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Club World Cup showed the gap between Europe and world is not so big
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The Seattle Sounders’ run in the Club World Cup has come to an end, which is a perfect time to take stock of what we made of it. Jeremiah and Aaron discuss the high points and the low points. They came away feeling a bit more excited about next summer’s World Cup, with a sense that the gap between Europe and the rest of the world is a bit smaller than we previously thought and believing that the Sounders’ have a roster that should be able to compete going forward.
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Transcript
Introduction and Sponsorship
00:00:01
Speaker
Hi, I'm Will Bruin, and I was just recognized as a Seattle Sounders legend. Now I get to do voice reads for the Sounder at Heart podcast network. Here we go. Come on. Hey, O'Shaughnessy.
00:00:13
Speaker
Let's go. What save by Frye. The Seattle Sounders have done it. MLS Cup winning. Here comes Ruiz Dias through the middle to crowd it for Seattle.
00:00:29
Speaker
And now they truly can start the celebrations. It's the Sounders MLS Cup. Nico Lodero leaves absolutely no doubt. The Sounders rule the region.
00:00:43
Speaker
Seattle, Sounders, it's got built.
00:00:52
Speaker
This feels fucking awesome. This is a tiny dog. Nice work on your little yacht yat thing. And Portland can't say shit. know, what was the thought process i did in terms of who you decided to use and who you didn't?
00:01:06
Speaker
Ever since Southert Hart wrote a commentary that we didn't take over coming seriously. Go, not Seattle!
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.
Seattle Sounders' Club World Cup Performance
00:01:43
Speaker
Welcome back to another episode of Nos Adientes, part of the Sounder Heart Podcast Network, sponsored by Full Pool Wines and our subscribers. I am Jeremiah O'Shan.
00:01:54
Speaker
Joining me today is Aaron Campo and our producer, Lickett. We are going to be talking about the Club World Cup that just concluded. The Sounders have gone out after three games.
00:02:08
Speaker
The results are coming in and they're going to look pretty bad in the overall standings because they did not get a point. And LAFC and Auckland city both managed to get ties. So yeah they, they might end up finishing like 31st in this thing. I do think there is at least one team that will finish with a worse goal difference, but the Sounders, I thought were respectable. They had by far the toughest draw. I think of anyone in this thing.
00:02:34
Speaker
They were outscored 7-2, but what I found encouraging was that they never trailed by more than two goals. They went into halftime ah down 1-0 in all three games, but you know perfectly in all three games. And I think they at least played 90 competitive minutes in all three matches. Aaron, you were at the game against PSG on Monday afternoon.
00:02:58
Speaker
Noon kickoff, let's just start out. did you think of the noon kickoff? ah I did not love it, but it was nice to be home by five o'clock. You know, um I knew I mean, because of all the kickoff times for the the games with European teams, and I know it's to have to take the day off work anyway. So ah might as well. But it was kind of weird to like leave the house. that I think we left like 915, you know, um to to get to a game that was a little strange, but.
00:03:28
Speaker
ah But yeah, you know, it was a nice weather, at least it it was a but beautiful day. Yeah. Nice day. yeah Yeah. Yeah. I kind of like the noon kickoff.
00:03:39
Speaker
Total selfish reasons. I was able to drop my daughter off at a summer camp and pick her up at three thirty. without having to stress ah where how to get her home or anything.
00:03:53
Speaker
I don't know that I would recommend a noon kickoff for the Sounders on a Monday too often, but yeah ah honest on a similar... I like the 3 o'clock kickoff also so on Thursday. I actually think that could have legs.
00:04:07
Speaker
Yeah, I think a 3 o'clock kickoff, you know I think that for for me at least, like that's a day I could... you know, go and work at the office and say, Hey, I'm heading out at two today. you know, i'm going to go watch game. Don't have to take a full day off.
00:04:21
Speaker
um Get home at like a reasonable hour. Sometimes those weeknight games can be tough for folks. um So yeah, I mean, the three o'clock is nice at three o'clock on a Saturday. Now that's, that's living, you know, that would be, that's a living.
00:04:35
Speaker
That would be fantastic. But you know, if you're going have it during a week, I think the three is better than the noon for sure. Yeah. Yeah. ah But in terms of the play, i thought mostly positives, all things considered, it would have been nice to get a result in the Botafogo game. I think that's definitely the game where if there were regrets, I think they are that they weren't able to you know I think one of the regrets is that they just the reality is they didn't have their best team available, that their most explosive attacker and their most explosive defender were both out effectively for this whole thing.
00:05:15
Speaker
And especially in the Botafogo match, you could see how Jordan Morris and Yamar would have made a real difference. By the time we got to PSG, though...
00:05:27
Speaker
little easier to swallow that one. They lost 2-0. It never really felt like PSG totally got out of second gear. yeah yeah you know they There were there are periods of play where I think the Sounders... The Sounders did a good job of still sort of playing their game. like they They still were pressing. They were still you know trying to hold the ball. They weren't just booting it out.
00:05:49
Speaker
But then you know early in the second half especially, PSG sort of started to really... lay the pressure on and it started to become a bit overwhelming. And eventually, weirdly, the that's not where the goal came from, though. the The goal came from the Sounders actually going on an attacking signal sequence and getting caught in the transition when, you know, even though they had numbers back, they ah Hakimi was basically left unmarked at the back post and had a pretty easy finish.
00:06:18
Speaker
But overall, the PSG game, i was still happy. Like, I still felt like... You know, um no one embarrassed themselves, which is I realize feels very.
00:06:33
Speaker
Backhanded, but also the reality is they were facing three world class teams.
Lessons from Facing World-Class Teams
00:06:40
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, PSG has a claim, i think, as good as anyone else to mean the best team in the world. You know, they won the premier club competition.
00:06:49
Speaker
ah and you know they were actually playing for something in this game. like They needed to get a result because they they lost to Botafogo. But I think if you look at the the numbers from the Atletico Madrid game, where I thought the Sounders just were were better, um or not better necessarily, but were more in that game than than they were against PSG.
00:07:11
Speaker
The Sounders had something like... The Sounders had, what, 27% of possession against PSG versus 40%, think 3%. They actually outshot Atletico. They did.
00:07:25
Speaker
And, you know, had had some real, I think, real solid chances. i think there is a universe in which they get a point in that game. I don't think there's a universe in which they get a point against PSG, but I don't think there's any shame in that. You know, it's just...
00:07:40
Speaker
um you can't compete with a team that has those kinds of resources, uh, when, when you're an MLS team and you shouldn't expect to at least, but I thought that the Sounders did, I mean, this was not PSG sandbagging, right? Like they did need to get a result in this game.
00:07:55
Speaker
Um, there, there were more, i like there was one moment, uh, I believe it was the cross that got cut off, cut out on the inline, um, when PSG was still up one nil. Um, um,
00:08:08
Speaker
ah where Musavsky was at the near post. And if the, if it gets past the defender, that's a goal. And like Louis, Luis Enrique looked genuinely flustered on the sideline. um And that's, so that's a good sign, right? Like you you're actually making them sweat a little bit.
00:08:24
Speaker
ah I do really wish that, that, you know, that Yamar and Jordan had been available for more than, you know, a five minute cameo for Jordan, although he looked great in that five minutes.
00:08:35
Speaker
Yeah, his first touch basically was vintage Jordan type stuff. Yeah, yeah. ah But I think, you know, I think that even with the team they put out there, they probably get a result against Botafogo more often than they don't.
00:08:49
Speaker
I think they thought they were actually really unlucky in that game. They get a result against Botafogo. You know, maybe this, maybe things look a little differently. I don't know. um So I thought they did well. i'm I'm relieved in a way that it's over. um This has been...
00:09:05
Speaker
and Not a distraction, but yeah well, in some ways, I guess, I guess it has been a distraction, but I'm i'm just ready to get back to MLS. I'm ready to get back to to, you know, focusing on the games that ultimately that really matter.
00:09:17
Speaker
But i I don't see any way that the Sounders can't come out of this feeling pretty good about themselves. And, you know, a criticism of the Sounders has been is a team that plays up up to and down to the level of their competition, right?
00:09:30
Speaker
but it can't hurt knowing, and Hey, we can hang with some, some pretty good teams. Maybe we may, you know, maybe we should be putting the screws to some of these and MLS teams we're playing because we know what we're capable of doing.
00:09:42
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, it's a little hard to parse that this is the same team that looked like absolute dog shit against Vancouver and did not look up for it against Minnesota United.
00:09:55
Speaker
it's, The thing is that if they win those games, they're sitting here right in the thick of the supporter shield race, which is a little frustrating. Still, though, if they can take lessons from this these three games, it's that there's no reason they can't go on a great run during the second half of the season. They are not going to face any opponents that are anything like what they just played.
00:10:19
Speaker
And they can't... i mean, there's no one in MLS that they can't play with. I think we've known that. I think that, you know, they... the They aren't as good as they could be, but they're, but they should. I mean, they, they, I think they should be bad. They, they should feel good about their chances. They should feel good going to these games and now they have to do it.
00:10:38
Speaker
I, I will say the thing that's a little frustrating is they're going to be playing Austin on Saturday, their first game back. I didn't, fully appreciate that both John Bell and knew who are going to be out for that game because of red cards.
00:10:54
Speaker
I have no idea who's going to play next to Jackson Reagan at center back. I yeah guess maybe like Alex rolled on Alex Rodan was kind of playing center back in this game.
00:11:05
Speaker
And so I guess maybe that's who they play. Maybe it's like Jao Paulo. i don't, I don't know what they're going to do. Sounds like no chance that Kim is back then. i mean, may I don't know. Maybe he can come back. That would be ideal. i think that would be ideal.
00:11:20
Speaker
Yeah, it's it it is like I do think, though, it makes what they were able to do defensively, especially against PSG and Atletico Madrid, more impressive because they were playing with their four center back.
00:11:32
Speaker
I think John Bell is a hell of a four center back. Like, I think we're very lucky to have a guy as good Sean Bell as our four center back. but he is at the end of the day, the four center back on the team. Right. And I think, and yeah, he, I think the, the two games where i felt like Yamar was really missing what or was missed was Atletico and Botafogo by the third game.
00:11:52
Speaker
I don't know that you can make a credible argument that, that Yamar does anything different, like better in yeah the PSG game than John Bell did. John Bell was, I didn't think he did a, put a foot wrong, frankly, like he was, he was very good against PSG.
00:12:09
Speaker
ah And even, you know, and I want to say Jackson Reagan, this was also a little bit of a, maybe no coming out party is the wrong way to put it. But I, I do think Jackson Reagan showed himself to be a much more elite defender than he has previously shown. Like he was really, really good in all three of games these games.
00:12:34
Speaker
You know, if he, there' if there's one player who you'd like to think can, sort of use this as a springboard because he hasn't been great this year. Hopefully Jackson Reagan is able to take some confidence from this ah because he, he was very, I thought his play was very encouraging.
00:12:52
Speaker
The fact that he was able to play his game entirely, like he was able to pass the way that he passes against MLS opponents in all three of these games, that very encouraging stuff from him.
00:13:03
Speaker
He, he was turned on. he, i't I don't know that I remember him making a glaring mistake either. i was really happy with him. Yeah, I think that sometimes when you have a player that's good, but you know can at times be somewhat inconsistent, um it really takes seeing them against elite level competition to appreciate kind of what you have.
00:13:25
Speaker
and i thought there were definitely I thought everyone accounted for themselves really well. I was not disappointed or upset at anyone's performance performance. save maybe for for one guy that people can probably guess who that is. But but even, ah you know, I think even knew who looked really good at times against PSG and and ah played, you know, mostly pretty well.
00:13:47
Speaker
um But then there were there was also like a class of players where I found myself taken with these guys do not look out of place at all. Like they don't look like they are.
00:14:00
Speaker
um struggling to keep up with the pace of the game and having to be like heroic. And, and Jackson was definitely one of those guys. Like he, he just looked like he belonged. That's not to say, I think Jackson could go be a starter at PSG, you know, but, but I do think that he is capable of playing at a higher level.
00:14:16
Speaker
And I think, I mean, i I definitely, that's a guy I would like if I cared about the U.S. national team. I think I would want that guy to be, you know, getting call ups because he he does have a skill set that's just like not super common with American center backs, like his his passing ability, his vision, his his ability to carry the ball forward.
00:14:35
Speaker
um He had he had one play against PSG where he he basically he ended up with a hospital ball. And was able to dribble out of pressure and then draw a foul at midfield. Yep. And if he doesn't do that, he has a break going the other way. Yeah.
00:14:48
Speaker
Great play. um I thought Obed was another player where I was just like, this dude can hang with these guys. And it's very obvious that he can hang with these guys and he's inconsistent and he's young.
00:14:59
Speaker
And I think everybody would like him to be a little more effective in attack at times, but he didn't look out of place at any point. I mean, he was, he, there were times where he was just cutting through the midfield and and dribbling guys and, and making people miss and and making things happen.
00:15:17
Speaker
And I don't think you appreciate that as much when he's doing it against, you know, mllo gallus or whatever. Yeah. But when he's doing it against Atletico Madrid or PSG, I think it really makes you take notice. Christian also, i think um another player where it's just like, Oh, this is, this guy is better than we give him credit for being,
00:15:34
Speaker
ah where i give them credit for being, I shouldn't speak for other people, but um because you can see them do it against such high level competition. ah Christian, I
Player Highlights and Critiques
00:15:45
Speaker
think is maybe the player who did himself the biggest favor in terms of what comes next. Like he, to me, looked like someone who,
00:15:58
Speaker
I'm not saying he should be starting the world cup for the U S national team, but I think he belongs in camp. I think he, I think he, i think he has a bid for a bigger role than he had in the last world cup where he, he didn't play.
00:16:14
Speaker
ah But he was on the roster. I mean, I would think it'd be crazy not to call him into camp at this point. I mean, I realize he's probably not going to displace a healthy Tyler Adams, but frankly, he's got a more like he's got a more nuanced game than than Adams does.
00:16:30
Speaker
you know, Adams is a very good defensive midfielder, but he's not great ah with the ball at his feet. and And I think that's what Christian is able to do is he's able to sort of cover both sides of it. and He's not necessarily a big tackler, but he's he's great at at interrupting ah the other team he was i mean he was everywhere he covers so much ground and you know i really do hope that this is and i think the funniest thing is there's always this i think there's this common refrain among people who really follow the nationally team closely is like well can they they do it at the the national international soccer just played at a different speed like look
00:17:11
Speaker
Yeah, say what you will. But there is no one, no one that the sound that the U.S. national team is going to face in ah in in 2026 who are a better team than PSG. PSG is a better team than every national team. I think that's not even commercial to say.
00:17:30
Speaker
No, it's not. it's It's definitely not. And, you know, I think that Christian suffered a bit in his national team career from, the fact that he was sort of brought in as like a utility player that was mostly in the league playing on the wing.
00:17:44
Speaker
I think that if Christian had been playing this role at the time he was getting, you know, the majority of his call ups and, and actually being allowed to play sort of as a, as a defensive midfielder or box box midfielder when called for, i think his national team career probably goes a little bit differently.
00:18:02
Speaker
And, you know, I think that playing him on the wing at the time was fine. I think it was it worked for the system. The Sounders were playing. It worked with the personnel. He he played a specific role. um But I think now that he has demonstrated, hey, I can play this role, which the U.S. national team, frankly, has a need for a guy who can play that role, who can contribute going forward.
00:18:23
Speaker
um If I'm playing, you know, Haiti at home, I think I'd rather have Christian, what Christian rolled down brings to the team than what Tyler Adam brings to the team. Or if I'm chasing a goal against a high level team, if you know, if if if you're playing Argentina or something in the world cup,
00:18:39
Speaker
or the Netherlands in the World Cup, I think I'd rather have somebody doing what Christian's doing if you need to get that goal back than someone like Tyler Adams. I think Tyler Adams is a better overall player, but I think Christian has a skill set that the the national team just doesn't really have right now.
00:18:54
Speaker
and And it was really on display against, like you said, better players than the US national team is going to face on a regular basis for sure. Yeah. And then the other players who I thought did themselves some favors maybe were...
00:19:10
Speaker
were probably Reed Baker Whiting and Kalani Kosarianzi, both of whom started the Atletico match. And I think on paper, you saw that starting lineup against Atletico.
00:19:22
Speaker
And, you know, you go from left to right, Reed Baker Whiting, John Bell, Jackson Reagan, Kalani Kosarianzi, and you go, oh we are ah going to be under it today. And yeah I don't think, i i mean to the degree that they struggled,
00:19:40
Speaker
which I don't know. I didn't really think they struggled so much. I think Atletico just showed some class in their moments. Like they, they were able to, you know, like maybe Reed got boxed out a little bit by ah who's the the Norwegian forward.
00:19:54
Speaker
That athletic. and Anyway, the the forward kind of boxed him out on one and was able to create a chance in front of goal. But, you know, Reid, I thought held his own. You know, I think he he looked like a player who physically could play at that level.
00:20:10
Speaker
And I thought he grew into the game also, like to the degree he struggled. I thought it was early on. But he ended up finishing the tournament with something like six for six on successful tackles.
00:20:21
Speaker
he I think he's right now, I think he's tied for the most successful tackles per 90 minutes in the Club World Cup, which, you know, he he didn't. He wasn't asked to get forward a ton in that Atletico match, but he I think he just he he did a good job. And I do think he is probably going to be in contention first he should I think he should be in contention for starters minutes at left back.
00:20:45
Speaker
Because at this point, knew who we know who he is. He's a limited player. And it's it's fine. you know he he i thought he redeemed himself to some degree against PSG.
00:20:59
Speaker
But i just i don't I think we're at the point now where we just can't. tolerate the sort of mental lapses like the one that effectively cost the Sounders a goal against Botafogo where he just he gets into a shoving match off the ball like a dummy and and gives up a free kick and, and sure the Sounders could have done better at defending the free kick, but you shouldn't be giving up free kicks off the ball in that part part of the field.
00:21:27
Speaker
Like at least, at least wait a little while and get into a better part of the field than that, my man. Right. Yeah. If you, I mean, I, I get you, you want to get your, your, ah you know, your heat back. I totally get it, but yeah, there there are better ways to do that. And i feel like new who sometimes,
00:21:45
Speaker
we like the fan base sort of treats him like a kid almost yeah he 27 he's been a pro for close to a decade now like this is stuff he can't be doing he yeah he has to know better than that at this point in his career like he should be a veteran leader on this team ah and and i just it's it i don't feel like what you're getting in return for putting up with that kind of stuff is is worth it at this point like I just and I was a huge new fan for a long time and I still like it's not that I'm not a new who fan anymore i just I have to feel like we can do better at that position and I think that Reed
00:22:32
Speaker
He didn't give me any reason not to want to see it. Right. Like, right. If that means Reed gets three starts and we don't love what we see and knew who goes back with a message sent. Hey, that's great, too.
00:22:43
Speaker
That's fine, too. yeah I just i can live with that. I think there have to be consequences. Like, I think there have to like there have to be consequences for playing poorly, making, you know, silly mental mistakes like that.
00:22:56
Speaker
um And ah yeah, it's, you know, if Reed had gotten totally wrong, slaughtered against Atletico, that would be one thing, but he didn't. I thought he counted himself pretty well.
00:23:09
Speaker
Yeah. And then the other player who I was really just, I think, surprised by, frankly, was Kalani just never. i think his fearlessness is what strikes me so much as he like, he just does not change his game. He just plays his game and he goes for it. And, you know, I thought it was very telling that late in the, in the PSG game,
00:23:33
Speaker
That he was the sub that Schmetzer brought on at right mid to sort of like try to keep the game under control. And, you know, he's i don't know, he's not going to necessarily break a game open or anything, but the guy does have a couple goals in pretty limited minutes.
00:23:54
Speaker
And he's got some attacking. He's got some real sense of attacking. I could see him having a very, you know, Alex Roldan-esque career. At some point, because he's he's versatile.
00:24:08
Speaker
I think he's probably more. He might be a little bit better of an attacker than Alex is right now. Like even now, Alex again, and Alex, I think, played well, too. Like, I'm not trying to like I do think Alex makes it very hard to replace him because he is very good. Now, he's a good defender and he's he's reliable and he's not going to beat himself.
00:24:28
Speaker
And so I'm not necessarily saying Kalani needs to replace Alex Rodon right now, but I do want to keep seeing more and more minutes of from Kalani. And the fact that this is a guy who was on a Tacoma Defiance contract a few months ago, and now he's starting against Atletico Madrid and holding his own is just kind of a great story.
00:24:49
Speaker
Yeah, it's it's it's pretty crazy. And I'm with you where I think the more urgent need at fullback is is maybe seeing something different at left back. But yeah, I think if Brian made the decision like, hey, we're going to have an open competition and these guys are both going to start a lot.
00:25:06
Speaker
I think it's really difficult to so argue with that. you know it's ah I think that they are different players that bring different things. And so there's a case to be made that there are games where Alex is better suited, games where Kalani is better suited.
00:25:20
Speaker
um But Kalani reminds me a lot of Paul Rothrock in the sense that I think both players understand that they have limitations that maybe other players don't have.
00:25:32
Speaker
And so they make up by by being relentless and really smart and good at reading the game and good at knowing, you know, when to go forward, when to take risks.
00:25:44
Speaker
And that that can take you a long way. Like they're they're both talented players that are smart, um that... I think understand that they have to outcompete other people. And that's a, that's a really valuable skill to have really valuable mindset to have.
00:25:59
Speaker
And I think, you know, I think Kalani could have a ah really nice career. I think he could be, you know, the starting right back on a team with MLS cup aspirations for his whole career. And that's, that's, that's pretty great. I mean, that's what you want your Academy to be producing for you, right? Like if you can produce guys like that on a regular basis, you're in really, really good shape.
00:26:19
Speaker
And the Sounders are they're getting to that point where it feels like they can do that pretty repeatably.
Sounders' Roster Depth and Future Focus
00:26:25
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. And I mean, he's not an Academy player, but he is a Defiance player. well that's right. That's right. But I mean, your point stands like I think this is the type of player that the Defiance are doing ah really. Yeah.
00:26:37
Speaker
impressive job of producing players who can just come into the first team and push the starters, push the first teamers for minutes for, you know, for everything else.
00:26:49
Speaker
And, you know, I just, I think i come away from this tournament feeling mostly really good about, the state of the roster more than anything else. I think, I think it was, it was kind of a nice distraction. I thought like it ended up I thought it was going to be, you know, two weeks ago, if you had asked me, what am I, what are my hopes for this tournament?
00:27:10
Speaker
It was probably that it doesn't suck, uh, that it doesn't feel like we wasted two weeks on a distraction. And I, I, it was a distraction, but I felt like it was a, like, I feel more refreshed. I feel more, you know, I, I think if anything going back to MLS, if there's a danger, I do think there's a danger of it potentially being a little bit of a letdown because this was ah fun, i think the players really enjoyed doing it for one.
00:27:38
Speaker
Like, I think that's, yeah that's part of it is I think the players just felt like this was something to be enjoyed, something to be relished. And I hope they're able to take that energy into league play because it would be a real shame for this to be sort of a high watermark of the seat. This would feel like a very bummer of a high watermark for the season. I'll tell you like, yeah, they, they didn't go on much of a champions league run.
00:28:04
Speaker
The supporter shield is not lost yet, but it's definitely, you know, it's, it's, it's not where it I think it should be in terms of that race goes. And if they can, if they can turn this into something where,
00:28:17
Speaker
Yeah, let's make a run at the support. Let's make a run at the playoffs. Let's do all these kind of things. That's great. But if this ends up, the if the highlight of 2025 ends up being you played three games in the Club World Cup and you lost all three of them, that sucks.
00:28:32
Speaker
you know Yeah, it's not great. Let's not do that. Yeah, for sure. um I will say i was, I think, pretty skeptical, it's fair to say, of this tournament yeah coming into it.
00:28:44
Speaker
And I think that the thing that's really stood out for me and has has made it a little more intriguing is that the European teams just haven't dominated like I think people expected them to. yeah you had You had two European teams not make it out of the group stage in Porto and Atletico.
00:29:00
Speaker
Porto... um porto I think is really shocking because that group was not, it wasn't bad necessarily, but like Al Ali, Palmaris palm harrison enter Miami. I think the Sounders would have taken that draw.
00:29:15
Speaker
and Yeah, I think that, yeah, absolutely. um And so to not get out of that group is pretty surprising. um Atletico, I think not getting out was surprising. Botafogo, I don't think that I was necessarily wrong about,
00:29:31
Speaker
soophogo and what their level was at, but where it was in relation to the the other two teams in the group that weren't the Sounders, obviously, um was maybe misguided. I mean, they beat PSG Fair in square um and and they hung with Atletico, did enough to get through.
00:29:51
Speaker
And so that you know that's that's surprising. and And I think that if... ah you're You're never going to convince me that the soccer being played in Brazil or Argentina or, you know, and pretty much anywhere else is as good as like the last eight of the Champions League, the you the Champions League.
00:30:14
Speaker
Those elite teams, I think, are just clearly a level above. But I'm not convinced that like... you know, that second tier of European team, even in the big leagues is is can really be taken for granted to be better than the Brazilian leagues or the best Argentinian teams or, um you know, or wherever it might be. And that's, that's interesting. Like that's something I'd kind of like to see play out a little bit more often.
00:30:41
Speaker
um So in that sense, they've convinced me that maybe there's a reason for this tournament to exist, which is a big change from, you know, where I was coming into it.
The Club World Cup's Evolution and Impact
00:30:50
Speaker
yeah, you know, that's, that's gotta feel like a win for them.
00:30:55
Speaker
Yeah. Well, and we'll do a whole, we're going to do a whole segment, I think on our main takeaways from that. We're going to power rank our takeaways from this tournament. And so we'll have a little bit more time to to dwell on this, but I agree with you. I think that the, that, that the exist, this feels like a tournament that's worthy of existence.
00:31:17
Speaker
I think that at this point, my sense is the European teams that are pushing back against this are more, it's more, it, that's more about money than, then the existence of this tournament. that makes sense. Like they, the reason they are against this tournament has more to do with just wanting to fight off the competition than it has to do with sporting merit, I guess is what I'm saying.
00:31:46
Speaker
ah yeah Like, I think there is like I think UEFA is probably a little worried that this could, but not right away. It's not right now. like the Let's be real. The Champions League is the bet is the top competition in the world right now.
00:32:00
Speaker
But it's not that hard to see a future, you know, 10, 15, 20 years down the line where you go. ah No, the Club World Cup is actually the. the most compelling tournament that we play, ah you know, assuming, assuming the world exists then.
00:32:19
Speaker
Right. I mean, what it going to say? No, you really can't. But what does it say about, you know, where UEFA is in relation to everybody else? If River Plate enter tomorrow and yeah the Champions League runner up doesn't get out of the group stage.
00:32:35
Speaker
ah so like weird stuff happens and knockout competitions. Some of the best teams in the world get knocked out of the world, the, the regular world cup, uh, stage because they get weird results. So it, it doesn't prove anything necessarily, but it certainly suggests to me that, you know, that gap is just not maybe what it's made out to be.
00:32:56
Speaker
I, I totally think that's, that's totally true. Um, Yeah, I mean, as it is, Inter has already drawn... who they They drew Monterey?
00:33:09
Speaker
and guess they drew Monterey, which... Yeah. Tells you something. Yeah, this river... I might actually go to this river Inter game. I'm trying to talk Juana. a fun game, I think. Yeah, yeah i am I went to the Urwa...
00:33:24
Speaker
uh, or a river game. And that was awesome. Like I, I would, I really want to go to Japan and watch some more soccer. Cause that was, that was a lot of fun. Um, but yeah, I mean, not none of the, really the,
00:33:40
Speaker
you know, the only group that was really dominated by European teams was the ah Group G, which was Juventus, Man City, Wydad, and Ain.
00:33:54
Speaker
And yeah that is, other than that, the European teams have not really run rampant at all. Right.
00:34:05
Speaker
Yeah. And I mean, I think... I definitely think that if you were going to say what is the the weakest region coming into the tournament, that would have been about what I would have said club wise, I think, you know?
00:34:23
Speaker
Yeah. um So ah maybe not, maybe not super shocking. Like I would have loved to have seen Juventus play Palmeiras or something. You know, I think that would have been. That's not great. And maybe we will. And then in the knockouts.
00:34:36
Speaker
So. Right. Yeah. um Yeah. I'm now realizing that there is a chance that the Sounders could finish. Could finish last.
00:34:48
Speaker
There in this turn. I think it's a slim chance, though. Well, L.A. would have to. If L.A. were to get a point against Y. Dad, even though. That was possible.
00:35:00
Speaker
Although. Yeah, so the like if if if there's no winless team if there's no pointless team out of group, Group G is definitely the Sounders' best chance to avoid last. Like, if there's a winner in that White Ad Allying game, the Sounders will not finish last.
00:35:16
Speaker
So that's, yeah you know, we'll take that for some. But, I mean, i there's also a chance that, like, five teams could finish below them. So we'll see. Right. Yeah. you know, we all know.
00:35:29
Speaker
We all know what happened in the actual games, room right? Right. Exactly. Exactly. i I think it actually says so that if the worst team ends up with a negative five, like a negative five goal difference, that's pretty good.
00:35:42
Speaker
Like that's a pretty good, you know, in Auckland really blew it for us. Right. I was going to say like, but Auckland getting a point against Boca Juniors. Now, granted, that was a weird situation.
00:35:54
Speaker
That was also weird because by the time that game finished, the group was dusted. ah Because of a rain delay, when Benfica beat Bayern, they essentially clinched their spot in the in the knockout round, which may which ah which made the Boca Juniors-Auckland result totally meaningless.
00:36:15
Speaker
That said, Auckland getting a point on Boca Juniors, pretty good. Like that's, yeah, I think that speaks well to the, ah again, like Auckland city, easily the worst team in this tournament. I think that's fair to say they are a semi-professional team.
00:36:33
Speaker
I think you could make an argument that their inclusion in it is probably tenuous. I would imagine that there's a possibility that in future versions of this tuner tournament, Oceana will not be guaranteed a spot, but they got a point.
00:36:50
Speaker
Yeah. You know, give them credit. Right. Because that's I always forget that that Australia plays in Asia. That's right. So there are no professional teams playing in Oceania.
00:37:01
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. I think I think they should get to go. who Who's it hurting? You know, what are you going to You're going bring in another mediocre European game? Like, well, I mean, I would hope you would. My my hope ah we don't have to get too into this, but my hope is that we don't, I don't think we need 12 guaranteed spots for Europe either. I think I would much rather see those spots go to, you know, a fifth African team or a fifth Asian team or, yeah you know, a fit, like a guaranteed, a fifth CONCACAF team. Like I would, I think there's room for playoffs for some of these games where, you know, kind of like what, what LAFC and club America did where, but maybe you do it over, you know, internationally or something like that.
00:37:41
Speaker
Right. maybe we're overthinking this, but I, I do like the idea of turning this tournament into something where it is, it's more inclusive of the whole world. Yeah, I do too. I think that I understand wanting it to be sort of Europe heavy for this edition of it, but I think, you know, it's, I mean, if you if you're Europe heavy, just so you can get RB Salzburg or,
00:38:08
Speaker
ah or a either of these Portuguese teams in, and I'm not that, like, I don't think the tournament is worse if you don't have, if you don't, honestly, you I don't think the tournament is appreciably worth it. I mean, Benfica did well in this tournament, so I'm not trying to like crap on them, but Porto, like Porto.
00:38:28
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Does Porto and need to be in this tournament? No, I don't think they do. Yeah. they And RB Salzburg is going to pause, you know, they're going finish second in their group.
00:38:39
Speaker
Maybe, I guess they can still get knocked out. Oh, is that? I don't know. That'll be interesting. Anyway. um That's a good place. We'll call this a segment. We're going come back. We're going to talk. We're going to power rank our big takeaways from this tournament.
00:38:53
Speaker
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Speaker
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00:41:48
Speaker
Welcome back to Nos Adietes. So we're going to do a power ranking is of sorts of the top five takeaways we had from this tournament.
00:41:59
Speaker
And usually we, we, uh,
00:42:03
Speaker
We disagree somewhat on these things, but this time just for the sake of brevity, we when we did but kind of agree on these five. So you want start? What's our number five? So we're going to go five, four, three, two, one, like usual. What's your number five? Yeah.
00:42:21
Speaker
So number five is the gap between the Confederations isn't as big as previously assumed. We did talk about this a bit before, but we did. Yeah. Yeah. But I think that's a it's an important takeaway. I think it's a relevant takeaway because I think you could probably put most of the South American teams if and and frankly, some of the other teams as well into Champions League.
00:42:46
Speaker
And I don't know how many of them are going to contend to win. But i don't I think you could you could definitely see a lot of these teams competing in Champions League, certainly in the early stages.
00:42:59
Speaker
i think you i think some of these Brazilian teams could compete deep into the tournament. I don't i don't think it's that far-fetched. If one of these Brazilian teams wins this tournament, I will not be surprised at all. i mean i i maybe I took a little bit of heat for predicting...
00:43:18
Speaker
that they do really well at the beginning of this tournament. But I, I do think, you know, they've been the, that's been the most impressive thing so far, I think. Yeah, I've, I've been, i was definitely more skeptical of the Brazilian teams than you were. And and I've been really surprised by, by how good they've looked.
00:43:36
Speaker
um I think that they're, pretty clearly the the class of the Americas at this point. um It was always sort of between them and Argentina and and i guess at certain points in Mexico.
00:43:47
Speaker
But I think Brazil is definitely a clear, you know, level ahead. they've been They've been really, really good in this tournament. Yeah. And honestly, like, I don't, I think the one of the telling things about this tournament is that
00:44:02
Speaker
Other than Auckland, no one's been getting just run off the field. I guess LA had a had a and a rough one against Juventus, but it's it's been pretty mostly competitive games.
00:44:15
Speaker
ah Maybe not the highest level soccer, but look, the World Cup isn't the highest level soccer either. And i think where it'll be interesting is when we get down to the you know the quarterfinals, are we seeing...
00:44:30
Speaker
you know, if it's, let's just say it's, it's six and six Europeans and two South American teams, or heck, maybe it's four and four, I don't know. But are those games competitive? Are those games fun? Are they a high level?
00:44:43
Speaker
And that's where it will get in. That's where I think we'll really get a sense of the juice this tournament potentially has. For sure. Yeah, for sure.
00:44:55
Speaker
All right. well number four was, and I like this was one of you your idea on this one, but I thought this was a really astute observation, is that there are a lot of soccer fans in this region that the Sounders aren't currently reaching.
00:45:08
Speaker
What made you say that? what what where yeah like I agree with you, but what where where do you get that? I just think the crowd at the PSG, you know, at the game yesterday was ah obviously maybe there are some people that are traveling for this tournament, but but I don't think it's.
00:45:23
Speaker
I don't think that's who PSG fans were. No. Yeah. I mean, I think, you know, maybe there's people who are big PSG fans that live in Portland or even L.A. or something who who made the trip up here. Maybe.
00:45:35
Speaker
But. Not as many as as I saw, right? Like there were 20,000 people that did that. and And there were just, you know, I go I go to a lot of games.
00:45:46
Speaker
I know what the crowd at a typical Sounders game looks like. The crowd at this game was younger. There were a lot of people in there in their twenty s um There were a lot of people who were just not your typical Sounders yeah audience.
00:46:00
Speaker
um Much more multicultural, much more multicultural. Yeah, much more multicultural. um You know, I heard probably ten different languages just in my section being spoken.
00:46:11
Speaker
um And, you know, you're not going to get all those people, right? There are some people who just don't care about soccer that's not played at the highest level. um There are some people who are interested in a big event, but, you know, aren't going become ah regular, like they're just never going to be a Sounders fan for whatever reason.
00:46:32
Speaker
But man, if you get like 10% of that audience, you know, to to become... not even a diehard Sounders fan, but just somebody that maybe goes to a couple games a year, I think you go a long way towards reversing your attendance trend. And and I'm hoping that...
00:46:49
Speaker
you know, the soccer that the Sounders played for for those folks was good enough that they don't view it as a waste of time. um And, you know, that they were able to enjoy the game day experience enough that they they're willing to give Sounders games chances or a chance. I know the Sounders did a a decent job of, um you know, having ads for the first games on us stuff around the stadium. And um so I've noticed an uptick in like just advertising from them in general. So,
00:47:18
Speaker
I think if they can tap into some of that that, that could be huge. And I think that alone would justify Sounders being one of the hosts of the tournament, Seattle being one of the hosts, if they could if they could convert some of those folks into fans.
00:47:31
Speaker
um But I think it would also just make the fan base a little more interesting. um it would be a little less you know the same people that have been going to games since 2009. So hopeful maybe um so you know i'm i'm i'm hopeful maybe that they can tap into some of that.
00:47:48
Speaker
Yeah. The Seattle times actually had a story today that was talking about in-person events, in-person attractions and the increase or decrease in, in locals going to those events and spaces.
00:48:05
Speaker
And, you know ah you know, like the aquarium had this huge increase from 20, it was basically comparing pre COVID to, now. Yeah. And the Sounders were on that list as one of the biggest declines.
00:48:18
Speaker
And they are down about 25% of people who said they had been to at least one game. And that mirrors very closely their overall attendance decline in the same period. almost It's almost exactly the same, in fact.
00:48:30
Speaker
yeah And I think it underscores that the Sounders really... this was in its this is a little bit this is not the Sounders' fault, and it is a little bit of a shame. that they were forced to play defense so much over the last, you know, the two weeks, three weeks leading into this tournament because of FIFA's ass dying ticketing strategy, which will have another, which is a good transition into the next point.
00:48:56
Speaker
But The Sounders, instead of sort of like promoting this and being on top of it and being able to say like, hey, and we saw that you bought a PSG ticket. You should come to a Sounders game.
00:49:07
Speaker
Instead, they were like, we saw you bought a PSG ticket. We're sorry that you got gouged. Right. And it's kind of a ah bummer that they had this really great opportunity, I think, in the buildup to this that got completely wasted. But they in that to their defense, to their credit, I thought they did a really good job of activating the spaces around the stadium.
00:49:31
Speaker
ah you know, before and now, you know especially before the games that like I went through the FanFest, all three games, I thought they were lively. They were interesting. You know, they were in some, they opened up some ah retail spaces that were ah otherwise not being used.
00:49:49
Speaker
thought that was all very good. I'll tell you another thing um I'm hopeful for, and i I would like to think this is going to happen, is during the World Cup, man, they should absolutely close Occidental in front of the stadium to yeah traffic. like That should just be a fan space. I hope that they can sort of turn that into a big beer garden. Hopefully they can maybe put some bathrooms in and...
00:50:10
Speaker
Man, why not just make that a permanent pedestrian space? There's no reason that needs to be a street like there no no one really uses it. It's not that practical aside from being for deliveries and whatnot.
00:50:24
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, I would love that, man. I would just love it if they could close that street permanently and just have it be a pedestrian street. Yeah, i like be that that's what I'm saying. Exactly. I think that would be a very, very smart thing to do.
00:50:37
Speaker
um It would. Yeah. It's when you have actual street life for events like this, you realize how great it is and how much just it more connected to the city you feel and and other people. It's pretty, pretty nice.
00:50:50
Speaker
Yeah. ah So number three on the list, the demand was there, as I think we saw from from the crowd sizes, much bigger than I expected, but not at the initial price point. No, I think that was maybe the single biggest takeaway in terms of what this means for, or what I hope it, I hope the message that FIFA takes away from this is that they're,
00:51:15
Speaker
ticketing strategy for this tournament could barely have been worse. Like yeah they, and in a lot of ways it was sort of like the original sin. Like once they botched the rollout of the tickets so badly, it was kind of a miracle that it recovered as much as it did. And I, don't know how much, you know, how many tickets had to be given away or any of that kind of stuff.
00:51:36
Speaker
I like the, the attendance numbers, frankly, struck me as a little low, ah like I compared to what it felt like was in the stadium, like, ah which is a weird thing to say. i don't think I've ever said that for a Sounders game where i said, well, it actually feels like there's more people here than, than the a announced an announced attendance, but almost, I think all three Sounders games, I was like, I don't know. It looks like more people than what they're announcing.
00:51:59
Speaker
Um, yeah, but yeah, I think the, I think this is like the American soccer fan is much more price conscious, especially in 2025. Then I think FIFA realized.
00:52:14
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, I think that, um, it, I don't really want to think about what I paid for the PSG tickets because I got them when I did because they they needed to be a Christmas present. And so I just had to to pay the full price.
00:52:27
Speaker
Right. um And it was it was just too much money. It was way too much money. I knew it at the time. I knew it in hindsight that it was too much money. um And that, you know, and so I was glad that they pivoted and and didn't dig their heels in and and say, nope, this is what the cost is going to be. We're not going to give away any tickets and realize that it's probably better for us to have a full house.
00:52:48
Speaker
um And it it was the stadium was as packed for that game as I can ever remember it being um outside of, you know, MLS Cup final and CCL final. Right. I mean, it was the most...
00:52:59
Speaker
there were more people this game. Even as announced, it was the biggest non-final crowd since 2017 for a Sounders game. Yeah. Both, both games.
00:53:10
Speaker
It was nice to have the upper levels open again and have like concessions open up there. That was was crazy. It felt like old times. um But they had to give away a lot of tickets. They had to cut the prices on a lot of tickets. They had to do bogos on a lot of tickets to get the people in there.
00:53:24
Speaker
um And, you know, it's just like this tournament is not what they... think it is yet and maybe it can get there at some point maybe it can be as big a deal or close to as big a deal as the is the national team world cup maybe there's a reality where that's the case um but it's not yet i think a lot of people are viewing these games as not quite friendlies but also not you know a real competition that they're super invested in
00:53:56
Speaker
they They wanted to charge premium prices for an unproven event. And yeah it's going to be interesting to see how it goes from here on out, because I suspect they have less built up sale Because the nature of this event is they don't know where anyone was going before, you know, before this thing.
00:54:19
Speaker
And so I'm sure there is some degree of traveling fans who bought like the whole package, but not enough to fill these stadiums. Like these stadiums are going to be really, really reliant on local fans buying tickets.
00:54:32
Speaker
And there is, i hope that FIFA has, come to its senses and is dramatically reducing the prices for the knockout rounds. Cause if they think people are going to be spending $500 to go see Boca juniors play or whatever book juniors is out, but to see RB Salzburg play man city, they are crazy. That's just not going to happen.
00:54:56
Speaker
What if you had to take a guess, what would you guess the get in price for the champions league final was? ah the get in price, I don't know, probably 250 bucks or something. I don't know. $105, $105. Now, obviously those are, those are supporters tickets and you can pay but insane amount of money. Right.
00:55:19
Speaker
But like even the, the category two tickets are like less, I think less than $200 for the championship final. And that's more than what the PSG tickets went on sale for originally.
00:55:32
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, yeah, it's way less. 205. the second cheapest ticket for the Champions League final is $205. Yeah. I mean, but that's arguably the biggest game in the world.
00:55:45
Speaker
Yeah. And those, you know, that's like ah roughly equivalent equivalent to where my seats were and my seats weren't $200, but they weren't. ah The difference between $200 and what I paid is not big enough for my liking.
00:55:58
Speaker
I'll just say that. So. um Yeah, it's what are what are we doing with with this pricing? I think that if they had come out of the gate with, you know, the get in prices, 50 bucks, and you can get pretty decent seats for 100 bucks.
00:56:16
Speaker
I think they sell the stadium out probably for the for the PSG game. Maybe. yeah Yeah. I mean, it and that's it. It is kind of, that is, I guess, to the degree that it's the bummer is that as good as the turnout was, I thought for all three games, it should have been better.
00:56:34
Speaker
It should, they these probably should have been all three sellouts. Like the, the opportunity to watch the Sounders play home games in the club world cup is potentially a once in a lifetime opportunity.
00:56:47
Speaker
and,
00:56:50
Speaker
it's too bad that it was priced in a way that almost that there was a lot of like, uh, telling and not showing like tell they, they were telling us this is a once in a lifetime opportunity instead of like letting it be one, you know? Um, and, and also is it a once in a lifetime? memory Like, don't you want to make this thing a ah real thing? I know that's the thing, right?
00:57:13
Speaker
But yeah.
00:57:16
Speaker
Yeah. Uh, all right. So number two, Let's be real. FIFA can put on a show. There were a lot of problems with this thing. Yeah. But the show itself was not one of them.
00:57:29
Speaker
No, it was. It just definitely felt polished in a way that, you know. frankly, like no American sporting events that I've been to do. Like it just felt like i the kind of big deal that they want it to be in terms of the presentation.
00:57:46
Speaker
Some of the stuff was a little cheesy, little cringy. Yeah, like the announcer shit was kind of annoying. The player by player introductions was... But... like ah I can't say that it didn't make it like that. It made it feel less of a big deal.
00:58:02
Speaker
Like, I agree. um And, you know, the the I thought they did a great job. um, making it feel like a big event in Occidental Square. mean, how nice was it to go to a Sounders game again? And there's stuff happening in Occidental Square. I know. like how much, how much did you miss that? You know, having, having a band play, having, you know, the, the pitch for the kids.
00:58:23
Speaker
Um, it was great. It was great having all the, yeah. Beer garden, having all this stuff set up in the, uh, in the, you know, in the, uh, courtyard, um yeah yeah lumen um it just it felt like an event and it felt special in a way that sounders games just frankly haven't felt special in a long time ah obviously the sounders cannot go all out like that for every game it's just not economically feasible ah most of the season is during horrible weather so nobody would be hanging out in occidental square
00:58:56
Speaker
but It definitely felt like an event in a way that, you know, is is kind of rare and felt big time. And it was it was cool. The environment was cool. The vibes were cool.
00:59:08
Speaker
Yeah, let's let's like repeat this. One of these games was at 3 o'clock on a Thursday. Another game was at noon on a Monday. And sure, the Thursday game was Juneteenth, and the Monday game was the like the first kind of the first day of summer ah school has gotten gotten out.
00:59:24
Speaker
So there was some timing issues that worked in their favor. But the idea that no one wants to go downtown, and that's sort of like why the Sounders have had to pull back on some of their their promotions just doesn't ah to me this sort of pulled like nah I mean if you make an event people will come and yeah I don't know i just I thought ah it felt great I I ended up riding my bike on the waterfront before and after every game and it was lively it was active I think the sounders probably need to figure out how to lean into that how to connect sort of their game day experience all the way out to the waterfront
01:00:06
Speaker
i But i I came away from this um honestly more encouraged about the about the next summer's World Cup than I was way more.
01:00:20
Speaker
and that and like i got on And the idea that this is FIFA putting on a show. I'm like, don't get me wrong. i My eyes are open. Yeah.
01:00:32
Speaker
There's going to be a lot that's going to be really annoying. You know, I'm not looking forward to the security theater stuff that's going to be going on yeah next summer. I'm not looking forward to the traffic and the increase in, you know, tourism that's going to maybe feel a little too much.
01:00:50
Speaker
But I'm like genuinely stoked to see what... what Seattle center looks like when FIFA fest kind of comes to town. I'm excited to feel like the energy in the city when this is going, when, when, and when you know, we've got actual world cup games going on here.
01:01:07
Speaker
Uh, you know, I'm, I don't think I was feeling any of that, frankly, before this tournament. And, And I think I, FIFA is a problematic organization. I'm not gonna pretend otherwise, but man, the reality is that they, they do understand how to make an event feel big and important.
01:01:29
Speaker
Yeah. I would say that I am at a point where my concerns about the world cup are primarily existential, right? They're not, um they are things that aren't really in FIFA's control.
01:01:42
Speaker
Um, And yeah I just, I'm not going to think about it because what can I do about it? You know, but, uh, yeah, it's, I think that assuming, you know, things go off as planned, um, and and I don't really see any reason to think that they won't, uh, I would maybe not be as optimistic if I were in Florida or, you know, something like that. But, uh, you know, I, I think, uh,
01:02:11
Speaker
Yeah, I think it'll I think it'll be a good time. And I was just so impressed with how. i think it's you just kind of forget that, like what you can do with that much money.
01:02:22
Speaker
right? Like it's just, it's, it is, it is really impressive. um The production values that can. Yeah. And we'll move on from this, but the other thing that i was actually really like the number of volunteers that they had and yeah sort of like the way that the events were staffed as overkill as they were, it did make it feel like a big, like there were volunteers to have everywhere, man.
01:02:50
Speaker
Yeah. It was crazy. Yeah, it was crazy. it was very obvious to know where you were supposed to go. you didn't have to ask anybody like what you're supposed to do going through security. There was no idea. It was pretty easy right?
01:03:06
Speaker
That's what I i was a breeze for that many people. Look, man, I was i laughed when I saw their security set up and said, oh, this is going to be a ah nightmare. I mean, look, and they kind of know what they're doing with this kind of stuff. I hate to say it. I hate to hand it to them, but they're pretty good at at organizing this stuff.
01:03:24
Speaker
um Like what was better? What made the ingress and egress better, do you think? with Because I know they had turns like the turnstiles I thought theoretically would slow things down, but that doesn't seem to have been the case at all.
01:03:37
Speaker
I mean, i it just felt like they had like 10 times as many points of ingress to me. Like instead of one like one place to scan your ticket. Right. There were multiple places that you could go through.
01:03:50
Speaker
um Everybody knew exactly what gate to go to. um And also, I mean, look, the reality of this is like... there is a security panopticon doing a lot of the heavy lifting for their screening.
01:04:03
Speaker
So it's kind of a breeze to get through security because they've got other resources trying to figure out whether or not you are somebody they need to be concerned about. And that's, you know, it is what it is, but ah it certainly does, you know, ease some of the friction.
01:04:19
Speaker
um But yeah, I mean, it was once you were in the stadium, like the signage was great. You knew exactly where you were supposed to go. Are those touch screens that, you can like look up where your section is and how to get to your section. Did they put those in specifically for the, for, for the club world cup? Cause I hadn't seen those before, but I usually just go straight to my seat.
01:04:38
Speaker
I'm the wrong person to ask, but I feel like those maybe are there already. i think most of what people put up was like fixed signage, like, uh, like yeah static signage.
01:04:53
Speaker
Yeah, well, I'm wondering if those were part of the remodeling for the World Cup potentially. Yeah, that could be. But in any case, it was a really... What do they call Fanovations.
01:05:08
Speaker
Oh, I like that. That's nice. um Yeah, it was it was a really well-produced show. ah you got to You got to give them their credit. All right, for number one, and I think this is...
01:05:20
Speaker
kind of puts a bow on everything. This tournament justified its continued existence. Yeah, i I think again, coming into this, I thought maybe 50-50 that this is a one-off event.
01:05:32
Speaker
ah I thought ticket sales were going to be bad. one was going to pay attention. And it was going to be tough to justify doing it again.
01:05:43
Speaker
And look, a lot can still go wrong. The reality is that this thing is on DAZN. I don't know how many people are watching it. But... And maybe once it's not in Seattle, it will feel more out of sight and out of mind.
01:05:58
Speaker
But as we sit here with... you know what ah what We got three days left of group stage play, I think. Yeah. It feels like it's here to stay. And it feels... And I don't mind that.
01:06:14
Speaker
Like, I... if, if this thing goes off in 2029 and the sounders aren't in it, which, you know, obviously a distinct possibility, I'm going feel left at, you know, it's going to feel like I got left out. You know, I, yeah I, I would love to be back in this thing. i I think it's, I think it's ah a tournament that has a lot of potential for, for being fun and interesting.
01:06:38
Speaker
ah And if the, it would be a real shame if the United States ends up getting shut out, if it not just the Sounders, but if MLS doesn't have a entry in this thing, although I think there's probably a good chance it's going to be in the United States again, because I don't frankly know where else is really capable of hosting it.
01:06:56
Speaker
But um yeah, i mean, hell, if they did this in Japan, let's just say Japan was hosting it in 2029. I'd interested in trying go.
01:07:08
Speaker
i'd be interested in trying to go Yeah, if the Sounders were playing, sure. Yeah. um Yeah, I it's it is. I do think that having it every four years is key to its relevance. Oh, I do not have any interest.
01:07:24
Speaker
I think the fact that it's been, um you know, that that it has been. um Yearly is one of the reasons that it hasn't.
01:07:35
Speaker
you know resonated hasn't hasn't caught on yeah it hasn't caught on as of yet so well just always felt like such a unnecessary add-on to a long season and at least now there's more justification for being an add-on to the to a long season yeah Yeah, it's, ah you know, it'll be interesting, i think, to see what this looks like in 2029 if they do.
01:08:03
Speaker
I don't see any reason to think they wouldn't have it again. i think that um I've been surprised by some of the attendance numbers. I don't think there have been any games that have been, you know, terrible necessarily. I mean, if you if you look at the attendance for the previous tournaments, I mean, you there you had games with like 1,500 people at them. So I don't think you've had anything like that.
01:08:25
Speaker
um for for these games so yeah it's been it's been uh you know it's never gonna be i won't say never it's gonna take a lot for it to become something that i am always invested in right like i it's almost impossible for me to see this becoming something i get as excited about as i do the the world cup um But I could see it becoming something that I'm as interested in as the Olympics where it's like, oh, yeah, that's right. That's happening. I'll throw that on, you know, um they're going to have to get off of the zone because I don't um don't want to pay for zone.
01:09:02
Speaker
ah Yeah, I would rather not do that. Yeah. I like you broke down and finally purchased the one month subscription to DAZN. Oh, I got it. As soon as I saw a screenshot of what it looked like when you didn't have to or when you weren't paying for it, I said, i will be paying my money four dollars or whatever. Yeah, I am not.
01:09:26
Speaker
I'm not going to sit here and chill. Good. Sorry. to Sorry. Who was ever wanted to watch something with comments? I don't know. Who's that for? I don't know who that's for, but that's horrible. ah it is like a torture it's It's almost like there to torture you for using the free subscription.
01:09:45
Speaker
yeah If people don't know, like I'm not going to sit here and say you should go get the pay that whatever $25 it costs to get to zone for the month. But if you're going to watch the tournament, It's worth it. Like I, yeah. ah Like that feels like a lot of money to spend just to watch this thing. But if you are invested in watching it, it's so much better.
01:10:08
Speaker
Like you can watch replays, you can rewind it, you can watch it later. ah But then there's all this other stuff that you don't have to deal with. It's the video quality is better. The video quality is better.
01:10:20
Speaker
You're right. Like much better. Not even, not even close. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I don't think I really appreciated that, uh, fully until I was, cause most of the games I had watched were in the press box. So I was watching like the feed up here and it was essentially the, the real fee, like the, the paid fee that we got to watch.
01:10:45
Speaker
And then I tried to watch a game at home and I'm like, Oh, wait a minute. This is a disaster. Yeah. It's, it's really, really bad. Um, uh, With all that being said, I did just you said the words of the zone and I said I need to cancel that right now because I don't want to pay.
01:11:02
Speaker
I'm happy I paid for it for for the month. But, you know. Yeah. for There's no reason to have this beyond that. i agree. All right. Well, I think we we did it. We we got through another episode.
01:11:15
Speaker
ah Aaron. Thank you for hanging out. I don't remember last time. I guess it's been a couple weeks since you and I recorded together. been a couple weeks. Yeah, it has.
01:11:27
Speaker
But we we're now back to the MLS season. It's going to feel a little weird right better for worse. Better or for worse. ah With all that said, ah i am Jeremiah Oshian signing off. Or I should say thank you to our sponsor, Full Pool Wines.
01:11:46
Speaker
Thank you to subscribers for continuing to subscribe. We hopefully have some some new ones. we We got something like 500 entries. We gave some tickets away for the PSG game. We got 500 different people entered that contest. It was pretty wild.
01:12:01
Speaker
But anyway, ah thank you for listening. I am Jeremiah Cheyenne, signing off for Aaron Campo and Lickit. This is No Study Yet Dis. And remember, you'll never get alone.
01:12:14
Speaker
right.
01:12:36
Speaker
I expect the LAFC who is motivated ah to prove themselves at home, to prove to their fans that they' they're capable of winning in this league. And it's up to us to really ruin the party.
01:12:52
Speaker
i feel a lot better than