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This is shaping up as another disappointing transfer window
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The Sounders are playing great, scoring goals for fun and getting contributions from players up and down the roster. But they’ve also run straight into another injury crisis. Although the transfer window is open for another two weeks, all signs are pointing to the Sounders not making any big moves. Niko and Jeremiah explain why that is and what it could mean.
Follow Niko Moreno on BlueSky and YouTube.
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Transcript
Introduction and Host Background
00:00:01
Speaker
Hi, I'm Will Bruin, and I was just recognized as a Seattle Sounders legend. Now I get to do voice reads for the Sounder at Heart podcast network. Here we go. Come
Seattle Sounders' Achievements Overview
00:00:12
Speaker
on. Hey, O'Shaan.
00:00:13
Speaker
Let's go. What a sorry, Bud Fry. The Seattle Sounders have done it. MLS Cup winners. Here comes Rui Diaz through the middle to crowd it for Seattle.
00:00:28
Speaker
The Saunders rule the region! Seattle Saunders is good! This feels fucking awesome. And Portland can't say it's genius! Nice work on your little
00:00:46
Speaker
Ooch of a gooch! All creatures great and small! Villaviga!
00:00:54
Speaker
re
00:00:59
Speaker
you know What was the thought process in terms of who you decided to use and you didn't? Ever since I wrote a commentary that we didn't take the overcome seriously.
Sponsorship and Host Introductions
00:01:18
Speaker
This episode of Nos Arietes is sponsored by Full Pull Wines, a Seattle-based wine retailer and proud sponsor of Nos Arietes since 2011. Full Pull was founded in 2009, is based in Seattle, and is owned and operated by longtime Sounder supporters.
00:01:32
Speaker
They offer the best boutique wines of the world to members of their mailing list, with special focus on their home, Pacific Northwest.
00:01:42
Speaker
Welcome back to another episode of Nos Adientes on the Sounder at Heart Podcast Network. We're doing a special Saturday edition of what we learned this week with Nico Moreno. And I'm here. I'm Jeremiah Oshian. I'm here with Nico Moreno. How you doing, Nico?
00:01:57
Speaker
Hey, what's going on, Jeremiah? Coming to you live from Pullman, where I did not think that tears would be shed, but they did. I dropped off my son, got him all hooked up in his dorm.
00:02:11
Speaker
a...
00:02:15
Speaker
A nice little setup in a corner dorm. So it gave him a little bit of extra room. ah So, yeah, man, I'm excited. I'm here. Happy to be on, of course, because ah I did want to hop on. I mean, there's a lot of talk about.
Current Team Performance Analysis
00:02:28
Speaker
There's a lot of things that i think that you and I need to discuss. There's been some really good hives from the Sounders. But I think that there's also perhaps some income and disappointment. So I just want to get it out here. Wanted to ah just get us cooking in today's show.
00:02:44
Speaker
Yeah. So let's not beat around the bush too much. Essentially what we, what you're alluding to here is on the field, things are going great. They could barely be going better on the field. They are unbeaten in nine.
00:02:58
Speaker
They're coming off a perfect run through the league's cup. They've set themselves very nicely. i did. Well, actually i will say, wanted to just point this out yesterday. Puebla played Tigres in Liga Mecky's play.
00:03:11
Speaker
These were the two teams that were most likely to face the Sounders in the next round. They of course got Puebla. That game ended 7-0 for Tigres. yeah So that's a, I would say that is a pretty good sign that the Sounders played that it worked out well, that the draw ended up working out about as well as it could.
00:03:33
Speaker
They are going to play Puebla on the 20th. That's been announced. They're going host Puebla. Puebla had a nice little leagues cup run, but they are bad. They are not a good team. I think they've won nine of their last 60 games in, in league play, maybe nine of 60 total, but either way, they have not been very good and been very good for a long time.
00:03:55
Speaker
And Tigris is ah giant and they were maybe a sleeping giant. So getting not only avoiding them in the first in the quarterfinal, but not having to play them potentially until the final is ah is a pretty, pretty big break.
Tactical and Player Performance Discussion
00:04:08
Speaker
And then in the second round, the Sounders, if they advance, they would play the winner of Galaxy. Pachuca, which are, you know, Pachuca definitely a good team and the galaxy game would be at l LA again, which they're getting ready to play at LA. But anything you want to say about that before we get into this other stuff that's off the field, that is not as good news.
00:04:29
Speaker
Yeah, I think that Seattle got the perfect draw. I thought that everything that could go right to ah get them this went right. Because Juarez, you know, they they were making me nervous. You know, if they would have ah pulled it off against the Red Bulls, you know, you could essentially have to play Tigres.
00:04:48
Speaker
That is clearly a much better team. And, i you know, I do think that Puebla... can ah make things difficult just in terms of, once again, playing a lot like we've seen Liga MX teams play Seattle, ah muttering the water by just a lot of fouls, dropping in a deep block, but they're just not a very good team.
00:05:12
Speaker
Despite what you might have seen against New York ah the city. Cause man, that, that was a game where I didn't even know if that was really Pueblo playing. Cause like you said, they've been so bad for so long, ah man, last time they were good. Maybe the Marcus Beasley might've been on that team. So yeah, they've been, they've been bad for a very long time.
00:05:31
Speaker
Yeah. It's that they're, they're a historic team. This is one of, i believe one of her Gomez's teams, right? Yes. Yes. ah But they have a team where I want to say this is the team where he was the either golden bo or close to a golden boot. Yeah.
00:05:47
Speaker
Yeah. I think you're right. I think you're right. But off the field, things have been pretty brutal, especially from an injury perspective. And it's starting to look like maybe it's not going to get any better from team.
00:06:01
Speaker
ah an acquisition perspective, but let's focus first on the injuries. ah We got two updates yesterday. One was on Ryan Kent, the other on Albert Rusnak, Ryan Kent, pretty bad pair. They called it a four C tear, which is basically the, the British ah the British classification of tears. And that means it was a full tear in, in, in that maybe even some of the tendon was teared porn.
00:06:26
Speaker
And that is probably at best a month long recovery. And now the Sounders said that they thought he would be back this year, but it's probably more like five to seven weeks of, of that he he'll be out. So that's, that's a pretty big blow, especially because Kent look good in leagues cup.
00:06:45
Speaker
You know, he had two assists in this one, both on really nice passes. He was looking like the player who the Sounders first had, and he had looked like he had sort of was regaining some of that, that,
00:06:56
Speaker
confidence that he seemed to have lost. And unfortunately, this is the recurrence of an injury that has dogged him throughout his career. I saw that he had at least three instances since 2018 of missing seven games or more with a hamstring injury specifically.
00:07:14
Speaker
So that's, that's ah a tough blow. That is a tough blow for a player that ah was a contributor that was starting to almost feel like he was starting to get a little bit of of ground, even though his performances had not been brilliant.
00:07:33
Speaker
He had been effective, at least on the assist front. And, you know, he was staying in. right mean, you know, this is a different style of of soccer. As much as I've heard that, you know, Rangers and and that league, know,
00:07:47
Speaker
Can be a physical league. ah it's It's a little bit different. I can tell you that for sure. So he was getting hammered. He was getting pushed around. ah Again, you know, there was some things that um I personally didn't,
00:08:01
Speaker
Just the way he starts games, I have a little bit of an issue with starts really slow, but ah he was starting to be, you know, but very interesting, especially when he started to adjust and and do other things. So that's that's a tough one.
00:08:13
Speaker
And on the Albert Rosnack front, I was telling you that I had gotten some information that that might have been over a player. Apparently, it's it was up about Albert. So
Impact of Injuries and Strategic Adjustments
00:08:22
Speaker
although we haven't heard necessarily about Albert, where that is,
00:08:25
Speaker
It sounds like Albert's hamstring, it is ah pretty serious. and And that's obviously something that I will wait for official word. But it sounds like he could be out at least four weeks as well.
00:08:38
Speaker
um So that's going to be... um Another blow ah one that may be, I think both of these, you can say, look, there is some depth there, right? ah When it comes to winner position is your, your vastest group of players.
00:08:56
Speaker
ah The one that you probably feel more comfortable. And as I mentioned, Ryan Kent hadn't necessarily been a starter. So you could deal with that one a little bit better when he comes to Albert. And and I've heard people talking about options and, you know, maybe the Pedro, the Danny Leyva.
00:09:11
Speaker
And although, you know, I don't mind that any labor. um I think Pedro, I want to see him on the left. I want to continue. And that's sort of what, and that is also what Brian alluded to yesterday. Cause we asked him what he thinks he's going to do about that injury situation. And he made it sound like, look, we've moved Pedro around a lot.
00:09:31
Speaker
He seems to have really found his footing on the left. Let's just leave them out there. And it sounds like it's really between Jesus, Danny, and maybe even Snyder Brunel may get some time there just because they need to sort of rotate the lineup.
00:09:44
Speaker
But yeah, go ahead. So, ah you know, we'll see. We'll wait for the Sanders to obviously give his official word. But if any felt when I first saw Albert go down and when I saw him walking out in in in the the pain that he came out of, I kind of figured that it was going to be serious. But after hearing from Brian, I thought maybe there was a little glimpse of hope, but it sounds like it's still pretty serious. And therefore,
00:10:13
Speaker
ah Going to the the point that I wanted to make, I think that when he comes to the attributes on the field, when he comes to the style of play, ah when he comes to the quality of passing and the cerebralness behind that 10 position, I do think that Ferreira is the guy that I want to see play that role.
00:10:31
Speaker
That's what makes sense to me as well. i can see the argument when i suppose if they are at full strength and full rest, maybe you try Danny there because you can put Obed and Christian on the like underneath and you can have presumably Paul or even Georgie on the right.
00:10:51
Speaker
But yeah, I mean, I think you're right. Ferreira makes sense at the 10. Like that seems to be a role that suits him. Well, it seems to be one that he said that is, you know, it seems like one that fits him naturally. i know he started to play well on the right, but the the thing I like about him right now, and this is sort of what we talked about on Saudi at this this week was there's so much confidence inside the team right now.
00:11:17
Speaker
And you can see that like are I think might be the best player. example of that where he's not necessarily slamming in goals, right. And left, although he did score yeah the net back of the net three times during league's cup, even if only one of them counted, it's just that he looks,
Transfer Market Challenges and Strategies
00:11:34
Speaker
he's taking a lot more shots. He's looks more confident. You know, he, he was dealing really good corners, one of which led to a goal.
00:11:42
Speaker
You know, he, he just looks like a much more confident player. So I love the idea of putting him in a position where he's just going to get more touches. Absolutely. And you can see, it at least in the way he moves on the field, the spaces that he looks for in transition, some of the quick link-up play that he provides, and something that he doesn't do a lot right now, but that he can do very well, are some of those long strides, those those switches of the field that we see Albert do.
00:12:11
Speaker
I feel like that's something that does have in his bag of tools, and And that's why i want to see it. And now this is nothing against Danny. I think I want to see more minutes for Danny. And, you know, for all I know that Santos Laguna game, he could have been the best player on the field that day. and he had a hell of a shift.
00:12:29
Speaker
And, you know, I'm so high on his ability to ah affect the game from set pieces. And, you know, he I've always said for a very long time that he could very easily be one of the best passers in the team.
00:12:43
Speaker
But there's a certain chemistry and link up that I see anytime that Ferreira's on the field that, yes, could you do both players? You know, presumably.
00:12:54
Speaker
But I don't know about you, Jeremiah, but I really like the Rothrock on the right with Pedro on the left. um And I know that a lot of people, for some reason, and I don't know why, I'm trying to understand why people have a lot of hate for Paul Rothrock.
00:13:09
Speaker
But if you don't understand why he gets on the field, and if you don't understand why Brian can use him and and he's so effective in a lot of the things he does. He's not a perfect player. He makes mistakes.
00:13:24
Speaker
There's a lot of times where, you know, decisions, you know, get the best of them. But when he comes to the the motor, when he comes to creating havoc, he's important for the system. So that's why I would like to see him there. And that gives Ferreira the opportunity to be at the 10th position.
00:13:40
Speaker
Yeah, and there's just, I think that it's funny, there's sort of this perception that Rothrock's been a lot better on the left, and honestly, the numbers don't really bear that out. He's been a good player on the right.
00:13:52
Speaker
ah You know, he's been he was pretty productive last season for the Sounders on the right as well, so I'm not i'm not really worried about him. if if the the solution to this situation is just moving players around who you want to be on the field anyway, that's a pretty good
00:14:12
Speaker
I can live with that. You know, I think that's a, that's making the best of a suboptimal situation. and I think one of the things we have to keep in mind is that if Albert is going to be out for as long as a month, they need to have a solution that they can,
00:14:27
Speaker
that they can potentially be comfortable with for the long haul. They, it can't just be a sort of bandaid solution. It has to be something that they're comfortable with because there's no reason the sounders have to lower their expectations right now.
00:14:42
Speaker
They are playing so well. They should look at this as, Hey, look, we're two wins away from qualifying for CONCACAF champions cup or three wins away from winning another trophy.
00:14:54
Speaker
And we're right there in terms of the, the race for the, for the Western conference, let's go for this there, you know? So I think there's a lot left to play for it's frustrating that these injuries keep popping up and it's very frustrating that they can't seem to just get all their best players on the field at the right time.
00:15:12
Speaker
But there's also this possibility that all of a sudden, when we get to the end of the season, they're going to have this flood of talent that, and you have, you're to have a lot of confident players potentially vying for minutes. So that's those are but potentially good problems, assuming they can navigate their path to getting there.
00:15:30
Speaker
But one of the concerning things ah beyond the injuries is that all that you and I are hearing is that there might not be any real reinforcements coming in from outside the team.
00:15:46
Speaker
Now, part of that is there are real restrictions. They've got about a million dollars of cap space, which is not nothing, but it isn't really enough to go out and sign like a Tam player, but it is, it is enough to go out and sign a U22 if they wanted to, but the budget to sign may not be enough to get them someone who is a real upgrade over what they have.
00:16:10
Speaker
Yes, that is exactly what I'm hearing. um There is a, there had been a a true desire, and I want to make this very clear.
00:16:23
Speaker
The team, if you look at what we've reported, what we've talked about here and what we learned this week and what, ah you know, you write, but there has been attempts to sign several players.
00:16:34
Speaker
three at the very least that that we know of. I know that there's at least five that have been you twenty two players that they've tried to sign and they've been unable to. the The most reported one, clearly, the Noah Ohio.
00:16:49
Speaker
ah But after that one, I felt like What I'm hearing is that, look, we're already down the list of what we wanted pretty deep.
00:17:01
Speaker
So now we're really just going for players that are ah either, you know, maybe some players South America specifically that they can still fit the profile that we want.
00:17:13
Speaker
But the reason why we had not approached him is because they were at a higher price tag. So now we're coming in with what we have as a budget. And there there isn't really a lot of of confidence that those things get done.
00:17:26
Speaker
if anything... if anything What I'm hearing is that if the team could bring a player, it could be more within the intricacy of MLS rather than them going out there and getting U22 like people are expecting to happen. And I know that's going to bump some people out, but I wanted to just abrir la sombrilla.
00:17:49
Speaker
That's a term we use in Spanish in South America a lot of times. You open the umbrella. You start to set up the ground whenever you feel like... but we We use this term whenever a coach starts making excuses before a game where he knows that he might lose that game, so he might use these. Now I'm trying to just set the ground just in case the people that are obviously want a big signing in this transfer window, they may not get it. So I want to just start to set the ground so maybe that that's fall isn't as hard as it could be.
00:18:23
Speaker
Yeah, and to clarify a little bit, to add a little bit more to what I think you're saying is that this, they're pursuing sort of two separate paths. One is that are, that could both potentially, but are unlikely to both lead to a signing.
00:18:39
Speaker
on one path is U22 number nine, who we have talked about a lot. Noah, Ohio being the prime example of this, but this is a big, that's one path. And then the secondary path is a player within MLS, but we're not talking about a U22. We're probably not even talking about a number nine.
00:18:58
Speaker
We're talking about a player who can bolster the roster elsewhere. And logic tells me that's probably a central midfielder, more of a defensive midfielder, I don't have like strong confirmation of that, but does that feel ah that's we're understanding here, right? That's, that's sort of what we're talking about here is like, there's two potential signings, two types of potential signings that they could make.
00:19:22
Speaker
One of them is a high upside. Number nine. The other one is a raising the floor type of a player from within MLS. Yeah. That is exactly what I was trying to portray. and But you you clarified it perfectly. i would even say that there was a point in time where um if the right offer obviously came for Nuhu, they'd be willing to take it. And then maybe that MLS player could help that depth on that side of the of the field.
00:19:51
Speaker
but that that's not even in the cards right now. Right now with with the injuries and how things are kind of coming about, the team is just trying to kind of lock it in. and to their credit, I mean, the the team, the group has stepped up. they They have looked great over the last seven games after the Club World Cup.
00:20:10
Speaker
They've been winning. They've been undefeated. ah that Just the overall offense looks excellent. Nuhu has had his issues, but when he... ah gets it right. He looks good.
00:20:24
Speaker
Reid looked good in the last game. So there there has to be a little bit of of reasoning behind They're not just saying, hey, you know what? Forget it. We're just going to just close shop and and and let this thing right out.
00:20:36
Speaker
There is a little bit of reasoning behind why they're being careful of not going out there and bringing in somebody that they don't need right now when perhaps they can next year evaluate what happens with this roster because there's a lot of decisions that are going
Focus on Player Development Amid Constraints
00:20:55
Speaker
to be made in December and then you could maybe better make better decisions to bring in a u twenty two Right. And I think one of the other things that is complicating this situation and let's be real.
00:21:09
Speaker
Osase De Rosario's play does create a complicating factor in the Sounders pursuit of a number nine, because here's a 24 year old player who he has really only been exposed to level training for the last two years ah before he had come to the comic defiance.
00:21:28
Speaker
He had been playing for in the Canadian premier league at York United, which is, and don't want to, diminish what they're doing in Canada, but I don't think it's, it's not like first team level training in MLS. It's just not the same.
00:21:41
Speaker
And then before that he was playing in Ukraine at club where, you know, it was, he was in the middle of like a war torn country essentially. So I don't think he was getting necessarily the best training there.
00:21:53
Speaker
So this is a player who's sort of going have his developmental curve is a little off because of the, the kind of training that he's been exposed to. And right now he's looking great.
00:22:04
Speaker
Like if the Sounders had signed U22 player who came in and scored three goals in four games, which is exactly what Osaze has done. against the quality of competition that he's done it against, we would be over the moon about the potential of this player.
00:22:21
Speaker
And the thing that I love about Osase de Rosario is that the way he's scoring feels very sustainable because he's not scoring these out of the world goals. He's consistently getting himself into very dangerous areas.
00:22:33
Speaker
I think he has some real skills and The reality is that they bring in a u twenty two they need to believe that that you twenty two is better than Osaze, or at least in the long term, which don't get me wrong, is not impossible to sign that player, but it's not a cheap player. They're going to have to spend two and a half, $3 million dollars probably at least to get a player who they feel like is actually an upgrade over Osaze.
00:22:58
Speaker
And in the meantime, you don't want to send a message to Osaze that we don't we don't believe in you. And so it just all my point is, is that this raises the bar for the kind of player that they need to identify. It doesn't mean that that player doesn't exist. It doesn't mean that that player can't be found.
00:23:14
Speaker
It just means that it raises the bar. And there's a reason that they're not trying to just bring someone in for the sake of bringing someone in. But there the reality is that they are capped by what ownership is willing to spend on a transfer fee.
00:23:27
Speaker
And until that cap is raised, that's gonna that's really, the to me, that's the biggest problem is that they're trying to find players who are that have a higher upside than the team who's willing to sell them things they have, essentially. It's kind of a tricky it's ah it's a tricky thing they're trying to do Exactly. And that's what I want to make sure that we clarify. And once again, you hit a spot on. Jeremiah and I are not saying that this team is so good and so deep that they don't need anything else.
00:24:01
Speaker
What we're saying is that clearly team went out and tried to look for a player to boost this lineup and they were unsuccessful. And a lot of that has to do because of the budget.
00:24:15
Speaker
And for whatever reason, that they have not been able to... Lock down a player and convince them to come to the Seattle Sounders. And again, a lot of that is the money component.
00:24:26
Speaker
If they were to have an empty check from ownership saying, hey, go find me the best U22 possible in South America. And if we have an right, this is our window.
00:24:39
Speaker
I want to I want to if it costs six million dollars, I'll spend that. thats Exactly, because eight. That's not the they're getting. Exactly, right? Because you I can guarantee you that that that the Seattle Sounders could go out there and find a guy that's going to help this roster that has all the components, that could be an immediate producer, and that could be better than Osatio De Rosario, perhaps, at least in paper, because you know you never know. But you spend eight, $10 million. dollars But that's that's not the reality.
00:25:07
Speaker
So with the constructs and the limitations that Craig Weibel and the Sounders have right now, they were unable to do so. And now is up to the point where, look, if if we're continuing to go down our list where we've already gone for the best targets that we possibly can, are those targets really better than Osase at this point in time?
00:25:29
Speaker
Right. And when the answer is either a no or I'm not sure, then you might as well just figure out what you can work with De Rosario with to get better? Because i the reason why I stopped there is because I don't like the word develop because I think that Rosario is beyond the developing part. He's 24.
00:25:50
Speaker
And that's just maybe the South American outlook on things. I think that's fair. I mean, he's he just turned 24, but there's a reality that Players are sort of who now that can they can, they can refine themselves. Exactly.
00:26:04
Speaker
They can, they can get better at different skills, but he is basically the type of player that he's going to be. And, but the the good news is that what we saw against Tijuana was he's,
00:26:18
Speaker
He's a more nuanced player, I think. that like Okay, so Danny Masofsky has shown himself to be a really good... or Sorry, he's really good at getting into dangerous spots, and he's a perfectly acceptable finisher.
00:26:32
Speaker
He's not a crazy finisher or anything like that, but he's going to finish a fair number of chances. He's not going to do much in the buildup. He's not going to do a whole lot defensively,
Team Adaptability and Depth Amid Challenges
00:26:44
Speaker
but that's okay because we know what he is.
00:26:46
Speaker
Osase, I think shown has shown that he is maybe a little more of a clever passer. You know, he could have easily picked up a couple of assists in the Tijuana game and they were both sort of like clever passes. They were, they were, you know, he, he had the pass that set up, um, Rusnak's goal that was ultimately ruled offside.
00:27:07
Speaker
had another pass that set up, read Baker Whiting for a really good chance. And so these are, you know, I don't want to, i understand the frustration. I'm frustrated.
00:27:17
Speaker
I'm tired of talking about a fourth straight transfer window that they're not, they're probably not going to sign, make a foreign signing. That's, unacceptable. It's, I'm not trying to excuse that, but I am trying to give some context, which is to say, there's a reason that they, that they are doing these things. And one of the reasons is that, you know, like for black, but I like, I've kind of fallen in love with this phrase.
00:27:41
Speaker
They've got Osase de Rosario at home, you know?
00:27:47
Speaker
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Speaker
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Speaker
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00:29:08
Speaker
That's H-A-X-A-N-F-E-R-M-E-N-T-S dot com. And right now, if you use the code sounder at heart, that's all one word, at checkout, you will get a free hot sauce with your order.
00:29:24
Speaker
Again, go to hacksandferments.com, use the code sounder at heart at checkout for a free hot sauce with your order. Hacks and Ferments is a proud sponsor of that Sounder at Heart podcast network.
00:29:39
Speaker
Yeah, and I think you're you're spot on because, ah look, I understand that this is not ideal. does This is not even what a a franchise with a fan base and a history like the the Sounders have ah should be.
00:29:59
Speaker
subjected to, but at the same time, and this is what I've said, you know, there are things about the philosophy and the way the team is ran that, that works, that if you want to add that extra money, you would make him even better. But, you know, you got a guy like Georgie Manungu that just showed you that he needs more minutes. You've got a guy like Osase that needs more minutes. You've seen and developed a guy like Paul Rothrock to kind of be a guy that's very effective on the field. So,
00:30:25
Speaker
There are things that are just working in that sense. and and And that's what this team has right now. That's good enough to, in my opinion, get them to the final of Leagues Cup.
00:30:39
Speaker
Why not think like that? don't think it's outrageous that they can win this tournament and that they can continue to play domestically and be top of the West. We've talked time and time again how these teams should be probably top of the West if it wasn't for dropping points here and there. So this group...
00:30:55
Speaker
does have a good core. This group is a talented group of players, but there is always that, what if this team was able to spend? What if we treated that transfer window differently and we could be up there, you know, being a a team that is incredibly dominant?
00:31:14
Speaker
Absolutely. ah That said, when they are looking around the league at players, there is value to be had. There is, you know, they don't need to raise the ceiling by bringing in and an external player, but I do think it's very smart of them to be looking around the league for someone that could play more of a number six, maybe, ah maybe as a number eight, but they really could use someone who is a give Christian rolled on a day off type of player.
00:31:45
Speaker
And they don't really have that player on the roster right now. Unfortunately, i suppose you could argue that Alex could been, could potentially play as a six, but that's not really his best role. ah Danny Leyva sort of filled that role against, against Santos Laguna. He, he didn't really play as an, as six. I think really what that was, was Obed Vargas dropping farther back, but,
00:32:07
Speaker
they they could really use some more veteran help here because it does not look like as it was very, it's like another frustrating thing. So when the Joe Paolo news came out that it's like, Oh my gosh, he didn't actually tear his ACL.
00:32:19
Speaker
They Brian sch Spencer said, Oh, it might actually be six weeks from the injury that he'd be back, which is like now, like that was when, if if we were to, if that was timeline were to have played out, we'd be talking about,
00:32:31
Speaker
Jao Paulo coming back right now. But actually what we asked him about it yesterday, and he said that Jao Paulo is doing zero gravity training, which is to say he's not putting any weight on his knee yet, which also tells me that he is at best. He's probably at least a month away from coming back.
00:32:50
Speaker
Very easily. Very easily. And you got to get him back into training. The same thing that you got to do with with Jordan Morris. And then you got to get him game fit, game ready. I mean, there's just so many components that we're thinking that if JP was to be back and we all want him back, he probably wouldn't be...
00:33:12
Speaker
getting on the field for at least mid September, maybe, or early September. Yeah, I mean, to me, that's like, that's like best case scenario probably is, is he's back in mid September.
00:33:26
Speaker
Like to me, like that, if if he is back by mid September, if he's actually playing games by mid September, I'd take that at this point. which, you know, that's obviously better than him being out for the year, which is what we thought at one point. So maybe we don't live to get look at gift tours in the mouth.
00:33:41
Speaker
But man, if the Sounders can go out in within MLS and sign a and I'm not even looking for someone who raises the ceiling. I just need ah someone who I believe can play the number six.
00:33:53
Speaker
Like hold it down for a game or two. Yeah, was trying to think like top of my head and and there isn't anybody that's like on the cheap. my My mind went directly to Debbie Flores, but you're not going to get that guy for just nickels and dimes.
00:34:10
Speaker
But yeah, I think that you go out there, get yourself a veteran six, somebody that could... just come and hold it down for a bit ah that that that maybe is a little bit rangier than, than even JP.
00:34:21
Speaker
And, and yeah, and I think that that would be a positive that would make the team better in terms of depth. ah Even if you don't go out there and get that U22 that everybody wants. And that's, it feels like that's even a more possible situation than The U22 at this point, and I hate to say it, but I'd be more inclined to believe in that Seattle can boost their current roster elsewhere than going out there and gambling or um putting that investment into u twenty two at this point in time.
00:34:56
Speaker
Yeah. So the one one of the players who I've been looking at as someone who I thought might be able to help out some is Fabian Herbers, who is not, again, this is not an exciting signing. Yeah.
00:35:08
Speaker
but he's the kind of player who I would imagine the Sounders can probably pick up relatively cheaply. ah he is a central midfielder who currently is with CF Montreal.
00:35:19
Speaker
He's previously played for the Chicago fire. He's not that far removed from being ah pretty good player, but he's, he's sort of like on the outs right now with CF Montreal. I would imagine CF Montreal has ah fair number of players who are possibly available.
00:35:33
Speaker
Now, if I was, if you're going to let me choose, i would love to get someone who maybe has a little bit longer of a shelf life than, then is just sort of a rental. But at this point I would accept a rental because i just don't think that they, i mean, I just think that they could really use someone to come in and, and help sort of like help the foundation a little bit, because as much as I am excited by the way that they're playing,
00:36:01
Speaker
it It feels a little bit like Jenga tower where you you pull out a piece and it's like, oh, hey, who knew? It was fine. We could pull that piece out. That's not a big deal. But you keep pulling pieces out. And that seems to be what the Sounders are doing right now is they keep pulling pieces out.
00:36:16
Speaker
They keep pulling pieces out. Some of them we thought were structural. Maybe they are. Maybe they aren't. But at some point, that Jenga tower is going to come falling over. And you would like to have ah piece that you could replace it with, I guess, so you to stretch the analogy.
Roster Evaluation and Strategic Spending
00:36:30
Speaker
Yeah, no. And, you know, I was thinking a guy like Will Trapp, but is he um a... I don't know if he's available. and don't And I don't know if he's available.
00:36:40
Speaker
I think that's one of the other problems. I mean, maybe like a... I don't know, like another player that is that's currently on... That's currently on Montreal. It's like Sam Piette is of a player who plays for Montreal right now who yeah is... That would actually be a really nice signing. I don't know if he's available. I like yeah I don't know if you but like someone like, yeah I would think you look, you look, well I think what you need to do is you need to look at teams who are basically out of it right now and players who are in the last year of their contract. Maybe they have an option year coming up and, and who they just sort of need a,
00:37:16
Speaker
they need a new scene. They need new scenery, you know? And I would, what happened to Julian Gressel? I swear I haven't heard from him at all. Like, I don't even know if he's playing at all. And i know that we're looking at him. I mean, if a team, i think he was with Minnesota.
00:37:31
Speaker
He's with Minnesota. Yeah. He's with Minnesota. And he, i mean, he's still playing. Like he he played, he started against San Luis and and leagues cup. He started against Caret Thoreau. So he's he's in and out. He's not like the bang on starter all the time, but he's still he still getting minutes for for for Minnesota. That would be an interesting planning.
00:37:52
Speaker
Yeah, I was thinking, you know, if he's not getting on the field, then they can keep some of the salary and you could, i don't know, you could do things with a player that Maybe a team doesn't rate at the time.
00:38:03
Speaker
So maybe that's where I was going with it, but nevermind. But all in all, I think to conclude the the subject, it is that... The reality right now is that it's almost a that the Sounders do not necessarily make that big U-22 move.
00:38:24
Speaker
They figure out what they have with Osase. They continue to, God, I can't believe I'm going to say this, but they continue to write the Musaya ah and and and then figure out what happens after Jordan comes back. And then you go from there.
00:38:40
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, it's not the most exciting thing in the world and I get it, man. You watch LAFC spending $30 million dollars to bring in Son and you have a Vancouver white caps of all teams splashing money to bring it. You know, they're only using a Tam right now on, on Thomas Mueller, but they, you know, he's got an option for a DP contract next year, which I'm sure is a big thing that,
00:39:04
Speaker
Like the Sounders were not not going to be able to offer that to him. ah they didn't net Not to speak that they didn't really have a DP. They didn't have a TAM level opening either to bring him in. So, but you see these players, you see these moves being made and I get it. I'm jealous too.
00:39:19
Speaker
I want to see the Sounders sign a player like this. And there is an element of cheapness. Let's be honest. Like there is ownership is not out there splashing cash. They are not dangling $10 million dollars signings.
00:39:34
Speaker
And, And maybe that's smart. You know, I'm sure you can come up to, you can, there's no shortage of ways to show, to show evidence that spending money is not itself a, you know, by, by itself, spending money is not the way to build a winning roster in MLS.
00:39:52
Speaker
That's just not the way it is that there's that, but you also can't convince me that spending smart money is not a better to a better ah strategy than spending no money.
00:40:03
Speaker
and And the Sounders, unfortunately, have been in the spending no money category. And yes, they are outperforming lot of teams who are spending more.
00:40:13
Speaker
like there was I just shared a graphic today that showed how Danny Mosofsky compares to Luis Suarez, Emmanuel Latte-Loc, and ah Kevin Danke.
00:40:26
Speaker
all pretty, you know, all very expensive players. And Danny Masofsky is punching, ah you know, like sitting there right there on a, on a per 90 basis. He is outperforming a bunch of those players.
00:40:38
Speaker
He is like, if you just ah delete the names, I'm not sure you could really tell me who's who out of that group. And You know, that's, that's true. so That's true. But you also can't tell me that if they weren't willing to being a little bit more willing to spend money that they couldn't be even better.
00:40:55
Speaker
And that's, what's kind of frustrating. No, a hundred percent. And we, we can do the same exercise with Jesus Ferreira with Albert Rusnak. And I'm sure that you and I can come up with several players that came in at a X amount of money, but because they come from another league and he came in a different way, then it just has a different outlook into what they can essentially do. Or you just judge that minimum effectiveness or productivity differently.
00:41:24
Speaker
Exactly. Well, uh, Before we get out of here, we should talk about the l LA galaxy. That is a game that's happening tomorrow. This is a very different LA galaxy than the one who started the season with an unbelievable 16 game winless run in league play.
00:41:43
Speaker
like aren impossible to fathom. Really? They go 16, the defending MLS cup winner could go 16 games without a win. They only had four points after 16 games. They basically played half of a season without winning a game.
00:41:57
Speaker
Remarkable, remarkable stuff. But since then they haven't exactly been burning down the house, but they have been a pretty effective team. They, there are something like three.
00:42:08
Speaker
i think there are, five, two, and four across all competitions. And that includes a two, ah two wins in one tie in league's cup.
Upcoming Match Analysis: Sounders vs LA Galaxy
00:42:20
Speaker
So this is not a disaster of a team that it was ah couple months ago that, you know, they they don't quite look like themselves, but if they had been playing like this all season, they would be a solid playoff team.
00:42:32
Speaker
What do you make of the galaxy? The Galaxy is a team that has found some continuity some...
00:42:47
Speaker
some
00:42:49
Speaker
flair on the offensive end. And they did that with Nassim Miento. I think that he is a player that has given him a reference guy up top.
00:43:00
Speaker
He's a guy that is ah very savvy on the ball for his age because he's obviously a 19-year-old player. ah He is a guy that has slowly, and this is something that happens to every young South American player that I can think of, is he's starting to adapt to the league, starting to adapt to ah the range of games, starting to adapt to a lot of the physicality. And when I watch him, and even in League's Cup, you can tell that he ah is ah building a better rapport With Paintsle, who is another guy that has stepped up his game comparably to the start of the season.
00:43:37
Speaker
And I got like Gabriel Peck that you started to think that he was going to be a second year bus guy after being unbelievable the first ah time around. And he had been arguably one of the best players in MLS.
00:43:49
Speaker
He had had a really hard time just... getting to the net and and putting the ball in the back of it. I mean, that was Gabriel Speck issue for the the majority of this year, I would like to say, and that's starting to come about. However, and I'll also to say this, I think that Cerrillo, Cuevas, a lot of these guys that are coming in and,
00:44:12
Speaker
They have, in one way or another, filled the holes of a guy like Delgado that I feel like they really underappreciated or undervalued the the overall effectiveness of what he could do on the field.
00:44:28
Speaker
That's made them a little bit better or or a lot better offensively. They can possess the ball better. They move the ball better. They use their width better. But...
00:44:40
Speaker
defensively They're still very poor. I know that Santos Laguna, ah the 4-0 score line might look incredible, but that game gets out of hand real early. There's two red cards in that game before the half is up.
00:44:54
Speaker
Santos is a very poor team, as you saw it here ah with the Sounders. that they They are just not good offensively, so they never tested LA Galaxy lifted and pushed that line of confrontation as high as they could do it.
00:45:09
Speaker
So that was a very easy game for them ah just manage. But if you go back and just even look at the Cholos game, Cholos puts them under under a lot of ah difficult situations in transition.
00:45:22
Speaker
And I feel like Seattle's transition has been very, very good this year. And I feel like that's why I feel very confident that Seattle, despite how much improved LA galaxy is on the attack defensively. i think Seattle can really poke some holes on that back line.
00:45:41
Speaker
Yeah, I would totally agree with that, that that for they've made some strides. They've, they've gotten a lot better offensively, especially this was a team that just couldn't really do anything right for, the first few months of the season.
00:45:53
Speaker
ah but Marco Royce has, has come in and actually been pretty productive, especially on a permanent basis. I don't know that they can really complain about Marco Royce at this point. He's really the least of their problems.
00:46:04
Speaker
Uh, the degree that the, the fall off has really been the production of Joseph Paintsville and Gabrielle Peck without having Pooge serving and serving them up to him. Uh, but like, you noted, well, you noted, ah Nascimento has been on fire really lately.
00:46:21
Speaker
i think he's got six goals and three assists or something like that in his last 10 games. So he has been ah revelation for them. and And I will note that Nascimento was a player that the Sounders apparently had on their discovery list.
00:46:34
Speaker
ah For whatever reason, he was considered out of it. he was considered out of their price range. And that's why he he ended up going to galaxy or, and who knows, maybe it's possible that he wouldn't have come here anyway, but it, you know, that, that's kind of a ah frustrating thing, but at the same time, you know, he's, he's 21. He he's not, he's, he's younger than, than De Rosario, but he's not outperforming them by much of a, ah a margin. So it's, you know, kind of a canceled out situation there, at least in the short term.
00:47:05
Speaker
But yeah, I think that the Galaxy are absolutely exploitable on defense. Like you know you you noted, the Sholos game was, even though it was five two it was ah much more wide open game than scoreline would have suggested.
00:47:21
Speaker
No, 100%. And um I feel like a guy like Julian Aure, who's also a guy that I like a lot, he is a ah more gifted player with the ball at his feet and offensively that he's on defense.
00:47:39
Speaker
I think that their build-out out of the back is, is average at best, at best. And if Seattle can continue to be that Seattle that presses as well as they have,
00:47:53
Speaker
ah but I think that they match up very well. I have this game confidently as Seattle winning at least by two goals in one way they're at three one or or a 2-0.
00:48:04
Speaker
I feel like Seattle is that much better on the overall scheme of things. um And the LA Galaxy, they're a team that plays very open. They're not going to be a team that's going put – Seattle in this, you know, constraints on the field and overpopulate certain areas of the field.
00:48:25
Speaker
And that plays to Seattle's advantage. And that's where I've seen Seattle play its best soccer. So to me, i think they match up very well. And I also think that Brian Smetzer, being Brian Smetzer, he knows and sees that, you know, after that 7-0 win and a couple of of struggles you saw, I didn't like the question.
00:48:43
Speaker
but But when when ah Diego, the Peruvian guy, asked him about ah you know, like, did they overlook... Not taking it seriously. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. His... his It was kind of weird question. it wast we want It was not a good question. But I do think that Brian's mentor, as always, he has that kind of, ah you know, ah you know we we need to perform great again.
00:49:06
Speaker
And I feel like this LA Galaxy game, he was already looking into as a must win, right? That's why he rotated heavy. ah That, we I'm sure, with a lot of other reasons behind, but that's why he rotated you know don't maybe not heavy but well yeah heavy right you had reed you had kalani mean they made seven changes yeah mean they made seven changes but they were also i think you could i mean they were clearly defensible changes because it worked out but it was defensible even from perspective of these were play these are all players who have gotten significant minutes this year it wasn't like they rolled out a bunch of players who hadn't really played no no no
00:49:44
Speaker
And this was, he, he rolled out a lineup that he thought was going to give them a good chance to win. And they did. So it's like kind of hard to question it too seriously because they were, and the thing was that they were, they were running Tijuana off the field.
00:50:01
Speaker
Like Tijuana was a good team and they created 11 big chances, which whatever that's a, it's an opt-in term. You can take it for what you, what you want. But what it means is that they were creating a lot of good books and And that, in fact, that was the most chances they've created in a game ah in the last two years or going back to 2023.
00:50:20
Speaker
So like it was, they they did. I think that what they showed is that they have players on this team that they can go deep. They have 18 to 20 players still ah who they feel like they can, they can play in any given game.
00:50:34
Speaker
What's this great? And I feel like that that's not said enough. je mind And God, I didn't want to go there. But, you know, I was trying to get into the head of Bryant's Metzer, so I mentioned it. but But I need to just add on to that because I felt like a crazy person coming out of that ah conference room and then talking with, you know, some other media members on the way back. And they're like well, you know, just Seattle wasn't dominant and Solos rotated their whole lineup. didn't even have their best player. Well, Seattle did too.
00:51:05
Speaker
you What are we talking about? And they did dominate. They did dominate the chances, dominated possessions. I mean, what else do you want? do you want another 7-0? Because you're not going to get it. Like, if that's going to be your new bar, you're going to be disappointed every single damn game.
00:51:23
Speaker
But they wouldn't. They dominated the game. I mean, they dominated it most aspects of that game. Were they clinical? No. And you mentioned this, and I got to say this as well.
00:51:34
Speaker
You mentioned the Jesus Ferrer header, and, you know... ah Don't paint me with, like, the apologetic guy for Jesus. But I talked to him off the mics, and he makes a lot of sense.
00:51:47
Speaker
In his eyes, he's seeing the goalkeeper on the ground. And what we all thought he immediately was, like, Jesus should have headed that ball into the ground, and he would have gone in, right? But he sees the goalkeeper because he already – dove down and he's in that area so he tries to lift it to just put it above his reach and that's why he hits the post so there was a lot of chances there's a miss pk i mean what else did you want from the sounders i understand you wanted to put the ball in the back of the i get it but to not say that they didn't dominate just seems bunkers to me they didn't miss their chances but they dominated
00:52:24
Speaker
Right, exactly. That's exactly right. And i will I said this earlier, but I'll say it again. The thing that I've really liked about Ferreira is that he looks just – you just look at the number of good looks that he's getting now and you compare that to the start of the season.
00:52:38
Speaker
He is constantly in dangerous spots. He looks so much more confident. And sure, he's not finishing every chance that he gets. But, you know, i thought it was it was very telling in the Cruces game that he got two really nice finishes waved off for offside in which he was not even the player who was offside.
00:52:55
Speaker
That is actually one of the funny things that's been happening is that a lot of these goals that the Sounders are scoring. these By the way, the Sounders scored five offside goals. in this tournament.
00:53:07
Speaker
I don't know if they scored five offside goals all last year, ah which I think speaks to their aggressiveness and it just speaks. and and ah And the thing is a lot of the players who are offsides are not, I think on four of the offside plays, it wasn't the guy who scored who was offside. It was, it was part of the buildup.
00:53:28
Speaker
And, you know, I don't know. i just think it's, it says a lot about where this team's head is right now that they are, you know, they're scoring as much as they're scoring, but they are not even putting away all their chances.
00:53:40
Speaker
Like they're, they're leaving goals on the table while still scoring at an outrageous clip that are scoring at three, more than three goals a game for the last seven games. I mean, that's, That's the most they've ever scored. I mean, and this is a team that's been very good at times offensively.
Post-Match Reflections and Community Engagement
00:53:55
Speaker
And this, the, the, the, where they're playing right now is better than they've ever played. And it's against, by the way, pretty decent league Mickey's opponents as well. So there's a lot to like, even though we are both frustrated at what is going on in terms of the transfer window, but ah let's not make it all make it sound like it's all going to shit either.
00:54:14
Speaker
No, no, not at all. And ah you're going to continue to see this team gets better. Yemar Gomez Andrade was best 11 out of ah the first round of League's Cup.
00:54:25
Speaker
I think that he's a guy that now is starting to get to that 90 percentile of his ah physicalness after yeah dealing with some stuff. I think that Jackson Reagan also played very well.
00:54:38
Speaker
i just feel like this team... in the best day and with all their pieces on the field, ah that they can do a lot of great things. So against the LA Galaxy, going back to the point, I feel like they're the much better team.
00:54:53
Speaker
And I am confident. I am very confident that they're going to go to LA and that they're going to put the work on them. I really do. I think they're going to hit it with a two piece at the very least. and and and And that's my expectation.
00:55:05
Speaker
And you guys, you know, audience of Nosadietes and the Sander are hard. podcast network should know that, you know, I don't just say things just to say them. Cause I'm, um I hold this team at a high level. I'm highly critical, but right now, you know, um I feel pretty good about where this team is trending.
00:55:25
Speaker
Yeah, me too. I am too. And, and which is funny to say, even though they are, uh, even though they are, they are struggling to stay healthy. It's like, I still like this team. I went on the whole thing about it earlier this week. So I don't want to need to do that again.
00:55:41
Speaker
But um anyway, thank you for, for doing this sort of, na i don't want to call it an emergency podcast because it wasn't an emergency. It was just that we wanted to record. ah So I appreciate you taking the time out, Nico. I hope you are enjoying Eastern Washington.
00:55:55
Speaker
i hope that you have ah feel secure in the ah so situation that you are leaving your son. i know it's a big deal to be sending someone off to college, but especially for you guys, which I think is great.
00:56:08
Speaker
ah So I just want to say congratulations on and getting one of the birdies out of the nest. I appreciate man. It definitely is tough. You know, he's like my my little partner in crime. He had him when I was 18. You know, we've been playing fantasy football since he was nine years old.
00:56:27
Speaker
ah This is going to be the first time not going to be watching ah the games together, lining up together. So, you know, it's definitely a big, big moment there. So i appreciate it, man. It's, you Wazoo's awesome. And i i think he's going to do great things up here. So, yeah, man, thank you.
00:56:44
Speaker
Really appreciate it. Well, on that note, I'll just remind everyone that August is a really important month for the Sounder at Heart ah fundraising, subscription service kind of thing.
00:56:57
Speaker
Something like 30% of our annual budget comes from this month alone, just because this is the month that we went independent. So there's just a, it's sort of front loaded with subscription. So I'll just want to remind everyone to make sure that your payment information is up to date, assuming you want to keep this.
00:57:14
Speaker
I will also urge you that if you really like what you're you're reading and hearing here, that you can upgrade your membership at any time. And if you are listening to us for free, consider becoming a paid subscriber. It's it's the paid subscribers that make this whole thing work.
00:57:31
Speaker
It allows me to pay Nico for coming on this show, to pay all our writers for stuff. the wonderful reporting that they do. So I just wanted to say thank you also to people who have gotten us to this point, because we've been doing this now for two years independently.
00:57:47
Speaker
It's exceeded my wildest expectations. And I really hope that we can continue growing and making this even better. So thank you, Nico, also for being part of it. I think this is one of the biggest things we've done is brought you on to the ah into the sounder heart family. So I wanted to say thank you to that too.
00:58:03
Speaker
I appreciate it, man. I take a lot of pride at being part of your team because of the phenomenal contact. I've told you time and time again that when it comes to Sounders, you guys are the mecca of information and you do it so well. And the the the writers that you have on and everybody everything.
Conclusion and Acknowledgements
00:58:23
Speaker
Lobbens Quarters Lickit and everybody that is part of Thunder Our Heart are all people that are committed to ah just providing great information of people that want it to this phenomenal fan base and audience so man props to you man I'm more than happy to be part of the team and let let's keep on keeping on
00:58:44
Speaker
Absolutely. and all right. Well, that let's get out of here. i am Jeremiah Shan signing off for Nico Moreno and No Sarietes, which is part of the Sounder Heart podcast network. We'll catch you next time.
00:59:19
Speaker
I expect the LAFC who is motivated ah to prove themselves at home, to prove to their fans that that they're capable of winning in this league. And it's up to us to really ruin the party.
00:59:35
Speaker
i feel a lot better than Bob.