talk about, which is that, ah you know, we've been talking about the Osase versus Moose debate. Who should start? I think we all agree that Osase won the job in preseason. He had an incredible preseason and even coming out of the Colorado game. I said that I was still, he didn't score in that game, but I said that I was still fully on board with the notion of him being the starter because i felt like he contributed to a lot of the danger that they generated against the Rapids, including springing the sequence that started one of the goals. So I wanted, I wanted to just see them keep running it and see if you can get him going and get him in more dangerous chances to score. himself and kind of make good on what we liked from preseason.
00:15:49
Speaker
ah But like you said, it was it was a struggle for Osaza to get involved in this game. He ends up with only 16 touches, which is not enough. And then I think the the whole offense looked a lot more dangerous after Schmetz made the subs, which Moose coming on was part of that. And and so, yeah, i know I know that I sound like a little ah bipolar or like whiplash on this, but I come out of that game and i i don't know. I almost feel like it it's probably a better idea to give Moose the run out St. Louis just because, I mean, i don't know, man, he looked, he just looks automatic. Like when he, when he gets out there, he's the one who's getting in these dangerous spots and putting the ball in the back of the net, which he was doing all of last year. This is why i was advocating to not move off him for the, for the salary that he's on over the off season. And I think he, I think he showed in this game that he,
00:16:42
Speaker
is still able to play that role on this team. So I don't know. I think it's still, ultimately it's a situation where you're kind of still letting them both compete
Strategies and Player Performance Insights
00:16:50
Speaker
for it. But ah what do what do you think of ah anything else that I was talking about on attack or on the Osaze moose issue, which I think that's going to be a big lineup thing to keep an eye on for this thing.
00:17:01
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, look, obviously I never liked to overreact on, on, on, on one game, especially when, the game is already down to zero. You're chasing the game. You're pushing more numbers forward. Maybe you have the opposition pinned down a little more and it's bit more, it's a bit more um it's a bit more one dimensional in the the facets of the striker that that that you need to do because you need him to be specifically at a certain spot. He's going at it. He's maybe getting better services in the box, but you can't deny that.
00:17:46
Speaker
um Danny Masofsky understands how to attack the box. And he is a guy that that ball that he puts away, might look easy on the TV, but that that's one that many strikers miss. And it's something that in the past he's missed. And he put that ah that ball away. And and that that's important. He looked more dangerous. He looked more engaged. And Although Osase had won that starting position, from the very beginning, I have said that the leash was going to be very short, and it was going to be based on the productivity that he had on the field. I thought against Colorado, he looked a little bit better. In this one, he digressed. So do you give him one more game, or do you allow Danny Musavsky to start that next game? St. Louis plays very different than... um
00:18:36
Speaker
ah This RSL team, they're a little bit more high pressing. They're more on the ball. I kind of like keeping Osase because of his ability to pressure and to help the press cut of certain angles. But If Brian decides to go with Danny, I have no issue with it. Because as you mentioned, I do think that there's still that opportunity to have both of these guys be rotated depending on the opposition, depending on what Brian sees, what he wants out of that nine. So um' um I'm not against it. I'm not against it. Another player that I thought um was very good was Albert Rusnak, and not just because of the set pieces, as you had mentioned, but I thought that he was one of the players that really got the offense going where they needed to be. He was someone that when that nine wasn't necessarily being dangerous, he was taking those spots, pushing that line back a little bit, ah keeping those center backs at bay. I thought that his link of play was very good. ah Christian Roldan,
00:19:39
Speaker
Another player that I thought was was very good. Hassani had a difficult time. And maybe it is because he was being asked to be pushed out so so much and maybe his ability on the ball and and maybe his passing isn't as sharp as as maybe you are accustomed to with a guy like Ovid Vargas. And again, i don't want to continue to compare him back and forth, but that's kind of what you're looking for is getting him to that space where this pivots work as well as they did last season.
00:20:14
Speaker
So he he has some difficulties, but then also don't want to put it all on him because defensively it's kind of hard to, know, put your stamp in the game when you're being bypassed completely because there's just so many direct balls going behind you and going across. And depending on where you're pressuring, there's very little that you can do. But I do think that Masani didn't have his best game necessarily.
00:20:39
Speaker
Yaimar, I'm a Yammer guy. I thought Yammer is a guy that's usually very solid, but in this one, couple of of of giveaways there on the ball, a couple of passes that it shouldn't have been. i was a little surprised that in that second goal where...
00:20:56
Speaker
Honestly, Nuhu, I'm not sure what he's looking at. I think he got caught ball watching, as they say. And then once the ball is behind, it's just a little too late. Jackson tries to get back. Usually, Yamar is is a little bit more explosive and maybe cuts that passing lane, but he just couldn't quite get there. So Yamar did not have his best game either, but I also of want to crucify him because he had some good moments in this game. But look, overall, The team just needs to do better. The intensity needs to be higher. the
00:21:31
Speaker
The ability to just finish chances needs to improve. But to your point initially, ask any coach, absolutely any coach. They just asked Jasper Sorensen in the last CCC game that he had about chance creation and and not putting the ball away. And he's like, look, sometimes you're going to hit the post. Keepers are going to make good saves. You're not going to get the ball in the back of the net. But as long as we are creating opportunities, I'm not concerned. I feel the exact same way about the Sounders. As long as that ability to create chances continues to be there, I do think that they'll find a way to get some goals. And maybe this one, you have to at times tip your hat to the opposition. Cabral was phenomenal. And...
00:22:16
Speaker
That's just what it is sometimes, and you weren't able to beat him down. But hopefully if you continue to work on what you have right now in the next instance against actually another very good goalkeeper, you're hoping to have a better output of those goals in the back of the net.
00:22:33
Speaker
Yeah, I feel like I would be way more concerned coming off this L if I was looking at the attacking performance and I felt like it was totally listless. There was no chances there. They didn't look like they had any ideas. They didn't challenge the keeper at all. And they didn't really have any. Like, I don't feel like, like, I think people, some people are talking about this game like it was that type of game because, you know, that could that confirms priors. But that, I don't, to me, that wasn't,
00:23:00
Speaker
what happened in this game. I felt like they had the chances there. They created enough to at least take a result in the game, which you could have gotten just out of RSL with one point. I would have taken that given the history there. So I think they created enough to do that. And honestly, I think they created enough to, ah to win the game. If they had played, played, played better defensively. I mean, where are you at on, ah on the defense? Because this was, this type of stuff was an issue all of last year. They gave up 48 goals. i've I've been pretty adamant that I feel like the their downfall last year, the reason that they weren't able to make um ah get home field advantage in the playoffs and ultimately make MLS Cup was because of the concessions, even in the playoffs, even in the playoff series against Minnesota. They end up scoring seven goals over the last two games of that series, but they can't stop leaking goals in the in the second leg, and that's why they got eliminated. So on one hand, ah you can take encouragement from that because i do feel like I like a lot of the stuff I've seen on the attacking end from this team through – through two games. But on the other hand, even in preseason and now in the second game of this season, it feels like the defensive issues have reared their head again. And that is if there if there is a genuine concern for me coming out of this game, I'm i'm concerned about that. And i'm a little I'm a little concerned about this big road trip. They got like four or five more road games coming up while Lumen Field gets its World Cup renovations. uh being solid at the back and controlling tempo and not yielding these uh yielding all these chances that's one of the most important things you need to be able to do to take results in road games they were not particularly good at that last year this is usually historically under schmitz this has been a team that travels well one of the better road teams in the league last year i think they won five road games which is like the kind of the minimum of what you can win in mls and expect to make a top four spot they need to win more games on the road like that last year or this year they had a great opportunity to uh to win a road game here playing against an RSL lineup that had an average age of 16.8 and they, they couldn't stop conceding chances. They couldn't stop conceding goals and it cost them the game. And I'm a little, I'm a little worried about the road trip that it's going to continue to be an issue. Cause like at this point we've seen this for over a calendar year now. So I don't know where, where are you at on that? Nico?
00:25:32
Speaker
I'm concerned and like I'm not hitting the panic button and I'm not sending the alarms necessarily. ah I'm going to go ahead and give this very good, very talented defense the benefit of the doubt, regardless of how leaky they were last season.
00:25:52
Speaker
But I'm to be watching them closely and specifically the just winning duels, right? I mean, just 1v1 situations and and being able to just win your battles, but right? I mean, I knew P.O. was going to be an issue, but I felt like Yamar and Jackson were going to be able to to handle it, right? I mean, maybe he would get one over you. Maybe he gets a secondary ball. ah Maybe there is a moment where off of a set piece, you're not really um shaped correctly and he gets behind you. But it was just at times very easy in transition. And and that that worries me because because, again, that's what you practice. That's what you were.
00:26:39
Speaker
That's what you knew that the opposition was going to do. And for you to not be ready for that, it's almost hard to excuse, right?
00:26:50
Speaker
Hazarkhani is a player that... As young as he is, he was interesting in the first game against Vancouver. I mentioned it on Friday. But for him and Gazo, these two young kids to just give it to you how they did with your you know specialist, your best defender, the guy that you've kept on the roster to do exactly that, to lock down that left side.
00:27:16
Speaker
And for that to happen and for the the goals and the dangerous play that you had on that side to be an issue, oh, man, it's just – it is concerning, right? and And I'll go back again to the center backs. there There needs to be better communication whenever you have a team that you know is going to hit you directly. So we're going to watching them closely.
00:27:41
Speaker
Ironically enough, that the player that I always hear negatives about on on his defensive presence and this, that, and the other is Alex Rodan. And he was the better, that the the probably the best out of the the back four that started that game was Alex Rodan when he then gets put back as a center back in what looked like a three-man back line with Kalani as the wing back on the right and and Paul Rothrock on the left.
00:28:06
Speaker
He was outstanding. He was tracking back. He was physical. he He stopped a couple of really dangerous counterplays. So can they all pick it up?
00:28:17
Speaker
Can they be better? They have to be. Their pressing was decent and they they created some turnovers in in dangerous positions. Alex was part of that. Ferreira always just so smart about the way he presses. a Christian. So It's good to have that as as your main concept, but you need to be able to emergency defense. You need to be able to not allow transition moments to beat you. That's that's what you focused on in Marbella. That's what Christian Rodan told us that a team was going to focus on. So now you just got to execute, but but it is concerning.
Key Moments and Missed Opportunities
00:28:57
Speaker
I think the most frustrating thing about it is that right up until the first goal, I felt like it was actually going pretty much how you wanted it to go. Like the way I was describing it is that it kind of felt like we all Salt Lake's game plan and approach was more akin to how a road team would usually play it. And Seattle was able to play more how a home team is able to play it in the sense that the possession in this game ended up 60 40 and it was a dynamic where it felt like RSL was content to yield possession, absorb pressure and then hit on the counter. And I thought Seattle, you know, they were doing a pretty decent job for the first 20 or so minutes until that first goal of ah you keep it keeping the ball. But then also, you know, they get the good chance off the set piece. And then I think the Roosnack chance after that was even before the first goal. And then and then in the 20-whatever minute it is, Aiden, Aiden,
00:29:54
Speaker
aidan damn you aiden comes through for for rsl 17 all 17 years old of them and uh gets that first goal and that kind of changes the the whole game the whole the whole dynamic of the game so that was just that was unfortunate because again like it felt like if there was a moment for them to actually break this curse and man it would have been nice to not have the curse of america first anymore but like i don't i don't know like do you think that uh because part of what I'm struggling with is that it is the second game of the season. So it's kind of hard to know what to make through two games anyway, but then you also like that. That's just a building where they can't, apparently they can't win. Like they can't do it. So i don't, I don't really know if it's like just the curse of RSL or if there is actually anything deeper to read into it there. But I also, i also know that the defensive defensive issues that they had in that game were not unique to the, uh,
00:30:53
Speaker
to the RSL game. so i don't know. What do you think of that? No, absolutely. And, like, I know Caleb is probably – did you guys get Caleb on? Yeah, caleb Caleb. It was unfortunate because, like, he the tech issues, like, cut him off halfway through. I feel for Caleb because I know that he really wanted this one. I really wanted this for him. And, and again, it's it's hard to explain sometimes because there were so many good things about this. And, look, I said that they won the that the duels, right? But it wasn't by much. you know, i'm I'm not a numbers guy. i never look at it so –
00:31:29
Speaker
Closely, but I know that some of you guys are, it was like 44 to 46 that they beat you on, on duels. You were the team with, with better opportunities, most shots on goal. ah You forced more saves. There were just so many good components out of what you could potentially do. You just weren't able to do it. And, and, and again, I know that everybody's going to go back to, we need a real nine. It's all about not having this finisher and and all of these things.
00:32:00
Speaker
But that Cabral performance was was almost ah unlike anything I've ever seen from him necessarily and just difficult to explain. I mean, Brian talked about it. That header that Yamar gets, if he if he just puts it slightly to the left, it's likely going in, right? But he he hits it straight down the line.
00:32:24
Speaker
gets a a good, you know, finish, a good stop by, but by Cabral that the, the one that he gets his hand on that you mentioned from Albert. I mean, that's just good reaction. There were just so many moments, but there were those others where just, you could do better. There's one in the 77th or something where ah Paul Rother gets loose and that he cuts inside on top of the 18 and he just hits a bad shot. Uh,
00:32:50
Speaker
Maybe a better shot. Maybe he sees that the the runner behind him. I mean, there were moments that maybe you could have done things better. Absolutely. You could always improve when you don't get goals in the back of the net. But I just don't. I think that it's it's it's a lazy analysis to say that it's the nine that really is killing you because I just don't think that's the case.
00:33:13
Speaker
13 shots, nine of them on target, 57% possession, 511 passes to RSL's 314, which ah like a disparity that big is usually an indicator that one team's kind of on top of the other.
00:33:30
Speaker
ah So, yeah, nine shots on target. Nine shots on target, and you still lose the game two to one There you go. That's the that's the curse of ah RSL for you. Nico, anything else on your mind coming off of this this RSL game? I mean, you know, you got you got one win, one really good performance, one l lackluster performance at uh rsl although like i don't know i feel like
Injuries and Lineup Changes
00:33:57
Speaker
uh it's it's an example of the distinction between performance and results sometimes like i didn't think this was a horrible performance wasn't like uh beyond the pale or anything they you just uh didn't finish their chances gave up a couple of soft goals and uh go home with the ella any anything else that you wanted to hit on from this game
00:34:16
Speaker
ah Yeah, one that maybe slipped us by and i did not get a chance. was having a horrible time dealing with problems. conference i felt like I tried to raise my hand. and It wasn't raising it. I felt like at times I couldn't really hear right. But I wanted to ask about Georgie Minungu because he was in the injury list going into this game. we I remember him limping on Friday, but i i I thought that it was nothing. I should have asked about it and didn't. And now he's out. I wonder how...
00:34:53
Speaker
severe or what's the timeline? I'm not really sure what happened with with Georgie, but you know considering that you've lost Jordan and you're going to have to be able to, yes, trust Paul, but if you need to give a different profile player on the left side. Georgie was kind of the one, the next one in line. Yeah, you could absolutely put Paula Riola in and, you know, you could do things there. But I don't know. I'm um' a little concerned about what happened to Nuhu. I mean, to Georgie Menungu.
00:35:28
Speaker
Yeah, no, that was he just kind of randomly popped up on the ah on the injury report right before the game. I hadn't heard anything about that. So hopefully that's minor. We were talking on the postgame show.
00:35:41
Speaker
Excuse me. ah We were talking on the postgame show about whether Georgie could have made a difference. in this game but again like to me what georgie brings to the table is chance generation which i felt i felt like was good enough to take a result in this game so i i definitely didn't come out of it feeling like oh man if only they had had georgie they would have put a couple more past they had they had their chances to put a couple more past him oh they were the the chances were right there they were created One of them was even finished, but, uh, but Rothrock was a little offside. So it does. No. Yeah. I was definitely looking more ahead. i actually thought Kalani came in and did a really good time. I really like Kalani. I'm i'm i'm a big Kalani guy. He just has that, the demeanor and the athleticism and he just really gets forward. Uh, yeah, the subs were all good. I thought Schmetz hit it right with the subs. Moose Snyder and, uh,
00:36:36
Speaker
Moose, Snyder Burnell, and Kalani And Kalani, yeah, yeah, I thought that was a good sub Yeah, no, I thought so too I thought that that was good I wonder... If he saw this is, again, another one that I wanted to ask, but I was dealing with stupid Zoom. But I wanted to know, bringing out Jesus, did he see something from him physically or was it just a tactics thing? So that those are two things that I have on my notes for Tuesday or Wednesday, whenever we're we're there, because, again, I didn't think that... um
00:37:08
Speaker
I thought Jesus was doing a really good job but at creating opportunities. And maybe, again, you need him to be a little bit more aggressive, a little bit more selfish at times. Just yeah have that selfishness to just, hey, I'm going to hit this one from right here. Because that was another part that maybe the team could have done a little bit better is true quality... Mid-range shots. Look, Yamar had three, which is wild.
00:37:32
Speaker
ah Three mid-range shots from Yamar is something that I don't think we've seen. One was was close. what One was was was getting in there. but I mean, not close. Maybe close the stretch. But he had the right pace. He had the right...
00:37:47
Speaker
He was heading towards goal and he like drifts to the to the left. But ah yeah, just better shots from mid-range. I kind of want to see that from Jesus. I know he has that in his bag.
00:37:59
Speaker
Yeah, I didn't think it was the ah the greatest Jesus game. Like you said, i i would I think he's almost unselfish to a fault sometimes. I would like him to be a little more selfish in these scenarios, be a little more aggressive, be a little more proactive. I think that's something that ah that has been a theme with him at times since he's been on this team. And, you know, it's it's tough integrating onto a new team with all these guys that have already played together and you're figuring out where you're fit where you fit and all that stuff. So... ah I think there there was a little bit of that in this game, but I also felt like the success that they were having and the danger that they were generating the game was mostly through Rothrock. So it was kind of just like a game that declared itself as like, ah all right, we have a better matchup that's ah on the left side where we're having more success. So kind of just spam that. So I was okay with it from that perspective, but I would like to see Jesus be a little more aggressive going forward here because he's going to be, I mean, he is... ah
00:38:58
Speaker
He's probably the most reliable player on the team right now, like purely from an availability standpoint. Like he's never missing games. He played 48 games all comps last year. So they need they need him with the injuries that they have right now and on a big road trip. Like this will be a this will be a big kind of stretch, I think, for the stock of Jesus Ferrer because he's going to be tasked with carrying a big load. So we we're going to find out. We're to find out if he can if you can do that. And look, and I think that you do have to credit...
00:39:28
Speaker
ah rsl i I think that Juan Sanabria and Angle were two new
Real Salt Lake's Young Talents
00:39:35
Speaker
players that were able to finally get on the field for RSL, and they were both game changers. I mean, they were Ryan. He created a lot of pushing the ball. He created a lot of transitioning. He created a lot of... um forceful play for the Sounders. I'm not saying they were under duress at any time, but they really had to keep an eye on him. I thought his services into the box were really, really good. But I think switching the point of attack was very effective for RSL. That's something that the Sounders need to be better at, at, at shifting and and really being better when it comes to those moments. um
00:40:18
Speaker
So again, I, I understand that there's frustration and i have concerns. We've mentioned them here. But RSL, you know, Pablo really knows how to put things together and and he has some quality players. And although I really thought that this was it and is now or never, maybe it's never winning at RSL. mean, it's going to be just just hard to get a better opportunity than you had in this game. No, you do have to ah hand it to them a little bit from that perspective. I mean, these kids that they're bringing up right now are apparently pretty damn good. I mean, you had Aiden out there scoring bangers. Yeah, Gozo out there getting, I mean, he's getting youth national team call-ups already. That kid is, he's very highly touted. He's sort of like their Obed equivalent, except he's like, he's maybe getting even more hype, I think, at his age than Obed was, or at least, like, he, I think he is, he's like 17 or 18, but he's getting, 18, all right, so he's getting, ah but he's getting a lot of overseas transfer, but that kind of thing, and I think you could tell why in the in the game, in this game, like, when he got out in transition and Jackson was trying to keep up with him, that was just like, that that kid is,
00:41:38
Speaker
fast He's faster than Seattle's CBs. so No, and he's shifty. He's technically a good player. But yeah as I mentioned on Friday with Jeremiah, he's a prospect, no no doubt about it. But there is a lot of holes in his game. And unless he's going to just play winger, and even at winger, you have to have – a certain level of defensive consistency. And there were moments there where you could see Pablo just yelling at him, both in set pieces and just getting forward, kind of getting caught too high. So yes, very good player.
Preview: Seattle vs St. Louis City
00:42:14
Speaker
I'm not saying that he's not, I think, uh,
00:42:16
Speaker
It reminds me a little bit of Alex Freeman, but Alex Freeman was a better defender. He he really had that notion defensively, that field awareness, that maybe Gossel gets a little too high and wants to be too forward because he's smooth. He's smooth in transition going up, but it's it's coming back. It's tracking back where he has difficulties. And again, on set pieces defending, that's something you don't want to have issues with.
00:42:42
Speaker
All right, Nico, do you want to talk some ah St. Louis City SC? That's Seattle's ah next opponent. They'll be heading to Energizer Park in St. Louis for the game this weekend.
00:42:54
Speaker
St. Louis City, bad team last year. Fired their coach, fired their GM. Shout out Lutz, Fan and Steel, designated team. So a bit of a club in transition.
00:43:07
Speaker
ah And I watched a little bit of their game last night. I didn't see all of it, but I watched some of it to scout them up a little bit. And they were playing at San Diego FC, and they got handled pretty easily. From what I saw, it didn't look like San Diego was having all that much trouble with them. They were, St. Louis was on the road.
00:43:26
Speaker
So I imagine them going back home, they'll probably be a little bit better equipped for the Seattle game than they were for the San Diego game. But ah Nico, have you got to watch much St. Louis City SC so far this year? I really haven't. The only time I watched them was a little bit last night when they were playing San Diego.
00:43:46
Speaker
Yeah, I watched the home opener against Charlotte and I watched this one. I was obviously more impressed in game one, but I had no idea that Perhaps that was more an an indictment on how shaky and concerning Charlotte is. If you look at the result against the Galaxy this weekend. We're going to talk about that. Yeah, we will talk about that. But um yes, just chance. Talk about lack of chance creation. I mean, they definitely struggled. And it's difficult, right? When when you play a team like San Diego that...
00:44:20
Speaker
it's not going to let you borrow the ball. I mean, you better bring your own because they're just not going to let you play. And they they like getting in in transition, but I thought that against Charlotte, they were able to dictate the tempo of the game. In this one, they were dancing at the drum and the beat of San Diego, and it just didn't go their way. They struggle getting um not just on the ball, but keeping possession as well. um I think that Seattle...
00:44:50
Speaker
will have to be very aggressive like San Diego did to keep them from settling to the game in the way they did against Charlotte. um But because, look, I think Boettcher is – one of those hardworking nines that if you don't tame him, he's going to give you a lot of problems. He's going to win secondary balls. He's going to push you. He's going to make the game hard. He's going to make really good runs. And if you allow them to, get into a rhythm that could be really problematic. Um, I like, uh, Rafael Santos and the way he overlaps on the left side, but against San Diego, he just didn't have the opportunity to do it so often. Um, so there are elements of San Luis, um, San Luis city's game that I really like. There's players specifically on the field that I think are are very good, but San Diego just made him look, uh,
00:45:50
Speaker
I don't know, just very easy to beat. I just don't know if the Suns are going to be able to dominate him that easily, but the the the blueprint is there. San Diego showed you exactly how you could keep San Luis from executing their game plan.
00:46:05
Speaker
So do they start Simon Boettcher as their number nine? Is that what they've been doing through the first two weeks? okay No, i I want to say in the... I in the first... No, yeah, they did. but Both games, stay they started him up top. Yeah. cause Because I'm just looking at their ins and outs from ah from over the offseason. And as far as attackers, all I'm seeing is... Well, there's a couple midfielders that might be attackers, but like all I'm seeing as far as forwards go is Sergio Cordova, who I had to look it up, but it's the same Sergio Cordova who used to play for Real Salt Lake in the Vancouver Whitecaps, who was...
00:46:43
Speaker
a mid MLS player kind of at best. I feel like he was considered kind of a bust actually for- He was. rsl So like i don't like, I always, especially early in the season, I kind of always look at like, okay, did they bring in anybody that's going to drastically change their fortunes or that ah you know you would fear more playing this this team than you would in years past? I mean, Sergio Cordova, maybe that's going to cook for them, but it doesn't sound like he's played so far. They're kind of going with Simon Boettcher as the centerpiece who, I mean, I feel like that's a player that has potential, but is certainly not proven as like a carry the load MLS attacker. They did get Mamadou Falk. over the off season. So that was a one I like that move. yeah I mean, he was at one point, he, LAFC sold him for a bunch of money at one point, if I'm not mistaken. Right. So Mamadou falls a good pickup, but that's a defensive reinforcement for them. ah
00:47:39
Speaker
This was a team that was one of the worst attacking teams in the league last year. And it doesn't seem like they did anything super drastic. to change that is basically what I'm saying. So all that's to say is that like, it's never easy playing in, in conference road game. All right. Seattle went to this exact stadium against this exact bad team last year and lost. That was early in the season. I think before they had kind of found their identity before Ferreira was integrated. Remember that was a really rough Ferreira game. That was one of the games where everyone came out of that being like, this guy is a bust. What a terrible trade.
00:48:16
Speaker
ah But like that game was that bad to, to watch. Like it was not a fun game to watch. And that was the game also where Jesus was like, he got, he got very frustrated. He was crashing out at the ref. His body language was not, I think he was, he was pissed. He was,
00:48:32
Speaker
feeling like the integration to the team was not going maybe as fast as he wanted to. And that was just an all around negative game, bad experience for us all. None of us enjoyed that game, but like you should be able to go into this game against this team. And you know, maybe you're going to give up a goal, but you really should be able to keep the St. Louis team relatively at bay, enough to at least take a result in this game. Like, the only the only thing that is – I think that's the main thing that I'm looking for, honestly, in this game is that as the defense just kind of playing better, not yielding these these really high-quality chances, these really dangerous counterattacks that RSL was able to capitalize on –
00:49:16
Speaker
minimize that. if And if you do that and you're able to keep a ah ah pretty bad St. Louis attack off the scoreboard and you just play pretty much exactly how you did an attack against RSL, there's no reason they shouldn't at least be able to take a point in this game. And they should be able to win this game if ah if St. Louis is...
00:49:39
Speaker
the quality of team that it kind of looks like based on their roster and based on how that San Diego game went.
Seattle's Tactical Considerations Against St. Louis
00:49:44
Speaker
I don't really know how much different I see them than I did last year. And, you know, maybe I'm wrong about that. Maybe this new coach that they've got is really good. Maybe it's going to come together for them and they're going to be an upper tier side in MLS this year. But as of right now, I think that my expectation is Seattle,
00:50:02
Speaker
Should it be able to go in there and at least take a point and make make a run at i'm winning this game? You're playing a team that's in theory very, very inferior to you in terms of talent, but you you just were in a situation like that at RSL and you lost the game. So you got to go out there and actually show that. Nico, what are the biggest things that you're looking for in this game?
00:50:22
Speaker
The midfield. I think that um Edelman, the former Red Bulls, the biggest acquisition they they got, and he has definitely provided them with a a player that can help them in possession, that can um but ah give them some penetration when it comes to his um ability to get through balls. I do feel like a lot of what they do offensively go through – um Sung Bing and Boettcher. That's what was really working in game one against Charlotte. It was that one-two, that ability for them to work off of each other. Against San Diego, they weren't able to do so. And that's why I think possession is going to be very important for the Sounders to keep them from getting going in that aspect. Transition moments might be difficult. So that's something that Sanders just got a huge lesson on against RSL. So you're going to have to be very good at that. I would say that set pieces could be another way that this St. Louis team gets better.
00:51:26
Speaker
It doesn't put you under pressure, but they're going to be looking for those chances in order to get one and then be able to just absorb a lot of pressure. Because as you mentioned, some of those defensive ah pieces that they got is because they're going to be a team absorbing a lot of pressure. And Rafael Santos, that's another player that I really, really like, although he really hasn't had as much success in MLS as I thought he was going to. ah He is someone that gets very quick on that left side and wants to get running, wants to get in transition, wants to get those balls into open space. So...
00:51:55
Speaker
There are some things that St. Louis City's had, but as you mentioned, the Sounders should be not just the favorite going into this game, but a heavy favorite on the road, which you don't see that you know ah being a dog at home is not usual. But regardless of what the Sounders did and and have not been able to do against RSL, they should be able to win this game.
00:52:20
Speaker
Who would you start between ah Moose and Osaze? Because i'm a I'm a little torn on it. you know i still feel like what we saw from Osaze in preseason was so good that you know pulling him out of the starting 11 after only one kind of lackluster game, are you at risk of you know diminishing his confidence? And also just in general, I so i still do think that there – more upside if Osaze hits his kind of top level and top ceiling and you're actually able to get that out of him. There's more upside, theoretically, from that than there is ah with Moose.
00:53:02
Speaker
At the same time, like I said, man, like Moose is looking automatic right now. He looked really good against ah RSL. He... almost He was very close to having a goal. that would Like you said earlier, that was a really well-taken finish, not an easy finish. He looked locked in and kind of ready to continue what he started last year to me. And for that reason, I'm kind of i'm kind of leaning towards Moose, but it's also like I was just the guy saying that you need to keep rolling with Osaze. So, you know, i don't i don't really know how to feel about it. What would you what would you do? Put your Schmetz hat on, or which one are you starting? I'm leaning Moose, but...
00:53:38
Speaker
for For this specific game, want Osase. I do agree with you in the sense of you don't want to pull the rug right under him as a young player where he had an okay game, then he had a bad game. I think that's a pretty short leash, three games, and...
00:54:00
Speaker
that seems fair. um If he's unable to get more involved and and get on the ball a little bit better and specifically create more chances and truly use that frame and and and and get that, I don't want to say, you know, lack of confidence, but that rhythm that maybe you had in preseason, right? That you want them to get in rhythm. And because the ceiling is higher, because that the system i feel like would benefit at having a profile type of Osasius caliber. I want to give him one more run.
00:54:40
Speaker
Even if it is... just to get him going. And I'm not saying you're going to make a switch. If he does extremely well, he scores a couple of goals going to switch him from Danny the next time. But it feels like Danny is a guy that's kind of waiting at at his chance while Osase maybe needs to be nurture a little bit right now and make sure that he just doesn't drop so much on, on, on his confidence or his rhythm. So I want to give him one more game. And again, I think that he fits what San Luis
00:55:12
Speaker
City had difficulties with, I think that Osase can provide you for the Sounders. Yeah, no, it's ah it's a compelling argument. You know, I think pulling Osase out of the starting lineup after that one game at RSL it would almost feel like punitive, like, okay, we're making the switch because you didn't play well enough or wasn't good enough or whatever, when really, to me, it would be more about just the fact that Moose looked really good.
00:55:42
Speaker
Moose was the team's leading goal scorer last year. And he's also, you know, he's got a lot more experience. I found myself during the RSL game kind of thinking like the veteran presence of Moose might be helpful in this situation. And I think that kind of actually did bear out when he subbed on. So I don't know. It's a tough one. It's a tough one. I'll be interesting to see what Schmitz does there. Um,
00:56:07
Speaker
That's not a bad shout, though. I mean, it really isn't a bad shout. um I do think that if you are going to start off with Osase, I'm not saying you got to force him the ball, but you have to figure out a way to just get him engaged early. Because it seemed like in this RSL game, the more that that that first half went on, the less...
00:56:36
Speaker
gas he had to do certain things. um I feel like he needs to find the game early. So maybe not force balls into him, but maybe just get him going a little bit earlier. Even if he's got to even if he's having to drop just a little bit more just to get some touches on the ball.
00:56:54
Speaker
getting them better services, I think is going to be important. the The Sounders right now with the way they've added that additional player when they're in possession, at times it does force Alex Rodin to come inside. and you know, we talked to him last week and he confirmed that, that he he kind of has to come inside use that inside channel.
00:57:15
Speaker
And he's probably the best guy when it comes to early services into the box. I feel like you want to do some of that. I would like to see more of those early balls into Wasase because he's so good at winning those aerial duels that I just want to see it. I want to see if you can get him going, at least in that in that ability to just get those early crosses in. But you need Alex Rodan to do a little bit more of that. Now, this is not against ah Alex. I think Alex is really reading the game well. And and if he needs to not...
00:57:50
Speaker
get forward to put those balls in as much. That's just part of the game. But I would like to see it a little bit more. I would like to see a little bit of that change back into him getting farther up the field and maybe those early crosses, those at-the-end line crosses to get Osasic going a bit.
00:58:05
Speaker
ah All right, Nico, ah home stretch of the show here. Thank you all, as always, for
Audience Engagement and Reaction Discussion
00:58:11
Speaker
tuning in. If you have not done so yet, you're watching on YouTube, please like the video and ah subscribe to the channel. We hit the road to 3K subs, which we're very excited about. But now the road to 4K starts. So help us on ah on the road to 4K subs.
00:58:26
Speaker
Yeah, and what's up with that with the comments? any Any questions? Any good comments? What what what do we got in chat? What's up with with the peeps? Make sure that we're liking this. As you mentioned, share it. But I want to hear from you guys. ah How frustrated is everyone?
00:58:40
Speaker
Yeah, how are you feeling after ah after the first L of the season? You know, first L of the season, out of the way. Real Salt Lake curse. continues, which I think, oh God, it just, I know we've said it a couple of times already, but it was like that, that was the opportunity. That was the opportunity. You had no Diego Luna out there. You had no DP out there. You had half their Academy out there. That was it. That was it. I said before the game that if it wasn't going to happen in that game, that it was probably never going to happen. That's kind of where I'm at. Like, I don't really know what to, I guess before we move on, like,
00:59:14
Speaker
do you have Do you have any like theories on what that is? Because it does not seem to be related to the quality of ah RSL. A lot of people brought up the elevation, which I do think that is a big part of what makes that such a tough place to play in general. like every Every team has that issue there. RSL has one of the better home field advantages in the league, regardless of the quality of their team because of exactly that. But that to me, that doesn't explain like the whole thing because Seattle was played. They played in Mexico at elevation and taking results. They played in, they play in Colorado every year and they've won a lot of games at a in commerce city. So i think that is a big part of why it's a difficult game, but I don't think that explains why they literally like can't win there. Like what, what's going on with this?
01:00:05
Speaker
I asked Hassani and um Snyder about the elevation and the conditions of the field. They they didn't seem to think that that was a factor. Obviously, they they're talking about it not being an excuse.
01:00:22
Speaker
You could say that that could be it. I've seen the Sounders do a couple of things different when it comes to elevation. I remember that I think it was Gonzalo Pineda when he was still an assistant who told me that going an extra day early to assimilate to the elevation doesn't really work as well. So they started doing like the day before trips as they did for this one. so so they've tried both. they've They've gone there early, they've gone there one day ahead and it just seems to be just difficult. yeah
01:00:54
Speaker
There isn't really an explanation. Like, maybe it needs to be studied. But i i don' I can't come around to think of a specific reason. We, or at least I thought that the that the reality was that every time the Sounders needed to play on the road at RSL, it was a midweek game and it was a game where you were rotating players. This one just didnt had none of those. So maybe there's something that it can't be explained, man. It's just... Like, you know, trading Babe Ruth, man. I mean, it's just a a a curse that you just can't can't get over. and fans don't want to hear that. I just have no explanation. Literally no explanation. I know it's like not a good explanation, but I just don't have. I wish I had a better theory or better explanation. But when you're talking about something that dates back to 2011, mean...
01:01:44
Speaker
eleven i mean I mean, I don't know what to to say about that. I was a freshman in college in 2011. That was so long ago. ah Zach is saying, at what point does Schmetzer try to play negative in Sandy, Utah? The thing is, like I actually felt like they did try and change how they would normally play a little bit. like It was not as ah pedal to the metal press as they would do for a home game or or even a road game where they're playing against a team of a bunch of 16 and 17 year olds it felt like they were ah they were trying to
Tactical Adjustments and Risks
01:02:18
Speaker
kind of scale that back a little bit to conserve energy maybe at least that's how i thought at the start of the game but it's just it's tough when ah i don't think i don't think rsl were playing negative per se but they were definitely very content to yield possession they yielded 60 of it by the end of the game and they were kind of they were letting seattle have the ball uh you know not to the extent that uh that like ramsey ball but like it's kind of it's hard to counter those tactics with the same tactics if both teams are trying to do that kind of thing so uh i don't know maybe they do you think they could have changed like the game plan or the tactics more to account for the elevation and is that something that maybe they're not doing that they could be doing in these games no it's a good shout right i mean it
01:03:05
Speaker
A lot of people call it mirroring and and you just you know set up in the same way that the opposition does. And maybe if you do play against the run of play, you know, can you get them uncomfortable enough by just conceding the session? But it is tricky. Right. It's it's ah it a. Two edge weapon right where.
01:03:26
Speaker
You're going against what you've been preaching, your concepts, the mythology of of what you've been working on so heavily in in the preseason. Do you have the the players to play on on the counter?
01:03:40
Speaker
I guess perhaps you could have played a little bit more direct. And I think that they did try that, to your point, ah Ari, specifically before they conceded.
01:03:54
Speaker
So it's a shout, but but it is one of those things where you look like a genius if it works, and then you look like a dumbass if it doesn't, right? And and Brian has says that i say has said that before, right? you know If I make a sub or if I you know make an adjustment and it doesn't work, then it's my fault, but then if I do, then I look brilliant. And that's kind of one of those things.
01:04:15
Speaker
At this point, I'm willing to try anything. And I feel like in the past they have. ah And that's why I go back to just... there's something that is out of this world, that there is a different energy that's just not allowing this to happen, that that i can't comprehend. But there have been times where Seattle has gone to our cell, they've played with three in the back, they've conceded possession, and they still are unable to win.
01:04:40
Speaker
yeah So ah with this team, it made sense to just play to what had been working. it It made sense to say, look, we have this playmakers, we have this strong nine, we have Paul Rothrock, we're going to be able to get behind Gazo. And some of those things work.
01:04:57
Speaker
It's just the ball did not go in the back of the net. And Look, I had fans from RSL that, you know, they they do a Spanish show down there. And they were telling me that they they in a million years, that they they could have someone could have said, look, I'm going to give you a million to one odds to bet that Cabral is going to have seven saves in this game. and And they wouldn't have taken it because they just did not think that he would have that in his bag. I mean, he was he was unreal.
01:05:28
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. No, I mean, I've, again, i wish I could explain it. I really, I wish so badly that I could explain it to you all, but ah I just, he's 35. He looked 25. He's 35. He looked 25. It was wild, man. Yeah. He's double the age of pretty much all his teammates that he had out there too. You know, it was a bunch of 16 year olds and Rafa Cabral going God mode. What are you going to do, man? That's just, ah that's just how it goes sometimes, I guess.
VAR Controversy and Officiating
01:05:56
Speaker
uh dico before we uh react to a couple of these other results from around mls and match day two i did want to ah point out chat did you see this uh that um pro put out the var audio of the hasani dots and goal that wasn't against the colorado rota rapids and i i wanted to uh i wanted to talk about it not uh i want to be clear not sour grapes about the call itself We got some comments that were like, why do you guys care about this so much? like the Seattle won the game and they didn't even need that goal, so why does it matter? It's not really... I mean, it is slightly sour grapes because Hassanik Dotson should have a goal. He should have a Seattle Sounders goal. So I am salty about that. But to me, it was more when I was watching this video that Pro put out of... the audio between the VAR and the official, which first of all, I just want I want to credit them for putting that out. You see a lot of people talk about how there needs to be more transparency and they should have referee press conferences and stuff. And I've been pointing out for years, they literally like they're about as transparent as it gets with this guys. Like they, they put those videos out. I don't know if it's every week anymore. It used to be every week, but they put these videos out where they literally, they,
01:07:10
Speaker
play the whole audio of the exchange between the VAR and the, uh, and the ref on the field. And then not only that, but the analyst guy says if it's was the correct call or the incorrect call. And when they get it wrong, they admit it, they acknowledge it and they say that was wrong. And, uh, that should have been a different call. And that is what he did in this situation. they They put out the audio and then the analyst guy, Greg Barkey, I think his name is, I think he might be the head of pro or whatever, but he said that was the that was the wrong call. The goal should have stood. VAR would have preferred, pro would have preferred no intervention there. So they did acknowledge the mistake. But ah also my biggest takeaway from it was like the whatever crew that they had on that game
01:07:57
Speaker
it it could not have been a more egregious misapplication of how they are supposed to be used. Like I felt like I was going insane watching it, to be honest with you. They're, they're sitting there, they are sitting there and they are just picking apart the replay, looking for a reason to overturn it, which is just not what you're supposed to be doing at all. Like you're supposed to be looking for something clear and obvious, egregious enough that you have to change the call. Not like,
01:08:28
Speaker
slowing it down to the 0.5 frame and then delaying the match for five or 10 minutes. And then like, what can I find here? What can I find in this sequence that will allow me to take off the goal? That's what it felt like they were doing. And then the other thing that I wanted to say on that, which is ah Malik Badawi, the center ref, he got a hard time, including from all of us, uh, All of our audience and Noah and I and everyone, we were we were giving him a hard time. He had a bad game. If you listen to the audio, he was saying, like, I don't see a foul. Like, I don't know. Yeah.
01:09:03
Speaker
He says it, like, twice, like, where he's like, I don't, what are you guys seeing there? I don't see that. Like, I think that this needs to stand. So like he, I wanted to just say that as far as that call goes, I think he's exonerated. Like he was trying to tell them that he didn't see what they were seeing and that he felt like the call should stand. And they were just like totally disregarding him and bowled over whatever he was trying to say. And then they basically like peer pressured him, made him disallow the goal. So it was just all bad. They need to like,
01:09:33
Speaker
look at that crew, give them a little talking to and be like, guys, you you were not even close to the ballpark of how that is supposed to work. Like that was so far off you. The whole process was wrong. Everything you were doing was wrong. Everything you were saying like didn't make sense. They were trying to say that ah the Darren Yappy going down after getting headed by Osase was what kept ah kept the Hassani Dotson on side.
01:10:00
Speaker
not true at all there was two other not one but two other guys who were also keeping hasani onside in addition to darren yappy so that was literally just wrong they were talking about that like it was just an accepted fact when i was sitting there watching this like dude that's literally that's not true that's not even close like what are we talking about so anyway ah you know it's in the past The goal got disallowed. i'm not um Again, I'm not sour grapesing over to the call itself right now. More just pointing out, like, they got to get that straightened out. Like, that was way, way off.
01:10:33
Speaker
And that's the reality, Ari. mean, I know people would don't want to hear it. Sure, it passed. But you need to set a precedent about what happened. You don't want it to repeat itself. You want VAR and refereeing and MLS to get better, and that that won't happen if you just – push it under the rug and there's no discourse about it. I do absolutely um praise Pro for putting that that out there. But look, I didn't hear the audio, but when we were watching from the the press box, I was zooming in with my phone on the body language of the referee while he was listening to VAR. And it was clear that he had...
01:11:15
Speaker
no intent to call that. And that's why i mentioned right after the game that he felt like they had him on training wheels or or that they were trying to re-referee. And that's not what VAR is about. So look, I had a really good shout from ah John. His last name escapes me, but he's one of the dads of my daughter's pack team. His his daughter Liv plays with my daughter. And he mentioned that he had seen – um I believe on Reddit that some people were um suggesting that if VAR is going to have this sort of issues, maybe VAR should not be able to talk directly to the ref. They should just say, hey, look, look at this. Right. And this is the play. Or at least mics get cut off when he's watching the video. so he can make his own decision on it. They they could absolutely assist him in saying, hey, look, you need to look at this play right here. But you got to give the referee the ability to make that decision on his own. um You can't be on his ear telling him to change it. you You've provided your input. You've said, look, this is what we're seeing. But it stops there. You should not be on his ear telling him to completely disregard his own decision
01:12:33
Speaker
instinct as a referee. Yeah. I honestly, I felt, I felt bad for the guy. I felt bad for the guy. Like he was literally, he was trying to get it right. And they just like, they wouldn't let him. And then they made him change it to something that was wrong. And then he takes all the heat for it. But ah yeah, I think it is a good opportunity to say, like, if you guys don't watch those pro videos, that they put out where they have the audio of the exchanges. They're pretty they're pretty cool, honestly. You get the whole behind the scenes view of exactly how it works. And honestly, too, I want to point out that they put they put out a lot of them where they do where it is correct and they got it right. And there are a lot of instances that don't get talked about where VAR is applied entirely correctly. And that's why like when it becomes a debate over whether they should have it at all, like, no, you need to have it. Uh, I think, I think honestly the majority of the time they are using it to get it right just in this situation. And there are still too many situations where they are delaying the game for too long and then still getting the call wrong. So that's, uh, That's all that I wanted to say about that. ah Nico, ah just a couple at match day two results from around um MLS that I wanted to talk about and then we'll ah get out of here. We got about 10 minutes left
MLS Team Performance Highlights
01:13:43
Speaker
or so. ah Atlanta United are in trouble.
01:13:48
Speaker
They're in trouble. ah Over the offseason, they brought Tata Martino back, and they didn't do much else to the roster. They kept their DP situation of Alexi Marinchuk, Miguel Amiron, and Emmanuel Latte Loth intact, and they signed a couple of guys, but they didn't sign anybody in an attack. And to me, the plan the plan seemed like, all right, we're going to bring Tata back in,
01:14:12
Speaker
And that's going to fix Amirone and that's going to fix everything. And they lost two zero to FC Cincinnati in their first game.
01:14:23
Speaker
But they, there was like kind of minor signs of relative competence. there a little bit. I'm grading them on such a curve right now. Like my whole barometer of the Tata thing is a success is it's like, is he going to get them to looking like a a baseline of competence, like a semi-competent MLS operation, semi-competent MLS attack. If he can get them to that, that would be a success in against FC Cincinnati. There was kind of that, but not really honestly. And then they got absolutely uh molly whopped in their second game two zero again so i guess my question is nico is tata martino uh a fraud or is atlanta united just chalked beyond comprehension and no one could fix it oh hell no you didn't just call my guy a fraud how dare you look i'm a huge tata guy i still remember the first time that i i interviewed him he is got such a
01:15:22
Speaker
huge amount of credibility as a national team head coach, as a head coach overall. He sees X's and O's. He's a great motivator. He's very good playing and developing young players. ah I've never heard a bad thing about Tata coming from a young player. And I talked to a lot of young players that had um work with him.
01:15:45
Speaker
i just think, and I'm always going to be consistent on what I say. i Whenever you get a head coach, I, And we've said it here ah where you cannot give a coach 30 days and fire him because i we don't need to get back into that rabbit hole. But you need to give a coach amount of time to get his curriculum to work, ah create his soccer module, ah decipher his roster, figure out if he needs to change that roster. I think that there's a lot of, i't want to call it dead weight, but
01:16:21
Speaker
you need to figure out whether it is dead weight. If Lot-A-Lot continues to be missing in action and you have this bag of money coming at them, then you need to figure out if you need to move them or get rid of them, even if you lose a little bit of money. ah I don't know, but but you need to figure that out. You need to try to implement your own concepts into this roster.
01:16:47
Speaker
But I understand the... Lack of patience because this roster is too good. I mean, Alvin Roan should not be having... Is it? That's the question. I think that there's a lot of talent in this roster. And they just added ah a kid from River Plate, I think, today. But that they just there's a lot of talent there, in my opinion. But for you to go against San Jose just look so bleak, so flat-footed, so Just toothless? Oh, man, it's just it difficult to watch. So I understand the frustration, but I'm never, ever going to call Tata Martino a fraud. I just think that he's going to need time to really change the culture, set the standard in in that locker room. Yeah, I don't i don't actually i think he's a fraud. But I think that it is an illustration of how like a coach can only impact so much, right? like ah They have, I think it's got to be, I think it's the worst DP situation in the league. you know People complain about Seattle's DPs. Jordan Morris and Pedro De La Vega are never available. That's unfortunate. I get that. i mean, they're in a situation where they got ah Miguel Almiron, who's turbo-cooked, You got Alexi Marin check, who's doesn't seem to be that good and literally can't play, can't coexist with Almiro. And then you got Latte Loth, who I think might just be fully checked out at this point. Like he, they paid $22 million dollars for him. And right now he's looking like one of the bigger DP busts in the history of the league. Like maybe they, they can still turn that around. But like, to me, it's just like, you got to start thinking about buying guys out and just like,
01:18:32
Speaker
blowing the whole thing up and resetting like the whole idea of trying to make it work with tata and miguel amirone it's a nice idea but it just it seems like that chris chris hendo might have to he really rebuild that whole thing uh last one that i wanted to talk about la galaxy whoop up on charlotte fc 3-0 are the la galaxy back nico or ah is there are you more concerned about charlotte fc I am concerned about Charlotte. I'm not going to deny it. They look poor. I mean, that that last giveaway for Klaus is just terrible. I mean, it's a, here you go, sir, go go go score. But look, Tim Ream looks like he has cement on his cleats. the The age is really looking like it finally hit him. That mileage is is is showing. They're a team that has difficulties getting forward. They cannot. mean,
01:19:27
Speaker
get enough into Saha to be a player that that that is relevant, but defensively is the biggest concern. However, I do not want to dismiss how much better the LA Galaxy look.
01:19:41
Speaker
People that don't know ball had been talking about how Joe Klaus is a it was not a a good DP. And it was, said that, I said that. Oh, well, I, I, I love, no, no. I, I love Jack classes. When you look at his bag as an offensive presence, as a nine, he has a lot that people don't see for his size. He's got so much finesse. He's shifty. He's savvy. He understands how to get in the box. He can beat you. He's not going to beat you off the dribble because of his speed, but he can because of his IQ, uh, And he does it in this game with Team Ream, who I guess is Team Ream. So he I guess the it's not very quick on his feet. But I just think that he has so many good abilities to link up play, to to hold up play, to be in the box, to be a target forward. I i love John Klaus. And he just fits in well with...
01:20:35
Speaker
Gabriel Peck, who looked extremely dangerous in this one. And Joseph Paints, who as well going to stretch out the defenses. They could get behind Joe Claus. I just feel like the whole thing is set up extremely well for it to continue to work, which is ironic because Christian Ramirez has a lot of those aspects to his game. And he got a, I believe he got a goal with Austin this weekend, but yeah,
01:21:00
Speaker
His bag is just not as heavy. he There is a level of of different tricks that Joclos has that Christian doesn't, and that's all right. but But I just think that he fits so well. They were so good on possession, too. They were bringing out of the bag, to ah six, seven touches in the bag. Then you you switch switch the point of attack. You're on the run. i mean, looked good. i I like what Eligax here doing.
01:21:26
Speaker
I was one of the people that was very dismissive of the Zhao Klaus trade. You know, I was looking at it and, ah you know, it was a DP replacement in theory for Ricky Puj. So I thought that maybe they would go for more of a playmaker type profile because Marco Royce is getting a little older. And then, so I was like, I don't really know if going for a number nine as the, as their DP replacement made sense like from a profile profile perspective to begin with but then i guess it kind of did because otherwise they would have been starting nasi mento which you couldn't really go into the season doing uh but you know looking at how good he joe klaus looked in this last game i was thinking you know i guess it is possible that
01:22:11
Speaker
he was just kind of toiling away on a pretty bad St. Louis city team. He's the kind of player that sort of needs service and needs playmaking to get the chances to thrive. You know, maybe he just really didn't have that in St. Louis. And now you put them on a team with the galaxy with, uh,
01:22:26
Speaker
Joey Paints and Gabrielle Peck and Marco Royce and um and and the gang, maybe that brings out the best in him. And he looks like the Jael Klaus of 2024 or whatever it was when he had a really good season for St. Louis. So I don't know. It is only one game and it's against a struggling Charlotte FC team. But again, i have been very dismissive of the of the galaxy and kind of questioning the punditry that has them having this bounce back campaign. you know maybe the pundits Maybe the pundits were right on that. Maybe I swung and missed on that take. It's it's possible. We'll see what happens. but
01:22:59
Speaker
and what and Watch out for Lucas and Albert have a really good season as a playmaking midfielder. That 4-3-3 has a lot of movement going, and I think he fits it well. He's was just getting started last season. i see him hitting the floor running in this one. I think he's going to create a lot of opportunities to be that distributor with those two outlets in Paintsville and Peck. And if you can get, like you mentioned, really good services to Klaus, man, if you look back at that first season, i used to call him the Stelbomber when I was doing the Spanish show because he's so big.
01:23:37
Speaker
But you kind of feel like he kind of disappears in the 18. And then all of a sudden he's in front of you as a defender and he's putting the ball in the back of the net. I mean, he he just had so many tricks off his sleeve, man, that I i like him. I really do.
Closing Remarks and Social Engagement
01:23:50
Speaker
ah Real quick before we get out of here, Nico, we did have this one super chat from ah from Wade earlier that ah that I missed. Sorry, Wade. Thank you for the support. Appreciate you. He's wondering, is there a chance that we could add some defensive depth before March 26? What do you think, Nico?
01:24:05
Speaker
ah They are looking for sure. i think Jeremiah first reported that. And um I think that they're waiting to see what happens with what they have currently in the roster. So I think there's a possibility. I don't think the likelihood is high, in my opinion.
01:24:24
Speaker
I talked to Stuart Hawkins. It sounds like he feels like he's getting close. They were not in practice last week. I could definitely see at least Stu being back this week.
01:24:37
Speaker
The Ryan Saylor thing... haven't liked it from the beginning. Don't know what happened. I'm still trying to find clarity on what happened and when did he get hurt? But Kim Kihi is back. He's someone that has proven to be reliable as a depth piece. So in terms of what they have, I wouldn't even mind them signing Tino Lopez, who, you know, was in the bench this week because of the George Minungu injury. So, uh,
01:25:08
Speaker
I think that there's enough here, to be quite frank. and And I don't see them going out there to, I don't see them worried enough to feel like they have to make a move before the deadline.
01:25:21
Speaker
But it's a possibility. I just don't think the likelihood is very high, but great question though. All right. I got to run on that. Thank you all as always so much for tuning in Like the video. Rate five stars. Follow us on all socials. We'll be back at it this week with all our Seattle Sounders and MLS coverage. And then Match Day 3 at St. Louis on Saturday.
01:25:43
Speaker
Thanks for tuning in. Love y'all. Peace.