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Nos Audietis: Comfy or not, Sounders are in driver’s seat
221 Plays17 days ago
That was not exactly the performance we were hoping to get from the Sounders, but to act as though winning the game is anything short of a positive is rather silly. Jeremiah and Aaron break it all down and look ahead to what Game 2 might look like.
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Transcript
Introduction and Sponsorship
00:00:02
Speaker
This episode of Nos Arietes is sponsored by Fullpool Wines, a Seattle-based wine retailer and proud sponsor of Nos Arietes since 2011. Fullpool was founded in 2009, is based in Seattle, and is owned and operated by longtime Sounder
Will Bruin's Podcast Contributions
00:00:16
Speaker
supporters. They offer the best boutique wines of the world to members of their mailing list, with special focus on their home, Pacific Northwest.
00:00:25
Speaker
Hi, I'm Will Bruin, and I was just recognized as a Seattle Sounder's legend. now i get to do voice reads for the sounder at heart podcast network
00:00:40
Speaker
about seven it
00:01:30
Speaker
since sounder horrible commentary that we didn't take lo seriously
00:01:41
Speaker
welcome back to another episode of no a dis sponsored by full pull wines and our subscribers We're recording on Wednesday, October 30th, 2024.
Sounders Playoff Highlights
00:01:50
Speaker
I am your host, Jeremiah Shan. Joining me today are my co-host, Aaron Campo and our engineer, Lickett. Luck.
00:01:56
Speaker
I'm not going to try, going to try to convince anyone that the sounders were particularly fun or exciting or even good, but this is the playoffs and that stiff simply doesn't matter. The sounders of course won Monday's game one in a shootout and are now one more win away from advancing to the Western conference semi-finals. So without puffing this up or doing too much more of intro, Aaron, let's just start there.
Sounders Strategy and Defense
00:02:20
Speaker
How much do we even care that how the sounders played in this game?
00:02:25
Speaker
Yeah, I, uh, I think that scoring would have been great. Obviously, uh, wanting a regulation would have been great. Uh, would have, you know, been really good for the real confidence, but ah Houston's a very good team. Um, defensively, especially they're, they're not a great scoring team, obviously. And they came into the game.
00:02:42
Speaker
with the idea of going to penalties. And it's going to be really difficult to score against them when you know they set out with that in mind. And you know are there teams that I think probably would have had a better chance of breaking them down? Sure.
00:02:57
Speaker
ah But I also think there are teams that would have been more vulnerable to to the times that they did actually attempt to to counter attack. So um I'm not super worried about it. um I think that it's totally reasonable to expect this Sounders team is going to have difficulty scoring against this Houston team when Houston sets out to play the way they did. I think in the second game, if it's this difficult, where Houston knows they have a win and they're at home,
00:03:23
Speaker
Um, maybe that's a little more cause for concern, although the sounders got to get too far ahead of
Scoring Challenges and Confidence Issues
00:03:29
Speaker
ourselves. Sounders are going to be most likely, I think certainly at this point without Jordan Morris, uh, in that game, which, which certainly hurts, but, um, yeah, I don't know. I, I think it's, it's not that I don't care that they weren't able to score, but it just doesn't unduly worry me, I guess I would say.
00:03:46
Speaker
Yeah, I guess that's a ah that's a fair way of putting it. Another thing I was thinking about is like, let's just say the the penalty that had originally been called on that Christian Rule Dawn header had been rewarded rewarded. The Sounders convert it and they win 1-0.
00:04:02
Speaker
I don't know that that would make me feel any different at at all about this game. I mean, so they yeah just just scoring wasn't isn't the problem. They didn't create a whole ton of scoring chances. Now, if Christian converted that header, maybe I would have felt a little better.
00:04:18
Speaker
but i I just don't know that there's a lot to be said about getting to like, I actually saw like, I think even one of our partners on the center har podcast network were like actually seemingly like mad about this result and sort of like feeling like it was the centers that almost should be apologizing for k needing penalties to to win this game. I mean, I think that's like I don't want to like put words in anyone's mouth, anyone's mouth but there is definitely a a ah sentiment on Twitter and somewhat on the site of people being really frustrated with with the result or with the
Penalty Shootout Success
00:05:00
Speaker
the way they played. and I don't know. i don't I don't know that there's any value in being frustrated. The sounders know they need to score some goals. in this in to or they They're probably going to have to score some goals to to win MLS Cup.
00:05:14
Speaker
but you know, playing against a team who, you know, i I don't know if they came into the game just fully expecting to to go to penalties, but for sure it looked to me like they came out in the second half without any real intention of pushing the game. And then once they went down to 10 men, it was game over in terms of them looking for a goal. Like,
00:05:41
Speaker
There was a stretch at the end of the first half, Houston had 55% of the possession. something like two thirds of that possession was in their own half. They just were not they were not pushing at all. ah And I think the Sounders deserve some credit for that. I thought they played well defensively, but it was just a very conservative game plan, I thought, from Houston. And ah and given that, the
Playoff Dynamics and Team Comparisons
00:06:05
Speaker
Sounders have struggled, like a lot of teams do, when teams just pack it in.
00:06:10
Speaker
and And, you know, that there wasn't their night to break down the, you know, the centers had some good opportunities on set pieces. I would have liked to have seen them do better on those. But, you know, ah nothing tells me that this the center shouldn't advance from the series. Yeah. I mean, if you if you look at the way the playoffs have gone so far, RSL and Minnesota.
00:06:35
Speaker
was a nil-nil shootout. And the road team won that shootout? Yeah. um Columbus was held scoreless at home. NYCFC on the road, but they they were held scoreless. I mean, it's, you know, good teams, good attacking teams have been held scoreless against teams who are trying to hold them scoreless in the playoffs. And that's kind of just the way these things go. um It's definitely frustrating, I think, to have what feels like positive momentum, you know, at the end of the season, obviously the last game of the season wasn't a great outcome, but I think generally people felt pretty good going into the playoffs and I think to have a nil-nil at home like that where, you know, the Sounders couldn't create a ton. It takes air out of the balloon. It does, for sure. But I think that right, wrong and different, this is just, this is the Sounders team, you know, and we have seen them score.
00:07:30
Speaker
over the course of of the last two thirds of the season. um They're not offensive dynamos, but we know they can score plenty, right? Like we know they are not the dynamic team we saw last year or in the first third of the year.
00:07:44
Speaker
Uh, but it's really, really difficult to score against teams that are playing that defensively. Fortunately, that's probably the only time they're going to have to deal with a team playing that defensively in these playoffs. I mean, Houston is going to have to open up a little bit in the, like, I would think that Houston doesn't feel comfortable just playing for penalties again.
00:08:04
Speaker
right and Not the least of which is the sounders look great in that shootout. like let's i don't I don't want to like let that get lost. yeah ah Rui D is opening the shootout with a Penenka that I have to imagine Steve Clark scouted as a real possibility and just sort of He, I mean, that's how good role is, is at this. I mean, I think that's his third or fourth Penangka of his last five or six attempts. He, he's doing this a lot. Like this is yeah kind of his move. Yeah. I mean, if it, if it's working out well, I don't really have any problems with it. Um, it's.
00:08:42
Speaker
you know it's It's difficult to save if you pull it off. like it is I think people think of it as being risky. I'm not convinced it's any riskier than just trying to hammer the crap out of it into the top corner because you're you're a lot more likely to miss the frame entirely trying that. so I mean, if you are if you are good enough to disguise disguise it, it's not a particularly risky move. it's I think where it becomes risky is when you're not as good at disguising it.
00:09:08
Speaker
right ah But then, you know, Rusnak was clinically, you know, he, he had a, you know, totally clinical finishing inside the, the, the right pose, I guess, I don't know, right, left. he He hits it across his body. And then the, the last three centers penalties were all just like absolutely roofed, almost like one better than the, than the one before it. Uh, totally unsavable. All three of those, those penalties. Uh, it was, it was very impressive.
00:09:38
Speaker
Yeah, it was. It's the best I've ever felt coming out of a Sounders shootout. I think 2016 and last Cup Final, obviously, you know, accepted, but it was just, you know, Steph Fry is not a great penalty stopper.
Andrew Thomas as a Penalty Stopper
00:09:53
Speaker
I think we can all admit that at this point. We can admit that.
00:09:55
Speaker
Um, so you're, you know, you're going to have to convert them because I just don't foresee a reality where Brian Schmetzer is pulling stuff right to put Andrew Thomas in when it looks like penalties are on the cards that that just, I mean, he, he was asked about it at training today and he basically said, no, I'm not going to do that. And, and I think that's somewhat Brian Schmetzer just sort of being an old school coach of, I don't want to overthink this. And, and, and I don't know, it's,
00:10:24
Speaker
We can make too much out of how good Andrew Thomas is at stopping penalties, but he has stopped three of four penalty attempts in his professional career. he And then in the shootout ah earlier this year and against Louisville, he had two saves and he converted his penalty. So there's I understand why people are excited about Andrew Thomas.
00:10:45
Speaker
And I think you can make a pretty valid argument that he should be, that's that's a worthwhile move, but then you also have to save a sub. you have you know there's There's risk associated with it. Absolutely.
00:10:57
Speaker
But, you know, it was, you know, ah Steph guessed right on I think three of the attempts. He probably should have saved the first one. And I think, you know, you you can sort of give him some credit for guessing correctly on the on the one that was ultimately missed and the guy, you know, who knows if if that was part of why he missed it. ah But yeah, he only has five he only has five penalty saves and 63 attempts in his in his career, which is it just not good ah and he He hasn't had to face a lot of penalties lately, but I'm pretty sure that's the first time Since I guess the I want to say since the 2010 shootout with the timbers that the Sounders converted all five of their attempts
00:11:48
Speaker
Yeah, it it definitely had been a while. I will take your word on it on the actual date, but it it felt like it had been longer than that even somehow. Yeah, I mean, i don't i'm umm I'm pretty sure they converted or maybe they only had four attempts in that they might have only needed four attempts against Portland that time. I don't think they missed any though. But this so this might be the first time in the MLS era that they've converted all five of their attempts. Yeah.
00:12:17
Speaker
And they were all, I mean, they were all no doubters, I would say. Yeah. They were, it was great. It was, it was the most enjoyable penalty shootout I've seen the
Lineup Considerations and Strategy
00:12:27
Speaker
sounders participate in. I'll say that. Yeah. yeah which But let's, okay, let's, let's put it aside though. If it's up to you, do you sub in Thomas? Like, let's just like not, we're not, I think we know what Brian's going to do, which is not sub it, but would you do it?
00:12:45
Speaker
I think that if there is a reality where you know that's not going to hurt stuff for his confidence, I probably would. Yeah. But that that's just like that unknowable thing, right? Of like, right? What? What? How is he going to knock on effect of this? Exactly. Exactly. um i and And I, you know, I think there's a great chance stuff's the kind of guy that's like, yeah, I suck at penalties. Let's, you know,
00:13:10
Speaker
I will say that one of the risks of doing it, I suppose, is if you do it in the first game, the playoffs, you're sort of committing to like doing it always. And up right that seems tough, you know, because there's going to be these instances probably where you can't do it.
00:13:30
Speaker
And now you've sort of telegraphed that you don't believe in your guide ah right to pull it off? No, that's a great that's a great shout. And I think I would love to see some data on it too. I don't i don't know that I've ever actually seen data on you know what's the percentage of times the teams do this where It works pays off. Either they win or, you know, the the guy that gets subbed in makes a couple of saves, right? ah Anecdotally, I feel like it's I i don't know how how often I've seen it work. There was I know the in the the Netherlands national team had like the was it like the Newcastle goalkeeper who was really good at yeah penalties. But that's I think
00:14:12
Speaker
When you see it, it's usually because the guy on the bench has this reputation for being like a penalty expert, right? It's not just a, okay, this guy is, you know, it's not a 70, 30 thing. It's like, no, this, it's like you have Tim Malia on the bench and it's like the whole reason he's on your roster is to stop penalties. Right. Yeah. Uh, and that's, you know, who knows maybe Andrew Thomas will develop into that sort of,
00:14:40
Speaker
player But he's he hasn't faced a lot of penalties in live action yet. He's only been in one shootout for the first team I didn't go back and look at what his record was for the defiance. I'm sure he's been in a handful of Shootouts with the defiance, but you know it there's a this is sort of there's there's a logical brain that says You just, even if it's 70 30, you put in the, the better goalkeeper, but I do think there is some knock on effects that have legitimate, that need to be legitimately considered. And, you know, if, if Steph Fry's your number one goalkeeper, I think you sort of have to.
00:15:21
Speaker
It does make sense, I think, yeah to keep them in. I think so. And I do think there's a fundamental difference between the MLS Cup playoffs and the World Cup or something of that nature, right? Where it's it's not your club team. It's not the coach that you work with on a day-to-day basis. It is yeah you're representing your country, and this guy is good at this thing. So you're just going to have to deal with it. Right. The whole reason he's on the roster is for this moment.
00:15:46
Speaker
Right. You know it's coming and you're just going to have to live with it. And and and I think that's just the fundamentally different so yeah paradigm, you know, at the at the club. Yeah.
00:15:57
Speaker
Yeah. i know I know people have said this has happened. I don't remember this ex exact, like I know there are situations that are like this, like a player came in late and had to face penalties or something like that, but I don't know how many times ah a coach has made a conscientious decision to do it in MLS.
00:16:16
Speaker
ah You know, and then the other, the other big thing to come out of it, or there's a few big things to come out of this game. Uh, one of them, another one was Jordan Morris went down with an injury in the 52nd minute, uh, just today, right? Actually shortly before we started recording, Brian.
00:16:33
Speaker
Spencer went on KJR and said that they got the MRI results back.
Injury Update: Jordan Morris
00:16:38
Speaker
It's not anything serious, but that they are still inclined to not use Morris on Sunday, which I think makes sense. You have a game, a buffer. Why not? If you, you know, if you can give them a little extra rest, why not? Uh, and I don't feel great about the option. Especially on this roster, i I really love Jordan. I think Jordan Morris gives them the best chance. I will be shocked if it's not raw Rui Diaz who gets the start. But I think there's a valid case to be made for Danny Misofsky getting the start if for no other reason than I think there is something to be said about keeping making sure you have Rui Diaz available for the shootout. And I don't think he's a 90-minute player right now.
00:17:29
Speaker
Yeah, he's he's not. um Although that doesn't mean he's not going to play 90 minutes, unfortunately. Right. Yeah, we have. We have seen it at times this year. Yes. ah I definitely think that if I'm Brian Schmetzer and I'm inclined to start Mesovski, that is when I try to solve roll-a-lawn. It's just like, hey man, we need you for penalties. We're going to try to get penalties. Danny's probably going to take a beating and we'd just, you know, rather, whoever's playing a striker in this game is probably going to take a beating because we're we're not going to be holding on to a lot of possession. so
00:18:01
Speaker
Um, we want you fresh and, and we want you not to beat up, uh, when it, when it comes to time for penalties. But I think the real reason is that I just think Danny Masovsky is a better player than Raul Rodriguez right now and in most facets of ah the game, especially in terms of the things that I think are going to be important from the striker position in this game. Uh, Masovsky is not a great holdup guy, but he's much better than Raul. And I think it's going to be important. I think having an outlet.
00:18:25
Speaker
When you're under pressure, because i I think Houston is going to be pretty dominant possession wise in this game. Yeah. Yeah. Um, both just in terms of that's the way they like to play. And also I think the sounders are going to be happy to let them try to play that way. And so in situations like that, you need somebody that can take some of the pressure off, keep some possession up top. And that's just not role strong student. It hasn't been for, for a while. Um, and yeah, it's, and I think also like.
00:18:52
Speaker
I don't think Raul is any more likely to score a goal than Massavski out of anything but one of his why the hell not sort of shots, right? like And that's more valuable to me with 15 minutes left in the game.
00:19:09
Speaker
having a guy that can create something out of nothing, especially if you are, if you do give up a goal and you're chasing the game, right? So, um, I don't know. I think, I don't think was obviously has been bad this year. I think most people think he has been bad because he hasn't scored a goal. He hasn't played it done. That's really what it is.
00:19:26
Speaker
He hasn't played a ton, and and I think all of the other stuff has been good when he has played. I think he's been effective at holdup. I think he's been decent at winning aerial balls. He's had some good combination play with guys. um The goal that we thought they scored against RSL at home and in that game that would have iced it, he was great on that play. It just shows the kind of stuff he's capable of, right? right um and And so i he would be absolutely who I'd be starting in this game.
00:19:56
Speaker
But i I think you're right, unfortunately, that it isn't likely to happen. And I think there is a better than average chance that he is going to play all 90 minutes if it looks like it's headed for penalties. Yeah, I would hope. Yeah, I don't know. I would like to think there's some more thought that goes into it than than that. But you you might be right. Thank you for listening to the sound podcast network, which now includes no sunny at this lobbing scorchers and the cooler yield.
00:20:22
Speaker
We've been independent since August of 2023, but need your support to make sure it continues. Although this podcast is free, it's only made possible by your continued support. Memberships start as low as $25 a year, which not only helps make podcasts like this one happen, but also gets you access to everything we produce.
00:20:40
Speaker
If you're able to support us at higher levels, starting at $75 a year, you gain access to a host of other perks, most notably entry into our Members Only Discord, where the smartest, funniest, and most engaged commenters share their thoughts and ideas. To find out more, just visit centeratheart.com and click the subscribe button in the top right corner. Thanks for listening. Yeah, he just to to give it a little bit of context, he has I'm looking at his stats right now. He's made four starts this year. He has played in 24 games, but he only has five. I mean, he has 500 minutes. Yeah, he gets a lot of garbage time when it's where he's not being asked to go out there and score a goal. Right. If you if you look I mean that that's not what he was being asked to do against Houston on Monday night. I don't think I'm sure they would have loved it if he had, but I don't think he was being put in there for that purpose.
00:21:35
Speaker
He's not been put in positions to succeed. I think we can in terms of he's never been out there like he and when he started, it's not like he's starting with the first team like he's almost exclusively started when they're heavily rotating the lineup. Yeah. And so it's it's it's not like he's had a I think it's a little unfair to judge him on his ah you know, like on the balance of his play. Yeah, I think I think that's fair. Yeah.
00:22:05
Speaker
Uh, but I wouldn't, yeah, I would, I would be inclined to start him as well. I think that they've sort of painted themselves into a corner a little bit where it, they almost have to start really ideas based on sort of the managing the egos and whatnot, which I don't love. Yeah. Yeah. But that, I mean, it is what it is. Uh,
00:22:31
Speaker
And then ah the other big, the other really big moment of this game obviously was the, the red card, which ended up not being super consequential in the context of this game, but it does have knock-on effects for the second leg.
Red Card Impact: Coco Karaskia
00:22:46
Speaker
Uh, Coco Karaskia, who just won CONCACAF player of the year. This is a very good player. I don't know if people like how many people, this is, this is like.
00:22:55
Speaker
maybe their best player. ah It was a weird incident where Jalpaolo pulls down an attacker. He gets a yellow card, rightfully so. And then Jackson Reagan sort of like picks up the ball, which one is wanting to do, right? And Karaszkia responds by shoving them to the ground. And then that starts a whole melee. And in the melee, Karaszkia sort of like Son, it kind of swings at somebody, but the thing that I think he ends up getting kicked out for is he kicks at and Albert Rusnak. Originally, it's not caught. Originally, what it it goes in the book as a yellow card for Jalpaolo, a yellow card for Jackson Reagan for delaying the restart, a yellow card for Karaskia for pushing him down. And then that was going to be it. But then VAR intercedes, says, nope, you need to look at this, ends up kicking Karaskia out and
00:23:54
Speaker
Now he's going to miss the next game. Like I said, it didn't have a huge impact on this game because Houston was able to see see it out. But he this is a big absence for
Houston's Home vs. Away Performance
00:24:03
Speaker
them. Yeah, absolutely. he's He's a very good player that is prone to some really boneheaded decisions. Yeah. And it seems like his MO. I think that Houston is not great at home. I think that that's one of the interesting things about yeah about the dynamic in this in the series is that Houston's record at home is actually worse than their record on the road in terms of wins and losses. um they They have seven wins at home, eight eight on the road. ah They don't lose at home very often, right? But I do think that... and It really is like last year's sounders. It's uncanny how similar the how similar they are to last year's sounders. Yes, absolutely. And I think losing somebody that is such a key part of what they do
00:24:51
Speaker
arguably their best player, like you said, ah is really makes this game interesting to me. um I think if Jordan was available for this game and the Sounders could kind of do their normal thing, I'd feel really, really good about their chances in this game because Houston's not going to be able to so just sit back and absorb pressure in this game. They they have to score. They can't depend on getting the penalties. And I think, you know, a team with Jordan Morris leading the line is going to be extremely happy to be in those circumstances.
00:25:20
Speaker
um But I do think Houston losing one of their key pieces and especially a guy that's so important to what they do in the attacking phase where they are not good at all. They they have fewer goals in the Sounders this year. By a lot. By by ah by four. They scored 47. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. You're right. 51. Not as much as I thought, but you're right. But still, I mean, the Sounders did not score for like three months to start the year. And Houston has been this sort of tepid
00:25:52
Speaker
ah offensively the whole year. So, um, so yeah, that's going to hurt them quite a bit. Uh, I'm, I'm not sad about it. Uh, I'm, I'm glad that once of our, uh, cause I thought it was pretty egregious. I think there's, there's honestly a chance that they could have had two red cards on that play. Frankly also came in pretty hot. They had several players that came in pretty hot. yeah If, if they lost both of those guys for this game, I would feel I would be on cloud nine. They're, they're too unquestionably. They're two most important players. Uh, that would be, that would be pretty good. But, uh, yeah, it's alas. Uh, one, one is better than none. So it'll, it'll be, it'll be interesting. Um, I, I feel very good about the center's chances to get this penalties. Um,
00:26:40
Speaker
The thing that I worry about, honestly, the thing that I think that makes them getting it to penalties most difficult is somewhat counterintuitively. I think if Raul is playing up top, they're just not going to be able to keep the ball and and it's going to cause problems.
00:26:55
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, this is the first start. If assuming roles starts, this will be the first time he started since the game at Kansas city on June 8th, that really sort of is the, it was the literal midpoint of the season, but it also is sort of the symbolic.
00:27:11
Speaker
changing of when everything sort of turned around because Rothrock started playing the next game, Jordan Morris got installed at forward and the team that we, that they are now effectively started coming together after Rui Diaz went to the bench and and he hasn't started since then. He's only played in about half the games since then as well.
00:27:38
Speaker
Uh, and it, and the biggest thing that I was worried about from that Kansas city game that I don't know if yeah how much people remember about that game, but that was the game where it just didn't look like he was interested in leading the line. Like he yeah wasn't making runs. He couldn't hold the ball up. It just like, he just looked so.
00:27:57
Speaker
So done. And yeah, you know, I do think that he in his subsequent appearances has looked less like that. But again, we haven't seen him try to start since then. So I do think there's legitimate questions about, you know, how many minutes he has in his legs. ah He any.
00:28:20
Speaker
He did do his credit, I suppose, he managed to get off four shots in relative, you know, and in about 40 minutes against Houston, but none of them were even close to being on target.
00:28:33
Speaker
no yeah the The one, the the best chance he had, sorry to interrupt, the best chance he had, I did actually think that that run was really encouraging. The right move was finding Rothmark at the back post. Obviously. Yeah, that was, he had Roth, if he had been able to square that ball, it was, I want to say it was early on in the, in the, in his appearance, right? Pretty shortly after he came on.
00:28:54
Speaker
maybe 70th minute, something like that. yeah He had a chance to, he had Rothrock wide open at the back post. And if he had been able to square it, I don't want to make it sound like it was an easy pass, but it was a pass that he's certainly capable of making. And if he had squared it across, you know, had to hit it with some pace, there was a good chance that Rothrock was there and instead he ends up, you know, shooting it into the stands. ah But it was, you're right, it was a good run and you know, we give Jordan a lot of credit for good runs as too. So it's, I don't, I don't have a problem giving him, giving him credit for a good run. Uh, but there is another big lineup decision that the centers are going to have to make. And that's what they do about Pedro de la Vega who started in this game. I think it was maybe overblown how bad he was. I know a lot of people were, were frustrated with his performance. I thought he actually looked really good on the counter press. Like he was very active defensively.
00:29:48
Speaker
Uh, and he just was not, but he really wasn't sharp offensively. He, but he, I think he had the right ideas. He just wasn't quite connecting. He ends up coming out after 52 minutes. He clearly was upset to be coming off. I thought Brian had a ah perfectly fair explanation, which was with Raul in there, we wanted to have two real wingers who are, you know, more playing to his feet and.
00:30:15
Speaker
Whatever. that I thought that made sense. But it does beg the question, if you were going to use Georgie with Raul last game, shouldn't you be doing the same thing? Like, should you be bringing De La Vega off the bench in this game too? Yeah, it's a fair question. ah for the For the record, I agree that the assessment of him being terrible in this game was was kind of bizarre to me. I think that it is totally fair to hold him to a higher standard because of the position that he holds on the team, the resources they've spent on them, all all of that stuff, the expectations. But I think if once he's on the pitch, right, there's no point in evaluating his performance any differently than anyone else's. And I just didn't think he was actively bad. He's definitely not not the kind of performance you want from a designated player that cost, you know,
00:31:08
Speaker
eight figures in acquisition costs, but I just, it's not like he was Alex. Yeah, I would say in isolation, it's not really a particularly notably bad performance. It's just that he hasn't been, you know, it looked like he was making a lot of progress the last few weeks in terms of looking sharper, looking better, looking like he was on the same page with teammates. And this felt like a, ah like you reverted.
00:31:35
Speaker
You know, he back slid a little bit in that sense. But the reality is he doesn't have a lot of sort of goodwill built up with the fan base right now because he hasn't, he hasn't scored. He hasn't set up a bunch of assists. So at some point he needs to start producing. I'm kind of coming to peace with the idea that it might not be this year. yeah it's It is funny. i've I've read this a few times from various national pundits who have said, well, the centers are going to go as far as De La Vega takes them. I don't know if I buy that at all.
00:32:05
Speaker
like No, he's not important to this team right now at all. I mean, he he he hasn't been important to their success down the stretch. Right. Like if he if he starts putting it together all of a sudden, I think that raises their level. yeah Absolutely. I don't think they need him to.
00:32:22
Speaker
be a you know be a star for them to continue to be very competitive and to keep putting up zeros, frankly. and yes it it is I think it's gotten lost a little bit. They've given up one goal in their last five games. yeah They've given up three goals in their last eight. This is a very good defensive team.
Role and Performance of De La Vega
00:32:43
Speaker
It's not a fluke that they held Houston scoreless. I think it's entirely possible that they will do it again.
00:32:49
Speaker
Yeah, I think likely even, um, yeah, I, I'm totally agree. I don't, I think that the De La Vega is a really fun media narrative. I think, uh, it's compelling story. Like, Oh, can he finally deliver? And but it's just like, I'm just not spending a lot of time thinking about him. Cause he's just, he hasn't been part of the team success to your question though.
00:33:13
Speaker
Uh, I think that even if, if Pedro had not been below par in the last game, and even if, you know, Raoul wasn't starting, you can make a case that this is a, just Georgie is just a better fit for what this game is like. kind of game like sure Um, and yeah, I, I, I would probably be inclined to start Georgie. Um, I think that having somebody that can get out on the break.
00:33:43
Speaker
on his own, somebody who can be guys on the dribble, having one of those guys on each side is is going to be important to this game. I don't think there's going to be a lot of patient build up play resulting in good chances. Yeah. And we were sort of talking, there was ah some talk of this on the discord about playing, maybe you play ah Pedro or even Rothrock as sort of a false nine. And, and that allows you to get Pedro Rothrock and Georgie all in the field together. And I guess there's you you could maybe talk yourself into that. But honestly, Rudy Diaz effectively is going to be playing as a false nine. Like they have to game plan with the assumption that and they they should almost embrace that. I think like send your wingers up high and let if if Rudy Diaz inclination is to drop back and to not be pushing the line.
00:34:36
Speaker
don't ask him to do it all of a sudden. like that's not the gate like That's not playing to his strengths. that's like you I understand why you want that. I understand why they've built their team around a player who can do that. But if if you're going to start Rui Diaz, don't ask him to be something that he just no longer is anymore. Right. that's I think that's the key to it. I think that he can still be good at some stuff, but you you absolutely have to change your game plan.
00:35:05
Speaker
and he cannot be central to your game plan. like He can't be the guy that's team revolves around. He has to do a job just like you'd be expecting out of Danny Mazovsky. He's gonna do it a different way, obviously, because he's not he's not a big tall guy that can hold people off um and won a bunch of headers, but he's still capable of doing it, I think. He just can't play the way he tends to play. ah and And you do have to make tactical adjustments. now You do have to plan on your attacks coming down, pretty much entirely coming down the wings.
00:35:34
Speaker
You've got to hope that your goal scoring can come from there. Um, or, you know, maybe you're putting in enough shots that you're getting rebound opportunities. Cause that is one thing a rule can still do is, is coach a goal in the box. Um, but if he just goes out there and tries to play the same way he did in 2018, it's not going to be great. I don't think.
00:35:56
Speaker
Yeah. And i so I guess to sum up what I think we're both agreeing probably should happen. I don't know that this will happen, but it could. ah I think you either start Pedro and Nusofsky or you start Ruy Diaz and Georgie. Yeah. Yeah, I think so. I agree. And then in the midfield, I assume Obed just replaced like Joe Powell was not bad I didn't think he was good enough to feel like you have to put him back on the field, though. No, definitely not. He's very slow. He's never been fast, but but he's he's he's definitely not. Yeah, he's he's lost a step. And when you just when you're the kind of player he is, losing a step is pretty disastrous, I think. Well, and I think I would rather yeah again, if we're sort of gaming this out,
00:36:50
Speaker
I think he's much better used as a late, a player to help see out a win at this point than he is a player who's you want starting the game. Like I feel much more comfortable with Obed and Christian in the midfield than I do JP and Christian or I think, and I think JP can still be very effective in a pure stopper type role where he's not trying to get forward. He's not trying to contribute to attack. He's just trying to break things up and keep possession. Uh, he can be very good at that. And I think either if you are able to grab a goal and you want to see out the wind, like you said, or you're just trying to get to penalties late, I would love to have him on the bench rather than having come off it, you know, 50 minutes or whatever.
00:37:32
Speaker
Right. Yeah. All right. Well, I think that that covers just about everything. I should add, we went pretty hard on the ref last game and I don't think Ted uncle was great in this game, but he was way better. I like I found him mostly on.
00:37:50
Speaker
on inoffensive. I will also add that we submitted a question postgame about the red card incident. And he gave a perfectly clarifying answer that the yellow card that Karaszkia got was a completely separate incident or was a separate from his red card and that the red card was for basically kicking the yeah attacker or kicking Rusnak. So like, hey, that's all we're asking. Just give us give us a little something.
00:38:18
Speaker
Yeah, there are a lot of refs that sounders fans hate that I have no idea why they like there are definitely some where I'm like, Yeah, I know. I understand why we hate that guy. But I've never thought uncle was I'm sure he's had bad games against us. But I think he's got like a bad vibe. I think that's like he has this sort of like kick me sort of vibe about him. He definitely has like a gym teacher kind of vibe. Yeah.
00:38:41
Speaker
Yeah. um Which, you know, fair enough. But I just i I I'm always trying to remember what he did that made people hate him so much. And I'm sure he's given a silly red card to us or not call the penalty or something. But I just I never I'm never that upset when I see him in the center. I don't know. Yeah, that was sort of my reaction to I wasn't really worked up about it. And I didn't think he like there was some.
00:39:04
Speaker
on ah advantage calls, but there's always gonna be, if you get focused on disliking a ref, you can find you it's never hard to find for sure calls that are bugging you, but I felt like it was important to give some you know to acknowledge when a ref does not piss me off. Yeah, no, I think it's i think it's good to do. I think it's just always good to remind ourselves that MLS refs on the whole are actually quite good compared to a lot of other leagues.
MLS Referees in Context
00:39:40
Speaker
The line that I've been using is that and MLS refs are better relative to the quality of play than probably any league in the world. That doesn't mean they're the best refs, but you know you look at the Premier League, just to use an easy example, best you know maybe the best league in the world, nowhere near the best refs in the world.
00:40:01
Speaker
No, I would take it i would take and MLS refs over primarily. Like if we could do a straight swap, there's no way I'd do it. Absolutely not. they're They're bad. They're actively bad. Yeah. Yeah. And you know so like, I just think that sometimes that's like, I think it did what kills me is when people say like, Oh, it's the refs that are keeping me from being more into MLS. And it's just like, you don't want to watch soccer. That's fine. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it is so subjective.
00:40:30
Speaker
And it it varies from game to game in a way that I think few sports do. um American football is probably the next closest, but there are so many refs calling so many different things that it's just like, it feels like there's some, you know, homogeneity, I have so much trouble with that word, ah that just isn't present. Like it feels like in soccer, referees are encouraged to manage the game their own way. Whereas in other sports, it's like,
00:41:00
Speaker
No, you have a job to do as a referee and this is how you do the job. and um And that's part of why you know soccer is fun, feeling out the referee. And as long as it's consistent, um'm I'm good. Yep, I'm with you. All right, well, that's a good place to end this. I want to thank our sponsor, Fullpool Wines. Of course, I want to say thank you to our subscribers. ah Just as a reminder, you can become a Sounder at Heart subscriber for as little as $25 a year. $75 a year, you get access to our Discord, where we have lots of good conversations.
00:41:33
Speaker
That keeps going. We keep growing. Every every month we we see little uptick. So I want to say thank you to everyone for doing that. Of course, thanks for doing this, Aaron. Thanks to Lickit for producing this thing. I am Jeremiah Shan, signing off for No Study Yet This. Remember, you'll never get alone.
00:42:27
Speaker
one