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Mailbag: Was this year a step forward or step back?
1.9k Plays4 days ago
Jeremiah and Aaron are back with another mailbag episode, taking questions from listeners that try to assess how good of a season this has been so far and what next year might look like.
Before they do that, though, they spend some time going over the massive win over the Portland Timbers.
As a reminder, all these questions came from our private Discord, which is available to all subscribers at the Supporter ($75/year) level or above. If you’d like to upgrade your membership, you can do so here. If you’re already a Supporter or above and want to join the Discord, shoot us an email.
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Transcript
Introduction and New Role Announcement
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
Celebrating Sounders' Achievements
00:00:12
Speaker
on. Hey, O'Shaan.
00:00:14
Speaker
Let's go. Seattle Sounders have done it. MLS Cup winners. Here comes Ruiz Diaz through the middle to crown it for Seattle.
00:00:25
Speaker
The Sounders rule the region. of
00:00:59
Speaker
you know what was the thought process in terms of who you decided to use and who you didn't? Ever since Sander Hart wrote a commentary that we didn't take the overcome seriously.
Sponsorship Acknowledgment
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.
00:01:41
Speaker
Welcome to another episode Nos Adientes, part of the Sounder at Heart podcast network, sponsored by Full Pool Wines, Hacks and Ferments, and our subscribers.
Podcast Episode Details
00:01:50
Speaker
We're recording on Wednesday, October 8th. I am your host, Jeremiah O'Shan.
00:01:53
Speaker
Today, I am again joined by my co-host, Aaron Campo, and our engineer, Lickett. Well, welcome back, Aaron. we have ah We have some, we're we're going to be doing a mailbag today in the second half, but before that,
00:02:06
Speaker
What'd you think of the the Timbers
Sounders vs. Timbers Rivalry
00:02:08
Speaker
game? get stand Yeah, a lot of fun. I was in the Bromend and upper one 22, which was cool. I've been down there in a bit.
00:02:18
Speaker
ah And yeah, it was good time. ah All those games are nightmare slogs that are exactly like that. So, um, I wasn't ah too privy to the discourse around the game, but I feel like anytime you can win in in the Portland rivalry, you're you're doing OK.
00:02:37
Speaker
And, you know, first one since 2017. Right. So how how can you be upset about that? Yeah, ah that streak was unbelievable, frankly. It was hard to wrap my mind around, and it feels like a significant burden was lifted that we just don't have to talk about that streak anymore because it does start to be one of those things where it's almost, it takes on a ah life of itself.
00:03:02
Speaker
ah you know And I think back to a couple years ago when they were up 2-0 at halftime, and it seemed like they were just rolling to the victory, and then Leo Chu gets sent off and all of a sudden they have to settle for a two, two tie.
00:03:16
Speaker
Then last year they, you know, they took a one, I believe they took a one zero lead, but then they seem to be dominating the game. And then Obed Vargas gets sent off for like the dumbest red card I would, I've ever seen, frankly. Yeah.
00:03:30
Speaker
Uh, yeah. And, And this year, they they score relatively early, and you're thinking, maybe this is the easy
Game Performance Analysis
00:03:39
Speaker
one. And it just never it never was.
00:03:43
Speaker
like They made it as interesting as they possibly could. I think they were the better team, really, from beginning to end. There was maybe a ah brief stretch there where they had to hold on a little bit. But they I think they were the better team.
00:03:55
Speaker
But they had multiple opportunities to put the game away, and they just refused to do it. They did, yeah. And I mean, to their credit, Portland's a good defensive team. Feels crazy to say that, but but it is true. They are, yeah. And they made the Sounders work for it, but they did have opportunities that that I would have loved to see them take advantage of.
00:04:15
Speaker
um It never did really feel like Portland was... too threatening um and maybe there were chances that just didn't seem threatening from where i was sitting i don't know that's always the thing with with sitting in the stands is you don't have a great sense sometimes of of what's actually happening but uh To me, it didn't really feel like they had a ton of great chances.
00:04:37
Speaker
um So it it didn't feel comfortable necessarily, but it also definitely felt like the Sounders were in control and it felt a lot more likely that they were going to score second than than the Timbers were going to score a first. So, you know, that's always... ah you'd love it to be the easy one. Like you said, um you'd love to see the sounders stomp the timbers into mud.
00:05:02
Speaker
um But it just, it's very rare that it happens. I think, in the history at the MLS level, um the Sounders have won at home by more than one goal, like once, i think.
00:05:13
Speaker
um Once or twice. Yeah. It's not, it's not a common occurrence. I feel like they only you have won by three goals once. Yeah. And that was like the year that I think that was 2012 when, when the Timbers were the coach, right? Yeah.
00:05:30
Speaker
ah No, it was after he'd been fired. They were so bad. That was like the, or no, Gavin was the coach. You're great You're right Gavin was the coach. Cause he had replaced the, whoever the first coach was and John Spencer, right? That was his name.
00:05:42
Speaker
Oh yeah. John Spencer. Yeah. Good, good, good. And yeah, that was the only year that I think they've won by three goals at home. Now they've won by three goals a couple times in Portland for whatever, you know, somehow. But they, they've and they've scored a bunch of goals in Portland. They scored a lot more goals in Portland, I believe, than they've scored in Seattle in the history of the rivalry, which is crazy to think about.
00:06:04
Speaker
But yeah, this was a game where the Sounders, you know, like I said, they look like the better team. The XG on this game was about the Sounders basically doubled ah Portland's XG, you know, 1.2 to 0.6 roughly is the, is, is how it came out ah depending on where you look.
00:06:22
Speaker
But like the, there were the two biggest chances I thought, or maybe even three biggest chances that they had to, to add a goal. They didn't even get a shot off. yeah And yeah,
00:06:35
Speaker
Unfortunately, Masofsky was in the middle of a lot of those. The most egregious was a ball in the like 75th minute or so where Christian Roldan plays it, plays it over the plays it in.
00:06:50
Speaker
it, Mussovsky does this i is really impressive job of sort of shielding his defender and then turning. And he seems to be looking right at Paul Rothrock, who has nothing but space in front of him inside the box.
00:07:04
Speaker
But instead of just laying it off, he decides to take a touch. It's a horrible touch and he loses the ball. And then late in the game, as the Sounders after the centers have gone down a man, which they seem to just love doing.
00:07:19
Speaker
And especially against the Timbers, uh, which we we'll talk about that a little bit too, but they they go down a man and Danny Leyva plays this gorgeous ball into Misovsky. He breaks in on goal and he just takes forever to shoot.
00:07:35
Speaker
And Diego Chara comes in from behind and makes this amazing tackle. ah Just kind of a... you know And then the Senators, as it turned out, they didn't really have to withstand too much pressure when they were down a man. They only had to play for a minute or two down a man.
00:07:50
Speaker
But ah the the funniest thing was Phil Neville absolutely losing his mind after the final whistle. Apparently, he wanted like four minutes of stoppage time, which four additional minutes of stoppage time, I should say.
00:08:04
Speaker
i will just note that when... Albert Rusnak gets the red card. It's the 94th minute. That means they have about a minute left to play. And it took, you know, it took two and a half minutes or whatever to review it. And they they ended up adding on about a minute and a half to the end of the game.
00:08:21
Speaker
They got plenty of time. ah There was no question that they got. They did. And they had not had, I mean, they had one shot after 85th minute.
00:08:33
Speaker
Like, it's not like they were busting down the door. I think, in fact, the Sounders had the best chance after Rosnack got sent off to score, I remember correctly. Well, that the Mussofsky, yeah. That was easily the best chance.
00:08:44
Speaker
Yeah, so very funny, but also very on-brand for Phil Neville to behave that way, I think. ah they They just... Gio Savarese was, ah I thought, a generally...
00:08:58
Speaker
you know, pretty likable or at least neutral guy. But every other coach they have had has been so easy to despise. So it's it's nice of them, you know, to commit to the bit. is.
00:09:09
Speaker
But yeah, I I think that
00:09:16
Speaker
It's just really hard for me to take anything away from this game other than, man, I'm i'm really glad that we finally won this in this thing at home. um Obviously, I would like to see the Sounders get back to scoring three goals and game.
00:09:28
Speaker
You know, we haven't seen them be that dangerous and in a a little while. And if they're going to get through the playoffs, that's what they're they're going to have to do it that way. I think it does seem that way. Yeah. Yeah.
00:09:40
Speaker
And so obviously that would have been great, you know, if they had been able to to do that. Um, but you know, this, this rivalry just isn't the place where that's likely likely to happen necessarily.
Playoff Intensity in Recent Games
00:09:51
Speaker
Um, we're either going to, it's going to be a shootout or more frequently, it's going to be a game like this one where it's low scoring and tense and defensive and nobody wanting to make a mistake. So, um, yeah, it was, uh, not the most exciting game on the merits of it, but the, the end result, I think justified how much of a slog it kind of felt like at times.
00:10:15
Speaker
Yeah, I would say if there's a thing to take away from it, and I don't know how much I would take away from it, is this did fit this and the Whitecaps game, to me, had the energy of a playoff game.
00:10:28
Speaker
And so in the sense that I think we've seen the sound, like i ah the first three games after the League's Cup break, I think there was some intensity... ah deficit that they had to make up.
00:10:41
Speaker
And in these last two games, I think they showed that they can still do that. I think, you know, like the most encouraging thing may have been that Christian Roldan looked great. Like he, yeah, I think there were starting to be some questions as to whether or not he just has emptied the tank and, and is sort of running on fumes at this point.
00:10:58
Speaker
And I think the Portland game showed like, no, he's perfectly capable of still being an elite ah defensive midfielder. And, you know, he's he's never going to be Ozzy Alonso in his defensive play, but he he does so much else that that sort of he can make up for it in other ways. And, he you know, he had a couple of great passes in this game. Jesus Ferreira, I thought, looked really good. You know, there there were bright spots in individual performances, I thought.
00:11:22
Speaker
ah If there's a concern I have coming out of it, though, it's It is like what you said. it's It's that the offense doesn't seem to be quite clicking the way that it was. ah you know Jordan, they struggled to get Jordan the ball in dangerous areas. you know I wish Jordan had been able to get some of the chances that Masofsky got. But Masofsky, to his credit, this is what he does. He gets himself... He seems to always find himself in dangerous areas.
00:11:47
Speaker
and And so it's like... maybe that maybe Jordan wouldn't have, you know, maybe we're not, we're not giving enough credit to Mussovsky to, to helping putting himself in positions to, to be in, you know, dangerous scoring opportunities. And, you know, sometimes he doesn't score them all, but that's, that's the trade-off, I guess.
00:12:07
Speaker
Yeah, i I do think that this was a performance with Mussovsky where you understand why Jordan is first choice when he's healthy, even with the goal scoring numbers Danny has put up because um the Rothrock chance is a great example of just like.
00:12:24
Speaker
Jordan is not being he's not going to be selfish there. He's making that pass. Right. and And Danny either doesn't see it or doesn't feel confident in his ability to to pull off that pass or whatever it is.
00:12:36
Speaker
Um, but he is exceptionally good at finding those dangerous spots and he's not going to finish them every time, but he finishes about as often as you would expect them to. Uh, fortunately he, he didn't finish one of them, uh, you know, in this game, which would have made the end of it a little bit, uh, easier to deal with, but.
00:12:56
Speaker
um Yeah, I definitely after Jordan left the game, even though he wasn't getting a ton of chances, he he wasn't super duper involved. You could just kind of see the impact he had that to the non goal scoring aspects of the game um that that Danny just doesn't bring.
00:13:15
Speaker
Yeah, the the other downside for this game was that they frankly they they lost a couple players. Albert Rusnak is out for this week. That's a big... And both of them are pretty big losses because they are short in both the defensive midfield and it's and in defense against ah RSL. And then they also lost Kim Keehee at halftime to a calf strain.
00:13:37
Speaker
Unclear still how serious that is, but he's not going to be playing against RSL. ah Let's talk a little bit, though, about the Rusnak challenge. I have to two i'm with two minds on it.
00:13:49
Speaker
On one, i appreciate the hustle. He had first he had gone down the field challenging for the ball. I think maybe not his place to do it, though.
00:14:00
Speaker
He probably should have hung back. Georgie Manungu was also up there. That put the Sounders at a numbers disadvantage. And I think Albert knew that, which is why he's running to get back. And then he makes a tackle that he just doesn't really have to make.
00:14:14
Speaker
ah If he does not go into that tackle, nothing bad is probably going to happen. Like, I appreciate the mindset of wanting to break it up. I appreciate him wanting to win that ball back.
00:14:26
Speaker
But it's a it's a tackle from behind. He does not execute it very well. And it's a deserved red card. And so on on one hand, I'm annoyed with him for doing making some mistakes on it.
00:14:39
Speaker
But on the other, at least I kind of appreciate the effort. And he according to Schmetzer, this was the... his highest physical output game of the season, which kind of makes sense. He was playing as an eight as opposed to a 10.
00:14:50
Speaker
So there was more opportunity, but it does show that he sort of stepped up and maybe ah his most, apparently it was maybe his most, uh, his highest physical output ever. Uh, but yeah, it was.
00:15:01
Speaker
So in, in that way, it's like, I don't want to beat up on them too badly, but it was a really dumb challenge. It was there. There wasn't any need for it. um It was definitely an obviously Albert Rosnack is not a forward, but that is the kind of challenge you would call forward challenge. Right. Like there's obviously no intent, but it's just clumsy.
00:15:20
Speaker
ah It's just ah it's just a really bad challenge to make. um And
00:15:28
Speaker
he he I just feel like he he's a guy that needs to know better than that than to make that challenge in that situation. um And, you know, on the one hand, neither of the games left in the regular season matter all that much. The Sounders are almost certainly going finish fifth.
00:15:43
Speaker
um I just... you know, whatever. He gets a week off. ah Not the not the end of the world. But at the same time, I don't think you want to go into the playoffs on a down note.
00:15:56
Speaker
Like, it'd be really nice if you go into the playoffs winning your last three games. And yeah, um you know, feeling and and and that's it's going to end, especially because they've been so good at home this year.
00:16:07
Speaker
Uh, and they're probably only going to get one more home game in the playoffs. Like, um, going in and feeling like you can make the most out of that game is, you know, now the other side of the coin is that the Sounders are going to be very well aware of how shorthanded they are against RSL. And so, um, ah they're, it's probably not going to destroy their confidence if they don't get a win in that game, but still, um, you, you'd much, much rather,
00:16:33
Speaker
Get the win, go into playoffs on a high note. um Obviously, they they still have the one road game left, but still. um yeah ah It'd be really nice to end the regular season on a win at home.
Season Success and League's Cup Impact
00:16:45
Speaker
So, yeah.
00:16:49
Speaker
Interestingly, they don't have any way, i don't believe, of catching ah last year's point total. um correct what yeah they had 50 because they had 55 points last year 56 54 last year yeah and i was gonna say it'd be nice if they could know they could pass that if they won their last don't they on 49 they're on 49 they had what did they have last year they had
00:17:15
Speaker
oh yeah that's what i say like 57 last year sorry oh they had 57 last year oh yeah yeah yeah they're gonna definitely fall short Yeah. And, uh, you know, it'd be, it would be nice to, to match that total, I think, but, uh, there's a question about this in, in the, in the question section. So I won't get too deep into it, but it is interesting that the, the narrative of the two seasons, um, how, how different they've been in the reality is the last season, you know, the regular season at least was, was better, but, uh,
00:17:46
Speaker
It does. Yeah, it's it's it's it's interesting the way it's played out. I would agree with that. I mean, I feel like this season has felt more successful than maybe the numbers suggest, mainly because of the League's Cup run, ah which was. Yeah.
00:18:04
Speaker
ah legitimate you know like a legitimate highlight even if even if we don't think the league's cup is the biggest deal those were games that they played that were a lot of fun and and you know brought a lot of positive emotion i think to yeah to everything yep lafc by the way is beating toronto is going to win today yeah they will officially jump into third place. So as of now, the Sounders are likely going to be playing Minnesota United. i would say it's almost definite that they're going play Minnesota United in the first round. so Yeah.
00:18:42
Speaker
seems Seems to be the way it's trending for sure. Yeah. Which... Well, we have a question on that too. So I won't. ah So we won't go no maybe we should just, you know, maybe that's a good place maybe to call this a segment.
00:18:55
Speaker
We'll come back. We have a lot of questions from you. ah Not a lot. I'm sorry. We have some questions from you and we'll, we'll do that. right. You're listening to No Sardietes.
00:19:08
Speaker
Thank you for listening to the Sounder at Heart Podcast Network, which now includes Nos Adietes, Loving Scorchers, and The Cooler Guild. Although this podcast is free, it's only made possible through our paid subscribers.
00:19:19
Speaker
Plans start as low as $30 a year and allow us to remain independent and mostly ad-free. subscribers get access to all our written and podcast content, including a full text RSS feed and a mostly ad free podcast feed that includes every show in one spot. If you really like what we're doing though, I'd encourage you to sign up at our higher tiers, which include all sorts of various perks. The most popular of those is our members only discord or the real Sounders sickos hang out. I know I've called this group the smartest, funniest and best informed Sounders fans in the world, but it's more than the rough equivalent of a Sounders Mensa meeting. Discord is where we make things happen. Like, for real.
00:19:56
Speaker
You know the promotion the Sounders ran that offered fans the opportunity to trade in their messy jersey for a Paul Rothrock one? That originated in our community. You'll not only be the first to know about stuff, but you also have a semi-direct line to the movers and shakers at the Sounders organization. If you want to be one of the totally normal people who occupy the Sounder at Heart Discord, just become a supporter of Sounder at Heart. Anyway, thanks for listening, and go Ders.
00:20:23
Speaker
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00:21:10
Speaker
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00:21:23
Speaker
Welcome back to Nos Adietes. So we have, we're doing our September mailbag in, ah we're running a little behind on these things. ah But I just i say we just say that this is October. At some point in the past, we we missed a month and we're sorry.
00:21:42
Speaker
We're going forward. Good
Community Engagement Invitation
00:21:45
Speaker
call. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Because we're caught up now. We're a good job We're just going to say the next one we're going to do is in November. We'll just call it like that.
00:21:53
Speaker
Maybe early November, probably. And I'll just remind everyone, we take these questions from our Discord. The Discord is where all the cool Sounder at Heart people hang out. If you'd like to get into the Discord, it's pretty easy. All you got to do is become a supporter or above and then send us an email and we'll get you added. it's It is a manual process. I know a lot of people are caught off guard by that. there's no is' not Nothing is automated about this, unfortunately.
00:22:19
Speaker
But yeah, ah upgrade your membership, send us an email, we'll confirm it, and then we'll send you an invite. And bada bing, bada boom, all of a sudden, you are one of the coolest people in the whole of a Sounders land. So there you go.
00:22:36
Speaker
All right, Aaron, do we want to just jump into this? Let's jump in. ah First one is from Ken W. Everyone is healthy enough to start, and we know this is a hypothetical, if that's the way we're starting off. Who is your ideal starting 11 versus Minnesota United or l LAFC? But as we discussed, probably Minnesota United.
00:22:54
Speaker
Yeah, ah well, know, I wasn't really... that's i i didn't... Actually, this is a good phrasing of it, because I... i So my best 11...
00:23:06
Speaker
independent of who the Sounders are facing. If I want to put out the Sounders best group, I think it's, it's probably Fry is my goalkeeper, even though I'm not.
00:23:19
Speaker
Yeah. I'll, I'll go with Fry knew who, Reagan, Yamar, Alex Roldan, Obed, and Christian. And then Pedro, Rusnak, and Ferreira, and Morris.
00:23:35
Speaker
I think there is some... My suspicion is that the areas for debate... will be Ferreira versus Rothrock, which I think is a perfectly legit debate, or maybe Ferreira versus De La Vega. I don't know.
00:23:49
Speaker
ah And then Reed Baker Whiting, maybe for Nuhu, and Thomas for Fry. Where do you fall, though? How does this differ from you? I think I'm with you, except I would start Reed over Nuhu, I think.
00:24:00
Speaker
um But I think otherwise we're we're in agreement. um I think you can make a case for Thomas. I might be, especially in... the playoffs where penalties might be a possibility, a factor, but, um, that just doesn't even just see, seem to be remotely in the, in the realm of possibility to me. So, um, the tiebreaker in this case would be a reality, I suppose. So, um, yeah, but I, I think, uh, and I, you know, I think some people would make a case for, for Rothrock as well. And I think that's fair enough, but,
00:24:38
Speaker
ah For me, it's Jesus and Pedro for sure are the better options. Yeah, it's funny. I don't know that we've seen maybe one game with that lineup. I'm not sure we've actually seen any games with that lineup, which is, guess I could look right now. to i have I have this somewhere.
00:24:55
Speaker
But yeah, i don't I don't think we've seen it. Because we came close to seeing it against Portland. But of course, both both Yamar and ah and Vargas were out.
00:25:11
Speaker
And then.
00:25:15
Speaker
yeah I don't think we've seen this lineup at all. We have not. Yeah, we which so says a lot, I think. It does. Would you be at all tempted, though, to play a different formation, especially in Minnesota?
00:25:31
Speaker
Or do you think that's just overthinking it and you play your best group? And then if you have to change it up later on, you change it up later on. i I think in the first game you go in and play your best group.
00:25:43
Speaker
um And I think the the bigger question for me is... what are the Sounders in playoff mode look like versus what the Sounders look have looked like for most of the season?
00:25:55
Speaker
Is it the same approach, you know, as as we've kind of gotten used to seeing, which is a little lot more attacking, I think, than they have been in the past, or do we see vintage Brian Schmetzer playoffs soccer?
00:26:07
Speaker
um And so that, that'll be really interesting to see it. But I think you go into the first game and do whatever you feel like you need to do. and whatever you want to do in a perfect world, right? You don't, you don't overthink it in the first game and then you use that first game to inform what you do in, in the, the next, uh, away game. If, if there is one, you know, so, um, that's, that's how I'd approach it.
00:26:29
Speaker
Um, I just, I think that you want to try to, you don't want the opposition to dictate too much. I think if you can avoid it, unless they are clearly a much, much better team.
00:26:41
Speaker
Um, right So the formation, I wouldn't change too much. But I do think you have to be aware of what Minnesota is going to try to do and try to counteract that tactically to some extent. You can't be naive and just feel like you're going to be able to fully, you know, enforce your will onto the game.
00:26:57
Speaker
um We have enough experience playing this Minnesota team to know what they do. And a lot of what we've done in the past has not worked to counteract it. So I do think you have to make some adjustments, but I wouldn't change things wholesale, you know.
00:27:12
Speaker
Yeah, and I think if you get late in the game and you're looking for a goal, i could see maybe putting Masovsky up top with Morris or even Rosario and Masovsky, depending on how they that goes.
00:27:24
Speaker
And maybe you drop Rusnak back a line. i suppose maybe you take off Obed in that situation. I don't actually know. That's ah that's what makes it tough, is that, okay, you can drop Albert back a line, but then does that really make you better if you're taking off Obed?
00:27:42
Speaker
Like, don't know if it does. Yeah, um i i don't I don't think it does. i mean, I think Obed has been one of the most consistent players on the team. um And, you know, you're doing that because either I would assume either to get Musavski into the game or to play Pedro or Ferreira at the 10 and then get Rothrock into the game would be my guess. And and I just I don't know that.
00:28:09
Speaker
Mussovsky or Rothrock are enough to justify City No-Bed, I would say. Right. Yeah, I would agree with you there. All right. This is from Veritatum7. think that's right.
00:28:22
Speaker
ah Nobody wants to face LAFC attacking tandem in the best of three round, which makes sense. But are there any good arguments for wanting them in the first round where we at least get a home match and selfishly, I want to see Sun ah rather than in the later rounds?
00:28:35
Speaker
Yeah. ah Nope. Not as far as I'm concerned. i They're the best team in the West and and arguably I think in MLS right now. think you want to play them as few minutes as possible.
00:28:51
Speaker
I would agree with you there. and i'll you know And I think there was some reason to be, like to the degree that there was doubt about them, it was mainly that they were so, so reliant, seemingly, on Sun and Bawanga during this eight-game stretch or whatever. they They've just been going crazy.
00:29:11
Speaker
Well, granted, it's against Toronto FC, but it's against the Toronto FC that's been playing better. but they they were missing both of those players tonight and LAFC one, two, zero, which is understating how dominant they were.
00:29:24
Speaker
They out, they, yeah they had 3.09 expected goals to Toronto's 0.6. This is a dominant, dominant performance. And, that should, you know, I think that's going to do a lot to to quiet any concerns that this team is maybe overly reliant on maybe the two best players, two most, ah you know, dynamic attackers in the league. Yeah. Which is is bad news because those guys are probably going to, for sure.
00:29:51
Speaker
For everyone. yeah Those guys are probably going to deliver. So it sucks that on the off chance that they don't, um there's, there's still good, you know, that's, that's a problem. Yeah. All right. Next one is from Derek r ah We are going to have to play most of the playoffs on the road. How are you feeling about the team's ability to win those road games? They've gone four wins, four draws and eight losses in 16 road games.
00:30:13
Speaker
And they're one even points per game on the road is tied for ninth in the West and 19th overall. The only playoff team with the worst road record is ah RSL would or Colorado if they take the spot. There are three things that give me some hope.
00:30:25
Speaker
We are better than our road record suggests. We have the third best road to XGD ah per 90 in the league and are one of only six teams with a positive road XGD. We are noticeably underperforming our XG for and against on the road. 18 goals scored versus 23.8 XG and 27 goals allowed versus 21.7 XG. We have averaged 4.2 lineup changes per road game this year compared to 3.1 per home game.
00:30:49
Speaker
With no fixture congestion during the playoffs, there should be a more consistent lineups. Thank you, Derek R., for including all that detail. that's so Yeah, because that kind of... I mean, I think to the degree that that question that he... He kind of answered his own question there, which I appreciate. Yes, think so. Yeah.
00:31:03
Speaker
And I think... yeah i don't know that I have a lot to add other than... i think there is reason to be... if If the Sounders had a bunch of home games, I'd feel a lot better about their chances.
00:31:14
Speaker
But like Derek r illustrates... it's not like they're so bad away from home. Their record isn't good, but they've actually been pretty competitive on the road. And, you know, there's a few results in there that you can say they should have had better results in.
00:31:28
Speaker
And, you know, the Austin one being a good example, the Minnesota game was another good example. ah The Atlanta game was another good example. ah You can kind of go down the list and there you could have found probably three or four wins and you add three or four wins to their total. And all of a sudden it doesn't look so bad.
00:31:47
Speaker
uh but yeah i'd feel a lot better if they had if they finished higher the table and had more home games but doesn't look like their only home game most likely will be the first round game that they host yeah yeah barring some kind of miracle somewhere else you know maybe uh maybe portland knocks off lafc or something you know or i guess they play san diego probably not yeah Well, who knows?
00:32:14
Speaker
All right. I'm going to jump ahead because I have a feeling you you probably don't want to answer these ones. ah Spaceman Spliff, ah with our DP spots all filled for the foreseeable future, how and when do we expect to see the Sounders spend the bags of cash they earn from League's Cup and the Club World Cup to improve their team?
00:32:32
Speaker
I mean, i don't know. um They could sign Yeah. I think they probably will. They seem like they got pretty close over the summer and just couldn't land it. But I think, you know, they'll probably do that.
00:32:45
Speaker
um They might pay a transfer fee for Obed's replacement, maybe. um They might pay transfer fees for defiance, which I think they can use that that prize money for. Certainly, that's money that they're allowed to use to spend on the defiance for sure. And they might do that. I've actually talked to some people in the talent acquisition department who think that that's one area that they could... you know If they're trying to alter sort of the the paradigm, so to speak, of yeah of there of their system, it's why don't we spend some money and bring someone into defiance...
00:33:19
Speaker
And, you know, take some higher upside chances there. Right. Yeah. So that's an option. Maybe they, you know, spend some of it on the Academy.
00:33:31
Speaker
um There's all sorts of stuff they can do to spend that money. and And maybe they put it in a high yield savings account until they're ready to to buy a DP. Right. Like, I don't think that there's I don't think there's ah necessarily a time frame on when these dollars have to be spent.
00:33:45
Speaker
ah No, there's definitely not.
Future Investments with Prize Money
00:33:47
Speaker
Yeah. And, you know, they they do like the the gam that they have. They have to buy from the league like they they get the gam cap space, but they have to spend real dollars on yes that's true salaries.
00:33:59
Speaker
um So, yeah, I mean, there's there's tons of stuff that they can and probably already are spending on. um But I think when people ask this question, they're talking about transfer fees. They are. and i And I think that's reasonable. and Yeah, for sure.
00:34:14
Speaker
I guess the thing I will always say is there are two things can be true. One is that I, too, want a shiny player to get excited about.
00:34:25
Speaker
But I do think we also have to be realistic in that we have to look at the players the Sounders have who are designated players. And, you know, I realized Jordan has not been healthy. So maybe that's not the best example.
00:34:37
Speaker
But, you know, Pedro de la Vega, I feel like has given me enough this year, if not to be like, I'm not saying that's the most, uh, the best use of a DP spot. But when he is playing, he plays like a DP.
00:34:51
Speaker
ah he He is producing. ah He has been producing for a few months now, like a DP. He scored a great goal in the, in the Timbers game, which we didn't even talk about, which is kind of funny, but yeah.
00:35:01
Speaker
I, he, you know, so, and then Albert Rusnak to me is is as productive, like you just can't ask for more from a DP than what Albert Rusnak is giving in terms of like, this is what you, this is the, what you expect from a DP.
00:35:15
Speaker
And so I'm not really itching to get rid of any of the Sounders DPs to make room for one, and which I, I realize Spliff is not, arguing for here. I'm just saying in general, I I'm just not that, I guess what I'm saying is I'm okay right now with their DP situation, you know, come back and check in with me in a year from now.
00:35:37
Speaker
Uh, if I still feel already in six months from now, but right now I feel okay with it. And yeah, there are other ways they can spend the money. Yeah, for sure. And I, I expect them to like, I i know people are tired of hearing that, but I do think,
00:35:53
Speaker
I am a lot more convinced now than I was this time last year that they do actually want to actively spend money on U22. Like, I really do think that they do. I just think that those deals are tough because they have their constraints that they they put on themselves organizationally that makes them tough to get over the line. But I do think that they will do that probably pretty soon.
00:36:14
Speaker
ah Next one is from Andrew. Assuming that JP and Obed are both gone by next summer at the latest, what is the plan for Christian's partner? Internal promotion, position switch, and MLS free agent, signing from outside the league?
00:36:26
Speaker
So I think my hope is there are two really good candidates on the roster right now to me to pair with Christian. ah One of them is Snyder Brunel, who I think is going to get plenty of minutes next year.
00:36:40
Speaker
And I realized that Danny Leyva has sort of graduated to more of a backup 10 position. But I don't see any reason that he can't... Like, next year, I don't see any reason why they wouldn't drop him back and give him a chance to be the starter next to Christian Roldan, assuming Obed is has left.
00:36:59
Speaker
I like that option. I think I like that option better than a lot of external options that they would potentially have. I think that... Leyva is a good candidate to partner with Christian because Christian is going to do a lot of the dirty work that Leyva doesn't necessarily need to do.
00:37:16
Speaker
And I think, you know, he's potentially a really good partner for Christian. We have not seen them play together almost at all. ah So I would be interested in seeing that. I'd actually be kind of bummed if they go out and and sign sort of like a um MLS journeyman to sort of take those minutes. Now, if they go out and sign a, know, like a TAM level player to partner with Christian, great.
00:37:37
Speaker
But I kind of, and I guess suppose maybe that's a, that's one area. Like they don't have a whole lot of spots on the roster that they need to spend on. So maybe that would be a ah good one to spend on. But yeah, I, I think that would be, I think it's reasonable to think they have some internal options, I guess is what I'm saying.
00:37:54
Speaker
Yeah, I really like Danny. And ah my preference would be they go into the season with him as the presumed starter. And if he's not delivering, you've got the summer transfer window to make something happen. But I would like to say I think he's done a lot to earn playing time this year.
00:38:09
Speaker
um I have a much different opinion on his this future prospects now than I did coming into the season. he's He's really impressed me when he's had minutes this year. um And he's just got really good players ahead of him on the depth chart. you know um And you know I think there's a chance Snyder Brunel could make a push as well. He's been he's been good.
00:38:30
Speaker
He's been really good as well. Maybe they could do a platoon kind of thing there. um And then you know give yourself the option in the summer to... improve that spot if you're not getting what you need. But I do. i love the idea of having another homegrown in that spot.
00:38:44
Speaker
um And I'm going to make a suggestion now. We've got three defiance questions. You just want to do those. I'll ask them for you. Rapid fire. Sure. Get to our last. Yeah. Yeah. All right. So the first one is from ah our friend Dave.
00:38:56
Speaker
Who would you like to see as the next coach of defiance? um Mike Morris is the guy who took over for Airway DSA ah at midseason. He didn't end up getting to coach a whole bunch of games because he was part of the U20, the USA U20 coaching staff. So he went to the World Cup and and as a result, Wade Weber ended up coaching most of the last few games of the season.
00:39:21
Speaker
But I think Mike Morris is a great candidate. He's been with the club for a really long time. He's done all the work that, you know, he was a candidate for the last time they they had this opening. I think he's a great candidate. I would, you know, i think he's pretty easy hire to me.
00:39:36
Speaker
ah Who knows? I thought he would get hired. Honestly, I thought he was going to get hired last time. I thought DS, it was an interesting hire. i liked him. it didn't work out obviously, but I don't think that would means it was a bad hire necessarily.
00:39:47
Speaker
ah But yeah, I hope it's Mike Morris. Yeah. Nice. All right. Next one's from Derek r We've signed quite a few players from the Defiance of the first team over the past couple of years. Have we bled them dry or can we expect them to keep or can we expect to keep getting solid contribution contributors yeah that aren't from our academy like KKR, Darrow and Georgie?
00:40:06
Speaker
So I don't know how many players ah we can expect that are not from the Academy, but I do think, you know, Sebastian Gomez came from the Academy. i think he is going to get a long look at a first team roster spot.
00:40:21
Speaker
Yusuke Nome is not from the Academy. He's maybe the the best candidate for the type of player that ah Derek is talking about. You just set the defiance record for ah goals in both an MLS next pro season and overall. He scored 21 goals. He had five assists.
00:40:38
Speaker
Really an amazing season. it's In fact, it's an organization-wide record for goals in a season. It it tops the 19 that Obafemi Martins had in 2014.
00:40:51
Speaker
ah That said, I don't know exactly how he's going to translate to MLS. He is sort of like a Dempsey-esque type of midfielder forward. He's not necessarily a 9. He's not really a 10.
00:41:06
Speaker
Maybe like a Freddy Montero type where he he sits beneath the striker. This is his first really productive season. he's only This is actually only his second professional season at 24 years old.
00:41:16
Speaker
So he's a little bit of a late bloomer. But he's an interesting player. He can play out on the wing. he you know, he he definitely has a knack around goal. He's got good vision.
00:41:29
Speaker
I don't know how he translates to MLS, but I think you have a season like he had and you almost have to sign him because it's like if you have a season like that and the team doesn't sign you, what is that? You know, what kind of message is that sending? So I feel like he's probably going to get a shot.
00:41:43
Speaker
And then other players who might get a call. ah Peter Kingston is someone that I know the Sounders have liked that people in the organization like. He is technically a former academy player. His path to defiance is a little bit more circuitous. He played for both UW and Seattle U. ah He played for Ballard FC for a ah bunch of years.
00:42:04
Speaker
And he's also playing his first professional season, I think, at 23. So a little different path. I like him, though. I think he he has some potential. he He plays a few different positions.
00:42:16
Speaker
But those are probably the three players who I think have the most that are most likely to jump to the Sounders. But yeah, the Sounders did kind of bleed the team dry a little bit in the last couple years.
00:42:31
Speaker
Yeah. But hey, you know what? I'm not I'm not complaining about that. That's right. for Yeah. right ah Last defiance question from ATNSG2000. Do defiance or academy players lift, do rehab, eat, etc. with the first team, or is there more separation inside the facility?
00:42:46
Speaker
Motivated by news that Man United evicted ah few youth teams from the current facility and claimed it was an earned your spot move. So my understanding is that they have kind of created a earn your spot type of environment in at Long Acres.
Facilities and Player Development
00:43:01
Speaker
there are separate There are definitely separate facilities for the first team and for the academy and defiance.
00:43:09
Speaker
They actually train on different fields than the sounders train on. They don't train on... i I don't know if they ever actually train on the grass fields. I think they train almost exclusively on the two turf fields that are on the outskirts of the the training area.
00:43:23
Speaker
They have their own weight room, which is nice, but not nearly as nice as the Sounders weight room. They have their own physio space, which is nice, but again, not as nice as the Sounders physio space. They have lockers, which are nice, but you know there's a theme here, not quite as nice as the Sounders. So there is sort of this idea of,
00:43:40
Speaker
Even though you're in the same building, even though you will train with the first team from now and then, you are definitely not a first team player at this time. You're not being treated like a first team player. I assume the meals are probably the same, but they have definitely... That was something that they at least said that they were very purposeful about. Maybe it was you know maybe that's a little convenient. They probably saved a lot of money by not...
00:44:03
Speaker
by not having them the same quality of facilities. ah But they they definitely wanted to keep them separated. I know that there were some concerns about having a whole bunch of kids mixing with a whole bunch of adults.
00:44:15
Speaker
And so that that was there was some purposefulness there. And yeah, it is it is kind of a an earn your stripes type of situation. So that I guess in that sense, it's good, maybe. It depends on your perspective. I've definitely heard some people express some frustration over this, that they feel like the academy players should be...
00:44:32
Speaker
ah elevated more but I think it makes sense to me yeah it makes sense I mean I definitely think there's probably some value and in having like more active role modeling from the senior players but I do I think it's it's got to be a balance right and I'm sure there are opportunities for that yeah exactly All right, well, we're going to close it out with a question from Josh. He says, aside from 2022's finish, for obvious reasons, the Sounders have never closed the season below 7th in the Supporters' Shield, and with Smetcher never below 4th in the West and usually 2nd.
00:45:04
Speaker
This year, they'll probably finish right around where they are right now, 14th and 5th in the West. 14th overall and 5th in the West. The Sounders used to be the... used to be the bar against which other teams are measured, measured themselves. And in many ways they still yeah are, and yet they are languishing in mid table.
Season Evaluation and Play Style
00:45:22
Speaker
How do you process the state of affairs in a year in which they've lost just one game at home, won a cup final and are playing exciting, attacking soccer? Yeah, I mean, it it is interesting to contrast things with how people felt, even at this phase stage of last season, when the Sounders had ah been playing pretty good soccer and winning a lot of games. But I think the vibes were still pretty rancid, really, until until they beat LAFC in the playoffs.
00:45:50
Speaker
um people were were there There was a lot of consternation about the state of the team. Um, and a lot of that I think was the style of play. A lot of it was how bad the first part of the season had been, but ultimately I do think there's something to the Sounders being more fun to watch the season, um, scoring more goals. I think people are excited to see that.
00:46:11
Speaker
Um, Pedro coming good has, i think been a huge part of it for Rara after kind of a slow start showing himself to be a really, really good player and becoming a key piece has, has been a big part of it.
00:46:22
Speaker
Um, So that that all helps, right? But I think when you look at the injuries they've had this season and you look at what they have been and able to accomplish in spite of that, when you you know Jordan Morris has has barely played. um They've missed...
00:46:39
Speaker
every other key player for notable portions of time, many of them at the same time. And, you know, yeah, they're going finish fifth.
00:46:49
Speaker
That's a little disappointing, but they did win the league's cup. And I think they are better than your typical fifth place team in the Western conference. I think that that that fifth, they, they've earned it.
00:47:01
Speaker
You know, they, the games at the beginning of the season still count, but I think that they are a lot closer the, you know, a team like probably not LAFC, but a team like San Diego than team like Portland, you know, at the end of the day. And so, ah yeah, I mean, this is a team that even though they have typically finished higher in the table than they are this finishing this year. Yeah.
00:47:29
Speaker
Yeah. in In summary, um it is kind of weird that the vibes seem so much better this season than they did last season and in past seasons, given where they are on the table. But I think people understand how difficult it has been with some of the absences they've had. And winning a cup is always going to help smooth things over.
00:47:47
Speaker
Yeah, i'll I'll just sort of echo a lot of that. It is funny to look back at last season and, you know, they finished the season 5-0-2. They didn't lose any of their last seven games in the regular season.
00:48:01
Speaker
And then they they beat the Dynamo in two back-to-back shoot ah shootouts in the playoffs. And I think maybe what was coloring the dour mood around the team was this sort of inevitable matchup with LAFC that we were all dreading.
00:48:24
Speaker
And last year, they had... lost three times to LAFC, four times to LAFC. They'd been eliminated from two separate tournaments by LAFC and they had not beaten them in something like 10 games.
00:48:41
Speaker
And it just felt so like inevitable that they were going to lose again to LAFC. And I think that was, you know, and, and so basically what if to remind people of what happened last year is they lost to them in the leagues cup,
00:48:59
Speaker
Two games later, they lose to them in the Open Cup at home at Starfire, a place where they're supposed to never lose. And then they followed that up by losing on the road to the Timbers. So the mood around the team was just so bad.
00:49:13
Speaker
The fact that they went on a seven game unbeaten run was almost like secondary because of, you know, and they, they went into the playoffs, like kind of on a high in some, in some you know ways, but this year they're, you know, their last seven games are going to end up being ah much worse record than they had last year.
00:49:32
Speaker
But there's this sense of, They've shown you already that they can win big games and big moments. And i don't know if they will get past Minnesota. You know, Minnesota's beaten them twice this year. But I'm i'm just not – at this point, I'm not that worried about Minnesota. You know, maybe they don't get past them.
00:49:50
Speaker
But I feel like they they can. they they can And LAFC potentially is is two rounds away from them. If they get to a ah conference final against LAFC, I will consider this but like a very successful season.
00:50:05
Speaker
i And, you you know, if they can get over 50 points this year, i think I'll be satisfied that as a regular season, it's been a much more fun regular season. Like you said, just because of all the goals scoring, they've been really good at home.
00:50:21
Speaker
i don't have a lot of complaints right now. No. And I think too, last year, There was a lot of uncertainty about what the team was going to look like in the future. um Yes, I think that was another thing. Raul was still getting minutes and you know we didn't know that Jordan was going to be a DP.
00:50:37
Speaker
um Pedro looked like he he may well be a bust. And I think now they look pretty well set up for the future. like they They definitely have some key guys that are aging. But Jesus Ferrer is young. Pedro de la Vega is young.
00:50:50
Speaker
Jordan Morris still has like ah you know a couple years left where you expect him to be at this level. Christian Roldan, same deal. um Obviously, Obed's not going to be around that much longer.
00:51:02
Speaker
Gemar's getting up there. It's not like everything is all hunky-dory and they're set up for the next decade. But I think there's a pretty clear sense of like what the team's identity is going to look like going forward and that they have something they can build on. And and that certainly helps as well.
00:51:15
Speaker
When I think beyond that, I think there's a comfort with the idea that We might know what the identity, the the fact that they had such a successful offensive season, i think just raises the baseline expectation, like the baseline excitement around this team.
00:51:32
Speaker
Cause I think yeah part of what was so frustrating last, the last two years, really the two previous years that for all their success, it felt like there was this hard cap on how good they could be because they were just not very exciting offensively.
00:51:46
Speaker
And and so when they lost, it just felt so like it was it was really like there was hard to have fun unless they were winning. ah Whereas the Sounders are at least entertaining even when they haven't been winning this year.
00:51:58
Speaker
So I think that changes things a little bit. um Yeah, for sure. Yeah, we'll see.
00:52:05
Speaker
All right. Well, that was a great question, Josh. I think we had some really actually good questions. Some yeah people who helped us out a lot with adding a lot of context to their questions and and making it more interesting.
00:52:16
Speaker
But yeah just as a reminder, if you want to get your questions answered on our show, get into the Discord frankly, every day you get your questions answered on the discord. It's, it's a lot of fun in there.
00:52:31
Speaker
I hang out there. Aaron hangs out there. Lickett hangs out there. A lot of, you know, lot of sounder heart people are in there just hanging out. If you want to get on, I'm just saying, become a supporter and,
00:52:44
Speaker
Email us and we'll get you all hooked up. It'll be a great time. ah This is a ah huge part of what we're doing here. The Discord community has become a really important part of the Sound of Heart independence.
00:52:57
Speaker
And yeah. ah So thank you to our sponsors, Full Pull Wines and Hacks and Ferments. Thank you, of course, to our readers who are supporting us and making this work.
00:53:07
Speaker
i I feel like, you know, right now, KXP is in the middle of a fun drive. Fun drive? Is that right? Fun drive? ah and Fundraising? and Fundraising because they lost bunch pledge drive.
00:53:19
Speaker
A pledge drive. Thank you. Because they lost all this... you know They were getting, I think, a million dollars a year from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting that just went away. And so they're out there ah asking people to support them.
00:53:33
Speaker
Great radio station. i i support them. I hope everyone here does their part to support them. It's a great resource. But I am reminded that we are not in a situation like that where we are constantly having to, uh, beat people up to to help us survive.
00:53:49
Speaker
We're also running a much lower, uh, we have, we have a much smaller operation than KXP does though. So who knows, maybe someday, uh, I don't know where I'm going with this. Uh, but I want to say thank you to everyone. It was, I guess what I'm saying is it's a good reminder that it's,
00:54:04
Speaker
having independent media is super important and I feel really gratified and satisfied, uh, being part of it and, and can't thank you all enough for making this possible.
00:54:15
Speaker
Anyway, uh, let's get out of here. Uh, I'm Jeremiah Shan signing off for Aaron Campbell and Lickett. This is no study at this part of the sounder heart podcast network. Remember you'll never get alone.
00:54:56
Speaker
Let's go and sound