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Cody Baker Doesn’t Give a F*** - Ep. 9
50 Plays2 years ago
Ari and Noah talk about the Seattle Sounders win over Houston Dynamo, this week in MLS recap and Concacaf Gold Cup wins from USMNT and loss by Mexico.
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Transcript
Seattle Sounders vs Houston Dynamo Recap
00:00:10
Speaker
What's going on, everybody? Welcome in to episode nine of Lobbing Scorchers. This is Ari Lilianwall. I've got producer Noah here with me. Noah, say what's up to the people. What's up, people? I don't have a speech this this week. I just.
00:00:28
Speaker
Well, we've got a dub pod. Yeah, we've got a dub pod. Our very first dub pod on lobbing scorchers. We've been waiting for this day. We've had a couple draws. We've had an L. We've been waiting for a dub. It's always going to be more fun on this show when we've got a dub and we've got one. One zero over the Houston Dynamo at Lumen field.
00:00:51
Speaker
Albert Rusnak with the game winner. Another clean sheet for the back line, Stefan Fry and the defense, and that's a 1-0 dub. Important dub, Seattle's now 9-7-5 and on 32 points. Level on points with LAFC, who in their hungover state lost 2-0 to FC Dallas yesterday. So Seattle's level with them on points for second in the West.
MLS Results and USMNT Gold Cup Analysis
00:01:18
Speaker
And needed this dub, needed this dub. Was not the most emphatic dub of all time. Seattle were the beneficiaries of a second half red card that no doubt helped the cause. A classic Houston move.
00:01:31
Speaker
Yeah, Houston now has three red cards in the two games that they've played against Seattle this year. So they are kind of making that a trademark move. But the way things have been going for this team for the past eight or so weeks, there's no style points right now. A dub is an absolute dub. So we're going to break it down for you, have some fun with it. We're going to start off. I'm going to just do my little recap and my opening takes and then
00:02:00
Speaker
We'll riff on it a little more and then do a couple quick hitters on the results around the rest of the league and USMNT at the Gold Cup and then we'll get out of here. So let's get into it.
Key Players and Game Impact: Cody Baker
00:02:13
Speaker
So the main character of this game, in my opinion, turned out to be none other than Cody Baker.
00:02:21
Speaker
For the first hour or so of this game, I would say things looked a lot like they had for the previous eight or so weeks. It was 0-0. Seattle had a couple of OK chances to score in the first half. I think the best one was the play where Leo Chu got the ball. He's completely isolated on the left side of the box. He lays it off for Rusnak. And there was a half-hearted PK shout. Rusnak ends up going down. There's no shot on target.
00:02:48
Speaker
That was a good chance and then there was the one deflection to Nico Ledero where he had a pretty open look and skied it. So there was a couple of, I would qualify those as half chances but they didn't score either of them and this game was still 0-0 right around the hour mark.
00:03:06
Speaker
But things turned in this game around that 60th minute. And that's where we have to dive in to the story of Cody Baker and also the story of Houston defender Mikael because the stories of these two are truly intertwined in this game. Mikael left a legacy in this game. He was the other main character. So it all started when Cody Baker got a yellow card in the 54th minute for hard tackle on Nelson Quinones.
00:03:36
Speaker
which got the Houston players in a little bit of a tizzy they were they were not happy and then a few minutes later Cody has the ball he's making a run down the right side he's making a good run he took it all the way from the right flank and he's charging into the box and the ball gets taken off him right as he's trying to get in the box by Mikael and he and he fouls Mikael pretty hard
00:03:59
Speaker
And that got the Houston players even more riled up. They're campaigning for him to get sent off. At one point, Cody had meandered all the way back over to Midfield, and the Houston players were screaming at him. They're standing all the way near the Seattle penalty box, and they're yelling at Cody, who's all the way back over at Midfield. Cody Baker doesn't give a fuck, dude. That's what I like about him. A lot of times with young players, there's a tentative nature to how they play, because they don't want to make mistakes.
00:04:30
Speaker
There does not seem to be any of that with Cody Baker every chance he's got he goes out there He's playing his game. He's a hard-nosed physical defender. Not afraid to mix it up He doesn't care that he's 19 and I don't know. I just think that's a great sign It's fun to watch it was very entertaining in this instance And I think we here at lobbing scorchers continue to be just nothing but high on Cody Baker's presence on this team right now and in his development He's doing well
Seattle Ends Home Goal Drought
00:04:58
Speaker
But this was probably his most impactful moment so far, I would say. Anyway, so very shortly after that whole sequence, Cody has the ball in his own end, back over by the Seattle 18, and Mikael just lays him out. He saw his chance to retaliate and he took it. And at that point, I even said in the press box,
00:05:19
Speaker
Okay, that that should have been a yellow the foul itself isn't egregious, but it was very clearly Retaliatory and he was targeting him because he was frustrated the ref calls the foul But he doesn't give the yellow but that really that arguably could have been a yellow in the context of what had just happened But it's not given
00:05:37
Speaker
just after that, maybe two or three minutes later. It might not have even been that long. Mikael gets his first yellow for coming in late on a challenge on Nico Ledero. And I said in the press box, you can ask Jeremiah O'Shean, man, like, he's lucky not to get sent off right there. That foul on Cody right before should have been a yellow. That would have been his second yellow if that had been given. But, you know, whatever. But I was like, you know, that would have been pretty funny because he would have gotten two yellows in like three minutes there. That would have been crazy.
00:06:06
Speaker
Literally, 10 seconds later, JP is threading a ball through to Kellen Rowe on the right side. Kellen has Mikael beat. He's going to get around him and be off and running into space, and Mikael just blocks him off and tactical fouls him. Otto Yellow immediately sent off, and Houston's down to 10 men.
00:06:23
Speaker
So by the time it was all said and done, my guy had picked up two yellow cards in 49 seconds and arguably, you know, could have had the third for the foul on Cody right before that. So it's really three yellow cards in my eyes. I won't go down in the books like that, but that's how I see it. Cody Baker made that red card happen. He got in Mikael's head.
00:06:44
Speaker
He was posted up rent free. He's got this guy addition retaliatory fouls Charging into into late challenges. He's tactical Fallon when he's already on a yellow all because he got into in on field beef with a 19 year old child who's played 600 MLS minutes So me Kyle gets sent off putting Seattle up a man with 30 minutes to go and you know
00:07:08
Speaker
If you're Houston, you can't do that. You're up against it as the road team playing in Seattle anyway. Your whole game plan is to keep it to zeros as long as possible and maybe poach one if you can. So you can't really be getting into fights with 19-year-olds and getting sent off. That's not going to help your cause. It's definitely not going to make attaining a result any more likely if you do that.
00:07:31
Speaker
And at that point, Seattle's got a big advantage, obviously, but the pressure was very much on after that red card. I was thinking to myself, okay, they have to score now. You cannot let this finish 0-0. That's what Houston's going to try and do. They were going to try and bend the ball their way to that anyway.
00:07:49
Speaker
And now down a man, they're really going to try and do that. And with how things have been going for Seattle on offense lately, it was not a given that they were going to score there. I'm not going to sit here and say that as soon as that red card happened with that much time left, I was like, OK, this game is chalked.
Game Management and Victory Assurance
00:08:05
Speaker
They're going to for sure get at least one goal now. I figured they would, but I can't say I was confident in that. But five minutes after the red card,
00:08:17
Speaker
It finally happened, Noah. The Seattle Sounders scored a goal. They scored a goal 400 some odd minutes after the last time they scored a goal at Lumen Field. They scored a goal. It was a great goal, actually. Great goal. Fantastic interplay between Nico and Leo Chu to create that chance. Nico slides Leo Chu right in front of goal.
00:08:39
Speaker
Clinical finish from Rusnak. He's right there, lines it up, scorches the back of the net, and you could feel the release in that stadium. Noah, you were in the crowd, so you probably know what I'm talking about. The crowd was going nuts, almost to the point where it seemed sarcastic a little bit. I don't know. The players were celebrating harder than I've seen them celebrate a goal all season. Nico Ledero had a funny reaction. He didn't even join the dog pile. He just had this look that was just like, dude,
00:09:08
Speaker
Fucking finally. Yeah, they've been knocking for so long Everyone I think was it was a big sigh or a leap but more than that. It was just like we're so back Yeah, that was so bad. That was how it felt That was how it felt even up a man like that was the vibe You know we've been talking about how this team needed a vibe enhancer all I was gonna take was a goal like that That's all it was gonna take so they finally got it They were cooking the whole game though. They were knocking the whole game
00:09:33
Speaker
They were knocking, I don't know about that. I didn't think they were knocking that hard in the first half. They had the two chances. I'll give them credit for that. And then after the red card, they were for sure knocking, but I don't know how much you attribute that to them being up a man versus them having a breakthrough on offense. That's what we're going to find out, I think, in the coming weeks. But they had been knocking quite a bit. They were doing what they had been doing, which was putting in chances.
00:10:09
Speaker
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00:10:20
Speaker
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00:10:42
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00:11:05
Speaker
They were putting in chances, and they just needed that goal so bad. It doesn't matter that it didn't come until they were up a man. It doesn't matter that it finished 1-0 and they didn't add to it. They just needed to score. They needed to win a game, and they needed to do both of those things at home, which they had not been doing. 400 minutes from their last home goal was a crazy stat. You really never see that from this team. You never see that from this team.
00:11:30
Speaker
I was down bad with injuries, absences, and personnel or whatever. They've been in situations like this before, and I'm pretty sure that 400 minutes is a record. So cathartic to see had to have it, had to have it.
00:11:47
Speaker
Seattle was able to see it out from there. They were in control the rest of the way. Like you mentioned, they were knocking. They could have had that second goal. They managed the game well when they had to. We talk a lot about game management on this show. I thought the game management up a goal and a man was very good. There was a lot of knocking the ball around in Houston's end, which is fine
Controversial Refereeing Decisions
00:12:08
Speaker
if you're up a goal and a man.
00:12:10
Speaker
You don't have any obligation necessarily to be throwing all kinds of crazy numbers forward and risk letting them get out and transition. So I thought that was good. I thought they could have had that second goal. There was the one chance Houston had right before the final whistle where I think everyone's hearts get to beat for a second, where former Seattle sounder Brad Smith, who made his return to Lumen Field and got a nice little ovation. Shout out Brad Smith. He was a very good sounder while he was here. He sent across
00:12:37
Speaker
In that got over yamar and the houston striker got got on the end of it, and he put the header on target target and Everyone everyone in the bot in the press box was like oh my god They're about to ship this goal But he didn't get good contact on it, and it was ended up being really easy for stephen fry right at him No velocity on the shot so
00:12:58
Speaker
think he almost was trying to sell a penalty or something it was weird it was a weird he just he didn't have his body positioned like in a way where he could get any power at all on the shot yeah it was it was great service from Brad and
00:13:13
Speaker
I mean the dude was he was in the right spot like where yamar couldn't get to get to him but he could there was no way with how his body was positioned that he could have got any power on it but I mean it was a pretty good look it did look I think everyone was
00:13:30
Speaker
Everyone was expecting it to go in I know that So it ends up as the 11th clean sheet of the season for the defense And you had a leading MLS a B. Sisoko was starting at CB in this game. I thought he was
00:13:48
Speaker
He was solid, so good to know that he's still looking like a viable option there with Javi out long term. So not the prettiest dub I've ever seen, but I mean, like I said, that doesn't matter. It was a necessary one. This team needed a vibe shift, a vibe enhancer. I think this qualifies. They just had to get one by whatever means necessary and they got one.
00:14:08
Speaker
I don't think this necessarily shows that all the issues this team has on offense are solved. I didn't think Reed Diaz was involved enough in this game. You can't really rely on the other team getting a red card every game unless it's the Houston Dynamo, apparently. So they need to build on this and start scoring goals consistently. But for this team right now, it's all about treading water.
00:14:32
Speaker
stay in a float until Christian rolled on and Jordan Morris get back. You can feel something closer to something resembling a first choice lineup. You can hopefully get a jolt, make a push in League's Cup and for home playoff games. This is the type of grind it out result they need to be able to get right now. So it's a good sign that they were able to get it. Dub is a dub.
00:14:56
Speaker
We got to talk about Ben Olson's reaction to all of this because Benno had some takes. I watched his presser any Benny needless to say he was not happy. He was not happy about the sequence of events that he just witnessed Benno got a yellow card himself in this game shortly after Michael got sent off.
00:15:16
Speaker
JP went in on a slide tackle right in front of the Houston bench, and the Houston bench went nutty asking for a card of some color. I don't know if they were arguing it for it to be yellow or red, probably red. And the ref didn't even call foul. They kept yelling for what seemed like about five minutes after, but in reality it was probably more like one to two minutes. And finally the ref came over and gave Benno a yellow, which was sick. You don't really see a sideline yellow all that often. You have to really be giving it to the ref to get a sideline yellow.
00:15:46
Speaker
And I thought I don't know about you. I thought Benno might get sent off. He was going so hard Anyway after the game Benno said that neither foul on Mikhail was a yellow card in his mind Which I considered to be a take and a half. They were both at least defensible yellows the first one on Nico is
00:16:07
Speaker
He comes in late and he gets him in the back of the leg. He cleats him. And then the second one, whether you think Kellen Rose sold it or not, you just can't do that when you're already on a yellow. If that's called a foul, which when you do that, you're putting yourself in a 50-50 situation that it's going to get called.
00:16:27
Speaker
then it's an auto yellow if that foul gets called. So him being on a yellow, you just can't cut off a runner like that. That's silly. That's going to get called at least some portion of the time, depending on who the ref is. And if it does get called a foul, then it's an auto yellow and you're sent off. So I don't really think there's much hard done about that.
00:16:45
Speaker
And then especially when you take I think something with the first yellow too is he might have gotten away with that as just a common foul If he hadn't laid out Cody Baker right before that like I don't know if that's what the ref was thinking for when he gave the yellow But I think that's possible given how close in proximity those two fouls were so Benno also didn't really acknowledge that but I think that might have had something to do with it and
00:17:08
Speaker
And Benno was also hopping mad about the JP slide tackle. And I think basically his argument was how the first one on Mikael is yellow, but the JP one is nothing, which I can tell you why, which is because the JP one was a clean tackle.
00:17:26
Speaker
I don't even need to watch the replay to tell you I had a great view of it from the press box he gets there he gets to the ball way before that guy is even involved in the play and he slides in and cleans it out of bounds and the guy trips over him which that's not a foul like I think that was actually I think I was actually the the no call was the right call Houston got a throw in on the play so
00:17:51
Speaker
Benno, he was he was blowing a little bit of smoke right there. Benno has done a good job with Houston this year. They've overperformed expectations and I definitely get what he's trying to do. It's always more beneficial optics wise to portray it like you got hard done then acknowledge that your player took a bad red card. But anyway, if you want some good entertainment, go check out the Benno presser. He was spittin.
00:18:14
Speaker
Let him go on time. He was cooking little blobs. Let Ben O cook any time as a tree. I'm always down for a disgruntled coach presser. I literally like I have I have access to all the media assets for every coach that we have for the MLS website and I literally if there's like a controversial play or a controversial call, I'm kind of sick like this. I'll literally pull up that presser. Peter Vermees is one of my favorites. I alleged
00:18:42
Speaker
If there's some, if there's a call that goes against sporting KC, like, you know, he's going to be spitting, like you just know it. So I always tune into PV after a controversial sporting KC game. There's, there's a few coaches around the league that really like to spit.
00:18:59
Speaker
He spits sometimes, but I feel like it's no Greg Vani.
VAR Controversies in MLS
00:19:03
Speaker
No great with Greg Vani's had some legendary spittin this year I mean he had the one after the Seattle game that we all had a good time with but he was actually spitting after the galaxy game last night too because they had a Controversial PK waved off and he was actually right
00:19:19
Speaker
Yeah, they got their PK taken away on VAR. It's one of those ones where? VAR go they go review it and then they change it to the wrong call which that just that just drives me nuts like
00:19:34
Speaker
under any circumstance, but I got to imagine for a coach, if you have the right call on the field and then it gets flipped on review to the wrong call, which I think in this situation in the Galaxy game, that's exactly what happened. They had it right as a PK on the field and he goes back and changes it. And the Galaxy, they gave up two leads in that game, but they probably, you know, assuming they convert the penalty, they cost them a win. There were some weird VAR calls in that game.
00:20:00
Speaker
I only saw the one I didn't watch that game but I just I saw the Greg Vanny content that we had go up on the website so I went back and looked at that call and I was like yo that Greg Vannies got a shout for sure that was a weird moment.
00:20:15
Speaker
Yeah, but Pro referee on display there's a those were those were the two The two good coach coach spittin of the week Maybe that should be a segment like whoever was spitting the hardest after a controversial call. We'll have to get them on
00:20:31
Speaker
Benno Benno was he was lobbing his scorchers Greg Vani was lobbing so got we got some good content out of that on the website. That's for sure. There you go Major League Soccer dot com. I'm a soccer dot com sponsor sponsor Seattle hits the road next to take on the Vancouver Whitecaps at BC place next Saturday.
00:20:52
Speaker
A return home for Freddy. They're going to Canada. They'll they'll be hitting up Tim Hortons. Some Canadian bacon and maple syrup might be consumed. So we'll preview that next week. We're aiming to keep starting to keep a set schedule here on lobbying scorchers and you know both for our own planning purposes and then also so you all the people know when to expect it. So our current plan for that is to record these game reactions and breakdowns on Sunday release Monday.
00:21:22
Speaker
then record our previews on Thursday release Friday. So that's what we're going to try to do. We're going to try and adhere to that as much as possible. It might change. Some weeks we might have to have an emergency pod if it comes up. Sometimes it's going to happen. Sometimes our schedules might not quite allow for that, but that's what we're going to try and set to going forward. Sometimes we get midweek games. And sometimes there are midweek games that, but you know, when we have the midweek games, we can just rip it for the Thursday. So I think it's going to work out.
00:21:51
Speaker
We we're gonna try and keep to that so keep an eye out for a Vancouver preview Dropping on Friday, hopefully We'll talk some white caps. I'll give you I'll give you the lowdown give you the scouting report
00:22:04
Speaker
The last time these two team played teams to play at a BC place Vancouver 120. I don't know why they're playing both in Vancouver so close to each other. Usually you see that the second game the other team gets it at home. So not sure what's going on with the scheduling there, but Seattle's got to hop across the border again. Probably monster trucks going on here are we know what takes precedent there might be there might be I haven't I haven't seen the monster truck schedule also. That's probably what
Upcoming Match: Seattle vs Vancouver Whitecaps
00:22:32
Speaker
it is.
00:22:32
Speaker
Oh good point. No I see that's why you got you got the you got the facts online. That's what I'm here for. I got some quick hitters here, but I don't know. Did you have anything on the Houston? What was it like it? What was it like in the stands when Albert scored that what was the vibe?
00:22:49
Speaker
so full transparency. I wasn't in the stands. I thought you were. I was not there. I had I had it all. I forgot you were going. That's my I did have it. We can edit that. Yeah, no, it's all good. I was going to leave it in which makes it even funnier because you know whatever you're usually in the stands. I am normally in the stands, but so I'm going to just you know I'm just going to bullshit and just tell you what I think it was like personal. What was your personal reaction when Albert
USMNT Gold Cup Progress
00:23:16
Speaker
scored? How
00:23:16
Speaker
When I so I had the notice on I was actually in a swamp fun fact I was in a swamp helping assist with a photo shoot. Okay. Okay. Yeah, it was the whole thing But I got the notification my phone was playing music and I had the like the sofa score notifications on and it goes
00:23:33
Speaker
Like it's a little like goal like ball hitting the back of the net crowd cheering, and I'm like oh shit. Oh shit I'm literally in the middle of this water And I'm like I have to see who scored I had to see who scored and I saw was Albert And I just I did a full swan dive into this one because I was so excited it was it was amazing We've been talking about this a lot like
00:23:54
Speaker
Albert's been playing higher up the field, cooking at the 10 the last few weeks, and I've been beating this drum. He can do that. Like, if you don't believe he can do that, I'll say it again, watch his RSL highlights, look at the numbers. If you put him in those spots, like, he can do that stuff. And so I think
00:24:14
Speaker
Not just the fact that they scored a goal, but that it was Albert that scored it. I mean, that's that is a window into what he can do playing higher up the field at that position. He can. He produces in this league like it's the track record is what it is so.
00:24:29
Speaker
Yeah, no, I was I mean we've been yeah, we have been we've been beating that drum pretty hard and beating the drum and we were right Yeah, like it was I was only a matter of time before that form got well and we did record a preview pod but due to I'll just yeah that was on me. We didn't get it out there for for the people but We were talking about how this team is finally kind of getting settled on this rotated lineup and we were saying honestly
00:24:58
Speaker
Well Raul being back was huge but we were also talking about how Bruce snack finally was this like the third game he's played up higher like in a row four in a row yeah three or four yeah so he's like he was he was ready it was his time
00:25:13
Speaker
Yeah and it's where Brian Schmetzer I think even said like it's where he prefers to play. He's been kind of he's been making a sacrifice dropping back a line because it made more sense with the personnel. But like I'm glad it's finally happening. Also I'll also give you credit for a good take Noah because.
00:25:31
Speaker
They don't come around very often. No, they don't. So when you hit on one, I think it deserves to be noted. You did say that you thought Seattle was going to win this game. And you said it confidently. It wasn't just like, I want them to win. So I'm going to say that I think they're going to win. It was like, no, based on these circumstances, I think this is a dub right here. Yeah, I'm learning. And you were right. They got the dub. I was even saying, you know,
00:25:58
Speaker
Yeah, I think it being the Dynamo traveling here, they're a bad road team, and they always struggle when they come to Seattle. I just don't really know if I trust that Seattle can score. That was my hesitancy. But you were saying, I think this is a dub, and it was a dub. So good job. I'm kind of surprised that you hit on that.
00:26:17
Speaker
Shout out to the Seattle Sounders Football Club for making my take look good. You boys are the real ones to thank. Good take for Noah. We're going to make a segment out there. You'll probably hear one of those once every 13 or 14 or so episodes. So we'll always make sure and highlight it when it happens because there's always going to be some novelty to that.
00:26:38
Speaker
I think that we can about call it for a Seattle reaction unless you had anything else. Nothing more to add to that. It was great to see a dub. It felt good. Doing a dub pod is always going to be more enjoyable for us.
00:26:56
Speaker
I think I could enjoy a pod where it's not a dub, but it was at least like an action packed entertaining game like the Charlotte game. Like that was a really good pod because there's goals flying around. It was back and forth, up and down. So those are good too. But like a dub is always going to be a vibe enhancer. So.
00:27:14
Speaker
And shout out to Mark Kastner for coming home so that the Sounders could win. Oh yeah, that's a good point. Mark Kastner, who you might recognize as our guest from one of our previous pods, he made a guest appearance at the Lobbing Scorchers Mansion where we live here this weekend and he was in town for the game and they got a dub for Mark too. So yeah, shout out to Mark. It was fun having him at the crib.
00:27:41
Speaker
I got a couple quick hitters. Let's do close us out US men's national team is performing well at the gold cup the anonymous ball. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa the sea team.
00:27:56
Speaker
Is doing what the major league soccer players are the bee and BRC team whatever you want to call it They're they're doing well. They got another 6-0 win today over Trinidad and Tobago And the anonymous bots are kind of in the mud which you always like to see Christian rolled on has a couple of assists in these games and Jesus Ferreira now has two hat tricks in a row so tough for the bot agenda hate to see it and
00:28:24
Speaker
they're out of the group so you know they're the early group stages of these Gold Cup games you're playing a couple of over matched opponents usually they tied Jamaica which
00:28:40
Speaker
Jamaica I think that honestly says more about the strides that Jamaica is taken because they've Taken some lopsided wins too and they played they played the US straight up And I know that they've they're
Jamaica's Performance in the Gold Cup
00:28:53
Speaker
kind of rolling out some new imported players like dual national recruits that they've they've landed that are it's like uh They're starting 11 was like there's a lot of like English Premier Premier League going on. Yeah, they're they're
00:29:09
Speaker
It's all kind of I'm kind of looking at Jamaica, and I'm like okay damn and then Mexico lost to guitar today Just before we started recording. I was watching that game Just because I mean as you as you all know I've been taking plenty of joy in the downfall of L tree they still made it out of the group despite losing to guitar, but
00:29:34
Speaker
Losing to Qatar 1-0 when you're L-Tree. Come on now. I thought you were L-Tree. I thought you were the undisputed kings of CONCACAF. That's a bad result. They still don't look like anything to be concerned about in CONCACAF. That's just how I see it. I'm way more concerned about Jamaica right now in this gold cup than I am about L-Tree.
MLS Team Performances and Challenges
00:29:56
Speaker
but it was a funny game because It was very much the type of game where Mexico was dominating the run of play from minute 1 to minute 90 and racking up crazy chances the guitar goalkeeper was just Standing on his head. They were absorbing pressure the entire time and then they just poached the one goal and hold on so that was it made it more fun to watch for me because
00:30:21
Speaker
It was just like they kept they kept racking up that XG and they couldn't they couldn't score. They couldn't do it. It was a pretty hilarious. It was a pretty hilarious game. Yeah, so anyway, I'm keeping half-hearted tabs on the Gold Cup. I don't I don't know. I still don't really care about it, but
00:30:38
Speaker
I mean, but any game that a team loses when they have 76% of this possession. Run through the numbers. Here's the stats of the game. Ball possession, Mexico, 76% of the ball possession, 25 shots to one, three big chances to zero.
00:30:55
Speaker
Three big chances missed to zero big chances missed 589 accurate passes completing 91% of those passes to Qatar's 125 total passes completing 60% of those passes. Okay, which is hilarious Okay, let's just talk about a couple of those real quick
00:31:15
Speaker
25 to 1 25 to 1 127 passes for a game like I don't know if I can properly Express like how low that is just for any game, but then also in a game that you still won 589 to 127 is like that's about as big a spread as you will ever see in a game and Nine times out of ten when you see stats like that
00:31:45
Speaker
The team who had 589 passes is the one who wins the game. They win six nil. Yeah. 20, 25 to one and you lost. Yeah, dude. That's so good. L tree is like the content, uh, gift that keeps on giving. Yeah. I, uh, I was saying that I was bummed out that they advanced because it would have been funnier if they got knocked out, but you know what? I amend that take, let them keep playing. Let them keep playing. Let them keep cooking. I want, I want to see this. I want to see this. This is great.
00:32:10
Speaker
To compare to the u.s. One six nil today turned on Tobago, right? 556 accurate passes to TNT's 238 passes see that's 238 is like more in a game. That's that one-sided possession wise and Like all those stats like that's normally what you would see. Yeah 127 is comical
00:32:31
Speaker
Yeah, they were almost that's like not that far from double digits passing for the entire game Mexico had more shots Not even not on goal, but just in general then the US had and they couldn't they couldn't convert one couldn't convert it They were looking like the Seattle Sounders out there Oh boy
00:32:52
Speaker
I wanted to hop around MLS just a little bit before we close this one out. There is a couple of other notable results. We've been tracking this LASC hangover pretty closely.
00:33:04
Speaker
I'm calling it. I'm calling it. I've been very good about waiting for the sample size to call the hangover. I've been measured. I've been saying we need to see them get a few games under their belt. I'm not going to call it based off their first two, three games after CCO.
00:33:22
Speaker
It's officially a hangover. Steve Terundolo has even been saying it himself. He said it like four times now, but after their last match, which was a 2-0 loss to FC Dallas, he was openly talking about how fucked up the roster rules are and how fatigued they are.
00:33:38
Speaker
So he's down with the narrative. Steve Turundolo is like the chief perpetuator of the hangover narrative at this point. It's not just us on here saying it. Their coach is the ringleader of the narrative. So they're hungover and that's significant for Seattle. Seattle can string together a good run of form here. They can vault over LAFC.
00:33:57
Speaker
start hopefully padding a top two spot and theoretically start jostling with St. Louis for the top spot. All it's going to take is one good run. We're going to have to see if they're able to build on this win that they just got over Houston. Vancouver game is going to be tough. BC plays. It can get rocking when the Whitecaps are good.
00:34:19
Speaker
They're not bad. The Whitecaps. They're not bad. They lost their last game three zero to the sporting Kansas City. But week before beat LFC three two though they've been like I think we've mentioned it a couple of times but the whole story with the Whitecaps right now and we'll get into it more on the preview episode but the whole story with the Whitecaps right now is that their record is not reflective of how the underlying numbers seem to seem to say that they're performing like
00:34:49
Speaker
So a lot of people think that they're a team that you could see results start to turn around As that type of stuff starts to even out so we'll have to see if that happens I'm just telling you what what people are saying about them So it's not gonna be an easy game But if you can basically if you can just get on a run where like 80% of the time you're either drawing your road games and winning your home games like That's that's kind of
00:35:18
Speaker
what you need to do to solidify your positioning, I would say. So if they can do something close to that, they'll be up there on the table. It's just a matter of if this offense can really get going and if they can take results like that,
00:35:36
Speaker
while Christian and Jordan are still out, namely Christian. No, I would say one of my biggest takeaways if I was going to give an overarching takeaway from what we've seen the last eight or so weeks is that this team relies too much on Christian rolled on. Like, uh, it's fine to look like one of the best teams in the league when he's playing. It's great actually, but like the drop off was, was too much. Like,
00:36:02
Speaker
The the level that the results dipped to without him Like you know you just never want to be in a situation where you rely on one guy like that because if you don't have that guy then you're in a tough spot and getting results is gonna be like pulling teeth, so I think it's all about figuring out if they can get to a spot where I
00:36:26
Speaker
Where they can more consistently compete for Results and wins namely and start scoring goals when they have to field these lineups without Christian in there They haven't really shown that they can do that over the last Few weeks, but they did finally get a win last night. So that's a positive step It's a good thing to step in the right direction, but it's all about building on it and
00:36:52
Speaker
The Portland Timbers also got waxed at Minnesota United for one to fall to five nine and seven and twelfth in the Western Conference Putting them at one point zero five points per game for the season. So I'm sure you all will take some joy out of that Forever ever much the Portland Timbers play like Real Madrid against the Sounders. They're not having a good year They're really they don't
00:37:14
Speaker
They don't look good. Evander was suspended for that game due to ill advised red card that he had picked up in their previous game. And I think really the story with them is just that that signing hasn't hit so far. Like you see DPs come in from other leagues and have an adjustment period a lot in this league. It's not uncommon. It's pretty normal. But like we're how many games into the season now.
00:37:44
Speaker
20, 21, a lot, most teams have played between 19 and 21 games. They don't really have the luxury at this point to be like, Evander needs more time to gel. He needs more time to adjust. He'll get it eventually. They need him to start playing like a $10 million DP. And I don't think there's any point at this season where he's looked like a $10 million DP. And that's a problem for them. People are asking if Gio Savarese is on the hot seat.
00:38:14
Speaker
You could fire Gio Savarese, but if Evander's not producing, it doesn't matter who's coaching their team because their most expensive best player isn't producing. So maybe you think a new coach can get something out of them, but I don't really know why that would be.
00:38:32
Speaker
They're in a tough spot with that. They're in a tough spot with that. So if you wanted some Portland Schadenfreude this week, go ahead and pull up the highlights of that 4-1 loss in Minnesota. They got mobbed on pretty good.
00:38:49
Speaker
Those were the main two that I wanted to hit on. You also had St. Louis beat the Rapids 2-0. Rapids are one of the worst teams in the league this year, but that did give St.
Seattle's Standings and Line-up Strategy
00:38:59
Speaker
Louis a little bit of a cushion at the top of the table. They're on 35 points with LAFC in Seattle behind at 32. Nashville SC beat DC United 2-0. DC United shipped another goal where Tyler Miller was playing way too far up.
00:39:19
Speaker
I know Wayne Rooney. We talked about it. I know Wayne Rooney told Tyler Miller to do that. How much longer are they going to do that like that was a Taylor 12 and take to did Taylor say that he basically said the same thing. I had the same reaction to it Taylor so great minds, but
00:39:35
Speaker
but I mean it's a good question it's a good question it is it is actually genuine sometimes the worst people you know have to have correct takes like it's why why what was he doing he was he was five yards out of his box taking on a guy one-on-one defending style
00:39:51
Speaker
Like, what are you doing? Buddy, you're a goalkeeper. But Wayne Rooney told him to do that. That's the thing about it. It's not like he's doing that freestyling on his own accord. He's been coached to do that, and they've now shipped two goals in the last three weeks off that. How many stops does he have against Wayne Rooney? Is this a personal vendetta, do we think? I don't know. I'm wondering if the... I should look into it. The DC United Press Corps, maybe they're grilling Wayne about that after they shipped another goal off it.
00:40:21
Speaker
But anyway, I thought that was interesting that they're still doing that. I mean, the Whitecaps, like I mentioned, lost 3-0 at Sporting KC. So Sporting KC continue to look resurgent.
00:40:38
Speaker
They had kind of dipped a little bit after they got red hot following their bad start. But I mean, that's a pretty emphatic win for them. And Peter Vermees, I didn't watch the game. Peter Vermees said he felt like that that match was pretty much what they are when they're at their absolute best. So.
00:40:56
Speaker
There's a couple other scores around the league, but nothing that I feel the need to dive that much into. So with that, I think we're going to chalk it right there for episode nine of lobbing scorchers.
Listener Engagement and Social Media Interaction
00:41:09
Speaker
We'll be back with that Vancouver preview.
00:41:13
Speaker
As always, thank you all so much for tuning in. We racked 1000 downloads off our first eight episodes, and I'm so thrilled with that. I really appreciate all the support. Love you guys for downloading. Feel free to hit me on Twitter. If you've got any takes, my hand will be in the description, as we'll know is correct. Don't give me your takes. I won't read them.
00:41:39
Speaker
know what read the people's takes okay maybe if you're nice about it read the people's takes if you're nice about it toss us a rating toss us a rating like subscribe download yeah keep doing all that tell your friends tell your parents spread the word until next time yeah please