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What We Learned This Week: Good luck in Colorado, Georgi
0 Playsin 2 hours
Niko Moreno joins Jeremiah to discuss what they learned this week as the Sounders are in the midst of the first international break of the season. First they broke down the Georgi Minoungou trade to Colorado and assessing the impact of this move to the existing roster depth. Then the guys explain the announcement of two Sounders matches being rescheduled.
Follow Niko Moreno on BlueSky and YouTube.
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Transcript
Introduction & Sponsorship
00:00:01
Speaker
Hi, I'm Will Bruin, and I was just recognized as a Seattle Sounders legend. Now I get to do voice reads for the Sounder at Heart podcast network. Here we go.
00:00:11
Speaker
Come on. Hey, O'Shaughness. Let's The Seattle Sounders have done it. MLS Cup winners. The Sounders rule the region.
00:00:43
Speaker
Ooch of a gooch! All creatures, great and small! Rothrock gonna collect it, he does just about, runs into the advertising order. Low to our left, ball goes in! Oh, what a Where's my copy? got bunch of them How many do you cost them? 50 bucks.
00:01:08
Speaker
I'll deadline you.
00:01:18
Speaker
This episode of Nos Arietes is sponsored by Full Pull Wines, a Seattle-based wine retailer and proud sponsor of Nos Arietes since 2011. Full Pull was founded in 2009, is based in Seattle, and is owned and operated by longtime Sounder supporters.
00:01:32
Speaker
They offer the best boutique wines of the world to members of their mailing list, with special focus on their home, Pacific Northwest.
Podcast Hosting and Location
00:01:43
Speaker
Welcome back to another episode of Nos Adietes on the Sounder a Heart Podcast Network. I am Jeremiah Oshan. is Friday. We are back at the Sounder at Heart headquarters in the International District with construction going on outside. Today I found out that they are doing some beautification of the street. But anyway, I'm here with Nico doing what we learned this week. Nico, are you doing?
Sounders' Transfer Window Updates
00:02:07
Speaker
Doing great, Jeremiah. We're back, yes, in the studio. I see that you have done some getting moving forward with the decorations and the way you wanted We have an enormous table.
00:02:20
Speaker
Cameras are being set up. Lighting is being set up. We have multiple tripods. It's starting to look like a studio. I like it. I like it. I enjoy it. ah We are kind of in an interesting week that perhaps would not be as newsworthy. yeah And maybe we would have not learned as much if it wasn't for some things that kind of played out read to our advantage, I'll say, right before our show, day before. So, you know, thank you to the Sounders for that. So, yeah, man, I'm excited to get on and talk about everything that we
Georgie Manungu's Trade Details
00:02:55
Speaker
learned this week. Yeah, so it seemed like it was gonna be a quiet, so the transfer window, in case you don't know, closed last, the winter transfer window in MLS closed last night.
00:03:03
Speaker
And going into the start of the day, i think we all thought, ho hum, who cares, this is not even noteworthy. And then when we talked to Brian yesterday, it was interesting, because I asked him about signing Peter Kingston, and he said, well, we're still working on some things.
00:03:22
Speaker
And I was like, oh, okay. And so I i made some calls, and I was like, hey, is there any reason we should expect movement today? And they said no. I don't think so. And then i get a call from you saying, Georgie Manungu has been traded to the Colorado Rapids, and we later come to find out that it was for $2 million dollars of general allocation money, which is a lot of GAM.
00:03:46
Speaker
I don't know. this This maybe washes right over to the people's head, but that is among the top five most expensive GAM-only trades in MLS history. ah You know,
00:03:57
Speaker
There's inflation going on These are expensive. this These moves get more expensive every year. But that's a lot of money. That's a lot of ah lot of general allocation money. Nico, what were you hearing about this and what were your initial reactions when you heard that this move was getting made?
00:04:14
Speaker
Yeah, like gas, GAM is is soaring. that The prices for a transfer is... The straight-up moves is driving up the price of GAM. Man, you you would have not thought that, you know, but it really did. No, ah look, first of all, as always, i like to to credit our or partnership because I will say that...
00:04:38
Speaker
You kind of sparked my spidey senses because I wasn't at the presser on Friday. i couldn't quite make it there. And then when me and you had a debrief, as we do when either one of us doesn't show up, I just i had a feeling. So I started to call the usual sources and.
00:05:02
Speaker
There was nothing at first. And then I got a call back. And to be quite honest, my first reaction was, wow, this is kind of out of left field a little bit. Yeah, I thought so. We you and I had discussed that, you know, there there was a sense.
00:05:21
Speaker
that Georgie Minungu and his representation were not happy with the current playtime. And as a player that's 27, that is starting to... Wait, how old is he?
00:05:34
Speaker
I believe he's 27. I think he's 23. 23? Oh, my God. What do I keep saying? I'm going to look it up. Yeah, please look it up because I keep saying that number as if I have it written in the back of my hand. But regardless of the conversation that I had with...
00:05:50
Speaker
Someone that is close to... He's 23. 23 Jesus. i don't know where that 27 came from. um For somebody that... but the the The conversation that i've had with certain people does feel like he wants to take advantage of where he's at right now. 23, you are at a point in your career where you want...
00:06:11
Speaker
you want to clear you want a clear sense of what you're what's going on here. ah you Maybe you're not an everyday starter, but you want you need to be getting on the field. He's an international for an African nation that has aspirations of being competitive.
00:06:25
Speaker
I guarantee the people in his life are asking him, you've got to tell him you've got to be somewhere where you're playing if that's not Seattle. And I don't know, I'm sure he loves Seattle.
00:06:37
Speaker
He's been here for four years now. But I don't know that he has any great, ah like I don't know that it makes that much difference to him. I think he wants to be playing. that's his He's a soccer player. He wants to be playing soccer.
00:06:48
Speaker
And you know as recently as last year, he was getting minutes with Tacoma Defiance. And that's not where, it's a waste. It's a total waste of his talent. So as far as I know, there was a desire for him to play
Financial Dynamics and Strategy
00:07:02
Speaker
in Europe. that and And that's all players want to do. yeah that that That wants to be their their next step. So there was some interest.
00:07:10
Speaker
He felt like they, as you know, those close to him and part of his his group, his rep group, did believe that he could make that move. And Hammerby apparently did make an offer. Hammerby made an offer. Which we understood would be about a million dollars. which Right. Right.
00:07:27
Speaker
and And that's what something you and I discussed where it's like, I think you get a little bit more. yeah um And so I believe that the Sanders were aware of this, that that that there was a discussion made about him not being excited or happy or okay with how things are going. So maybe that has something to do with it. But the reality here is that what tilted the scale and although, again, going back to my first reaction or impression is that I was very surprised,
00:07:55
Speaker
And that mainly was because I didn't know the the number or the details of that contract. The reason why I posted it as quickly as I did is because I did feel like someone named Tom Boger was going to beat me to it. And I'm glad I did because immediately after. He was able to confirm it with a number. With a number, right? And I was waiting for that number. By the time I heard that number, I was still hearing, you know, it's up to the $2 million mark. And even then I was like, wow, that that makes sense. That's enough money where it would make you – Take it. It's just too much money to pass on. That's what I've told people that are very upset about the move because Georgie is such an endearing player, such an interesting, fun player and someone that with that you and I have learned to really appreciate and like on the field, on the training pitch. He's a great guy Great guy overall. Always comes up and shakes your hand, looks you in the eye, is very polite.
00:08:48
Speaker
he ah He's exciting player. you can see this. It feels like he has unlimited upside. You know you watch him play, and you can imagine him being in Europe and doing the same thing, and and it gets very exciting.
00:09:02
Speaker
And then sometimes you watch him, and you're you're wondering where the where it is. you know It just doesn't always click. And... It sounds like the sound, you know, and I think the reality is that he was not that high on Brian Schmetzer's depth chart.
00:09:18
Speaker
Facts. Like he was behind Jesus Ferreira. He was behind Paul Rothrock. He was behind Paul Areola. He was probably going to be behind Pedro de la Vega. Maybe he's behind Jordan Morris. If Jordan Morris is pushed back out to the wing, behind.
00:09:35
Speaker
Maybe even Snyder Burnell playing the pocket winger as, you know, Brian loves yeah to to talk to me about. that Same as Peter Kingston, someone who I'm excited about. When they needed a goal against Vancouver, who came off the bench? Correct. Peter Kingston.
00:09:50
Speaker
All those things were indicators, right? That... that for whatever reason, Brian just didn't rate him. And and that's that's totally okay because Brian knows his team better than anyone else. he he's getting results. And he's getting results. He's proven it with with putting teams together that can manage games and for better or for worse, because, you know, there's- We can disagree all we want with Brian, but I think the results are very- I don't like to do the appeal to authority thing because that's frankly what our job is to question the appeal to authority.
00:10:21
Speaker
But there is a point at which you go, this man has had so much success. He clearly understands the locker room. He understands how he wants to play. It's just if he doesn't rate someone, sometimes you go...
00:10:35
Speaker
I mean, like whether or not you disagree or not, I think the front office perspective is we can't make it like we're not going to make him play people that he doesn't want to play. Exactly. So my take on George Minungu is that he is a very talented player.
00:10:55
Speaker
paul real i said it today he is if not the best one of the best one v one dribblers in this league offensively he can take a guy on he could create so many things i don't agree with those who call him a one-trick pony or they make the leo true comparisons i truly believe that georgie is better i think he continues to get better i think that he is beyond my marker for a prospect but that doesn't mean he He proved he deserved minutes yeah somewhere. Correct.
00:11:27
Speaker
And I don't think you can. But I don't know that you or I can. You know, i saw like Matt Doyle today said, well, I thought he should be starting. And I i do question. Like, you tell me look at that lineup and you're telling like, who's he starting? Is he starting over Ferreira?
00:11:42
Speaker
no No. Is he starting over Rothrock? I don't think. mean, Rothrock is continuing to produce. Is he starting over Paul Areola? i don't know. Maybe. But like Areola has also produced.
00:11:55
Speaker
ah He has a long track record. If these guys are all healthy, I think he is at least behind behind those three. And like I said earlier, Pedro de la Vega will come back this year, whether it's in May or July. I don't know. But he's He's probably going to be behind Pedro de la Vega. mean, I would think he'll be behind Pedro de la Vega, who might be one of the, you know, at his best, he's, you know, a top talent in the league.
00:12:20
Speaker
I miss that. I love Matthew Doyle. I think that he is one of the the best. I'm never going to try to one-up him on the ah breaking down of the formations. And he he he is is someone that I always look to when he comes to that...
00:12:40
Speaker
just tactics overall and his understanding of the game and rules that player have within games. But, you know, ah with all due respect, when it comes to DeSantis, she's definitely not here with us. I think he is not close enough to...
00:12:55
Speaker
the system that is ran with the Sounders. And I think there is no way, and this is coming from a Georgie guy right that he would start over, definitely not on the on the right wing where you gotta be a pocket winger over Ferreira or you know even at times when you know if you were to switch it and and this has happened where you play with Paul and Georgie, it it just hasn't been consistent enough. There hasn't been enough productivity there.
00:13:24
Speaker
Could he have more minutes that we can debate all day long? Where is he going to be if he does get that play time and how quickly does he develop? That's another conversation. But right now at this time, there is absolutely no way that I can sit here and say that he should have been a starter. So when he goes to the business side, this is a no-brainer. This is a phenomenal deal for the Sounders. And if you like Georgie the way I like Georgie as a person, as a player,
00:13:54
Speaker
this is a good thing for him because although I don't believe that he is going to have play time, just walking into the team as maybe some believe, because look, $2 million dollars in GAM is $2 million in GAM. But I think that Yappy is ah very good. He's gold dangerous. He's a coach favorite. He's a fan favorite. And Sealy is a guy that is more established so far. And he's going to have those starting minutes, but immediately after,
00:14:22
Speaker
Georgie will have his ability to prove his worth there. And I have no doubt that he could essentially at one point win a starting job here. It was that much more difficult because of the system, because of the players in front of them. And at the end of the day, coaches, coaches,
00:14:40
Speaker
for better or for worse, can marry on on certain players. But ultimately, it does go back to what players are bringing me results, what players are producing. And as much hate that there's out there for Paul Rothrock, and maybe he's not the...
00:14:57
Speaker
shifty is player and he doesn't have the exciting and dribbling. He produces and he gets to the right spots and he sacrifices his body and he's a two way player and he's going to press and he's going to push and he makes things happen for this team. And that has a value that you cannot discuss beyond potential. And therefore Georgie is going to fall behind. So I wish him the best. I think that this is a phenomenal deal.
00:15:26
Speaker
is a club record in GAM. And that's also great for Georgie that that's what it took to rip him off the Sounders. And and I think that he's going to have ah a bright
Future Plans and Summer Moves
00:15:38
Speaker
future. Yeah. And just to to add a little bit to the details, ah the way the deal breaks down, they're getting a million in GAM in 2026 and then a million in GAM in 2027.
00:15:48
Speaker
I don't know that it makes a big difference by my calculations. They already had about three million of GAM ready to go this year. So they would have theoretically four million of GAM to spend in the summer. Some of that will go to just making sure they can re-sign guys and do all that kind of stuff. But what it does do is it gives them some real flexibility to make a move this summer.
00:16:09
Speaker
And the thing is is, and I hear this a lot and I understand why people are skeptical, but because the centers have not made a summer signing in ah in several, i guess in three years now, But, or since ah Leo Chu, was the last time they made a ah real summer signing.
00:16:25
Speaker
But ah they... The difference between the previous time where they had sort of the theoretical ability to make a signing, like maybe one, and what they have now is that this is money that has to be spent on the roster. This is not cash. This does not go into Adrian Hanauer's pocket. It certainly does not go into Craig Weibel's pocket, which is a weird one that I always hear. People are talking about like Craig Weibel is getting money out of doing these deals, and that's not how it works. I mean, I guess some way in some other countries that is, you know, transfer money can go to the CSO. Oh, yeah. But in in the in the MLS, that's not how it works. and And so my assumption is that the Sounders are going to be very active or going to be active in the summer.
00:17:11
Speaker
And I get it. People, to the degree that people are frustrated, I think they're frustrated at a series of moves where we see outgoing talent and we have not seen reciprocal talent coming in.
00:17:21
Speaker
And I understand that. Obed Vargas has left. ah Danny Leyva has left. And I would say Danny Leyva and Nikola Petkovic are sort of a wash. But other than the and that, I guess you could maybe argue that Obed Vargas was kind of replaced by Hassani Dotson.
00:17:35
Speaker
whatever, but like Reed Baker Whiting just got transferred. that There hasn't been a a corresponding incoming player. Georgie Manungu goes out. There obviously wasn't a corresponding incoming player. And I get it. People see this and go, well, we're getting all this money, but what do we do? The the money doesn't matter unless you do something with it. And I get it. I'm not going to refute that, except I will say that the time to judge it is in the summer. And if the Sounders don't sign anyone in the summer,
00:18:03
Speaker
I will be just up in arms as everybody else about saying, like what are we doing with all this salary cap flexibility? If we're not spending it, then what's the point of it? All I'm saying is I would assume that there is a plan to make a move in the summer. And the difference now is that they don't need to spend, they won't necessarily need to spend actual cash to do it. They can do it within the league. They can sign a TAM level player from outside the league.
00:18:29
Speaker
And, you know, so, and I think it makes sense because right now the roster looks pretty good. So maybe assess what you need. And then in the summer, make that move.
00:18:40
Speaker
I'd be using the checkpoint reference since the preseason. I feel pretty good about that because yeah that that assessing is going to go down to the summer. Now, do not be upset if some of this gam money need does get used to maybe re resign guys, resign people. Because that is what some of that will get used for that. Don't get me wrong.
00:19:01
Speaker
Some of this money is going to go to, I don't know, maybe. Snyder Brunel. Snyder Brunel. Right, exactly. Or whoever. I mean, or whatever. Like, they're going to re-sign. Guys are going new contracts and some of that money won't. But go ahead. But with that, and I think ya after seeing the whole Obed situation, i think we should all be excited if Snyder gets locked down for nine years. yeah But but ah I will say this, although I wanted to start with the negative because I know that people are going to see that as a negative, although I think it's important to extend players who you were starting to see that are going to be key players for the future.
00:19:42
Speaker
I will tell you that this move does put pressure on Craig and the front office to the point absolutely that it's almost impossible that they go into the summer window and don't use it to bring a player that's going to be an immediate contributor. So the question is where, what position is at a forward, is at a left back, you know, right?
00:20:09
Speaker
me and Jackson had a discussion that he thinks a center bag is where we should go. so all of these things are all open questions, but I can assure you that the front office feels pressured by making this move. Cause it was,
00:20:26
Speaker
a move that you made because it was too good to pass on, but they also understand that they have to bring that money and redistribute to make this team better to make a run, especially when the team's to such a good start. And, know,
00:20:42
Speaker
I mean, what if the Sounders do make it and beat Tigres? I mean, ah you're absolutely going to be looking into the summer and and trying to figure out how to make this team even better. So there is pressure. And I'm telling you that it's not an opinion. It's a fact. So for those of you that constantly talk about this team being boring and not being ambitious, this forces the team to make a move in the summer. And I would say it forces again, like it it forces them to make a move in a way that, frankly, a transfer for cash does not force them to make because the cash can be used for any number of great point that cash can be used to reinvest. Like it just has to be reinvested in the team in the most broadest terms.
00:21:27
Speaker
ah Last year, they got nine million dollars in winnings from the Club World Cup. And where did that money go? Some were back into the team, but not into the roster. We know that. We know it didn't go back into the roster. x And so ah that's that's what I would just say. like The GAM is different than previous cash moves because this is money that has to be spent on the roster one way or the other.
00:21:54
Speaker
Like I said, some of it's going to go to extensions, I'm sure, re-signing guys, but most of it should, like they're a big chunk of it, I would assume, is going to go to bringing in a new player or two. And I will say another caveat to that is that the cat if you were to make a cash move, in the past, they were really focused on signing a U22 because that was really the only thing that they could do with the roster flexibility that they had.
00:22:18
Speaker
What this move does is allows them to go out and get a more veteran player, who might have a $1.5 million dollars salary or whatever. and they can And they can bring in a real player who you can be ah more assured of doing the thing that Craig says, which is we need someone who can come in and compete for time right away.
00:22:38
Speaker
And that's what I would expect.
00:22:42
Speaker
And look, if we've been using the whole assessing at at the mid-year, because I do want to give Jordan Morris the benefit of the doubt. I think that he's so motivated. We talked to him today yeah after getting some minutes. I asked him directly, look, you've been working to become this nine. You've been trying to better yourself to to be a nine. And he wants to be a nine. He he said, look, i'm I'm willing to play anywhere because i all I want to do is speak play. not But he wants to be a nine. So let's him a nine. And he's shown that he can be a nine. And that's thing. Absolutely. And I think that I want to see him come in. I want to see him to be successful. And then maybe that in in the midterm and and and going into that mid-summer window, then you decide whether you bring a younger guy for the future that can learn under you know the current strikers or if you need to bring a guy that's more immediate. So there is so much...
00:23:40
Speaker
happening for the Sounders, that it all goes back, and I want to reiterate, of how how good this roster works and how many... options you have to use this money to make it better, to amplify whatever is that you are at at that point in the year.
00:23:59
Speaker
Absolutely. And, you know, I do think that the roster as is is strong. I think they could the fact that they could afford to lose a Reed Baker Whiting and a Georgie Manungu and not necessarily feel like there's this big drop off in terms of their depth.
00:24:14
Speaker
I think is a testament to the work that Sean Henderson and Craig Weibel and Henry Browner and everyone in the front office has done to to make this roster as you know complete as possible.
00:24:27
Speaker
And you know it's funny, ah we talked today, ah you when we talked to Jordan, but we also talked to Paul Areola. And I asked him, like what's what's the difference here between rosters that you've been on in the past? and And i mean he he really just thought it was a quality. like He just thinks that the quality on this roster is...
00:24:43
Speaker
is very I think there's more to it than that. I think it's probably more about a mindset that the player that the coaches build. he He talked about how they're constantly mixing and matching guys in training, which I think does is a big part of it because it it allows players to feel comfortable with one another.
00:24:58
Speaker
It's not just like the the core group. This is not a two-man show. It really is a 27-man team who all pitch in. But I do think that there's there's always room for improvement.
00:25:11
Speaker
And, you know, I think that that where this roster can get better is at the high end, bring in some ceiling-raising type of players, and you're much more likely to do that with, like, a TAM level. Like, they're not they don't have a DP spot open.
00:25:25
Speaker
The next thing down is a TAM level player. It makes a lot of sense. And shout-out to Garth Laggerway as well. I mean, he envisioned this yeah for this team. I've always called it the biggest footprint he left for the Sounders even beyond his Conqueror of Champions League whale, which is what he called it at one point. And he conquered that well, but the biggest footprint was was this, was having this sort of pipeline that that that brought
New Magazine Announcement
00:25:56
Speaker
in players, yeah whether it was through the academy or bringing in guys to give them second chances through Tacoma Defiance as it happened with Osase and obviously with Georgie who we're talking about. But to conclude, I do want to wish Georgie Manougou the best. I think your future bright, Georgie. yeah You keep on being this player that has this Ronaldinho smile every time you hit the field. b
00:26:25
Speaker
unorthodox and fun and interesting and continue to grow. i wish him nothing but the best. And i think that he, if he plays to his utmost potential, i have no doubt that at one point he's going to be a starter for Colorado.
00:26:39
Speaker
Absolutely. Well, let's take a ah break at this point. We're gonna come back. We're going to talk about the schedule change that the Sounders just announced. And we'll talk about a few other things. You're listening to Nos Arietes.
00:26:55
Speaker
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Sponsorship and Player Injuries
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Speaker
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00:28:46
Speaker
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00:28:53
Speaker
Welcome back to Nos Adietes. All right, so... Before we get into the schedule thing, there's a few more ah newsy items with the roster that we should probably share. ah Brian Schmenzer gave us an update on a few injuries.
00:29:06
Speaker
ah Obviously, Jordan Morris is back. Hassani Dotson is still in concussion protocol. Looks like he's coming out of it soon. ah my expectation It sounds like the expectation is that he'll be back training next week.
00:29:19
Speaker
The centers obviously don't play this weekend. And then similarly, Jackson Reagan has been sort of in and out of practice. They seem like they're just kind of giving him some time off. Alex Roldan got, did get the whole week off, ah but they're expecting him to come back on Tuesday as well.
00:29:34
Speaker
And then Stuart Hawkins might actually be out training next week. And then Kim Keehee still unclear what's going on exactly with them. It sounds like he's kind of ebbs and flows in terms of his return.
00:29:46
Speaker
ah The big one, Yamar did have ah an official timeline given by Brian Schmetzer, and he basically said it was eight weeks, which is confirming what you had already reported, but eight weeks from the injury. So I think that's probably another...
00:30:03
Speaker
Six weeks. Is that right? think was more like five. Five weeks. He was out there today working alongside ah Pedro and Ryan Saylor, who was also like four or five weeks out. Ryan Saylor is. I actually talked to someone and Lutex 2 was partial in training today. Oh. So that's great. I can't wait to see Stu out there getting some minutes of play.
00:30:31
Speaker
Beyond that, it does seem like everybody else is on schedule. Pedro up feels like he he's been out there a lot. Yeah. Like you and he's not been training with the with the rest of the guys, but he's doing a lot of outdoor work, which is always a good sign.
00:30:47
Speaker
Yeah, and it sounds like he feels like he is, if not on schedule, ahead of schedule. so okay And, of course, that's a guy that's hungry, that just yeah wants to get out there, wants to perform. I can't wait to see him out there again. I mean, if they can get him back before the World Cup break, I think that has to be seen as a huge plus.
00:31:05
Speaker
ah You know, if he comes back by mid-May, i would love that. mean, I really do. It's funny because he – His peak productivity was a relatively small window into it, but it was so good that it's sometimes easy to forget how it could be.
00:31:24
Speaker
He is a very good player. And if he if they can get him, i mean, it really is. i mean, if they can get him back and they are in contention for the supporter shield, that is such a massive, massive bonus.
00:31:40
Speaker
To this day, in this current roster, Pedro de la Vega is still probably the only player that can take over a game on his own. yeah And I don't want to hear different opinions, although you can have him. But to me, he is a player that's still an X factor. And if he can come back from this patella injury and it's a bone and you can...
00:32:03
Speaker
Come in as I'm hearing it. and and And it sounds like everybody feels the same way that it's not like a muscle injury or anything else ligament where you kind of have to slow it down. And i mean, you can just come in and just go once it's so it's healed, once it's healed is healed. So if he can come in and give you that X factor, man,
00:32:23
Speaker
oh it's just going to be great to see him play today just watching practice Ferreira looked so good him and knew who were going at it and you can just see the level of competition getting really high and that that I'll use that to kind of walk us into or segue us into our new or next topic, which is, look, I saw the Minnesota game. ah Your thoughts are out there.
00:32:49
Speaker
I think my thoughts are out there. The only thing I will say is that that was a greedy win. That's point number one. Point number two, do I feel like in a vacuum you still left some points because I thought that you were way better than Minnesota? Absolutely. And then number three, i think that – You have now added another level of discourse, which is what I want to talk about. But if you if you have a couple of thoughts on Minnesota, please go ahead. and I mean, I think for me, ultimately, the way it comes down is could you have gotten more out of that game?
00:33:21
Speaker
Absolutely. But i ah I think you sort of have to look at it more holistically and say, could you have gotten less out of San Jose? That's a great point. Could you have gotten less out of St. Louis? That's a great point. You know like I don't know that they were – Those were deserved wins in the same in the in that sense. And so if you look at it on the balance and you got seven points from those three games, you can take that.
Upcoming Game and Player Analysis
00:33:43
Speaker
Absolutely. think it's great. And I think going into Houston next, if you can get a win there, I mean, whoo, sign it right now. No, if they can get a win there, they are they' are flying. Flying. Flying.
00:33:55
Speaker
I mean, and there's no reason they shouldn't go into Houston, especially coming out of a ah break like this. They should be relatively healthy. They will not have to worry about playing on short rest.
00:34:06
Speaker
No, I guess they will have a game the next week. So they might actually, i wonder if they'll go down and and do one trip. Maybe. Maybe. They may go from Houston to to Monterey. but i mean, i mean the the team, I will say that As I've heard, they do like to come back home. Yes. And and I think that's that's what might happen. But that that that number three point that I left there hanging in a cloud is that you did bring up another level of of debate and discourse, which I'm hearing pretty strongly, and and one that you know I kind of disagree with, but I think some are higher on Petkovic than others. But it sounds like a lot of people after the Minnesota game were very –
00:34:50
Speaker
happy with Petkovic's overall performance. And I, on La Riz Corcha said, I thought he was fine. i think he was okay. I don't think he did anything that blew my mind that I was like, man, this guy needs to be a starter, but I've seen it out there and it's been a consistent talking point where there are some people that believe that maybe Petkovic should be there next to Christian Rodan, I couldn't disagree more. i think that he is is is fine, but I think that Schneider-Burnell is without a doubt the guy that looks like the better, more dynamic fit, more of an obit type. I think that he has been more of a wow factor. I think that he's been more productive. And, you know, maybe, and I've heard this before, maybe you're being too harsh on Petkovic, but when I look at them in the Minnesota game, I see what he did right, which is opening the field, switching the point of attack, very good on the ball, confident, getting into scoring positions, but...
00:35:46
Speaker
When you are that type of player, you have to be almost perfect technically. And there was um um miss a huge missed opportunity right on top of the 18 where he puts a ball up into the 300 levels. There was that chance he had inside the 18 that he kind of trips over. There is that um running into pressure at the 44th, 45th minute of the first half where he creates a turnover that is, you know, very naive. And I could point a whole bunch of others. so Look at you come with timestamps. Oh, absolutely. you know i mean, I've i've watched that game three times because I have nothing else to do. well no know And I do focus on that because, look, ah it's not that I'm um i'm being too harsh from Petkovic. It's just that he comes with a price tag that that i'm I'm immediately looking at, that if you pick up that option, you have to know what you're getting into. And and this might not be...
00:36:36
Speaker
a a a a this might be a hot take but i am higher on where i've been more impressed by peter kingston playing the position than i have been with petkovic and peter kingston comes on a way lower salary and with the sounders dna and the sounders uh you know mythology and curriculum and soccer module so excuse me that's my take I don't think your take is wrong. I think it's all a matter of perspective. And I think where I would maybe differ slightly and only slightly is that I think Pekovic for what he is right now, if you're just looking at 2026, you're not looking ahead to what his acquisition cost is.
00:37:22
Speaker
I think... He's a good value. You know, he's only hitting your cap at $200,000. You don't have to be, you're not paying any transfer fee for him right now. Now you make a very valid point, which is if you are so enamored with him, are you willing to pick up his option? Are you willing to pay the transfer fee?
00:37:41
Speaker
Those are relevant questions. And I would agree with you that I don't know that I've seen enough to justify doing any of those things yet, but I'm willing to, i think I've seen the potential where it might make sense.
00:37:55
Speaker
And honestly, i think there's a world where they could probably bring him back at a discount. Like they don't necessarily need to exercise the loan option. They might be able to say, we don't want to pick up the loan option, but we will take him for less. ah You know, so who knows? ah but And that could almost guarantee that. And there we could have a discussion and and maybe in the next couple of games he does more. and Right. But right. For what he is right now, you...
00:38:21
Speaker
you're not mean The good thing is that we don't have to make the decision right now. Right. We, as if we were making it. we don't have But the Sounders don't have to make the decision either right now. So there's some time. But I would agree with you that I'm encouraged by what I've seen. I'm not blown away by what I've seen. i really do I do think he's a ah better player than maybe what we thought they might be getting. like i think I think I understand why the Sounders found him to be an intriguing acquisition. Which, again, that doesn't necessarily mean that they're going to pick up his option.
00:38:50
Speaker
But I think there's that potential. And i but I also am with you that I think given a choice between who do I want to see start against Houston, it's probably Snyder Burnell has to be.
00:39:04
Speaker
I mean, I think, you know, and I and I do like Dotson. But I think there's no reason to rush him back for one. ah For two, I i think Brunel has shown a level of dynamism that no one else has.
00:39:18
Speaker
Absolutely. His upside, I think, is very, very high. And i want to see. and But honestly, I think what we're probably going to see, certainly over the next month or so, when there's still quite a bit of fixture congestion, is probably some rotation. And I don't have any problem with that.
00:39:36
Speaker
And Snyder's the dog. I mean, Snyder has dog in him. And I love that he has dog in him because he comes in and I swear he plays better when he has a guy like Kubas in front of him. Yeah. I think that he, and this is from Brian himself, I think he comes in late into the box.
00:39:54
Speaker
so subtle, so smoothly, almost Albert-like. Brian loves Brunel. He does. And it's not hard to understand why, but every single time he talks about Snyder, he talks about him in glowing ways that, honestly, I don't know that I've heard him talk about other players, young players like that.
00:40:11
Speaker
No, you're right. He is he is even more than Obed. Yeah, even more than Obed. And and I think part of it that Brunel came to Brian a little bit more of a finished product than what Obed was. Obed was very young, obviously, when Brian first started seeing him.
00:40:26
Speaker
But I think Brunel just has that... brian schmetzer dna coded in him and and i mean you can anybody also has like this flair and this technical ability and a kind of a swagger about him he does uh and i i get why people well i i love i love him yeah i can't wait see him more it could be the hair too just like forever it could be the hair it's little mustache Yeah, it could be the hair. But at the end of the day... His mom is Mexican, which helps. Oh, wow. I had no idea. I think that's right. I hope I didn't get myself in trouble, but I'm pretty sure that's correct. Oh, wow. That's interesting. Well, it's better than me calling Georgie 27 years old. But look, so the reality is...
00:41:13
Speaker
that there is going to be a lot of minutes to be had. You're probably to to figure out even a pairing without Christian. And I think that's where Hassani comes in because I think Hassani is more equipped to be a six, although he was brought in to be more of an eight. But in my opinion, I feel like he's more equipped to be a six. He's definitely a better six than, ah or he feels like he's a better six than Snyder. So maybe we see a Hassani Snyder at one point. Maybe we see a Hassani... Petkovic, don't love the Petkovic-Burnell possibility when it comes to the defensive component, but maybe depending on the the opponent, and credit to my guy Tim, ah who always has the tim foss always has that the the right takes on things. He mentioned that. He said, look, they mean it depends on the opponent. But there is definitely going to be room for these guys to...
00:42:07
Speaker
continue to compete for that position next to Christian and that's exciting as it is now what that starting 11 is when everybody's healthy wo there's going be some conversations that's more of a the i mean we we know better though don't we i mean That's a theoretical discussion yeah that the Sounders have very rarely been able to engage in in a real way is this theoretical best 11. It's a fun thing to talk about on podcasts, but Brian Schmenzer very rarely actually gets to ah is very rarely forced into a position where he literally needs to choose that. ah
00:42:43
Speaker
But I think that's i think that's what we got on the roster, right? Yeah, there's nothing else on the roster. um That was a big one that I wanted to discuss because it was it was out there pretty consistently. i think that center back-wise so far, I think Tino Lopez has been impressive. I think he's going to continue. Tino Lopez has been so good that I think it has honestly changed – the importance of they go like going to me it wouldn't even make sense to go out and get like a random mls veteran because you have you know you have players coming in lopez clearly can do a job and if you're just looking for someone to do a job you don't need to do that what you need is if you want someone to raise as your ceiling again sort of like what we were saying with the tam thing maybe you want to do that but again
00:43:28
Speaker
If Yamar comes back healthy, I mean, there's there's a world where Yamar comes back and he's just like a Defender of the Year candidate again. And that's my expectation. I know that that's his expectation. And he's definitely a unique profile of center back that you don't have in the roster. And getting it is going to cost you some money. That's a good type. Right. so The good thing about Tino, and that's another one of the things I could have probably mentioned about Minnesota, is that Tino, man, he went stride for stride with Jaboa. Yeah, he had no problem just... Man. Yeah, he was no problem at all. he i mean, he got the start over Reagan.
00:44:05
Speaker
ah the The idea was to give Jackson Reagan a day off. And he started in... And I thought it was notable that he started in Jackson Reagan's spot. and Because I would have expected...
00:44:16
Speaker
Alex rolled on to move into the left center back spot because that is the middle of terms into a three center back course. Uh, but no, what they did is they put, they put Tino out there and he looked fine, like totally fine. like I don't think there was a misstep where I was like, ah, see is what it was. That's the problem. Yeah. No. Uh, so, uh,
00:44:38
Speaker
Dino Lopez, that's a very, I mean, again, I think that's really a testament to the Sounders whole developmental pipeline because there's not a lot of teams that can just sort of like spit out 23 year old ah MLS caliber players. And that's sort of what the pipeline is doing right now is on both ends. It's bidding out players that can just slide in and do a job. And then it can also spit out high upside players like Snyder Burnell who have, you know, ceilings that are as high as anyone as anyone. Yeah. And the fact that you have Stu hoping to get some minutes coming out of the same pipeline. You have a sadness, a get Gallatin Gallatin, sayingness Gallatin being a guy that is getting raving reviews. Huge kid, by the way, he's enormous. he's enormous Right. So all of these things, I just feel like, man, you're pretty well covered there. But but I think that's all we had on the roster.
Schedule Changes and Champions Cup
00:45:30
Speaker
Yeah, so the the last bit we wanted to talk about, just because there's a little bit of discourse around it, is the whole ah schedule change that just got announced. we had
00:45:39
Speaker
heard ru i had heard rumors of this. I had had actually reported it previously. But what ended up happening was the Sounders, what was supposed to be their return to Lumen Field on April fifty No, April 12th against RSL.
00:45:55
Speaker
That game got moved all the way back to September 23rd. And then a match against Sporting Kansas City that was scheduled for September 9th got moved back to October 1st. Now, the September 9th one is pretty straightforward. Basically, what happened was the NFL started jiggering around with their schedule and they wanted the Seahawks to be the opening game of the NFL season. They put them on a Wednesday because there's a game in Australia, apparently yeah on Thursday.
00:46:24
Speaker
And so whatever, they, they felt like they had to move the Seahawks to that day. And as we all know, the Sounders are just, uh, filling dates around the Seahawks. And so the Sounders had to move that game to October 1st. Uh, the more interesting one, and I don't know, i haven't gotten a totally clear explanation except for quote unquote, it's nuanced. Uh,
00:46:45
Speaker
But we can talk about some of that nuance. ah The reason the game on a tip ah April 12th got moved, which... ends up being not the worst thing in the world unless you had tickets to it and you were all excited about going, ah which I'm not trying to diminish the the real world frustration that anyone is feeling over planning to go to that April 12th game. I'm sure a lot more people were planning to go to it in part because they hadn't had a home game in so long.
00:47:13
Speaker
So there was a lot of anticipation around this game. i get it. I'm not going to sit here and say you should not be frustrated. But what I will say is that from a purely competitive standpoint, there is some value in this because what it does is it clears up the weekend date that would have been between the two legs of the Tigris CCC matchup. So instead of going April and then 12th and then they just April 7th they just go april seventh to fifteenth
00:47:44
Speaker
Right, exactly. thats So they don't have to play. So they can just go from playing Tigris on the road to playing Tigris at home without having to like really balance the the roster at all. And so from a competitive standpoint. It's huge advantage. It's a huge advantage. It is. It just it is a huge advantage. ah But then I don't think that was all there was to it, though. My understanding is that there was also some consideration, and this may have actually what was driving it ultimately, that My understanding is FIFA is a little jumpy, a little apprehensive about how many games are going to get played on grass. Now, the grass is going to go in, I believe, next week, finally. Which is wild. Which is wild, but they've been doing all this prep work. They put down like over a foot of base. I've seen some footage or pictures of it. there is like a real They're basically redoing the field, except for they're building on top of the...
00:48:40
Speaker
of the existing field turf. And, uh, and so the first game that's going to be played there was supposed to be this April 12th game. But then there was a women's national team friendly scheduled for the 14th, which that's not getting moved. And then there was this champions cup game scheduled for the 15th.
00:48:59
Speaker
And my suspicion is that FIFA was a little worried about three games in April, which very well could be wet as we, as we know, ah And then it going and having three games in the span of five days, potentially messing up the grass. And so my suspicion is that FIFA said, fine, you can have this game on April 15th. And that was really the reason that there was some question about the champions, where that Champions Cup game is going to be get played.
00:49:26
Speaker
And so I think everyone kind of came together and said, well, what if we have the Champions Cup game? As scheduled at Lumen Field and we move this other game and everyone's happy and or not everyone's happy, but FIFA is happy. The Sounders are happy and So I don't know. Maybe some people are upset, but I mean, it's a win-win-win for everyone. I mean, this is golazo, to be quite honest, because you're giving yourself the best chance to hopefully advance in a very difficult game against Tigres, two-leg series. And...
00:50:03
Speaker
I think FIFA is absolutely driving this. I think that there's no doubt in my mind yeah that they're saying there's no way that we're putting in this much money for you to just do an extra game. right i don't care what it is. It just is unacceptable. And the sound of the point, like, well, look, I'd rather that game be a champions right cup game than an MLS mid-season.
00:50:27
Speaker
season against RSL. Right, exactly. And then, but the good news, well, i don't and I haven't confirmed this, but my strong suspicion is that the Champions Cup, the semis, I would assume, will be okay to play at home.
00:50:42
Speaker
ah The schedule will not be quite as ah tight then. It would either be April 28th. There's two windows that it could be on April 28th, the 30th, or May 5th through 7th.
00:50:53
Speaker
There is a home game on April 25th. And then there is a home game on ah May 9th. But there's a little bit more time in that. to you know i would And i would and will be you know hopefully the field will be a little bit more settled and and things will be under handle. So hopefully they can host that game if they need to. But um that's a problem for another day.
00:51:15
Speaker
That's cool, though. i Honestly, i was not familiar with the situation, and when I saw it happen, I immediately thought it was related to the field and and and and the wear and tear, but then it all kind of came in a perfect circle because the Sounders are going to get to really focus on this CCC game that I believe it can be...
00:51:46
Speaker
season changing. Look, if the Sounders are able to bring in their experience in this tournament, their experience with guys like Paul Arriola, Jesus Ferreira, that have been, a Christian Roldan, that have been in Mexico, have played CONCACAF games, whether it's to the national team or just overall, and you can beat Tigres, it's hard for me not to...
00:52:16
Speaker
put the Sounders in a position to be a contender to win that tournament. Yeah. i mean, i regardless of whether it's Nashville or or America, man, I think the favorites against Nashville or America. And i then Toluca is obviously the big giant on the other side of the, both Toluca and Cruz Azul are on the other side of the bracket.
00:52:35
Speaker
But I mean, you take your chances with that. And the thing is is, that they would be potentially in a good position to host that game. That's what's so big about if they can host either one of those teams, sign me up.
00:52:51
Speaker
Absolutely. hundred percent. did you Just get into that. Finally, eventually. I mean, it would be be phenomenal. phenomenal. Absolutely. would be huge. Yeah. And and this is going to be our series, and we're probably going to talk about that in future podcasts, without a doubt. But I'm excited for it, man. I was looking at this team this morning and just seeing the level of competition, talking to Polariola, talking about Colmillo, Fang, which makes no sense in English. Right. That was a great, yeah, we got to figure out how to use that. But that was, I'd never heard that term before, but that was ah that was an interesting little thing that Paul Yarla shared. Yeah, you know you know, I asked him, what was it about MLS teams playing in Mexico that was so difficult? And he just said that at times MLS teams are naive. And and there's a lot of colmillo in Mexican teams. And ah what colmillo essentially means is just savviness, not being afraid to use dark arts.
00:53:49
Speaker
And that that could mean, you know, tying your shoe a little bit longer at corner kicks because you're trying to kill time. That could be going. You wouldn't think it was funny. There's no rule about 10 seconds to get off the field. No, nothing. Absolutely nothing. And he mentioned this when talking about Cincinnati. He said sometimes you can't play the way you do at home. Right. And and if you have to go to El Bolcan and,
00:54:15
Speaker
muddy the the waters and and and play rough and slow down to play and bunker a bit and change the way that you usually play because you know that they have tape on you then that's what you do right that the ultimate thing about going to on the road on the first leg is just getting a result so that was cool to hear from him so if they could put it together man I really mean, they put themselves in the best possible position to be ah to beat Tigres. And I think that's really all you can ask is that you give yourself every opportunity to win. There are no bonus points for degree of difficulty in Tigres. No. And I think that sometimes we get lost in this is that it's that, well, they didn't do it the hardest way they could possibly do it.
00:55:02
Speaker
Who cares? Just do it. Absolutely. And that's my debate with Noah sometimes and and Ari that they're so against like soccer terrorism or whatever. Right. How about bunkering down and the Ramses and of the world. that do to when You do what you got to do to score. Nobody's going to remember. And this is coming from a Colombian guy that,
00:55:23
Speaker
Our saying growing up for me was we we played like never before, but we lost like we always do. That that was the logo. that We had this great game. We played incredible, but we lost like we always do. right That's not what you want. It's about just getting the result. No, no. ah No, I agree. I
Winning Philosophy Debate
00:55:43
Speaker
agree. Uh, as much as fun as it is to watch a, the beautiful game, uh, ultimately I think most of us sign up for this to watch our team win. And when we're watching it as a neutral, sure.
00:55:55
Speaker
It's nice to see guys pinging the ball around, but, uh, and to the degree that it helps you win, I want to see my teams ping the ball around too. And, you know, controlling the game and doing all that kind of stuff. That's, those are those are aspirate. Those are good goals.
00:56:08
Speaker
Uh, in the sense that they help you win games. And I think that, you know, like the whole tiki talker thing, the that was built on the idea that this was a better way to, for this team to win games, not because it was just beautiful soccer.
00:56:20
Speaker
And you had the components to do it. And for those out there with the Spanish world is, hugamo komonun kaeper the most commo emperor that that that that is the Colombian thing that we always went to. And you don't want to be that team that that that played unbelievably, but it lost like they always do. So, Abe,
00:56:35
Speaker
I don't think we have anything else. her mom That was it. Well, ah thanks again for everyone giving us a listen. Hopefully the background noise was not too bad. Like I said, there's some ah quote unquote beautification going on down here and the ID, but so pardon the dust, I guess. is Yeah. If it sounds like they were coming at us with machine guns, i know we're okay. We are okay. It was not a machine gun. It was not. All right. Well, ah Nico, ah people can follow you on Blue Sky, El Rolo, and They can watch you on soccer down here. You are, of course, a regular member of the Sounder at Heart podcast community, ah bo both through this show, but also through Lobbing Scorchers. Anything else that you've got going on that you want to know tell the people about?
00:57:19
Speaker
ah No, just ah watch out for us. I'm hoping that we do, you know, some content in between this break for USMNT. I'm excited to really go into the Houston game. I'll probably be doing a couple of ah shows in Houston and and maybe a separate one through Pulse of Sports.
00:57:38
Speaker
um with some guys down there. So just ah you know check that out. But no, man, I'm always excited to to hear from you guys. Keep the comments going. I i love hearing you guys' takes on the Sounder or Hard comment section when it comes to our podcast. So really want to encourage everybody to continue to do that.
00:57:59
Speaker
you know, questions or anything that I see that are interesting, I'll definitely take on, but thank you all for listening and for commenting and having your takes on, on the show. I love it. I love that.
00:58:10
Speaker
Absolutely. All right. Well, let's get out of here. i am Jeremiah Shan signing off for Nico Moreno. This is Nos Adietes, part of the Sounder Heart Podcast Network, and we'll catch you next time.
00:58:49
Speaker
Let's go at Sounders.