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Kickoff: Sounders Make International Headlines with Cruz Azul Beatdown
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Seattle got Leagues Cup 2025 Phase One off to a roaring start with Thursday's historic 7-0 demolition of Cruz Azul that made waves across Concacaf. With Santos Laguna up next on a short turnaround, we lay down a special Saturday edition of Lobbing Scorchers Kickoff discussing the seismic victory and look ahead to Sunday's follow-up clash at Lumen Field.
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Lobbing Scorchers Kickoff is a Seattle Sounders and MLS focused live morning show. Join Ari Liljenwall and Niko Moreno live on YouTube every Monday, at 8am Pacific to kickoff your week with the inside scoop on the Seattle Sounders and Major League Soccer. Hosted by Major League Soccer's Ari Liljenwall and Pulso Sports' Niko Moreno. Grab a coffee as we talk about the American soccer landscape, Seattle Sounders, Major League Soccer, USMNT and more.
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Transcript
Introduction & Episode Context
00:00:00
Speaker
This episode of Lobbing Scorchers was previously recorded and streamed live on YouTube.com slash at Lobbing Scorchers. If you want to listen or catch these episodes live, see the video, and see all the rest of our content, go to YouTube.com slash at Lobbing Scorchers or LobbingScorchers.com slash YouTube.
00:00:22
Speaker
Well sir, we got a scorcher today. Gonna be real scorcher today. Why the scorcher today? Well it's gonna be a scorcher.
Seattle Sounders' Historic Victory
00:00:43
Speaker
Good morning, everybody, and welcome in to a very special, impromptu Saturday edition of Lobbing Scorchers Kickoff. I'm Ari, that's Nico, and ah with the Seattle Sounders making international headlines with a 7-0 victory over Cruz Azul in Leagues Cup Phase 1, I'm Ari.
00:01:04
Speaker
we decided we should probably lay down a show before, Seattle gets back to action Lumen field against Santos Laguna, uh, as leagues cup continues tomorrow.
00:01:15
Speaker
Uh, so Nico, how you feeling? Thanks for hopping on. Hey, what's going on, Ari? Happy to be on. I'm kind of curious to see what the fan base is doing today, Saturday at 8.
00:01:30
Speaker
But if they don't catch us now, they'll catch us later. But we need to put it down. Like you said, look, we don't get this sort of scoreline ever, really. the The biggest lead, biggest win for the Seattle Sounders, ah very likely, or at least for me.
00:01:46
Speaker
the the best, most complete game I've ever seen from the Seattle Sounders. So you got to be out there. We got to be providing more content, especially when, you know, we got short timing between games. We got Santos Laguna on Sunday night.
00:02:01
Speaker
So I thought it made a lot of sense. I'm ready to go now. Yeah, no, I had to get your take on ah on this game before they play the next one, because, you know, ah who knows what's going to happen with this Santos game.
00:02:15
Speaker
Narratives could change, so I had to catch up with you before before
Community Engagement & Promotions
00:02:20
Speaker
that happened. We got some good stuff planned. ah We're going to be getting Nico's takes on the 7-0. also...
00:02:27
Speaker
also ah have some ah some fun headlines from the media down in Mexico, which ah I'm sad to report that the that the pundits in Mexico, they're not happy about this.
00:02:40
Speaker
And they're very they're very outward about their displeasure with what took place at lumen field so uh we're gonna be looking at that and then we're gonna be uh doing some lineup building talking about how we think they uh could and should line it up for uh for santo so we're gonna uh we're gonna get to all that thank you all for uh tapping in before we do so if you could please like the video Sub
Ballard FC's Success & MLS vs Liga MX Rivalry
00:03:08
Speaker
to the channel.
00:03:09
Speaker
Follow us on all socials, including Instagram and TikTok. Lobbingscorchers.com slash sauce. Lobbingscorchers.com slash archive for your archive kit. And as always, if if you got any topics, questions, observations,
00:03:24
Speaker
agendas or grievances go ahead drop them in chat we'll get to as many as we can and as uh as joe points out ballard fc game day that's right they're playing in the usl league two national title game uh at i think it's uh 4 p.m kickoff in uh vermont so i'm definitely going to be watching that make sure and tune in and support uh ballard fc ah Yeah, a quick quick shameless plug. We had James Riley on our Friday show with Jeremiah. We got to talk to him a little bit about what it took to get there, the preparation to get the guys right as, of course, they travel across
00:04:08
Speaker
the states and they have to know how to do it right I mean obviously they're not an MLS team that's going to be charted the whole time so his coach is you know getting the guys there so it was it was really cool to hear from James Riley about the whole thing and how and what he expects out of that final Yeah, no, that whole project they got going has ah taken on like a whole nother life than I would have even anticipated when they first launched that club.
00:04:35
Speaker
I figured it would be successful, but and like in terms of the fan support, that doesn't surprise me as much. But in terms of the on-field dominance planned for their second natty in three years... ah They really, they're a well-oiled machine. So, and you know, we have, as some of you might know, a friendly wager with our friends at SoccerWise on that game.
00:04:56
Speaker
So it's pretty high stakes for us as well. All right, Nico, let's get into it because ah we got we got to talk about this 7-0 a little more. i mean, like you said, a lot of novelty to that scoreline, particularly when it comes to MLS clubs playing Liga and Meckie's teams.
00:05:12
Speaker
ah In fact, we have never seen scoreline that crooked. in a game like that. It's never happened. Historic in, uh, in every sense of the word and just, uh, just a crazy night at Lumen field.
00:05:23
Speaker
Why don't we get it started actually with a, uh, a question from chat just to get us rolling here. Pat's got one for Nico. He says, Nico, I'm sure you'll get to it, but I couldn't find a translation of the cruises will coaches post game presser.
00:05:38
Speaker
Do you know what he said about the sounders skill wise, et cetera? And yeah, I would, you were at that. You were, you asked him a question or two, ah why Why don't you ah give us his takes on the Sounders if you had any, but also just what's the yeah what was the vibe for a Liga Meckies coach who just got that job a few weeks ago at a presser where he just lost to an MLS club but in historic fashion, seven goals. what was ah What's his name, Nicholas?
00:06:03
Speaker
I can't remember. the kind of one Yeah. ah How was he doing? he I can't imagine he was doing that well. How was that presser? Look, Larcamón was as straight-faced and um accountable for what happened as any coach I've ever seen. i He knew he was going to get it in the chin, and he lifted it high and proud, and he just took it.
00:06:30
Speaker
And I've got to give him props for that. As a matter of fact, the PR ah person that was running the conference basically said, look, we got 10 minutes and there was a ton of people on Zoom.
00:06:44
Speaker
It was us in the press conference, and they were trying to keep it short because they kind of knew the exposure that he was going to be exposed to. And he literally was like, no, let's not – I don't want to do 10 minutes. I want to answer every question of any person that's in this chat.
00:07:00
Speaker
I want to take as long as people want just to, you know, get it out there. So that was the demeanor. It was clearly, you know, he was a serious dude. because of what happened he was more than aware that being the coach of La Maquina del Cruz Azul means something there's an expectation and Liga MX in general is a difficult place to just be a coach in right there's a lot of cutthroat business done Liga MX so um in terms of the sounders to the question he was very complimentary he did not want to focus on the
00:07:38
Speaker
turf or the travel. He just said, look, they were better than us. They were better than than us in every facet of the game. They scored um every type of goal that you could possibly score, you know, from transition play, from set pieces.
00:07:51
Speaker
They had the better attitude. They were just more more physical, they more dynamic. um He talked about how just the approach of of the players was just at a higher level.
00:08:04
Speaker
And that although he couldn't really point where things went wrong, ah because it's not usual to concede seven goals in a half, he wasn't going
Seattle's Defensive Strengths & Player Highlights
00:08:15
Speaker
to make any excuses. He didn't want to call it a a mistake or, you know, a lot of coaches will go that route. that are yeah You know, things just it so It was a mistake. It was a flu.
00:08:25
Speaker
Like he did not. He was just like, look, just one goal took to another. the team couldn't respond. And we just didn't have any answers for what they were throwing at us. So he was very complimentary of the players, ah very complimentary of the system and the approach. And ah he just took it like a like a real champ, man. I got to give it to him.
00:08:50
Speaker
He not only gave Seattle Duke credit, he just took accountability for everything. He said, know this is not me, and and the players are going to have to figure it out.
00:09:02
Speaker
I asked him because Noah had the very good idea reminding me that you know a scoreline like that can cost a coach his job in League MX.
00:09:16
Speaker
So my question to him was, you know, although you just started with the club, an alarming score line like this one usually you can either cost you job or it's going to put some real big pressure on your immediate scores here in League's Cup or just coming up.
00:09:38
Speaker
Then he admitted it. He said, yeah, you know, like I he he he he said, it's not about it's not something I can control. You know, it's not up to me. ah am trying to fight every day for this project.
00:09:50
Speaker
He said, as I mentioned, when I first arrived here, this is the biggest job of my career. And that's true. You know, uh, like, come on, he's a very interesting coach. He's a younger coach. It's kind of the Mac vase, you know, like the and NFL language. And he's like this cool young guy with some really progressive things that, um, his soccer is very, uh, attacking minded.
00:10:14
Speaker
And that was kind of the, um, Difference between him and Vicente Sanchez and why, as you mentioned, the front office is being in scolded because they had in Vicente Sanchez, a coach that maybe it was not as fun to watch, but the dude won.
00:10:32
Speaker
and He lost like three games his whole time. He was coaching them. but Not to mention that he took over for a guy that just bounced on the team. You know, and when Anselmi left the team, you know, two months in or like a month in, he was the one who took over and got the guys right.
00:10:50
Speaker
You know, your coach just bounced on you guys, but I'm here. And he wins Champions Cup. And then he's third in La Liga. The only reason why he lost to America in the playoffs was because, quite honestly, the refereeing was very poor and he was a casualty of a very circumstantial game. But he he was up there, man. He was one game from the final. So he gets let go because apparently there were some issues ah between him and the front office. they didn't see ito eye to eye.
00:11:25
Speaker
But a lot of people tend to say that it's because you had boring soccer. But look, man, boring soccer that, you know, gets results is a lot better than fun soccer that gets you smack seven zero.
00:11:39
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. Manny asks, knew who forgiven? i don't i don't know if he's ah fully forgiven, but I think he is definitely, ah he's he's doing the things that he needs to do to re-earn his his position, which is number one.
00:11:58
Speaker
not getting ejected every game. And, uh, number two, ah he played, he played very well in this game. knew who really, he could have two goal contributions. The one, uh, the one, the first one that Ferreira had, or the second one, actually that Ferreira had waved off knew who might've been just a little offside, but I thought he was on, I thought the CB had him on.
00:12:20
Speaker
So we could have had another assist there. of course he gets the goal, but then he also, uh, he was locking it down. So, uh, I think to me, like I know he had a, ah we all, we all know about the run that knew who had, was a very distinguished run of ah multiple red cards and ah crash outs on the field.
00:12:42
Speaker
But I don't think I don't, there was a lot of talk of like banishment from the squad and stuff like that. I don't, I don't think that run rose to that. So if he continues playing like he played in this game, I do still think that, uh,
00:12:57
Speaker
Nuhu is the pretty clear first choice left back on this team. Nico, do you see that any different? Nuhu's being forgiven, man. the reality is that until there is another player that can truly give Nuhu a battle for that position,
00:13:22
Speaker
is gonna continue to be new. Brian had kind of talked about it and mentioned it. And that's why I stand on the hill that this is new. who it's It's not gonna get any better. It's not gonna be a problem every game, but there's always gonna be that possibility of new who Being impulsive, you know, in this one, Jeremiah pointed out that there was a bit of a stiff arm situation on ah on a 50-50 ball. He told the line, told the line a little bit. you So those things are are going to be there.
00:13:53
Speaker
But the reality is that. Reed, as much as I love the guy, I love Reed. I love his potential. He's a guy with a lot of talent. He's a guy that clearly should have so the edge when it comes to the attacking output from that position.
00:14:13
Speaker
He just has not been consistent. And when he's had the chance, He hasn't been able to lock it down. And whether it is physically inability to just hold the workload and you know having concerns that you cannot do three games in a row, let's say, um or it's been injuries or it's been a poor game like the one he had in Atlanta, he just has not been able to lock that down. And at the end of the day, i still think that Nuhu makes you feel a little bit easier. when when
00:14:46
Speaker
we we were going into this Leagues Cup, I was 95% sure that knew who was going to be the guy that you were going to have against Cruz Azul, just in case ah you were going to need to fight it out and grind it out and and and have a lockdown defender on that end.
00:15:04
Speaker
And maybe allow the winger who at the time I thought was going to be Pedro, just do his thing on that side. So um all in all to the question, yes. And who's been forgiven? don't,
00:15:17
Speaker
I've never seen Brian even say anything close to going to give new and extended internal time off or you know what, I'm going to bench him to have him figure it out.
00:15:35
Speaker
He knew that he made a mistake. He was talked to. I thought that his weeks of training ah while he was suspended and then when he wasn't on the field as a starter were very good.
00:15:48
Speaker
And it all goes back
Tactical Analysis & Media Reactions
00:15:51
Speaker
to the talent and what you can do for the team. And that's why he's back. And I think he's going to continue it to be back. And I think he got his job back.
00:16:01
Speaker
Uh, let's hit a couple of, uh, these super chats here. Thanks for sending these in guys. Uh, we got a five from Jesse. Jesse, thank you so much for the support. He asks, was that hubris from, uh, Cruz Azul?
00:16:13
Speaker
Most coaches will shut down and pack the defense at four Oh to not be embarrassed. Did they go defensive at any point? I think you could, uh, you could go back even before it got out of hand to the four zero. Uh, if we want to talk about like, uh,
00:16:26
Speaker
ah hubris And i you know I don't know if that goes down to ah to the coach, but you could certainly sense from their players that they came into that game with a sense of like, we already own this team.
00:16:39
Speaker
We beat them in CCC. We're the Liga Mackey's team. We're going to... we're gonna come in here, impose our will, foul the hell out of, ah out of Ryan Kent and, and talk trash. they And they were doing all that.
00:16:53
Speaker
They were doing all that. And I think they ended up, they get it. They ended up getting shell shocked in that situation after the second half got out of control on him. But I definitely, I think, I think there was an element of hubris. That is the exact word that I would use.
00:17:10
Speaker
And that's part of what made it so so hilarious to watch in the second half because they did not like they didn't see that coming. ah What did you think of how they kind of went into this game ah against Seattle?
00:17:27
Speaker
Yeah, they they probably did underestimate the competition as much as no one would ever admit that from the Cruz Azul side. I think that in general senses, there is this lack of disrespe there's this lack of respect towards MLS teams in general. And you know the results have helped pretty good for MLS sides in League's Cup.
00:17:47
Speaker
ah But when you are one of the biggest teams Mexico, a team that, by the way,
00:17:57
Speaker
If you are into stats, I'm not a huge stats guy, but Opta, who writes statistics for FIFA and all of this other you know soccer activity, um they're the ones that do the ranking FIFA and a whole bunch of things. They had an article that basically ah indicated, not not indicated, it said that Cruz Azul was the best team away from European teams in the whole world because of the run they had with Anselmi and then with Vicente Sanchez. And statistically, i mean they were the best team outside of Europe.
00:18:35
Speaker
So, you know, when you have that sort of.
00:18:41
Speaker
I don't know what you'd call it, like recognition. can be easy to, I think, go into a game and just be like, I think that they put their better team out there, but I was surprised that Rotondi didn't start.
00:18:53
Speaker
Rotondi is their all-be-all fullback. He is the most experienced. He's the most effective. ah He's the smartest. And he didn't start this one, and that's when I was like, oh, that's interesting.
00:19:04
Speaker
um Jeremy Marquez was a guy that had worked out very well against Leon, over the weekend, I thought he was going to get the start as well, and he didn't. And Matius Bogus, who has had some injuries and physical concerns, he was supposed to be 100%, so I also thought that he might be more involved.
00:19:24
Speaker
And all those guys came in at some point, ah because to the second part of that question, Larcamón doesn't have that I'm just going to park the bus mentality in him that he is just is not in his scope.
00:19:41
Speaker
And that's kind of part of what people are criticizing on one end and then. At the same time, why the front office brought him on, which it's kind of ironic.
00:19:54
Speaker
ah So yes, they were never going to just shut it down. Three zero, four zero, five zero. They were still ah trying to push forward, push numbers there. The only one who had decency to stop the bleeding was the referee.
00:20:07
Speaker
The referee looked at the 91st minute and, you know, he called mercy rule, but he mercy ruled him. Mercy rule. He just called it. But other than that, it was just never going to be. And, and, and,
00:20:20
Speaker
I don't know if at that point is still, um you know, underestimating the opponent or feeling like you're still beyond them. I just think that that's just the way you play. That's just what we practice. That's just the system that we have.
00:20:35
Speaker
And you were just hoping it was over. And, you know, when Pedro de la Vega hits you with a beauty like he did, i mean, you just throw your hands up in the air and act like you just don't care.
00:20:48
Speaker
Yeah, i hadn't I hadn't heard that they'd been dubbed the ah the best club outside of Europe or whatever. But, I mean, we should we should be ah we shouldn't have make any bones about ah where that club stood going into that game. They have spent...
00:21:05
Speaker
ah upwards of $50 million dollars in the last like couple years on building what is supposed to be this like powerhouse roster in Liga Mechies.
00:21:16
Speaker
They were the number one They have the League's Cup ranking system. They were the number one seed. They just won CONCACAF Champions Cup earlier this year.
00:21:26
Speaker
So ah like any notion that they have been on the roster on the downturn or we're not supposed to be as powerful as they've been in the last couple years uh that is not that was not the perception going into this game and uh we're gonna look at a couple some of the coverage that they're that they're getting in a second here uh let's uh let's hit these next couple supers before we do that uh pat with the two dollars thank you says thanks for the detailed response nico nico always comes in with the uh detailed responses so Thanks for the question, Pat. Appreciate you.
00:21:59
Speaker
And then we got Joe with another $2. Joe, thank you. Appreciate you. What's your takes on Obed's game? He looked good. I've been i've been saying, Nico. I've been saying. I think he's leveling up.
00:22:10
Speaker
I think he's getting more powerful. I think he's evolving. I think in the last even like two, three weeks, um'm I'm noticing him trying more stuff, like different stuff than he even has before. I think he's adding stuff to his bag.
00:22:27
Speaker
And I really think that we are, just in this last period of time here, including this game, we are almost seeing him reach another level. And I think you saw that in this game.
00:22:39
Speaker
ah He was pretty much... flawless. Like it felt like every time he got on the ball, something good was happening. and ah His ball progression was fantastic. He gets the goal. I mean, the price the price went up. do would you Would you agree that he's almost, ah he's he's and audacious was the word that I was using to describe it when I was trying to think of the right word a couple days ago. Like, I feel like he's ah it's like he's gaining even more confidence.
00:23:07
Speaker
Yeah. Yes, I think in MLS play, he has been a little irregular. And I think that that comes from a lot of ah minutes, specifically late.
00:23:21
Speaker
But know Ovid Vargas and Ovid Vargas holds himself to a whole different standard. And if we think that he had a
00:23:35
Speaker
medium game against a mid game against Atlanta, or we thought that he had some easy giveaways or bad passes against Colorado. He is going to completely look at that, dissect it, figure out what I got to do right, what I got to do wrong.
00:23:53
Speaker
and he's to Anytime you talk to Ovid, he is the first one to say, Even if you tell him hey that was a good play is again, but I had just lost the ball, so I had to hurry we up back get that ball back figure it out he's always very self critical and I love that about so going into this leaks cup, although he'll probably never admitted I do feel like.
00:24:15
Speaker
He wanted Club World Cup to be his Club World Cup, and itr really it really – it necessarily wasn't. um He kind of mentioned that he didn't feel like he had, like, great games and all these things.
00:24:26
Speaker
So I think for Leagues Cup, he wants to do that. And another thing that he will not admit is the fact that Gilbert Tamora has been the new Ed kid in Mexico. yeah He's going to get a chance to play against the big Agen Cholos. He was there at the All-Star game. He got a goal the All-Star game. He didn't.
00:24:44
Speaker
And i think it's in the back of his mind. And again, I don't think he'll ever admit it, but I think that he knows and understands that there's always going to be some sort of comparison. And therefore he's just going to take over. And I thought against Cruz Azul, I thought he was outstanding. And I think, like you said, he was audacious. I thought that he was de defined on the ball. I think that he...
00:25:05
Speaker
um Broke more lines on the ball that I'm used to seeing from him. And it's something that I think that he should do more of ah because he has, ah you know, in the talks i've had with Precky, one of the things that he's done over the last couple of years is that he's been just so much more aggressive.
00:25:23
Speaker
attacking the box and attacking with the ball and, you know, a lot of his movement. And I think in this one, man, he was just gliding to people, right? I mean, he was just taking on defenders and that helped Seattle immensely. And I thought that his passing was on point too, which that that has at times, like I mentioned, basically or mainly in my opinion, because of the amount of minutes that he's had over the entirety of this season.
00:25:48
Speaker
You know, 70th minute, 80th minute, you could just start seeing a little bit of tired legs. But in this one, he was unbelievable from start to finish.
Transfer Discussions & Player Development
00:25:58
Speaker
And he was very engaged, both offensively and defensively.
00:26:04
Speaker
um And his vision on the ball and some of the balls that he put through, some of the runs that he made. he got caught up a couple times offsides because I think that Cruzul did a good job by pushing up the lines and they saw what Seattle wanted to do.
00:26:19
Speaker
And, you know he got caught off sides a couple times, but I just think that he was as aggressive and as effective as he's been in a very long time. And ah what what I mean by... In a very long time, it's not like he's having poor performances or, you know, terrible. That's not what I'm saying. I'm just saying he did look a little bit above what he usually does. So it's it's it's encouraging. And I think you're going to continue to see it from him. And he probably sees in this tournament also a huge showcase for him to get what he wants, which is eventually make that stride over to Europe.
00:26:54
Speaker
He was so pumped when he scored that goal. I think that's the most lit I've ever seen him. So if you needed evidence of the mentality that you're talking about going into a tournament like this, where he has a chance to further boost his already skyrocketing stock, I think that showed it right there.
00:27:12
Speaker
ah yeah And you know what? I think that the chirping also, he's not a guy that... um At least for what I've been able to see and dissect and on film. He's not a guy that's going to give you a lot of this back.
00:27:25
Speaker
He's going to do it with his play. And there was a lot of chirping by Cruz Azul. So much chirping. Right after the Danny Mussofsky thing. and it just was physical. It was it was very, very conca calf.
00:27:38
Speaker
and And I think that Obed, he'll buy back, he'll you know, get in your face. But I don't think he's going to be the guy with the quips or, you know, he's not going to be the one, you know, like Yo mama joke type, but he's just going to be able to really do it on the field.
00:27:54
Speaker
And I really do think that he saw that and and he just went red and he was just like, I'm a show with the ball. And I think he went at Cruz Azula as hard as I've seen him go against another team.
00:28:05
Speaker
Oh, they got him going. and They got him going. And I love i love seeing how how the guys on the team were giving it back to Cruz Azul as that game got further and further out of hand, all the way until the last De La Vega Galazzo, when that went in.
00:28:21
Speaker
Jesus Ferreira was absolutely laying into the to the center back. They had been going at it, jawing back and forth. all game and really like as soon as Seattle went up like three, four or five goals, they, they cruises will pipe down a little bit, but that was when Seattle started giving it back to them.
00:28:39
Speaker
So, uh, yeah, seeing Obed get that animated, seeing Jesus Ferreira talking trash to that guy. Uh, I loved every second of it. That's what you want to see in, uh,
00:28:50
Speaker
tournament soccer. Before we get into these ah but Mexico tabloid headlines, which I'm really looking forward, it's going to be some good ah Saturday morning ah endorphins for you guys. But ah Jake asks, has Pedro arrived?
00:29:04
Speaker
I think that is ah the question on people's minds after a game where he gets two more goals. But ah Nico, let's let me let's just ah relive that last glazo one more time.
00:29:19
Speaker
I mean, it's I think it's in the top five ah undeniably goals that I've ever seen a Sounders player scored. ah You're never going you're not going to see very many volleys much better than that, that are what was remarkable about it was from how far Alex Roldan's service.
00:29:39
Speaker
came from. It's ah it's a 40, 45-yard cross that De La Vega picks right out of the air. And then, i mean, I've watched the replay about 700 times, like I'm sure we all have.
00:29:50
Speaker
ah But I think the ah the best part about it, too, was how it kissed all three posts. I've never seen that. But it's like the perfect goal. It didn't even hit the net. It's like a, that's like a swish basically in a, in a, in a kind of inverted way, I guess.
00:30:05
Speaker
But like the fact that he hit that shot that perfectly, and then it hits the inside of the far post, lower middle post, and then off the other post and then bounces out of the goal.
00:30:17
Speaker
So sick. ah What did you, ah what did you think of that goal? First of all, but also just ah the extent to which De La Vega has, He flipped the script on the narrative surrounding his season from, I mean, ah you and I have talked about it. Noah and I have talked about it on our podcast.
00:30:35
Speaker
ah it was It was a situation where you saw glimpses of it. You saw the talent at times, but he had yet to really have a sustained stretch of dominance in the way that you expect and need from a $7 million dollars player. I think it's fair to say that.
00:30:50
Speaker
But he's looking like that type of player now. I mean, even the first goal he gets was a he he just he can kick the ball real hard. That's one of my main observations of on Pedro de la Vega in the last few weeks.
00:31:02
Speaker
But then he comes out with that Galazzo to to cap it off. And it did. It did really feel like the moment where it's like they might actually have a special player on their hands here after all. What did you think, Nico?
00:31:16
Speaker
ah Let's start with the goal. To me, at this particular time, it's the best Sounders goal of all time. I have looked at a bunch.
00:31:27
Speaker
And as much as I love the Omafemi goal, Raul goal where he chips the defender and he knocks it back with his head and puts it away in front of goal.
00:31:40
Speaker
In terms of ah magnitude, obviously, the CONCACAF Champions League won at Leuen Field probably in terms of importance are better.
00:31:51
Speaker
um The Jimmy Traore shot, I think that regardless of it being oh 25 to 30 feet away, it's a lot of easier as someone who knows the game and Understands the difficulty of Hitting a shot the way Pedro De La Vega Had ah The Jimmy Traor is a great goal Phenomenal goal especially from a center back But the level difficulty Is a lot more simple To just put your laces You're just kicking the shit out of the ball Which De La Vega does too but like the ah the Level of skill and and just a Raw degree of difficulty on De La Vega Is higher yeah And that's where I'm going at because
00:32:35
Speaker
If you go back and you kind of slow down that that play, you see him open up his hips. you see You see him understanding that if he hits it too far with his laces and too on the ball, he's either gonna glide or he's not gonna have the angle that he wants Mir might make a save.
00:32:53
Speaker
I'm not saying that he had it perfectly planned out and that if he was to get 10 of those services in that same spot, he'd put away 10 of them away. That's not what I'm saying.
00:33:04
Speaker
But just the understanding of the technique that you needed to place in order to put that ball where he wanted it, he did all of it right. So he opens up his hips and he hits it with the inside of his
Match Previews & Tactical Insights
00:33:20
Speaker
foot.
00:33:21
Speaker
And knowing that is either going to just curl it or at least place it, and that the speed that the service is coming in is going to do enough to get the ball where he wants to get it.
00:33:34
Speaker
So he's not overshooting it at all. For a guy that overshoots everything, right? he Every time that Pedro Lavega shoots the ball, he feels like he wants to put a hole in the net. Yeah, exactly. In this one, he didn't do that, right? So just the finesse and the technique of the way he hit that ball,
00:33:51
Speaker
ah was unreal, the angle in which that pass is coming in, where he ultimately gets the ball, which is at the and limit of the box on the other side. Not to mention the opposition.
00:34:04
Speaker
Mier is ah arguably the best goalkeeper in Liga MX. you You're doing it against the best team in the region, regardless of Hood head coach or not.
00:34:17
Speaker
Is it a 7-0 and maybe that gives you a little bit more leisure or, you know, like cushion to be like, hey, I'm going to do this. And, you know, if it goes, it goes. If it doesn't, it doesn't. Yeah, perhaps.
00:34:28
Speaker
But just the way he was able to do it to me against this particular competition makes it the best goal of all time. In terms of Pedro, he has arrived as someone who has come.
00:34:42
Speaker
preached consistently that what Pedro needed to do was almost. Be forced into the starting eleven if you wanted to get a good gauge of what he could do as a starter.
00:34:58
Speaker
And I understand that we love to say you gotta earn your minutes. But sometimes when you make a $7 million dollars investment, you just gotta to force it in and you gotta see what you can get out of the player.
00:35:09
Speaker
And if it's not working on the right, you gotta move them to the left. And if it's not working on the left, then I'm gonna put them in the middle. And if it's not in the middle, then gonna try to figure out how else and in what way can I unlock the player?
00:35:21
Speaker
And I've used that term quite often when it comes to Pedro. And any player, really. You've got to know how to unlock what you see, the potential, ah whether it's you're drafting a player from college rankings or you're bringing in a player internationally or whatever it might be. If you see something in a player, which we all saw, you've got to be able to harness that make make it reflect your system and make it reflect on the field.
00:35:47
Speaker
And I felt like he, not enough been done and we're going to stay positive in this one, but I'm glad that that's now what happened. Cause you put him on the left, which although it might seem like the easiest answer or that what he should have happened,
00:36:02
Speaker
because that's where he played in the news. That's where he is more comfortable because he, although he's ambidestrous, I would call him ambidestrous, his preferred foot is his right foot. So ah you see the easy and how smoothly he transitions from that outside channel to the inside channel and just puts a power bomb every single time on the right foot.
00:36:26
Speaker
I got to give... um Brian's message, the benefit of the doubt and understanding that he wanted something specifically out of Pedro and he wanted that he thought that that he could perform better on the right side.
00:36:39
Speaker
And it wasn't it. But now that he has gotten form and we've all seen how elite he's been on the left side, you just got to continue to just leave him there.
00:36:50
Speaker
And I think that he has arrived and he is going to continue to play well. And he was my breakout player candidate of 2025. I think that he has done that ah for right now.
00:37:01
Speaker
And as long as he stays healthy, I expect that and more. I think that he is a guy that against Santos, if he gets to start, will get another goal at the very least and will continue to be as electric as he's been.
00:37:18
Speaker
And he, in his current form, and what I would assume and expect him to continue to have, gives Seattle something that the Sounders...
00:37:30
Speaker
haven't had and that he could put them not only as a contender win Leagues Cup, but to potentially win the West, which is a game changer, a game breaker.
00:37:41
Speaker
The Seattle Sounders, as we have talked all season, have a very talented group. Very cerebral. Albert, Ferreira, ah you know Christian. that They have guys that are excellent at their positions, but they haven't had a guy that could just put a game on his back or rescue a game by himself. Just be the guy that's going to ultimately give you a phenomenal play, a phenomenal shot, and you know that it doesn't matter it's the first minute or the 89th minute and anytime that he's on the field he might just give you a little bit of magic the same way Evander does for Cincinnati the same way that Lucho Acosta did at some point when he was in Cincinnati as well you know you talk about all those players that you're just expecting you're waiting when is that magic coming I think he could do that for Seattle and I expect him to continue to do that as long as he stays healthy
00:38:35
Speaker
I think re Reese makes a good point on that last goal. The confidence to take that first time needs to be talked about more, let alone take a shot from that angle. Yeah, thought they ah they pinned it on the broadcast when the guy was like, no one in their right mind even thinks to like take that out of the air first time like that with the cross coming in from that deep.
00:38:53
Speaker
But Pedro de la Vega does. All right, Nico, let's let's take a look at some ah some headlines from ah from Mexico. I wanted to do this because, as I mentioned, the Mexico pundits are not they're not happy about this.
00:39:09
Speaker
They're not happy about this. And I've been having a ah fun little time diving into some of the takes they have. So let's look at these, but then they actually make ah make some points that I think are worth talking about, Nico. So I'm going Pull this up right here. We're going look at some of these.
00:39:26
Speaker
this is ah This is from Goal.com. Alejandro Orellano, Goal.com, coming through with the compilation of what the Mexican media is talking about after ah their best team got beat 7-0 by an MLS club.
00:39:44
Speaker
Humiliating, shameful, ridiculous, ridiculous. Mexican media slam cruises zo after seven zero leagues come thrashing by Seattle Sounders say we don't have the league we think we do which that o that's tough. I mean let's just go through some of these quotes ah historic embarrassment from yeah ESPN analyst Javier.
00:40:03
Speaker
Alarcón Cruz Azul dragged, mopped, and humiliated its own legacy. There must be consequences. This is a defeat the club cannot harry carry. Should Barcomón stay, this can't happen to any Mexican team, much less Cruz Azul. Let's keep it going. Fox Sports Mexico 7-0? Seriously? It's a historic result. The worst ever for a Mexican club in this type of competition.
00:40:24
Speaker
Humiliating. Shameful. Ridiculous. He should at least resign out of dignity. Professionalism. Shame. Uh, some called for former previous inter manager, Vicente Sanchez to return.
00:40:35
Speaker
They should go apologize to Vicente Sanchez and beg him to come back. I'd get on my knees and say, Vicente, forgive us for everything for not valuing you. Please come back and coach Sunday's match against a galaxy.
00:40:45
Speaker
Uh, this is the, this is the money quote though This is the one I wanted to talk about Nico. Uh, ah This is from former player and analyst Damien. Oh, man, I'm going mess up this name.
00:40:57
Speaker
Zamolini. that's Okay, that's probably not correct. But ah the the important thing is the quote here. The reason Mexico's big clubs are still in this tournament is because of all the poor results.
00:41:10
Speaker
Cruz Azul is the CONCACAF champion. Home field matters, but not enough to explain a Yeah. yeah exactly today's result shows us we don't have the league we think we do our football is overhyped look how monterey played against inter milan then how they played against cincinnati who are no better than monterey i mean it goes on and on there's a few more in here uh if you want to read the rest of them you can pull this up on uh gold.com from uh alejandro oriana but uh I mean, that's just put it into my veins.
00:41:43
Speaker
Put it into my veins. Anytime Liga Mechies club loses to MLS opposition, you're going to get the tabloids popping off. Remember the ah famous one of Dempsey after bammed on Chivas Guadalajara and he was doing the. Like that that, that was a, that was a good one, but this is, ah this is just as good.
00:42:04
Speaker
Nico, I guess, what do you make of just the, the response from the league, Mechies media contingent and fan bases, but also i think that that last quote today's result shows we don't have the league. We think we do. Our football is overhyped.
00:42:19
Speaker
ah what do you What do you think of that? Do you think they are crashing out off one bad game or do you think this sort of is a deeper commentary on the hierarchy and where Liga Mekis is at? Because when when I look at it, ah you know MLS clubs have been outperforming Liga Mekis.
00:42:39
Speaker
so far in this year's leagues cup and uh they they were they did last year as well and a lot of the discourse was well that's because the league and mechies teams uh have to travel mls is hosting every game that gives them an inherent advantage i agree with that like honestly like i think if you want to really balance it uh they should get to host some games and i think that the fact that mls is hosting all of them probably does explain to an extent, to an extent how the results are skewed, but I'm going through the results from, ah from this league's cup so far this year. And I'm like, does that really, does that explain all of it? Is that the excuse for all of these results that we're seeing where there's been ah few other games, a handful where MLS clubs are getting three, four, five goals. The l LA galaxy dropped five on Tijuana, Minnesota and Portland, both dropped four on their teams in general.
00:43:34
Speaker
and MLS is getting the better of the results, which, but like to a greater extent than you would think could be explained by simply this whole travel issue, because I've been saying the whole time too, you know, if your league is as superior and as great as, ah as you say, it is having to take some results on the road. Shouldn't, shouldn't do you in, should it? Like I get the ah point of contention, but I also think it's more skewed than it should be even taking that into account and uh it certainly does not explain the 7-0 you cannot tell me that uh having to get on a plane and fly to seattle is what made you get 7-0'd so uh what do you what do you think of the uh the coverage down in mexico and ah that quote saying that uh they don't have the we don't have the league we think we do and our football is overhyped so there's a lot to unpack there first of all let me hit the
00:44:28
Speaker
lighter colored side of the whole thing. I think it's hilarious. that that you know That's one of one thing. there There was a whole article done with every meme possible, like the best memes out of the Cruisal 70. There is
00:44:45
Speaker
entire shows dedicated to just basically destroying the front office of Cruz Azul. um they There have been articles about how this humiliation of of of this magnitude could destroy Mexican soccer.
00:45:05
Speaker
um yeah yeah Cruz Azul is also the team that competes directly with america and america arguably is the the most popular definitely the most winning club so they are completely destroying their their foe that's if like the timber slot seven zero so you would just be just dying to get out there of your journalists to just ah cover it and you know all these things obviously America is backed by you know the biggest channel in Mexico so you know all the coverage has been about just destroying Cruz Azul so that part is hilarious but into the more um important part of what this whole thing and and what you kind of bring up to the table is
00:45:51
Speaker
A couple of things. Number one, um they are definitely crashing out in because of the scoreline and that is not necessarily because.
00:46:04
Speaker
It's deserved, but Mexican media in general is very sensationalist and reactive to things like this. So does that.
00:46:15
Speaker
Can you quantify that into where the leagues are at? I usually don't because the same way there's a 7-0 today, there could be a five zero win by ah Monterey or Nekaxa. Let's say Nekaxa ends up like winning today 5-0. I have a hard time, and this is not just my opinion, I just think that it's a bigger conversation to have about I do believe that a lot of Mexican media specifically does believe that Liga MX is still way above MLS. and And I say way above because that's the way they say it. There's still this stigma ah about how Liga MX is still the running the show in CONCACAF.
00:46:55
Speaker
when If you look at results, it's not really there. But more importantly, when you look at the league as a whole, that's when... ah That's what I mean by unpacking a lot more. We're probably not gonna have enough time to talk about it, but for me, MLS has been better already. And the reason why they have been better is because there's a better pipeline for youth development ah from the academy all the way down to the first team.
00:47:18
Speaker
That's something that Mexico has been in a huge decline on. i feel like the level of competition from team one to team 10 can It's a lot higher than it is in Mexico from one to 10 because it's three or four teams that obviously run the show.
00:47:35
Speaker
But ah the the rest of them are kind of just there. And competitiveness leads to ah very skewed numbers and an inability to get better.
00:47:47
Speaker
I feel like as a whole, MLS does a better job at soccer modules specific to each one of those clubs. And I think some of it or a lot of it comes from the salary cap and the necessity to use your resources different and kind of focus on um making your team better specifically by a system rather than just kind of put it on the checkbook. And that's what leads the league.
00:48:11
Speaker
And the last thing I'll say about that is the same argument i've had for years. ah In the times where Champions League was consistently won by Barcelona or Real Madrid for like a decade, that never meant that La Liga was a better league than the Premier or Bundesliga. Nobody in their right mind would tell you that La Liga was a better league than either one of those.
00:48:35
Speaker
But they got all the results. They would win every single head-to-head with any other league. But the reality is that... La Liga, aside from the three teams that are going to win it every year, it's it's pretty poor once you get to like the seventh and eighth and ninth club in the standing. So um all in all, I do think that the crash out is specifically to this.
00:48:58
Speaker
score line I hope that that opens up the eyes of the Mexican Soccer Federation that I feel like has been in a huge decline for the last five years. And all in all, I find it pretty hilarious because of the novelty of a a American MLS team doing this to a Mexican team. I think that's just hilarious.
00:49:20
Speaker
ah Let's hit a couple of the, we got a couple of transfer questions in chat for you, Nico, and then we can move on to talking about this Santos Laguna game and then busting out the lineup builder.
00:49:31
Speaker
I'll wrap, I'll wrap these into one. Tom says, or asks, can we get some updates on transfer rumors a la Noah Ohio and a young six? ah Similar to what Jake asked, which is, are we buying two U22s this window?
00:49:43
Speaker
Heard a rumor that Noah Ohio was considering the move and we're making moves on a second player. ah Nico, you got any new info on anything up that way? Yeah. ah Last I heard on Thursday was that um there had been a positive response from no Ohio to the possibility of coming to Seattle.
00:50:03
Speaker
Last week, he ah Utrich won 4-1. I forget the team that they were playing against, Tingle Sheriff. And he was kind of on the bench and he, you know, came in and played like 20 minutes at the very end.
00:50:17
Speaker
And, you know, I do think that there's something to they're not trying to get him too exposed. um And also the fact that for better or for worse, you know, the team's kind of letting him know right now we got you on the bench. I think they want this money.
00:50:34
Speaker
I think the club definitely wants this money. And they're kind of hoping that no Ohio makes that right decision. like Come on, man. Hey, let's show you the door. Look how pretty this door is. um And so there is a sense, in my opinion, that the club wants this a lot more than the player currently, but there has been some positive conversation with him. And you've got to understand the apprehension you know from his from his end, and and I get that. That does not mean that I think he's going to come in and not be involved or committed. I think that's why he's having conversation.
00:51:06
Speaker
decision be so difficult because when he does make that choice, he's going to be fully committed into the team. ah But that's kind of where it's at. the The moves on the second player are, I think, on the same lines, just in case this doesn't go through.
00:51:22
Speaker
They have ah one more team, one more player, this one South American, that they're looking at and and trying to figure out if no hire doesn't work. Will they get it? But I do not have any information that indicates that they're going to go out there and get a u twenty two center midfielder at this particular time.
00:51:42
Speaker
I know that they have looked at some senior ah center midfielders, definitely not but I think with JP's rehabilitation, and you heard it from Brian himself, any player that they're bringing in right now is more for the future.
00:51:59
Speaker
The club and Brian sound very confident and comfortable with what they currently have. So do you decide whether that's smart or not? i I think that for all the heat that Craig got from a lot of people and the front office got, the team has performed well.
00:52:22
Speaker
they're They're fourth in in the in the West. I would argue that they should be first or second if you don't drop points in Charlotte, in Colorado, in Atlanta.
00:52:33
Speaker
So that the roster talent has
00:52:38
Speaker
responded and And therefore, I think that once again, with Pedro, if Pedro continues to keep up with this current ah form, I think this team could get very far. And even with Danny Mussovsky or Ferreira at the nine, I feel like they can they can do some damage. So I don't see any other player coming in aside from that U22 player.
00:53:01
Speaker
Specifically, that's the reason why they brought up Schneider-Burnell. Otherwise, they would have not pulled that trigger as quickly as they did. bringing up an 18-year-old midfielder. I was going to bring up Snyder Burnell and how he could potentially affect how they think of this ah because he made his first team debut in this game. And I'm not going to lie. i know I know it was like 5-0 by the time he came on. He wasn't on there for that long.
00:53:26
Speaker
You can only take so much from it. But I actively liked what I saw, actually, from ah from Snyder Burnell. I thought that he – He actually had, there's like a couple of sequences where he was proactively combining with guys. And if leagues cup did secondary assists, he would have had one on, I think on, on one of the goals. He actually was part of the sequence that led to ah led to the goal. He looked like he was having the freaking time of his life out there. I'm sure he was first team debut and you're out there in a seven zero against the best team from Mexico.
00:54:01
Speaker
But i'm a i'm I'm getting to the point where i'm like i'm getting excited about seeing him get more run and seeing if he can be kind of, as I understand it, they think of him as sort of next in line in this procession Danny Leva's, Josh Atencio's, Obed Vargas's.
00:54:21
Speaker
Like, he's of a similar type player profile, at least positionally. i mean, I'm looking forward to seeing exactly what his skill set is and what he brings to the table compared to those guys. But as far as, like, area of the field and relative profile,
00:54:35
Speaker
they uh they're very high on him being able to be a first team contributor at that level and uh you know i said it a couple weeks ago but uh this is one club where if they say that about a player of this position i believe them like they have a really good track record specifically at that exact spot so if they're looking at snyder burnell and they're like uh this is this is the next midfielder of that that part on the field that we're gonna bring up through our youth development pipeline into the first team. And we're going to trust that he can be like, uh, not just replacement level, but like a good, solid, positive contributor to the first team.
00:55:13
Speaker
Uh, I think there's a decent shot that he could actually, uh, become that. And, uh, you know, with the caveat that it was his first match in a, uh, five zero at the time, i saw some, so I actually saw some stuff in this game where i was like, okay, I see, uh, I see what they're, i see what they see there.
00:55:31
Speaker
Uh, did you, did you have any thoughts on Snyder's debut or just his, uh, uh, what we could see from him as he tries to win a bigger role with the first team? Yeah, he looked very poised and, you know, maybe the, this quarter has something to do with it, but, you know, still a big stage. It's still your debut.
00:55:47
Speaker
Uh, but, uh, he's a guy that, uh,
00:55:52
Speaker
anticipates the game very well for an 18 year old. and And I use this a lot, but when there's, there's there's that sense that he plays beyond his years. And that is a quality that I think the Sounders Academy and Sounders organization has done a good job at that specific position.
00:56:08
Speaker
And you got to give them the benefit of the doubt when they've been able to manufacture and grow as many players in that position as they have. So, He, to me, had been interesting since Marbella.
00:56:22
Speaker
He's a guy that played a lot of minutes this year, even last year. He was a guy that Raul Riediaz was high on. He thought that he was a very interesting player.
00:56:35
Speaker
um Same as Georgie Menungu. and So, you know, that that's good company. um And so for me... um I want to see him play.
00:56:46
Speaker
I think he's going to start against Santos. And then we'll be able to figure out how that kind of plays out and see what you can get out of him. But, you know, talking to him this week, you know, he sees himself as a six, which is great.
00:57:01
Speaker
He said a lot about his defensive work rate. So I kind of want to see it ah because I thought he was going to be more of an eight. And, uh, you know, I thought he was going to prompt more of his vision and his passing and his ability to turn in tight spaces.
00:57:18
Speaker
Uh, but he, you know, he focused on the defensive play. So I want to see it. Cause if that's the case, that's something that this team definitely needs right now. Uh, I know that he does very well defensively on the short-sighted games, the seven on sevens that every, every, all the players love.
00:57:33
Speaker
Uh, I have had my eye on him all week and he is very good, uh, uh, on, uh, Defending an open space and once again, anticipation, knowing where the but cutting off the passing angles does a very good job at it. So I want to see it on the big field. I want to see it against Santos.
00:57:51
Speaker
Yeah. I think that how he shows as a two way player is going to be indicative of what his actual ceiling is because i haven't, watch I haven't watched him play all that much, but from what I have watched of him in next pro, this is a guy that can contribute offensively. Like,
00:58:07
Speaker
as far as, like you said, his vision and his in his passing and how he combines with with other players from that spot. I mean, he was getting on the stat sheet in X-Pro. He was scoring goals, he was getting a lot of assists.
00:58:21
Speaker
So that element of his game, ah that's something that I feel like projects pretty well, but ah he is not like the biggest kid I've ever seen and the position we're talking about.
00:58:34
Speaker
ah You know, like, I don't need him to be Alonzo out there, but I do need him to provide more of that sort of defensive bite in that, like, dog mentality on that side of the ball to, I think, really become the type of player that they think that he he can be so uh it's gonna be that's like a new fun exciting little subplot to see if he can really kind of grab that next in line role at that position coming up and uh really like uh I think we've talked about how we would like to see them develop more attackers and uh more wingers and forwards or more Jordan Morris's
00:59:13
Speaker
But if they have a baseline of just churning out these sixes and eights that can contribute, like, I mean, maybe not to the degree that Obed has. It looks like Obed's turning into a legitimate superstar.
00:59:26
Speaker
Those only come around every once in a while. But even guys of the level of Atencio or Danny Leyva, who I thought looked really good in this series, in his cameo against Cruz Azul and i want to see him get some more run in this tournament in these phase one games if nothing else for the set pieces Seattle set pieces were phenomenal against Cruz Azul Albert Rusnak gets a primary assist and then the the one with the flick header from rolled on to Ferreira was just you can't execute that any better and then the Danny leave a free kick leads to another goal so absolutely dominant performance on set pieces
01:00:03
Speaker
But ah the free kick Danny Leyva hit, that was, I mean, oh man, I wanted that for him. It was it was fun and and awesome that New Who ended up getting the ah the rebound. But imagine if Danny Leyva had housed that one. That would have been that that would have been awesome. would have been just as good as, well, not really because it was before it, but it would have been pretty up there with how – The stadium exploded with pen the vgehan maybe a couple of decibels below. but but that would have been a nice one.
01:00:35
Speaker
The ah the mood in the stadium after the De La Vega goal, it it was like everyone was going crazy, but it was also just like shock. I mean, you we played the video of ah ah the bench reaction that the Sounders posted, and it was mostly the guys on the bench were just going.
01:00:52
Speaker
which is exactly what I was doing. So i I could relate to that. i was just crazy, but ah all right. I think that's a good spot to ah talk about Santos a little bit before we get out of here, Nico. ah First of all, before we build a whip out the lineup builder, have you gotten a chance to scout them up at all? Or do you have any prior knowledge of them? Like what can, what can the fans expect from this, ah from this matchup, from this club?
01:01:17
Speaker
And yeah, like I guess, how do you how do you size up the dynamic? Because from where I sit, ah one of the intriguing things about where things stand for Seattle right now is not only that they're in a better position to advance than any team in either league right now because of how many ah goals they scored, but theoretically, Cruz Azul is supposed to be the best team that they're going to have to play.
01:01:40
Speaker
Like, you know, you got your Tigresses and you got your other traditional like Monterey, your other traditional Liga Mequis powerhouses. But those teams right now are not, at least going into this tournament, they were not considered the quality of Cruz Azul.
01:01:55
Speaker
So this Santos team, as I understand it, they're not that good, are they? They're... They're one of the lower tier Liga Mackey sides. So theoretically, Seattle should be going into a matchup with a team that's, I would say, considered significantly worse than the one that they just beat 7-0.
01:02:12
Speaker
That does not mean that a result is a given or guaranteed tournament soccer. Anything can happen. And also, you're playing this on a very quick turnaround. So you're going to have to like rotate. It's probably...
01:02:28
Speaker
I mean, we've said that before, and then they don't rotate, so maybe not. But you would assume that it's going to be at least some sort of mix and match starting 11. But Santos is going to have to do that too. They just played. So um what do you think of ah this matchup? And then what what what can you just tell us about this Santos team, what they do well and why what maybe why they've struggled?
01:02:46
Speaker
Yeah, so Santos is a team that has struggled for several seasons. They actually ah lost their last game against Puebla, a team that is – at the bottom of the standings.
01:03:00
Speaker
Santos is 11, but they they play like they're below that. um They've actually lost 22 of their last 28 games.
01:03:12
Speaker
They are a team that, ah for all accounts, is still trying to figure out their own identity. But I would say that the biggest issue that I find in them is how poor they are defensively. So they play with three man back line. They push their um fullbacks pretty high.
01:03:33
Speaker
They're a young team in certain areas of the field where is difficult to have those young players, specifically a wide team. they have a real hard time holding possession.
01:03:45
Speaker
They were outshored and outperforming against that Puebla team, a Puebla team that had lost or had not won in 11 games consecutively. um If you look at the Colorado game, Colorado should have had at least four or five goals and they weren't able to put it in the back of the net.
01:04:03
Speaker
ah But because of the way they play, and they do like to get their high, their back line pretty high. um they seem very subjective to just getting attackers behind that back line.
01:04:14
Speaker
Uh, Kevin Balanta is a experience center back that I feel like struggles with this three man back line. Um, I, is an ability to, um
01:04:31
Speaker
defend in transition is so obvious for this specific team. And Valante is one of the guys that he has the speed, but maybe not the the width or or the the wiseness, like the field awareness.
01:04:46
Speaker
ah So that that Colorado game, ah Colorado completely moves the ball through any way they want. um So they're definitely going to be a team that in my opinion is going to struggle. The biggest thing going into this game is that Acevedo, a national team goalkeeper, a guy that by all means and arguably could be the most important player on that team ah because of what he does leadership wise, the way he handles um corner kicks and the way he moves the troops. you know He's the guy that is is directing traffic consistently in the back end.
01:05:22
Speaker
um And he's a great shot stopper. i mean He has one against Colorado where he literally stops the ball at the line on a great header from Colorado. So that's already a good thing for Seattle.
01:05:34
Speaker
i Acevedo was red-carded because he put hands to the face of Vines. But it was a little soft, to be honest. i ah We talked about this with Jeremiah, where I thought that Dita's attempt, and I thought he connected and against Mosavsky with that header.
01:05:51
Speaker
That was a lot more egregious than Dita. hands to the face. The hands to the face, the vines were more like you do your little brother, you just kind of do one of those. um And he wasn't even that hard, but he got the red card, so he's gone. i think that's a big one for Santos Laguna.
01:06:08
Speaker
um I would say that offensively, the only guy that makes me not nervous, but you'd be like, oh, I know that guy. And, you know, he's pretty, pretty strong up top.
01:06:19
Speaker
It's former Vancouver Whitecaps and former DC United winger, attacker, ah Christian Dahomey. um Oh, yeah. That's a good ah remember remember some guy's name.
01:06:33
Speaker
Yeah. So he's he's a guy that's there pretty consistently. he They try to get the ball on his side pretty ah consistently. But I think that the Santos' best weapon to attack Seattle is going to be set pieces.
01:06:46
Speaker
So as as long as Seattle plays just as well as they did against Cruz Azul on set pieces, I think they're going to be all right. And that's why looking into the team, looking into their struggles, I feel like Brian is going to feel pretty good about rotating maybe heavily ah with leaving some core guys, and we'll get into that.
01:07:06
Speaker
ah But to me, this is a a team that in their 3-4-2 season,
01:07:14
Speaker
approach to the game ah they don't press as high they like to stay more of in a mid block they understand their limitations and i think that after dad 2-1 loss against colorado they might be more willing to even play a little bit deeper so can seattle break them down that's going to be uh to be determined yeah let's talk about how we think uh seattle is going to line it up that's a good segue i think uh i think re reese is right uh
01:07:44
Speaker
we're going to talk about ah if they're going to rotate the double pivot and then it's going to be, we, ah we always come up with our lineup and then it's Christian rolled on Obed Vargas. They're playing the full 90.
01:07:55
Speaker
ah So we can let, but let's, ah let's bust up the builder and we can talk about if we think that there might actually be more rotation in this game. Cause I think if there is a scenario where you actually are going to see it, not just be the, uh,
01:08:10
Speaker
the normal 11 it would be this because it is it is a very short turnaround and you also i think you've got an opponent that uh like you mentioned is theoretically vulnerable so uh let's uh let's go through this see how we think they're gonna line it up uh do you think uh do you think new who starts this one again or do we get an rbw game nico left back i think new who started this one again I think he will too.
01:08:38
Speaker
And I'm cool with that. He's been suspended. So he's got a, he's got a lot of ah energy to expend here. ah CBs. Do you think they change it up at all? I think probably not.
01:08:51
Speaker
I think game or might get the game off. Oh, okay. He needs some time. Yeah. Good point. Good point. i'll put him out I also think that. Yeah. He is extremely valuable to this team. He's had some muscular injuries and, um,
01:09:08
Speaker
He has no problem being the every minute guy, but I feel like the way he hits his body and how quickly he hits his metrics, um he might need ah an x-ray to rehab.
01:09:24
Speaker
And obviously the turnaround pretty quick against Santos. And I think what Seattle is going to want to do is have a stronger lineup against Cholos or maybe give themselves the ability to control their own destiny and figure out what the last lineup might be.
01:09:39
Speaker
um So I think that Kim Kihei gets the start just to make sure that
01:09:46
Speaker
Yemar, who came off early as well against, or earlier, at least not the 90 minutes, which is unusual for for a guy like Yemar. I think that maybe they're going to want to rest him a little bit.
01:09:58
Speaker
Yeah, no, I think that's a good shout, like like you said, with him coming off the injury. i think we might get a KKR sighting here. do you Do you agree or you think they're going to roll Alex back in? agree. I think we're going to get KKR ah for the purposes of just obviously running him on that side because he can't get forward very well. And I think that attacking the flanks is going to be important against in this particular game.
01:10:22
Speaker
So, yeah, I think that we we see him back. All right, so this is the this is the real question. Does anyone from the double pivot get any rest at all?
01:10:33
Speaker
You predicted already a Snyder-Burnell start. I would be so into that. Do you think they they rotate both these spots, or do you think – I think Obed probably is out there again.
01:10:45
Speaker
Yes. ah So let's change them both in our end, but i would venture to say that Obed probably gets another start.
01:10:56
Speaker
ah but I'm not as convinced as other times. I think that if there is a game you're going to rest open, it could be this one. You're going want him full on against Hilberto Mora against Cholos.
01:11:11
Speaker
So for the sense of the exercise and because I think there is a possibility and i actually think there's a need to a certain extent to get more Danny Leiva minutes. I'll put Danny there.
01:11:24
Speaker
Okay, let's put him there with the caveat that um it's probably going to be Ovid. But, ah oh man, a Snyder Brunel, Danny Leiva double pivot. See, i was ah I was thinking about whether they might start Danny at the 10 this game. yeah But maybe the yeah that could happen. But I think this, God, this would be my, this would be my definitely my first choice double will pivot. But,
01:11:50
Speaker
realistically, i think you're probably looking at, uh, Obed and Snyder. If Snyder does start, which, uh, I hope he does. I hope he does. I want to see that. And then, you know, if it's not going well, you can, uh, you can take that situation as it comes.
01:12:05
Speaker
But, uh, as far as the front four here, i think they, uh, they run De La Vega out here. He didn't start the last game, played like a demigod in his substitute shift against Cruz Azul, scored arguably the best goal in club history.
01:12:21
Speaker
I think I think they they ride that after Ryan Kent started the the last game. Do you do you see that any different?
01:12:29
Speaker
ah Say it again. It cut off a little bit. Do you think De La Vega starts on the on the left here or do you think they do anything different there? No, I think he starts. I think he starts ah simply for the sense that you didn't start Omega Cruz Azul. wouldn't want to see him not get a start two games in a row, ah despite you know what he's kind of done. Maybe you put him you start him and you get him off in the 45th if you want, if you if you have the game, if you control it, if he's good.
01:12:58
Speaker
But I think there is no doubt in my mind that De La Vega starts this game. You know I'm going to executive, I'm going tinker with this a little bit, Nico. People in chat are saying that they think Leiva's pretty clear-cut backup 10.
01:13:14
Speaker
ah So just for fun, because I think that this would be one way to do it. I'm going to put Obed back. And then we're going put Danny Leva here just just just to just to see how he does. I don't think you get Albert off the field.
01:13:31
Speaker
I doubt I doubt it. i doubt it albert Albert treats these like practice, right? I mean you you heard him. He's like, the thing I love about this tournament is that i don't got to practice. I just play the games.
01:13:42
Speaker
There's less practice, more games. So I think that Albert is going to be in there. And in my In my rush to want to see more Leva minutes, that's why I put him there at the pivot, ah because I think Albert is good. going to have to have a really big conversation with him to get him to not be there.
01:14:03
Speaker
ah But I like it. I like it. I mean, in terms of the exercise. Absolutely. I like it. I mean, do you think that they see Danny Leyva's role as more of an advanced role just in general? Because i I actually tend to agree with what people are saying in that his skill set for for a six or an eight, it's just like the speed and the physical attributes and all that stuff that you typically look for from that spot.
01:14:32
Speaker
I think it can it can work and has worked at times when he's playing next to someone who's got... more of those attributes. But to me, it's like his skill set as ah a pastor and a facilitator and his vision and everything. and i think like this center attacking mid role is actually like, it just seems like it fits, doesn't it?
01:14:52
Speaker
As the guy who brought it up and as the guy who literally, but I think Brian like laughed and said, that's interesting. Josh Atencio, same thing. There was one ah training coach I think a year ago or more than a year ago where in, in the same idea of trying to get Danny leave a minute. So I was like, why don't you just run him at the 10?
01:15:15
Speaker
um And I think absolutely right. The reason why I said that is because ah he's played that position before in the youth level, all of his skill sets. I think that the one constant, um,
01:15:28
Speaker
constant um not complain, but but one of the things that I feel like they have a hard time, um you know, bringing him on consistently is because of ah he doesn't have the ability or the range to cover ground the way that Obed and Christian do.
01:15:47
Speaker
um So if you put him a little bit higher where he can Use, you know, his awareness on the field, his skill set on passing, his skill set on shooting. ah He set peace abilities.
01:15:59
Speaker
I think that 10-year-old definitely fits him better or great. And he can help out on your link up as well in in that end. So, yeah, I think that Danny Leiva's attributes, that they they play hand in hand with what you want to see out of ah attacking midfield.
01:16:18
Speaker
hopeful i Hopefully they, I mean, i don't know. I think you're right. I think it's just going to be a Rusnak game. Rusnak can apparently, like it's like with Obed and Christian, ah with how much just ground covering and running they do, I'm like, man, all these minutes are probably going to wear on them eventually.
01:16:37
Speaker
But Rusnak, I'm like, all right. I mean, if you're just going to play him every single game, it seems like he can do that and it's fine. So, think that's probably what they're gonna do but it would be fun if we got to see danie leva in this role what about uh what about right mid here think that uh i think they might just keep riding ferreira but uh do you think do you think there's any switch up here yeah i think that they're they're gonna stick with ferreira i would love to see georgie there let's do that just for fun let's do that just for fun but i think realistically
01:17:14
Speaker
probably going to be for air again but uh oh man what's give me the uh there it is defiance guys are hard to pull up i i would i would dig this i would dig this ah like georgie's got to get some run in in these games eventually right it's probably going to be off the bench in this game but uh if if they ran it like this i honestly uh i wouldn't mind it yeah no i like it ah like it um you You want to try forever up top are you good with Musaski up there?
01:17:47
Speaker
I was going to say Osase.
01:17:50
Speaker
I don't know. Let's do it. Yeah. Why not?
01:17:57
Speaker
this This is the front four. Danny Leiva at the 10, Georgie on the right, Osaze up top. ah With Snyder-Burnell on the double pivot. I think there is pretty much a 0% chance that it gets run like this. I think you're going to see some more proven commodities in there. But this this is this is the Lobbing Scorchers' most fun starting 11 for this game. I will say that...
01:18:21
Speaker
ah you know, like Danny Leva at the 10, I don't expect them to run that Georgie, uh, out wide. I don't expect them to start with that. Uh, Snyder Brunel, I think you might actually see that. You might actually see that, but like a day wave and Georgie, I wouldn't necessarily predict, but, uh, Osase, I mean, if he keeps scoring goals, he is going to keep his name in the mix. And I don't know about you, Nico, but I'm at the point where,
01:18:49
Speaker
with him getting a couple goals in his last couple appearances and uh just kind of how he looks like he's integrating getting more comfortable and he's always been good at getting in these uh in these good spots clearly and uh now he's starting to finish them i don't i don't need them to start him in in this game But i want to see I want to see him get more run. I think there's a like ah ah decent decent enough chance that they might be actually onto something with this Osaze thing. He's been playing well.
01:19:20
Speaker
He's got a couple goals. And honestly, i'd like the the genetics thing is real, man. it like It genuinely increases... the odds that I think a player could hit. Because, I mean, think about it. His dad is just like one of the best players in MLS history. He's been teaching him his whole life. You can tell. like this like ah it Honestly, the strategy of ah rostering Dwayne D'Rowe's kid and David Ferreira's kid, it's ah it's a pretty good strategy.
01:19:48
Speaker
You got guys that were brought up in the game, man. They're learning from some of the best who have, uh, who have played in the league. So, uh, good strategy first and foremost, but also i think, uh, I want to see more of Sazay. I think he's earning it.
01:20:02
Speaker
And I think like the potential payoff, if you get like a big physical imposing number nine of his profile that can like get in these poacher spots and, uh, finish his chances. Like we've seen him do a couple of times in the last couple of weeks.
01:20:16
Speaker
I, I, uh, you at least, you at least got to give him enough run to find out if you, uh, if you're onto something here. So you got ah any any thoughts on Osase or if he could get the start or at least feature in this game?
01:20:33
Speaker
Yeah, I want to see a lot more from Osase. I think that we talked about it and and we said that Osase would have to kind of force his hand into the conversation. And I think that goals do that, regardless of when they came and how they came.
01:20:47
Speaker
um i absolutely agree with you that he has a knack for
01:20:54
Speaker
finding the soft spots inside the 18. think that he has a great read on the ball. and I think that if you have a set piece that you want somebody to get to, he's a guy that ultimately will go up there and get it.
01:21:09
Speaker
he He could be, you know, one of the guys that... when he comes to set pieces, could kind of change the game for you because he he does win aerial duels pretty well, and he has a very good technique on headers.
01:21:21
Speaker
I think that's an aspect of his game that I've always liked, even at the Tacoma Defiance level. I'm pretty sure he got that header against Portland, didn't he, in the Open Cup game? i want to say that he got a header there. Did he score twice in that game?
01:21:36
Speaker
I think, or ah you scored at least once in that game. At least once, and it was a header. And I remember just thinking the way he attacks the ball, it's it's quite compelling. He's big, He's like, what, like 6'3", at least? Like, he's a big kid. Yeah, 6'1", yeah, I want to say. And and it's just not that, but also I think his ability to...
01:21:58
Speaker
um to move ah in a certain way. that There's something about when you're attacking a ball, specifically you know off of a set piece, that there's a way where you can kind of get your whole momentum and and there's a technique level to it that I think he has pretty dialed in.
01:22:17
Speaker
But my concern continues to be the other stuff, the link of play, how dynamic he is on the ball, dribbling wise and things like that. He was ah he was pressing better against Cruz Azul, I noticed. I think he was pressing better because of what happened in Atlanta. He was like, all right, if i if I let that become a pattern, they're good.
01:22:36
Speaker
This coach is never going to play me again. So I better be on my shit this time. And he was, to be fair. He actually, his pressing created a bad giveaway at one point that led to a dangerous opportunity for Seattle.
01:22:48
Speaker
And I was like, all right, Osaza, I see. that's That is how you get Brian Schmetzer to give you minutes. You honestly don't even need to score goals. Just press well and... ah and defend hard and you'll probably get minutes regardless of, of, of ah ah if you're scoring. So, but that was good to see. Cause it was like a it felt like he learned from a mistake, which is something that ah you want to see from a, from a young player. So, uh,
01:23:14
Speaker
Yeah, we'll ah we'll see if they actually ah if they actually have the courage to run them out there in the starting 11. I don't think so. let's ah this is This is the Lobbing Scorchers hopeful starting 11 with the knowledge and acknowledgement that this is absolutely not how they're going to run it. Let's put it how we think they're actually going to run it.
01:23:31
Speaker
I think they probably Rusnak out there at the 10. I think they probably run Ferreira out there in the... In his little wide channel And I mean what do you think You think Moose Well I mean I don't know it seems like they're pretty intense on ah Keeping Ferreira in this In this wide role where He's been very effective lately So lisieos sae and I think that there is You know a a world where If you're going to run him at one point
01:24:06
Speaker
This is probably it. If you're going to give him a start. Uh, although Danny has been a great soldier in there, i mean, he could probably use the rest. And yeah if you don't get enough out of a sausage, then, you know, you make a move. So yeah, I like that.
01:24:23
Speaker
All right. I think let's go with this as our, uh, official lobbying scorchers projected starting 11, sponsored by nobody. I think they, uh, I think like, I don't know.
01:24:35
Speaker
well We've been off. We've been off in our projections before, but I'm starting to, ah I think, get a full handle on how this usually goes. Like, i you know, I thought I knew Schmitz pretty well, but like, it seems like if there's normal rest, even if it's like three or four days or whatever, he basically just runs the same thing.
01:24:57
Speaker
But this situation in particular, you've got a Thursday to Sunday, Wednesday, turn aroundund So maybe that changes the calculation a little bit and we see more rotation than we have been seeing seeing. But with all that said, we're probably going to look at the ah starting 11 graphic on Sunday and see the Christian Obed double pivot.
01:25:15
Speaker
But, you know, we can dream. We can dream for some rest for our boy. No, i think we we i think we're but we we'll be spot on on Schneider. I think he does get the start. And I don't think we've been terrible at it. I think we've been a game late.
01:25:28
Speaker
ah yeah yeah The Colorado lineup that we pulled up ended up not being a Colorado lineup, but it did end up being the game after at Atlanta, I think, that we were pretty close with some of the the changes that we did. So I think that obviously but we were hoping that, and I think we said that, we we were hoping that there's some rotation and pivots, but Brian's probably going to run the same too.
01:25:49
Speaker
you know He probably is. but well In this one, I think that there is a little bit more freedom. And I think that if he's going to tinker with the lineup a little bit, it's going to be in this game. So, yeah, actually, i like this pretty good.
01:26:04
Speaker
who's the ah Who's the game after Santos that they closed out with? Cholos. Oh, okay. So, I mean, real quick, what do you know about that team? Are they, like, vastly superior to Santos and closer to Cruz Azul, or what's their sort of status in the hierarchy? They got five-piece against LA Galaxy. They lost 5-2. That's right. okay our They're in the same category of lower mid-table teams with a whole lot of... um limitations I think that they're better defensively than Santos, which is kind of funny to say, because I'm pretty sure that LA Galaxy missed the PK.
01:26:42
Speaker
They missed a couple of opportunities. I mean, they could have had like seven in that game. Gilberto Morris, obviously the the big feature, and that tells you enough about the team when the 16 year old is what everybody talks about when he comes to Sholos.
01:26:56
Speaker
um They have some experienced attackers that, I think that you know could make it a little bit more difficult. They're more structured, in my opinion.
01:27:07
Speaker
They're just more structured. they They have a better idea of the way they like to defend. They're a more physical team as well, ah which Santos lacks physicality. So I would put them a step, one step above Santos.
Seattle's League Position & Future Prospects
01:27:24
Speaker
All right. That was ah the Lobbing Scorchers projected starting 11. Nico, we're at an hour 30, so I think we can start the wrap-up process here. But, ah you know, thanks for hopping on for the Saturday edition of kickoff glad that we were able to work this one in and uh catch up on this cruz azul game before uh the league's cup phase one campaign continues tomorrow uh before we get out of here i mean any other any other thoughts on where things stand for seattle right now in this competition and i guess uh i guess for me like how the cruz azul game went kind of crystallized like
01:28:04
Speaker
Uh, now you've given yourself a legitimate chance to make a run here because the hardest, one of the hardest tasks that you have to do in this format is just get out of this phase one.
01:28:15
Speaker
It's 18 teams per table and only the top four get out. And with tiebreakers and stuff, things like goals scored and goal differential, ah play into that.
01:28:27
Speaker
And so by scoring the most goals of any team in either league and keeping a clean sheet and a plus seven GD, you're there. Seattle is literally in the best position of any team in either league.
01:28:43
Speaker
to be able to to clinch advancement yeah in these next few games. They just got to take care of business. And ah really, like the way I see it, ah i mean, winning all three, that would put them that would put them through guaranteed.
01:28:59
Speaker
You could even win one, draw one, and then depending on how other results goes and go and tiebreakers, you could still get through. But like ah for me, for me it's like I was always thinking of it as get through phase one, and then we'll talk about what an actual run could entail and the potential meaning and implications behind that.
01:29:22
Speaker
But ah going into this game, I'm feeling like, all right, like you gave yourselves as good a chance as anyone to, to get out of this ah phase one. So now, now go do it. Like, how are you feeling going into this Santos game?
01:29:39
Speaker
um
01:29:42
Speaker
I said it on a 950 KJR on Sounders weekly with Jackson Feltz. I thought that, the tempo setter would be the first game. And when Seattle goes in there with a bang, the way they did, understanding the way Seattle has approached Leeds Cup and how successful they've been at it from the very start in the showcase,
01:30:09
Speaker
of Leagues Cup, where they went to the final in Vegas. I think that Seattle is a contender, and I think that they see um the
01:30:21
Speaker
they see the benefit of having the Sounders name be talked about the way that it has over the last week. um Not last week, what I'm saying, the last couple of days.
01:30:32
Speaker
And and They want to continue to do that. So I think that Seattle right now in their current form, their current confidence, ah something that we didn't talk about was Pedro De La Vega after the game, after having a brace, he said that the the one thing that he wants to keep from this game that he wanted to highlight was the unity of the team.
01:30:56
Speaker
He said, I love the fact that I was able to celebrate and enjoy my teammates' goals from the bench. The fact that when I scored, everybody was together. that there There was a different feeling of unity after this Cruz Azul game, and that is a dangerous weapon for Seattle.
01:31:13
Speaker
I feel like over the decade of success that we had under the Nicolás Odero and Raúl Rídez reign, there was a real camaraderie. There was a strong core together. Not not like this it hasn't, but it was more cemented.
01:31:29
Speaker
And I feel like by Pedro De La Vega as your X factor and a guy that has had a hard time adapting to the league, him saying that to me, that seems like this team has taken the next step.
01:31:43
Speaker
And If you're not an intangible person that you maybe you're thinking I'm just over here ah being a hopeless romantic when it comes to soccer, but people tend to overlook the importance of that.
01:31:55
Speaker
And I think that this team sees it so i Going into the Santos Laguna game, I'm extremely confident that they're going to get a result regardless of the lineup. I think that they're going to showcase their their soccer.
01:32:07
Speaker
I think they're going to get a multiple goal win over Santos Laguna. And I feel like they're going to be the front foot to be a contender to win Leagues Cup.
01:32:19
Speaker
I do think that they're a contender just because of the current form and what I've seen from this club over the last couple of games. If they go out there and they take care of business tomorrow against Santos, they're gonna be they're gonna get start getting talked about as a ah one of the real front runners to make a run in this competition.
01:32:39
Speaker
i think everyone's on notice. Everyone saw the seven zero. Everyone saw it, everyone knows what's up. Everyone knows what happened. Uh, but if they go out and they flop against Santos, have a terrible game, take a bad result, that would take some of the shine off.
01:32:51
Speaker
But again, if they, if they just go out there and play to the relative level that they were able to play against, uh, cruises, well which, you know, with the short turnaround and, uh, some of the rotation that we're ostensibly going to see, but maybe not, it's, it's not going to be necessarily the easiest thing to maintain that level.
01:33:11
Speaker
Uh, but if they can the the uh the prospect of adding this trophy to the case becomes even more real and for me it's just like what when you get to a point where that becomes a realistic problem possibility then you kind of do you kind of do have to go for it if for no other reason than for the boatload of prize money and the uh ccc spot and all that like There's very real benefits that would come with winning this thing.
01:33:42
Speaker
And in a situation where, like, I was looking at this format and was like, four out four out of 18 teams, you could have a good showing, good performances, and a couple of good results and still not make it out just because it's kind of it's really hard to make it out.
01:33:56
Speaker
But they're ah they're in pole position to make it out of this thing. Santo Faduna, tomorrow, 7.30. Go for it Yeah, absolutely. And you know the fact that everybody's coming to, and and we'll close it with this, is just Jesus Torre is a guy that also ah seems to have found his feet. I thought that he had a very good game against Cruz Azul.
01:34:18
Speaker
I think he's going to be a guy that's going be very important. Albert Rusnak, although not brilliant in that game, I thought that he did the little things, including keeping the team level-headed when necessary. In this league's cup, the last thing you want is a red card or or a bad moment. And I felt like Which God knows, God knows we've seen enough of that from this team. Yeah, so was very involved in that matter. I just think that this team is really coming together and they've reached a new level of comfortness and of togetherness.
01:34:48
Speaker
And that's that's dangerous, man. So that that's interesting. And although I think this is the easier game, I think the Cholos game is going to be a momentum shifter into the next phase as well. So I think that they'll put a pretty solid lineup there because, like I said, Cholos is a better team than Santos and.
01:35:08
Speaker
Yeah, man, I think sky's the limit for this team right now. We'll see how that plays out into the domestic play, right? Because you're you're going to have to figure out the lineup for that LA Galaxy game as well.
01:35:21
Speaker
So those those are all things that will come in as they they go progressively. And I guess if you... if you ah punch a card into the next round by, i don't know, getting a big result against Santos Laguna, then maybe you could tinker a little bit against Cholos and figure out that the LA Galaxy game is important as well.
01:35:40
Speaker
ah But I think that the overall depth of the team has Brian Smutzer pretty happy. And credit to Brian as well, man. He has definitely, although it took some time, I think he's hitting the right levers right now with this team.
01:35:56
Speaker
Yeah, like on the topic of the the rotation that we've talked a lot about in recent weeks and ah lack thereof and how we feel like guys need to get rest that aren't getting it right now and they're yeah they could ro rotate more. Like I think all that stuff is true, but I guess the way I see it is – yeah if whatever lineups that he's running out there are are getting results taking wins and scoring goals then you know i can sit here and say that i would rotate the double pivot and stuff but i'm not gonna like sit here and poke holes and argue with a starting 11 that i don't think is rotated enough if
01:36:35
Speaker
It leads to a 7-0, you know? So, you know, as long as ah as long as they keep the form that they've been on, I can, A, understand the logic why he would keep riding the hot hand, and B, I'm not gonna i' not going to complain about it.
01:36:52
Speaker
that much when the when the results are what they've been. That being said, i do think this in particular is a situation where it calls for mixing and matching perhaps even more than some of these games we've been talking about recently.
01:37:07
Speaker
So ah we'll see how they line it up. I'll be interested to see. ah I'll be looking forward to hopefully the ah Snyder Burnell start at the very least. Uh, but yeah, the Leeds cup train keeps rolling.
01:37:18
Speaker
Uh, all right, everyone, we're going to call it right there. Thank you all so
Fan Engagement & Show Conclusion
01:37:22
Speaker
much for, uh, tuning into an impromptu Saturday morning edition of lobbing scorchers kickoff. This was fun. I mean, we had to, we had to work it in coming off the seven zero when you have a seven zero over Cruz Azul and you only have so a finite kind content window before the next game.
01:37:40
Speaker
you got to maximize that. So I'm glad we were able to do that. Nate, uh, Nico, thank you for, uh, coming on. Thank you, man. and i mean Noah told me I was going to get paid time and a half today, so i was like, I'm on it. Hell yeah, let's go.
01:37:53
Speaker
everyone Everyone in chat, please like the video if you haven't. Like the video. There's probably some some ratio that's not good right now like 70 viewers in here still and like 15 likes whatever it is let's pump it up to at at least 50 plus ideally up towards triple digits uh also go ahead and uh if you're watching and you haven't subbed to the channel sub to the channel uh sounder at heart.com slash ls to become a sounder at heart sub support us that way lobbing scorchers.com slash sauce to buy the hot sauce it's really good you'll love it uh code ls to get a free bottle with your order uh lobbing scorchers.com slash archive for the archive kit that's another way to uh to support the show uh we will be back at it uh i think on uh we're gonna i'm not gonna like fully commit and so in if something crazy happens
01:38:46
Speaker
but going to aim for doing the post game live right after santos there's probably going to be a little uh gap in there like there was last time for me to get home and stuff but uh we're going plan on that so uh be there for the for the late night post game and then nico i mean you're still down to rock on uh on monday yeah Yep, I'll be here Monday. I won't be at the game on Sunday. It's kind of like the last weekend with my son because I will be taking him to Wazoo next Saturday.
01:39:19
Speaker
So I'm going to be staying home for the Santos Laguna game. i'll be watching, of course. But... I'll be back on Wednesday as well against Cholos at the game, ah but I'll definitely be ready to rock and roll on Monday.
01:39:37
Speaker
Lobby Scourge kickoff. That's a valid reason to miss the game. Go Cougs. That's right. All right. We're going to get out of here on that. Thanks, everybody. We'll catch you on Sunday and then on Monday.
01:39:50
Speaker
Peace.