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Nos Audietis, Episode 297: Bidding farewell to Chad Marshall
53 Plays6 years ago
It’s been three weeks since we last record and, wow, has a lot happened. The Sounders have played four matches, going 1-0-3, made two huge signings and, most recently, suffered one particularly painful loss.
By now, you’ve surely heard that Chad Marshall has decided to retire, effective immediately. The decision, best we can tell, was a bit sudden, but also somewhat forced by the knowledge that there was some degredation going on in his surgically repaired knee. Marshall was one of just two players remaining from the Sounders 2014 double-winning squad, was still one of the best defenders in the league at the age of 34 and was genuinely considered one of the most popular player among teammates.
Luckily, it looks like the Sounders are in a good position to cover for his loss. Roman Torres has been playing well, going 90 minutes in all three games last week. The Sounders also have signed Marshall’s expected longterm replacement, Ecuador international Xavier Arreaga. Arreaga was one of two deadline day signings, with the other being Joevin Jones.
This week's music: Perry Como - "Seattle", "RVIVR - "Ocean Song", Woody Guthrie - "Roll On Columbia", "Your Journey Begins" - OurMusicBox (Jay Man) (CC BY 4.0)
Thanks to James Woollard, Sounders Public Address Announcer, for doing our sponsor reads. You can follow him on Twitter at @BritVoxUS - if you’re looking for a British Voice to advertise your business or non-profit, please reach out to him.
Want to hear the music from the show in their glorious, full versions? Check out the Nos Audietis playlist on Spotify!
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Transcript
Episode Sponsorship Introduction
00:00:00
Speaker
This episode of No Sadietes is sponsored by Full Pool Wines, a Seattle-based wine seller who recently released their first book, 36 Bottles of Wine. The ethos of the book, a highly curated look at wine categories that provide exceptional value right now, should be familiar to full pool readers. But there's loads of fresh content, and since it's not trying to sell any wine through the book, there's a bit more of a sass factor.
00:00:21
Speaker
And there's food! Lots of it! Fullpool's unique writing styles apply to recipes like leftover Thanksgiving turkey, schmaltz-a-ball soup, and pregnancy nachos. This book can be purchased through Sasquatch Books.
Introduction by Seattle Sounders Players
00:00:32
Speaker
Hey, this is Christian Roldan. And Jordan Morris from the Seattle Sounders Football Club. And you're listening to... There's no study at this. Fuck! Hey, Ocean! Let's go! Morris runs right by him and sticks in and slots it in for a roll! Fantastic for George Morris!
00:00:55
Speaker
Here's Morris! Morris! Think of an ant! What do tigers dream of? They take a little tiger's hand. The bluest skies you've ever seen are in Seattle. And the hills, the greenest green in Seattle.
00:01:28
Speaker
Welcome to another edition of No Spadaita, sponsored by Full
Episode Context and Date
00:01:31
Speaker
Full Wines. This is episode 297, and we're recording on Wednesday, May 22nd, 2019. I am your host, Jeremiah O'Shan. As usual, I'm joined by my co-host, Eric Campo, and our engineer,
Recap: Matches, Signings, and Loss
00:01:41
Speaker
Lickett.
00:01:41
Speaker
It's been three weeks since we last recorded and wow, a lot's happened. The Sounders have played four matches going 1-0-1-3. They made two huge signings and most recently suffered one particularly painful loss.
Chad Marshall's Retirement Announcement
00:01:57
Speaker
By now you've probably heard that Chad Marshall has decided to retire effectively immediately.
00:02:01
Speaker
The decision best we can tell was a bit sudden, but also somewhat forced by the knowledge that there was some degradation going on in a surgically repaired knee. Marshall was one of just two players remaining from the center's 2014 double winning squad, was still one of the best defenders in the league at age 34, and was generally considered one of the most popular players among teammates.
00:02:21
Speaker
Luckily, it looks like the Sounders are in good position to cover for his loss. Roman Torres has been playing well, going 90 minutes in three games last week.
Javier Arriaga Joins the Sounders
00:02:28
Speaker
The Sounders also have signed Marshall's expected long-term replacement, Ecuador International, Javier Arriaga. Arriaga was one of two deadline day signings, with the other being Jovan Jones. That's a lot to talk about, and we've not even mentioned your situation, Aaron. So I'm gonna just go ahead and get out of the way and let you
00:02:48
Speaker
Pick any one of those topics or talk about yourself. Go for it.
Aaron's Return from Surgery
00:02:53
Speaker
I'll talk about myself really quick. So yeah, the main reason we haven't recorded for three weeks is I was busy joining the zipper club. So I'm going to have a pretty badass scar on my chest that no one but my wife will ever see if I'm lucky because it's not pretty with my shirt off. But yeah, had two major surgeries, was in the hospital for a week.
00:03:17
Speaker
I don't recommend that if you can avoid it. But I'm doing okay now. I'm very happy to be back doing this show because I'm kind of bored. I haven't really left the house a whole lot for the last three weeks. And I miss you guys as well. So yeah, yeah, but I'm okay. My long term prognosis is very good.
00:03:42
Speaker
So yeah, and I definitely appreciate everyone, um, you know, that reached out to wish me well and offer me support. Um, I was in a pretty bad place for the sort of the last couple of days I was in the hospital. So, um, that meant a lot to me. So really appreciate it.
Reflecting on Marshall's Retirement
00:03:59
Speaker
Um, but yeah, I mean, back to the important shit, um, the sounders Chad Marshall retiring is a huge bummer. Um,
00:04:06
Speaker
I'm sure we're going to talk a lot about that. It sucks because I feel like of all the players that
00:04:16
Speaker
that are on this team that you feel like are close to retirement, he deserved to go out on his own terms. And it really sucks that you didn't get that chance. It's a huge bummer because I think everybody kind of felt like there was a good chance this was going to be his last year, but man, I really wish he could have gone out on a high note instead of this sort of
00:04:41
Speaker
Oh, well, shit. I guess I can't play soccer anymore. Kind of note. Um, it's, it's just, he deserved a lot better than that. Yeah. And it sounds like it was, it, like I, I did a fair amount of, uh, asking about this situation. And one of the kind of funny, I guess, coincidences was when Ariaga was being announced or right before he was being announced, someone asked, maybe I asked Brian Spencer about like what this means for
00:05:10
Speaker
like the current roster. And he mentioned something along the lines of like, well, Chad's told us that he's probably not going to continue. And I followed up with him and was like, well, what did you mean by that? And he's like, oh, well, I mean, at the end of the year, we have this discussion every year. And like,
00:05:29
Speaker
he implied that nothing was final and that this is, in any case, it was an end of the year discussion. And then, so when this all came up, I asked around like, well, was that a slip of the tongue or was that like genuinely just a coincidence? And everyone told me that was genuinely a coincidence, that at that time they weren't, they didn't know that Marshall was potentially going to be retiring.
Arriaga's Role and Future Prospects
00:05:55
Speaker
And so that was kind of like, like,
00:05:59
Speaker
signing Ariaga was clearly with them in mind that he was going to be the long term replacement for Chad Marshall. But I think they genuinely were not expecting him to be like his immediate replacement as well, or potentially his immediate replacement right now. And that it was kind of like a thing where one day, you know, he wasn't playing and then
00:06:26
Speaker
like relatively soon after that they're like, yeah, I don't know if he's going to play again. And that's a bummer. Um, cause I, I have to imagine that it hit like, I can't imagine that he, like we haven't had a chance to talk to him and I suspect he didn't really have a chance to fully process it himself. Like that's, you know, like Dempsey was probably kicking in around the idea for months before, you know, he actually pulled the trigger and
00:06:53
Speaker
And I don't think I don't get the sense that Chad had that kind of time, like he like kind of got the prognosis from the doctor and then had to just make a decision, which sucks. Yeah, I mean, it's it's it's always sad, I think, when an athlete has to retire under these circumstances or just when they don't want to.
00:07:18
Speaker
I think the Sounders are very fortunate considering the circumstances that, you know, they have such great depth and they have his long-term replacement coming in into the team, but it just sucks and it's a bummer. I think that's the biggest thing.
00:07:37
Speaker
because Clint Dempsey was the way Clint Dempsey was. It was unfortunate, but it just didn't make me as sad that he had to retire the way he did. Because I don't think and I don't think Clint was forced into it. I think Clint basically decided he didn't want to be a bench player his last year.
00:07:54
Speaker
Yeah. And that's, I mean, it does make it, I think, less, less of a bummer. And he was also just very aloof. I guess Chad is too, but Dempsey. Chad's aloof in a totally different way, though, I think. And, like, I certainly didn't ever, like, I'm not 100% sure I've ever had a one-on-one
00:08:17
Speaker
conversation with Chad. I may have had, I guess, exchanged a few words with him, but he was not someone who the press got to know well. He only really started doing interviews like formalized interviews in the last couple years.
00:08:33
Speaker
And the way we got to know him really was through the lens of other people or in these little bits and pieces, these little moments that he would kind of give you a glimpse into who he was. And they might be Instagram posts or they might be like outtakes from interviews or there are these little moments that happen within an interview where you start to see, oh, this is what everyone's talking about when, you know,
00:09:01
Speaker
Like, for instance, I remember when the story came out that said who's the best dancer on the sounder on the centers and everyone when I know when they were researching the story. When Ari. I'm gonna bit butchers name Ari from MLS soccer.
00:09:18
Speaker
he was researching the story, everyone assumed it was like, oh, this is a Roman Taurus story, but we're framing
Chad Marshall's Legacy and Personality
00:09:24
Speaker
it as like, who's the best dancer? Then everyone started saying, Oh, my chat Marshall has a pretty good, you know, shout for this position. And it's like, what are you guys are joking, right? And
00:09:35
Speaker
Um, and then it turns like he, I, I really do think this is kind of like the beginning of his coming out to fans as like, no, actually I'm pretty funny. And I'm kind of like, I have some personality and like, he just busted out this little move at the MLS cup celebration. Parade. And it was like, Oh.
00:09:58
Speaker
That maybe wasn't a joke. And he had like this whole like pure wet ballerina kick thing that he would do, I guess mainly for, he may have done it on the stage at that thing, but he would mostly, I think he would do it in the locker room and stuff. And the sounders today shared like this clip, like this outtake of like how everyone liked him. And they showed all these little moments and it was like, yeah, I could see why people love this guy.
00:10:28
Speaker
And I do wonder how much of... I can definitely respect why he didn't want to put that out to the public and how it maybe would have felt fake to put it out to the public, but I am glad that it was becoming known that he was this way because I felt like it gave us a much bigger picture of who this guy was.
00:10:57
Speaker
Sorry, the cat has forced me to mute my microphone. No, it's okay. We're used to it. Yeah, I know, I know. I think that too, it probably gets easier to be kind of a big goofball as your public persona when you've proven as much as he has in your career and when you get a little older and you've got kids and stuff. I would imagine, because when you look back,
00:11:26
Speaker
the way he carried himself when he was at Columbus. He just kind of came across as this surly badass.
00:11:34
Speaker
And I think he is definitely a badass, especially on the soccer field. But he's just a fun personality to root for. Every time he would go down with a knock, he just looked like he was about to just walk straight to the locker room and change and drive off into the sunset. He was just a really fun guy to have on the team.
00:12:00
Speaker
He was another one of those players that I think the Sounders are always contractually obligated to have like two or three players that are clearly elite at their position in the league that nobody ever talks about as being elite. You know, stuff and fries a great example. Yeah, for sure. So yeah, I mean, it's I'm very glad that he has been on the team for five years. And I wish he could have been on the team for
Marshall's Impact on the Sounders vs. the Crew
00:12:27
Speaker
longer. And
00:12:28
Speaker
I remember when we traded for him before 2014 and it like, I don't want to say it seemed underwhelming because I mean, I think everybody knew that he was a great defender. He was one of the better defenders in MLS. And that the team was getting better by adding him. But the way 2013 had ended, it was just like hard to get too excited about anything.
00:12:49
Speaker
uh, which in hindsight is funny considering how 2014, you know, ended up, but, um, but I definitely, I mean, he's, I kind of expected him to decline pretty quickly and maybe have another good year or two. Um, but until the day he retired, he was like a top five center back in MLS. Um, and so I think we were really lucky, you know, that he was able to
00:13:12
Speaker
to have as long of a career as he did. It's crazy to me that he played more games for the crew than he did for the Sounders. Even though, I mean. And a lot more games, which was. A lot more. Like, yeah, like almost twice as many. Like 100, I want to say 100, almost 100, maybe actually 100, like right around 100 more games he played for the crew. And he was there 10 years. But, you know, he, one of the things was, I think he in some ways kind of
00:13:40
Speaker
Like it did seem like he was in a little bit of a decline before he got here. Like he was not being, the crew had been pretty bad and maybe that was not a lot to do with him. And so maybe he was, his reputation was being hurt by the fact that the crew just hadn't been good for a couple of years and we're coming off a particularly bad season.
00:14:02
Speaker
But I too was not super, like I don't think I had a full appreciation of what the sounders were getting in Chad Marshall. I think he was 29 at the time. And so it felt like he was...
00:14:18
Speaker
getting older, but like you hoped he had a few good years left in him. And I think he exceeded our expectations in every possible way, which is kind of funny to say about a player who at that time had won two Defender of the Year awards. He'd already been one of the, you know, he was probably one of, if not the best center backs in the league.
00:14:43
Speaker
And he just like across the board, he exceeded our expectations. And I think, you know, there's one stat that I shared on Twitter that for me, epitomizes the kind of player he was because, you know, like you can say, oh, well, he had 26 goals and apparently that's the most of any center back in MLS history. But to me, that's kind of a longevity stat. You know, he never had more than four goals in the season. Four goals is nothing to sniff at, but,
00:15:11
Speaker
It wasn't like he was this prolific scorer. He played for parts of 16 seasons. So 26 goals is not an outrageous number, right? That doesn't jump off the page in any case.
00:15:23
Speaker
But what, you know, he, and he doesn't, his highlight reel is, you know, a fair number of goals. It's not, but it's not like these big, hard slide tackles. He wasn't this guy who just dominated people physically in a way that, you
Marshall's Defensive Skills
00:15:39
Speaker
know, like a Kendall, Austin might, or a homicide, all of a, or, you know, some of the, the more, you know, notable center backs in the league. But the thing that stood out to me in researching this.
00:15:51
Speaker
were two things. One of them is, this is a player who's changed his game a lot over the years. Like he's adapted to the way that the game has been called, he's adapted to the way coaches want to play, and he's stayed at the top of his game. But the thing that stands out is he only had 18 yellow cards in his whole career. He had two red cards, one of which was rescinded,
00:16:20
Speaker
No, yeah, 18 yellow cards, two red cards, one of them was rescinded. And even more well than that, he averaged less than a foul per game. A foul, less than one foul per game.
00:16:35
Speaker
and he basically averaged 0.62 fouls per 90 minutes when he was with the Sounders. That's unbelievable. I mean, you kind of take it for granted how much pressure that takes off a defense that you have a guy that's able to defend that way without fouling anybody. He had twice as many goals and assists as he did reds and yellows. That's crazy. That's an insane stat to me as a defender.
00:17:02
Speaker
No, it is an insane stat. And the thing that's kind of funny about Chad Marshall is that I feel like the general perception of him, not among sounder fans and I would imagine crew fans as well. You know, people that have watched him play weekend and week out is that he's a very good defender.
00:17:22
Speaker
That's very much in like the mold of like what you think of when you think of like an American center back. Um, and that's why he never broke into the national team and things like that. But if you actually watch him play and you consider the things he's good at, like you said, he's not this like super imposing physical specimen. Um, he's tall and he's good in the air. Um, but he's not, but he's a, he's a big dude. I don't think in the way that.
00:17:50
Speaker
know, some of these other guys would. But anyway, yeah, I mean, he's not he's not he he wins his share of physical battles, he can handle big physical forwards. But he's not somebody that's in, you know, in the habit of just like, body and people. He's, he's all about just sort of his tactical ability, his ability to be
00:18:10
Speaker
to know where he needs to be and get there ahead of time. He's a very smart tackler. He knows when to go to ground and he knows that that's not very often. And he doesn't do it unless he knows he can win the ball. He's a great passer. He had that insane run, I think it was two seasons ago, where he went
00:18:32
Speaker
like what was it like three or four games without having an incomplete pass? He's a lot more, the way he plays stylistically is a lot closer to center backs that you would see in European teams that play like a very possession heavy style. And I don't think that that's the reputation he has amongst most fans. I mean, I think most fans think of him as just being sort of this like non-technical
00:19:02
Speaker
kind of, kind of player and he's just not at all I mean he's a he's a much more well rounded cerebral player than I think he ever really got wide credit for, which is unfortunate because I think that
00:19:16
Speaker
It's, it's rare to see a player like that in MLS that's not getting national team call ups. And that's something that, that is something that I, I don't understand still. I have never really felt like I got a decent explanation for. And it was a thing that we just kind of accepted as fact that this was probably the best defender in MLS who could not. Like he got called into a camp, a January camp.
00:19:43
Speaker
maybe it was last January, and that was the first time he'd been called up in several years. But he hasn't had it, like the last time he had an extended run with the national team was the 2009 Gold Cup. And he was the player, I think he was the player of the tournament. It's crazy, it's crazy. And you know, you look at like the 2010 World Cup team, which was a decent team, but like Clarence Goodson was on that team.
00:20:14
Speaker
Like, another take-in when a clinician gets someone to find center back. But his, basically, his, like, his qualification over Chad Marshall was he was playing in Europe.
00:20:25
Speaker
Yeah, pretty much. Yeah. And like the explanations I've heard, the most common one is that, well, he just doesn't have speed, the speed that he needs to have to play at the end of the level, which total BS. I mean, he's not that fast, but- But he's not like a plot. He's not plotting either. He's not any slower than Clarence Goodson. I mean, that's for damn sure.
00:20:47
Speaker
Um, and yeah, so I, I think that's garbage. I think that's a total bullshit explanation. Um, it was never on HDTV is the problem. Well, yeah, that's true. That's, uh, that's a very helps the profile. Yeah. Um, the other explanation that I heard that I think is, is plausible is that he seemed to get injured at really an opportune times. So he would get called in for a camp and get an injury right before.
00:21:14
Speaker
Um, I think that that did happen at one point when he was with the Sounders actually, um, like right after he signed something like that happened correctly. And, and I think national team coaches tend to have a kind of tunnel vision where if they have a camp and they have some friendlies or, or even some competitive games and you're not there and the team plays well, they're just not going to consider you for a while. Um,
00:21:41
Speaker
But I also think that at a certain point, it kind of became a self-fulfilling thing where it's like you said, it's like, yeah, he's the best friend in MLS, but he doesn't get national team call-ups. And the national team coaches started treating it the same way where they're just like, yeah, this isn't a guy we consider. I think it's nuts. I think that he was
00:22:03
Speaker
I think that with Chad Marshall on the team during qualifying, the US probably doesn't miss the World Cup, considering how bad some of the defensive performances were. But that's the way it goes. It just sucks for him because I feel like he could have been maybe not like a US national team legend, but somebody that people recalled fondly as like,
00:22:29
Speaker
uh a warrior type type guy um yeah I mean rock steady kind of player and Matt like you know you look at like a like 2014 probably the guy that gets in over him is like Matt Beazler is probably the most obvious yeah and Matt Beazler isn't a bad defender and I guess he only has 17 caps which is not
00:22:50
Speaker
such a massive difference than Marshall's 12, but he played in the World Cup. And I do think that that's like, it isn't a legitimate shame that, like, I don't know that Chad Marshall ever got even to a World Cup qualifier.
00:23:07
Speaker
And that's ridiculous.
Marshall's Place in MLS History
00:23:09
Speaker
And I hope that his reputation is not, he was a great MLS defender. He was a great defender. He was a great, uh, you know, and I, and I do think that if he had been playing in, like he could have played in any league in the world and been a very good, like he has all the, he has all the tools you need to be a very good center back. And.
00:23:34
Speaker
You know, I think he probably cost himself a lot of money, but I would like to think he's probably happier doing the career the way he did it. You know, he was never a particularly highly paid player. You know, it's funny, this was his fifth year with the Sounders. I don't ever remember them announcing a Chad Marshall extension. I guess there must have been one at some point. But it was never, like, Chad Marshall never had like a high profile
00:24:03
Speaker
like, eh, you know, this is the end of my contract and we'll see what happens. And, you know, like angling for more money and like ever seemingly like everyone. Uh, there's some public kind of thing about like, oh, you know, like you want Stephen Fry, like, well, we tried to make him a Tam and the league rejected us. And, you know, and it's like, I guess that's a credit to him. He, he clearly,
00:24:31
Speaker
made decisions that allowed the sounders to have much more flexibility to build an even better team around them. And I would like to think that it paid off and that they've been very successful since he's been here. One of the other stats that I thought was interesting is he's been here for five years.
00:24:53
Speaker
in four of those seasons, they were no worse than top six in goals allowed. And then the fifth season that was in to his first year when he won the defensive player of the year and the Sounders had the highest scoring team in the league. And so it was, he wasn't necessarily asked to defend the same way. Um, but he just made everyone around him better. I think he made everyone around him happier, which is maybe even, um,
00:25:18
Speaker
more impressive in its own way. But yeah, I mean, I think he's going to be really missed. And I would like to think that in a few years, we'll have maybe a better appreciation. Like I think sounders fans appreciate him. I think crew fans really appreciate him. You know, it was one of the funny things that happened today. Someone texted you like tweeted at me. And when I sent out that thing about this, his stats and like, yeah, you know, I always thought of him as kind of a dirt, like a thuggish player.
00:25:46
Speaker
Um, but now I realized that I think I just didn't like playing against him. And it's like, you know, he never, he never got into bad tackles. He, you know, he, he rarely left his feet. It seemed like, like the only time he was leaving his feet was to like make a sliding stop of a free ball. Like he just didn't have to do that. He was so good, like strong positionally and.
00:26:13
Speaker
Uh, it was really, you know, uh, Susie Rants, one of the contributors to Senator Hart talked about how he, he kind of perfected the leg wrap move where he would poke his, like he, he deny service to like a forward who was trying to post him up by, you know, doing the leg wrap thing where he knocks the ball away. And it's like the subtle stuff like that, that, um, you know, I don't think it's easily replicated. Um, you know, who knows this Ariaga guy may prove to be a better.
00:26:44
Speaker
defender than Marshall, but it'll be different, that's for sure. Yeah. And I think that his entire, and maybe this explains why he was viewed the way he was by the national team and just sort of fans at large, but he wasn't spectacular in any real way. He was just
00:27:08
Speaker
When players are that good, like he was like a Tim Duncan kind of player, you know, like he's, and defenders already are, are kind of boring, um, for, for lack of a better term. Um, like if they're doing their job well, they just don't really stand out. Did I really never hit record? No.
00:27:28
Speaker
Oh, no, I did. Okay, good. Okay, good. So we can edit that out, or we can leave it in. We're recording, don't worry. A little peek behind the curtain. We're totally leaving that in. Yeah, we are. Yeah, I mean, I just, it's kind of understandable to a certain extent, because he was just so good in such an unspectacular way for so long that, you know, maybe it kind of makes sense that
00:27:58
Speaker
he didn't get the recognition he deserved, I don't know. But it's a huge bummer. It's a really huge bummer because he... I can't think of a defender that I've seen in MLS that...
00:28:09
Speaker
I would take their career over his career. I really can't think of one. And I think that he was crucial to the 2014 team that won the shield and the open cup. And I think he was critical, obviously was critical to the 2016 team that won the MLS Cup. And he was huge in that game. So he has a pretty solid argument for most accomplished sounder.
00:28:39
Speaker
Uh, yeah, because he's been a part of all the best teams and a critical part of that seems he may, you know, the, the sounders right now are doing the, their best 11 all time team. I did my ballot. I kind of. Hamstrung myself by going through certain, actually, you know, we may we'll talk about that, but, uh, he, for me may have been the easiest pick.
00:29:06
Speaker
Like, and I say that as like Stefan Fry, I thought was the pretty obvious choice as the goalkeeper, but there was some doubt in there. Um, you know, Aussie Alonso, I think automatically on there, there was, you know, a few other guys who I think probably ended up being almost universal choices, but Chad Marshall for me was like,
00:29:33
Speaker
the easiest choice. There's clearly one of the best defenders to ever be. I think clearly the best defender to ever be to wear a Sounders jersey certainly during the MLS era and I'm not going to try to pretend like I can compare previous eras
00:29:51
Speaker
But, you know, he was the, he was a best 11 in MLS four times. He did that twice when he was with the sounders. No other sounder was ever named to a best 11 twice. I was actually surprised to see that only four other players have made, sounders have made best 11. Ozzie Alonzo only made it once. Clint Dempsey only made it once. Oprah Martin's only made it once. Casey Keller made it once. And that's it. Yeah, it's pretty, pretty surprising. Yeah.
00:30:20
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, I just, uh, I think you're right. I think that he, when I was trying to figure out what my best 11 would be, I think he was, him and Fry were the most obvious choices. Like I definitely had a harder time with whether or not to include Ozzy, which it wasn't a hard time to decide, but I had to think about
Building the Sounders' Best 11
00:30:43
Speaker
it. You know what I mean? Like.
00:30:45
Speaker
with Marshall it was just obvious you know there was no there was no consideration to be had and I mean I think he's probably an MLS all-time best 11 player at this point yeah I I think so too I mean I don't I haven't sat down and tried to figure that out but
00:31:01
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, if MLS had a Hall of Fame, he's a unanimous first ballot. Yes. Yes. Without question. And there is a soccer Hall of Fame that I hope he is immediately inducted that as quickly as he can be inducted into, I hope he's inducted in. Absolutely. Absolutely. Although the bar for that doesn't seem quite as high. It doesn't. It doesn't. It's some of the things. But at least it's not like the WWE Hall of Fame. The WWE is a Hall of Fame. Yeah. Well, yeah, technically.
00:31:32
Speaker
Donald Trump's in it, so that should give you a sense of how serious it is. It must be hard to get into. He's the way in the most exclusive clubs. It's true. It's definitely true. Anyway, that has nothing to do with Chad Marshall. No. I mean, that was a lot. Do we have anything that we feel like we need to get off our chest about the
00:31:53
Speaker
Uh, the other stuff that I talked about early in the show, like, uh, the union game, I dunno, it was the zero zero tie. Yeah, it wasn't fun to watch. Um, it was a great result. I thought that was great tactical approach. Um, it wasn't fun to watch, but it was compelling to watch. Yeah, I could see that there are definitely sounders games where I'm like, I could definitely watch that game again in a day or two and enjoy it.
00:32:20
Speaker
I will not. That's a, yeah, that's a different kind of criteria. I suppose that's, I guess an interesting one. I mean, I always think Sanders games are compelling watches because I have like a vested interest in the result.
Sounders' Injury Challenges
00:32:34
Speaker
And I feel like that makes it eminently more interesting than even two teams that are playing really attractive soccer, but I don't need to go down that path right now. Um, I thought it was, I was encouraged by.
00:32:51
Speaker
their ability to go as deep into their bench as they've gone and continue to get results. You know, they've used 20 players this year. That's not an extraordinary amount by MLS standards. You know, I went through everyone's roster and you know, like there's a couple of teams that have used 23, 24 players. There's a few teams that have used 16, like 17 or 18 players, but most of the teams have used somewhere close to 20 starters and you know, it's like 18, 19, 20, 21, somewhere in there.
00:33:21
Speaker
And so it's not like the sounders have, have used a ton of, of starters compared to everyone else, but I did think it was telling that their 20th starter was Jonathan Campbell, who is a five year MLS veteran with 50 career MLS starts, which to me suggests that they were actually pretty well prepared for this, that they aren't, that they haven't given any starts to rookies this year, I think is, is notable, although that may change in the next couple of weeks. Um.
00:33:50
Speaker
But they haven't given any starts to rookies, I think is notable. They haven't had to throw guys into situations that they aren't really prepared for. Henry Wingo is, I think, the only player who's played minutes and not gotten start so far this year. And that may continue to be the case. But Abdul's
00:34:17
Speaker
Salam. Why am I blanking on him? Abdul Salam has been, I think, like a really pleasant surprise and much better than I would have expected. Yeah. I would agree. I would agree. Jordy Delham, another player that has been far exceeding my expectations.
00:34:35
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I think Dellum is a legitimately good MLS defensive midfielder. And I think, you know, Abdul Salaam has been solid. And I think that's, you know, like when you sign a guy kind of off the scrap heap.
00:34:54
Speaker
solid is a pretty good outcome. So, you know, I just, you're right. I think that they are really well set up. I think they're about as well set up as you can be, to sort of weather
Tactical Adaptations of the Sounders
00:35:07
Speaker
the storm. And the storm has not really started yet. I mean, that's common. Right. Although, considering the lineup they had to put out there, I guess you could consider that part of the storm, that you can game but, you know, it's gonna get worse and it's gonna,
00:35:24
Speaker
be sort of extended for longer than I think anybody would like. But the fact that they were able to get a result against a union team that I don't think that they're as good as maybe they've looked so far.
00:35:41
Speaker
But they're a legitimately good team. I mean, I feel like they're kind of like Houston, where I don't think that they're going to be in the supporter shield race coming into the season. But I think they're good teams, both of them. And so to get that result on the road on short rest with that lineup, I think should do wonders for people's confidence about how well they'll be able to deal with this. And yeah, but again, it was a 0-0 tie where the Sounders put out a team whose primary goal was to keep a clean sheet.
00:36:11
Speaker
I'm thrilled that they did it. I don't ever need to think about that game again. I mean, it was, you know, I mean, I think you're right that it was compelling to watch when it was happening. But I didn't want to watch it again, though. Yeah, definitely. It's kind of a slog. So. But that's OK. If you get a good result, it's OK. Those games are fine. And you're on the other end of them. Not so much. But right. And I get the frustration on some like I know there's some frustration with like
00:36:38
Speaker
they would like to not be a team that ever does that, right? Like there's that belief. And I know people wanna like, and I know it's not just this game. Like you can go back to maybe all the way to the Chicago game, which was I guess the third or fourth game of the season. And they haven't like been super dynamic offensively since then.
00:37:06
Speaker
But I think there's mitigating circumstances to all those games. And I think that it's like getting results isn't bad, especially when you're kind of navigating tough parts of your schedule. And it's not like they're just missed. They haven't just been missing. Like it's not like Ruby Diaz has been out and everything else is the same. It's like this week they're missing Morris, they're missing Rodriguez, they're missing Marshall, they're missing Svensson.
00:37:30
Speaker
That's, you know, four starters. You take four starters out of any MLS team and you just can't play the same game that you would play. Otherwise, you know, sporting Kansas city, uh, early in the year looked like they might be one of the great teams in them. Like they were destroying to Luca in champions league and they haven't won in seven or eight games at this point. Yeah. They're, they're a nightmare and they're, they're putting like two guys on their bench.
00:37:59
Speaker
Right. So it's like injuries, like, I guess the point being that injuries tend to do this to teams, but that's probably a good place to call this a segment. We're going to come back. Take your questions. You're listening to this.
00:38:17
Speaker
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00:38:37
Speaker
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00:38:57
Speaker
Welcome back to NUS audience. We have some questions and Likit is going to go ahead and start asking them. Yeah. As you can imagine, most of the questions are re-dealing with Chad Marshall. So ex-Zag asks, and actually two questions are kind of related. So I'm just going to read them together. Ex-Zag and then Edelfil asks, we're going to miss Chad Marshall a lot. Will our defense miss him more than that? And is there going to be a center back rotation? Who is going to start?
00:39:26
Speaker
I'll say that I think the way that Chad Marshall will be missed will not be readily apparent on the field immediately because I actually think the Saunders are reasonably well positioned to cover for his loss. Now it's a particularly inconvenient time for him to get hurt. It would have been really nice if this all came about in, I don't know,
00:39:55
Speaker
middle of June would have been like really convenient but that's not how things work and that wasn't possible. So yeah I mean I think the sounders are reasonably well equipped to handle this both in the short term and the long term but I think where we're gonna maybe notice it is more subtle ways like it'll be interesting to see how they how the locker room deals with it and if you see like I have a feeling that he did a lot of stuff behind the scenes that
00:40:25
Speaker
kept the locker room together that weren't always obvious. And hearing the players talk about that, I wonder if he was actually really instrumental in like the sounder is not completely falling apart during some of these struggles that they had in the last few years. What was the last part of the question? Is there going to be a center back rotation and who will start?
00:40:50
Speaker
Well, yeah, that, that'll be interesting. I, I don't think we're going to see Javier Ariaga get a ton of minutes until July 14th is when I'm guessing he's going to get his first start. And then at that point, I do wonder if there are like a rotation seems like there could be one, but that also doesn't seem like it's Brian Schumacher style. I mean, he had three starting caliber center backs.
00:41:17
Speaker
in the first part of the season and he wasn't doing any sort of rotation. So I don't know. I think Ariaga maybe worked in a little bit more slowly than, you know, Marshall was kind of the automatic starter, but yeah, I don't think it's gonna be like a formal rotation. Yeah, I wish I could be more interesting, but I think you pretty much covered it. So let's just move on.
00:41:49
Speaker
Uh, okay. Next one is still dealing kind of with Chad. Uh, two questions that are kind of related. Same deal. Uh, Ken Opplinger asks, with the acquisition of Ariaga, are we still good with that retiring? Or do you think they're going to sign another signer back? And then M German asks, what impact does the Chad retirement have on teams payroll? Will it free up money to contribute toward signing a new player?
00:42:16
Speaker
Um, so I'll, I'll leave the second question for Jeremiah, cause I honestly, I have a guess, but I don't, it's not based on a whole lot other than what seems fair. Um, but I think with the first question, I mean, obviously I would rather have Chad Marshall.
00:42:31
Speaker
But I don't think we need to go out and get another center back. I mean, you would assume that Ariaga is a starting caliber MLS center back. Kim Ki-hee certainly is a starting caliber MLS center back. Ramon Torres as well. Ramon and Kim I think are
00:42:46
Speaker
Getting a lot more comfortable Roman Has to play into form. I think that we can kind of say that now and after that Disaster of a first start he's actually looked quite good I think since then and and I think Kim looks a whole hell of a lot more comfortable on the left than he did When he's played it in the past, so I feel pretty good about those guys Ariaga, I think there's a lot of reason to feel you know, very confident that he's gonna be a
00:43:15
Speaker
a very good center back. And Campbell has looked sketchy in Tacoma, but I thought he looked pretty good against the Union. I thought he played pretty well, which is a weird thing that it seems like a lot of MLS kind of fringy MLS guys playing down a level tend to sort of struggle a little bit more at the USL level, but
00:43:36
Speaker
play pretty, you know, reasonably well at the MLS level. It's kind of a weird thing, but it seems like maybe sort of a trend. Anyway, that's neither here nor there. So, I mean, I think that we, even with Chad Marshall retiring, probably are more well set up for success at center back than most teams, if not all teams in MLS, which is crazy to think that you could lose one of the best center backs in MLS and still be in that kind of shape.
00:44:06
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, it was pretty serendipitous. And I don't know if that suggests that they didn't know at all that Chad Marshall might
Arriaga's Signing Impact
00:44:15
Speaker
be retiring. I mean, I don't think that the expectation was that Ariaga was going to be an immediate replacement for Marshall the way he kind of is turning out to be.
00:44:24
Speaker
But it was obviously good timing. I think it's making everyone rest a lot easier that they got this signing. But even if he doesn't debut until July, which I think is after the transfer window actually reopens, just that he's already under contract is a pretty big, I think, psychological weight off of the fan base's shoulders.
Depth in the Sounders' Squad
00:44:51
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I think they're set up OK. And like you said, it's it's kind of remarkable to think that they could lose a player like that and then not be worried about it. And I guess that's kind of the same thing last year with Dempsey, where, you know, you're in, you know, in a broad sense, you're losing the best, you know, maybe the best American player in history. And you like he was excess parts.
00:45:17
Speaker
And I wouldn't say that was the case at all with Chad Marshall. He was definitely not excess parts at this point, but they are as well set up as they can be. And I don't think, if they were to bring in another player, it's not gonna be another Chad Marshall quality player. And to kind of dovetail into the second part of that question, part of the reason is that apparently they're not gonna get any cap relief and they're not gonna seek any cap relief.
00:45:45
Speaker
basically because in order to get cap relief, they would have to basically fight to pay like the, they'd have to fight to take Marshall off their books, which would mean potentially not paying him. And I think the attitude is this is a guy who right now, like before Ariaga was signed was the fifth highest paid defender on the team with Ariaga. He's probably the sixth highest. He would have been the sixth highest paid defender on the team. Um,
00:46:14
Speaker
The Sounders were getting a really, really, really good deal on Marshall. I think they know that and they could probably keep them on their books as dead money for two or three years and still feel like it was a good investment. That's not going to happen. My understanding is they basically have them under contract for the rest of the year. That's going to count against their salary cap, but they had already kind of
00:46:37
Speaker
worth the salary cap in a way that they have room to sign a designated player in the summer with or without Marshall.
Managing the Salary Cap
00:46:45
Speaker
He's got about $250,000 left on his salary that they could theoretically reclaim. But with that kind of money,
00:46:56
Speaker
They're not going to like, they don't have an international roster spot open right now. So you're looking at bringing in another player from inside the league. I haven't like gone through the salary structure of like who's available, but they'd have to give up something to get that player. At the end of the day, you might not end up being like, it might not really end up doing you much good to.
00:47:19
Speaker
to have to get this money. And it would have been a public relations nightmare to speak nothing else. And it would have been the wrong thing to do, I think, from a humanistic perspective. So I think the sounders are probably making the right choice in not seeking any cap relief from this. Oh, it'd be cool if they got some. Yeah. OK.
00:47:46
Speaker
Kind of moving on here. Ian Wiltemuth won. Would Jones partner better with Smith on the left side than Rodriguez? And can Jones play right wing? I don't know if it seems like a high bar to clear to ask Jones to pair better with Smith than Rodriguez pairs with Smith because Smith and Rodriguez seem like they are
00:48:16
Speaker
pretty damn good together. And I don't know that.
00:48:20
Speaker
Like the one thing Jones might be able to offer that Rodriguez doesn't is reliably healthy, which is starting to become a, it was probably already a concern. I think it's becoming a, like it's starting to get to the point where you have to wonder is Rodriguez ever going to be able to stay healthy? He seems to be suffering the same types of like muscle injuries. And, and I don't like the term injury prone, but
00:48:49
Speaker
I think it's a question that you kind of have to ask yourself at some point, like if he can't stay healthy for two thirds of your game. I mean, it's like a Christian Bale situation where it's like as good as he might be, if you can't rely on him to be around, it just becomes kind of detrimental to your team. So I think in the sense that he might be more reliable, reliably available, like maybe he's a net increase over Rodriguez. But I,
00:49:19
Speaker
And the sounders seem to think he can play on the right, but I don't know. You got anything to add to that, Aaron? I do. Once I can find my mute button. Sorry. I was like, I feel like he's going to have something here. Yeah. I mean, I think that I used to be pretty firmly in the camp of
00:49:47
Speaker
And like the idea of players being injury prone is just kind of a myth, uh, or more of a perception thing. But I think increasingly, I think that that's partially true. Um, but I think increasingly when you have players that are getting into their late twenties, early thirties, um, and really, especially another mid thirties, um, and they are, like you said, suffering.
00:50:13
Speaker
similar kinds of injuries. It's something that you, I think, can be concerned about. The fact that he's getting these injuries doesn't mean he's always going to. I mean, Brad Evans, I think, is a good example of somebody that
00:50:28
Speaker
it kind of got that injury-prone label. And then he was very reliable for three or four seasons, kind of at around the same age, I would say, as Victor, if I'm remembering correctly. And then the injury that sort of ended his career was a completely different kind of injury than he had gotten in the past. I mean, professional athletes typically have to retire because
00:50:51
Speaker
their bodies have given up or broken down in some way. But I think, I mean, I definitely think it's something to be concerned about with Victor. And so I think, yeah, I mean, I think that having a player, I don't think Jobin is nearly as good of a player as Victor, but he's a solid MLS contributor as sort of a left-sided attacking player. I don't think he has, I don't like the idea of him playing on the right.
00:51:20
Speaker
I don't think that the way he plays is really very well suited to playing inverted. If I remember correctly, he played sort of as a right wing on a couple of occasions in his last stint here, and it just did not go all that great. I just think he's a true wide player. And if he's playing as a midfielder, he's sort of a classic, more traditional winger. So yeah, I don't think he's going to be much of an option on the right, aside from
00:51:50
Speaker
maybe late game and you want some more defense on that side or something like that. Hi Sadie. Let's see. El Capitan Balog asks, what's the likelihood of dad getting onto the coaching staff in the near future? Jeremiah probably has a better sense of this than I do, but I don't know that I see him as a coaching type. I don't know.
00:52:15
Speaker
Maybe it's just because he's been hurt and kind of worn down the last few years, but he seems ready to just go hang out on the beach for a while. And I don't know. I've just never gotten the sense that he's a guy that is really going to be interested in being that involved in the game after he retires. But I could be totally wrong. I don't know. Yeah. I mean, I think
00:52:39
Speaker
I would have maybe thought that he wanted to be a, like he's a relatively young guy. Like he's 34, 35. So it's like, that's a lot of, like a lot of life left to live. And I don't, and I don't know what he, like, I don't know enough about him to have a sense of like what he might want to do with his life. I don't know what.
00:52:59
Speaker
He went to school for, I don't know if, you know, so it's like, I, I think there's a natural assumption that these guys want to get into coaching because it's like a natural.
00:53:10
Speaker
progression from where they are now. But aside from that aspect of it, I am with you. I don't get the sense that he's dying to get into coaching. Certainly nothing that anyone said today suggests that that's an imminent, like that's something that's going to happen soon.
00:53:32
Speaker
And, but, you know, he made a decent amount of money over his career. So I, I suspect he, he, he might be reasonably well set up, but you know, you would like to think at the very least he's got a door open to coming back to the Sounders, but I don't think he's, I don't think that's the short-term plan at all.
00:53:54
Speaker
And it's entirely possible that he gets involved with the sounders in a way that doesn't have anything to do with on the field. I mean, sure. And Taylor, Taylor Graham did it, you know, so. Yeah, I mean, Taylor Graham did it. It was funny. I actually had a conversation with Taylor Graham about this recently and Taylor Graham kind of like, I guess this was.
00:54:12
Speaker
Like what he, like, I think his playing career ended up lasting longer than he thought it was, but this was kind of like, he wanted to work on the business side, I think for a long time. Whereas I don't know that Chad has that same like aspiration. Yeah.
00:54:32
Speaker
He has a good rapport with Sammy, the sounder, so maybe that opens up a vein. Oh, maybe he could be, or he's thinking maybe he could be Sammy the sounder if he wanted to be. Maybe he could be, or maybe he could just manage Sammy. Oh.
00:54:45
Speaker
Good job for him. That would be a good job for him. All right. Uh, Bill Jones, uh, TRPTS we're told by pundits that we have an elite team, but we never hear we have an elite coach is Schmetz underrated is our front office. The difference you seem holistically good, but it seems like Schmetz is getting the fry treatment from the league pundits.
00:55:11
Speaker
He's definitely, yeah, I mean, he's definitely underrated. Which isn't shocking. I feel like most of the MLS media underrates most things Seattle. I think that a lot of the MLS
00:55:29
Speaker
soccer website guys do it on purpose because they like the clicks and they like pissing people off. And that's fine. I mean, that's totally valid. But when you're presenting yourself as a serious analyst and you're saying shit to troll people, I'm just going to assume that your opinions are actually that dumb. So, you know, that's fine. But yeah, he's clearly underrated. People think that he's just sort of
00:55:59
Speaker
you know, sitting back and letting the talent on the roster do things and I think that's crazy. I think the Philly game is a great example of him having a pretty good tactical mind and a pretty good sense of what, you know, needs to happen with the personnel he has and against specific opponents. I thought that name plan was perfect for
00:56:21
Speaker
for countering what Philly has had success doing this season. And there are plenty of other examples of that. The 2016 MLS Cup Final is a great example of that. I think he's great at managing egos. The fact that he's had, you know, Ramon Torres
00:56:39
Speaker
for the equivalent of a full season as a third choice center back and that hasn't led to a public explosion and falling out and he still seems like he's pretty well bought in even if he's pissed off and I'm sure he is. I think that's you know a great sign that he knows what he's doing in terms of managing egos and I think the fact that he
00:57:00
Speaker
does to some extent let his star players sort of determine what the playing style is going to be within certain parameters. I think the ability to let go and say, hey, you guys are really good at your jobs. Do what you kind of need to do and express yourself the way that you think is going to make the team most successful. A lot of coaches aren't willing to do that, aren't willing to let go. So yeah, I think he's clearly very underrated. I think unless you're somebody like Bruce Arena or
00:57:28
Speaker
Ziggy Schmidt, although I felt like towards the end of his career, he didn't really get the respect that he deserved. But unless you're one of those guys, if you're American and over the age of 45, probably, everybody just kind of assumes that you're an idiot that fell ass backwards into a job. And that's, you know, that's a stupid thing to believe. It's part of the American soccer inferiority complex that
00:57:56
Speaker
Uh, is the worst thing about being an American soccer fan. Um, I think Shemetz is clearly one of the best coaches in the league.
Brian Schmetzer's Underrated Success
00:58:03
Speaker
Uh, and I think it's a good thing that he has the personality that he does where I don't think, I can't imagine it bothering him too much that he's not getting credit from people like, uh, Bobby Warsaw or whatever.
00:58:16
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I'll, I don't have a ton to add to that, except to say, I think it's notable that now, and I've fallen into this trap too. Like I think Bruce Arena, like we've seen this when Bruce Arena just got hired, here's the most successful coach in MLS history. And people are acting like it's an actively, like not everybody, but there's certainly a group of people who are acting like it's like an actively bad hire. And
00:58:42
Speaker
Like, I don't know. I think Arena is maybe not the slam. Like I feel like it's, it's, you end up responding to the response instead of like judging a coach on their merits. But you know, Bruce Arena is highly successful coach. Ziggy Smith was a highly successful coach. These guys clearly aren't idiots. And, and sometimes the way we talk about these coaches because they don't have like a distinct style because they tend to coach to the players that they have. Somehow that's seen as a negative.
00:59:12
Speaker
And I think that's very much the case with Brian Schmetzer where he's not imposing, there's not a Brian Schmetzer style that is something beyond, like what defines him as a coach is not a free flowing 4-2-3-1 that, you know, that encourages a certain kind of passing or like with a, you know,
00:59:36
Speaker
you know, there's not, he doesn't have a thing like that. Rather, he adapts, he uses the players that he has, and he uses different tactics for different games and different setups, and it tends to work. And it's been very successful, you know, he's, you know, look at his winning percentage, and it's right up there. And, you know, I think the fact that he didn't get his first MLS coaching gig until he was into his 50s probably hurts his perception.
01:00:03
Speaker
Meanwhile, if he had an English accent, people would be fawning over him, which is sad. Or I guess now it would be a Dutch accent, the way things are going nowadays. But yeah, we'll see. I, too, was very... I thought it was great that they rolled the dice on that LAFC game and just kind of went for it.
01:00:33
Speaker
pummeled, but at least they found out some stuff about themselves and about the other team. Whereas this game, I don't think we learned that much about the Sounders. I don't think we learned that much about the Union, but they got the point and they were in a position at the, at this point, they needed that. They needed, they just need to kind of collect points right now. They don't have the, like, this is, this, this part of the season could go pear-shaped really easily if they just, you know, stuck to their guns and said, you know, we'll go 0-4, but at least we'll try to play with everybody. Like that would be a really bad,
01:01:03
Speaker
call, I think.
01:01:04
Speaker
Yeah, I agree. And I mean, there was a benefit to learning something about LAFC and learning something about how the sounders stacked up with them at that time. I mean, it doesn't matter how we stack up with Philly until the MLS Cup final. And I don't think Philly's getting there. And one other thing I'll say is if you look at the guys that do have a distinct system and want to play a certain way, how is that going?
01:01:33
Speaker
you know, how's that going for teams? Like, is Caleb Porter's career really been that impressive? I don't think I don't think so. But he's still like, people still treat him like a genius. And it's just, come on, man. And before him, it was Jason Christ. And Frank DeBoer came in with a system and a and a great pedigree. And Atlanta sucks ass. They're terrible to watch. They're, you know, they're, they're a mediocre team right now.
01:01:59
Speaker
Um, I'll take the points and, and the guy that seems to truly love the club and as part of the community. And man, I'll take that seven days a week and twice on Sundays over, over somebody like Frank DeBoer or Caleb Porter, just not even close. I can imagine, uh, Spencer could probably do a German accent if you, if you want to, yeah. Um, I just want to say that, uh,
01:02:27
Speaker
When he was trotting out and trying out the three center back thing, you know, a couple of the earlier games, I was very mystified and like, why are we doing this? Why are we doing this? And now after watching the union game, it's like, Oh, okay. I see why we're doing this. Right. So that's pretty cool. Uh, muffin top model asks, they'll have to have a dad Marshall ceremonial match, right?
01:02:51
Speaker
I could see them doing something with the crew, maybe, like a testimonial, if he could play on a testimonial, like maybe in the offseason. I don't know.
01:03:00
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I guess that's a thing that's like the Zach, the only time we've had one was the Zach Scott game that was organized by supporters. Zach Scott's a local guy who was here, and it was relatively easy to put together. Chad Marshall, I don't think is going to be around. So I don't, I don't, and I don't know that Chad Marshall is, you know, like a lot of these tests, like,
01:03:27
Speaker
The idea with the testimonial is, you know, maybe given, I guess it's not always the case, but, um, you know, with Zach Scott, it was like they were raising money for a charity and I don't know. I don't, I wouldn't hold my breath. Yeah. Yeah. It does. It just doesn't seem to be a thing that we do in American soccer, which I think it's fine. But yeah, I mean, it.
01:03:51
Speaker
I'm sure that they will honor him accordingly. But the more I think about it, if Clint Dempsey didn't get a testimonial, it seems unlikely that Chad Marshall will. And I don't know that he's any more likely to want to play in one than Dempsey was. And that was ultimately, I think, why Dempsey. I mean, the big reason why Dempsey didn't have one. Right. He'd probably be annoyed if he had to play in another game. Right. But if you want to, you know, they're going to do that thing before the next home game. So don't miss that game.
Chad Marshall's Future Endeavors
01:04:22
Speaker
Last question, Irish Sounder. Can Joe Roth fund a travel show hosted by Chad and Brad as they travel in the Airstream? As long as Joe Roth never, ever, ever speaks on camera, I'm all for it.
01:04:35
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I would I would absolutely love to see this show. And I think a Chad and Brad buddy comedy would be absolutely must watch TV. So like, yeah, I hope it happens. I love I just like I will say I have I would love to get
01:04:57
Speaker
Brad on the show and just kind of talk about this whole thing in part because I think it's just like this perfect like dude I'm like in my early 30s and I have uh I don't have any attachments right now you know what I'm gonna do I'm gonna drive around the country in an air stream and just get the event have adventures and I think it's awesome that he's doing that it's super cool man I mean it's I've got a couple of friends that um
01:05:27
Speaker
are fortunate enough to have the kind of jobs that allowed them to travel a lot and make enough money to be able to travel a lot. And I mean, one of these guys has been banned from entering Azerbaijan, and he's like not even 35 yet. Like how cool is that? To have that is like a story. It's like, yeah, I can't go to Azerbaijan anymore. Which is why he's not going to go see the Europa League final, right? Correct. Yeah, that's why.
01:05:58
Speaker
Yeah, that is where it is, right? No, it's in Turkey. But there's an Azerbaijan player that that can't. Is that or am I getting it backwards? I think there's a Turkish player. Yeah, I am. It's Henrik Mkhitaryan. Yeah. Who is Georgian, I think, right?
01:06:23
Speaker
Um, well, Baku is definitely an Azerbaijan and that's where the Europa League final is. Um, but yeah, it's, uh, I'm not sure where the guy is from that I know who you're talking about, but yeah. Um, anyway, yeah, I mean, it's, it's, that's an awesome thing to be able to do. And it's, it kind of like reinforces the idea that, that I had about Brad Evans, that he's a super awesome dude. Like that's what he's choosing to do. That's awesome.
01:06:53
Speaker
Yeah, it's dope. And so yeah, like hopefully Chad has, and that's the problem, I guess, Chad has a few more attachments that are probably going to keep him from doing this. He's got a wife and a kid who probably wouldn't be as amused by traveling around in an Airstream as Brad Evans' wife apparently is.
01:07:16
Speaker
Um, but yeah, I mean, I, I would love to see the show and I hope someone makes it happen. Yeah. Henrik McCarran is a Armenian and I feel like an asshole for not knowing that. Oh yeah. I just want to correct. I just want to correct myself on air. And that's actually how my friend got banned from Azerbaijan who was going to the part of the country that's disputed. Um, yeah. Anyway, hopefully the CIA isn't listening to this.
01:07:44
Speaker
It's on record now. Yeah Let's also just mention real quickly that any ideas that become a hit TV show We also get 10% because it was it's our property now. So correct, right? Yes I I think that's that's that's either enforceable. I believe it's also standard right standard. Yeah standard enforceable Just make sure that if it happens, we're properly compensated. Yeah
01:08:11
Speaker
So yeah, I guess that's the show. Right? That thing's missing anything? Am I forgetting anything? No. Good. Well, Aaron, I'm glad to have you back. I'm glad to be back. I'm very glad that my life is getting back to some semblance of normal. And we'll have to do this again sometime. Yeah, I think it's hard. No, it's crazy.
01:08:39
Speaker
I was just thinking about this. Our 300th episode is coming up in like, like this is episode 297. We got episode 300 coming up right around the corner. We're going to figure something out for that. Yeah. I mean, we've probably got like six months to plan for. Right. Exactly. Yeah. We should send us your suggestions for what we should do as long as they don't cost money.
01:09:01
Speaker
Right. No one else falls over and has to go to the hospital between now and 300. Yeah, that would be suboptimal to borrow another podcast term. Yes. All right. Well, that's the show. Thanks to our sponsor, Full Pool Wines.
01:09:22
Speaker
I am Jeremiah O'Shan, signing off on behalf of Aaron Campo and Lickit. This is No Study Yetis. And remember, you will never yacht alone. Green Douglas, where were the waters cut through? Down and wild mountains and tangents you flew. Canadian northwest through the ocean so blue. It's roll on, Columbia roll on.
01:09:50
Speaker
Roll on, Columbia Roll on. Roll on, Columbia Roll on. Your power is turning our darkness to dawn. Roll on, Columbia Roll on. We love you. Let's win another one!