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Lobbing Scorchers: Houston DyNoMore
218 Plays5 days ago
With Noah out of commission for the week, Ari wins yet another battle for technology and lays down the Solo Dub Pod coming off the Seattle Sounders’ Round One Best-of-3 Series victory over the Houston Dynamo. As always, he hits our Agenda Check and takes your questions, before reacting to a wild slate of results from the start of the playoffs, including a highly comedic defeat for our friends the Columbus Crew.
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Lobbing Scorchers is a production of Just Once Media.
Lobbing Scorchers is a Seattle Sounders and MLS focused show brought to you by Sounder at Heart. Hosted by Major League Soccer's Ari Liljenwall and Producer Noah Riffe. Join us as we lob our scorching takes on the American soccer landscape, Seattle Sounders, Major League Soccer, USMNT and more.
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Transcript
00:00:00
Speaker
What's going on everybody?
Introduction to Episode 73
00:00:01
Speaker
Welcome to episode 73 of Lobbing Scorchers. This is Ari Lillian Wall and I'm coming at you with a solo pod this evening. Noah unfortunately couldn't make it tonight. He's got something called a job that he works at or some such nonsense.
Seattle Sounders' Playoff Journey
00:00:17
Speaker
but he was working he was working late all week and all seriousness and he was working late tonight and I decided to just run one man show because I really wanted to get this one out with enough show like shelf life before these games on Saturday um So I'm recording this late on ah on Thursday night solo um got a playoff dub pod playoff series dub pod for you as the seattle sounders who advanced to the western conference semifinals after another penalty kick shootout victory over the houston dynamo um so i'm gonna break that down in our game review i'm gonna hit our agenda check and take your questions as i usually would um
00:00:57
Speaker
And we just have a ton of other news to get to, including a lot of unexpected results from round one of the playoffs here. We have the number two seed in the East going down in the Columbus Crew. That's pretty funny. I'm going to give you guys my reaction to that. and We have Lino Messi, Inner Miami, and the bar ah the Barca boys getting pushed to game three by a Dax McCarty, Brad Guzzan, and Atlanta United.
00:01:20
Speaker
That's also pretty funny I'm gonna give you my take on that ah we got ah some MLS coaching updates as well We have ah one MLS coaching legend back in the league and then another MLS coaching legend leaving his club so there's just ah there's a lot to talk about both with ah Seattle advancing in the playoffs and the other results around the league in addition to that coaching news, so ah Let's get into it, let's do
Support for Sounder at Heart Podcast Network
00:01:47
Speaker
it. But before ah before I get into all that, I did want to let you all know that Lavender Scorchers is a part of the Sounder at Heart Podcast Network. If you want to get the best independent Seattle soccer coverage, consider supporting us by going to sounderatheart.com slash LS, sounderatheart.com slash LS. Scroll down to subscribe and support to get 30 days completely free. Every sign up through our link helps support and grow this show. Folks, if you if you enjoy the content,
00:02:12
Speaker
ah The number one best way you can support is go to sounderatheart.com slash ls, toss us that would enable us to make even more of this content, the more more of those subscriptions that we get. um As always, thank you so much to everyone who's already done so. We can't read the list anymore. It's too long, but just know that we love and appreciate every single one of you.
00:02:36
Speaker
And also, if you haven't done so yet, do us a favor and toss us a sub on the Lobbing Scorchers YouTube. We're currently on the road to 650 still, which I find it a little annoying because we were on the road to 650 on the last episode, and I like to be on the new road by the time we record the next episode. So give us five YouTube subs out there to get us to 650.
00:02:57
Speaker
uh...
Political News and Community Support
00:02:58
Speaker
alright i'm gonna jump into this game review uh... but uh... before we jump into the show i did want to acknowledge at the top of the show what i feel like is the uh... i would call it the elephant in the room which is that uh... the host of the apprentice has once again taken over the u.s. government which uh... you know don't worry this is not a political show uh... I've retired from political punditry, actually, after dabbling in it to varying degrees of success and popularity over the years. But ah I came to the conclusion that i don't I don't have the bandwidth to be that guy. um But what I did want to say in this situation, just ah you know having seen how it goes the last time that ah we gave the ah host of The Apprentice
00:03:50
Speaker
control of the federal government. I don't expect it to go particularly well and the message that I wanted to communicate is that anyone who is dealing with the ramifications or fallout from that, um you always have a place of solace to come for respite in ah in this community that we're creating. We welcome any in and anyone and everyone from all walks of life and ah i wish i had more to offer than that but you know i kind of look at this as what i contribute to society in a way which feels pointless at times like this or just when big current events uh happen you know like the pandemic i felt like it was kind of pointless making mls content at that time too
00:04:36
Speaker
But I actually had people tell me during the MLS's back tournament that they really appreciated us for, you know, covering those games, making content, and that it gave them a respite from all the turmoil going on. So ah if there's any way that this place that we're creating can be of that use to anyone out there, um just know that we would welcome you with open arms.
00:04:59
Speaker
All right, that's really all I wanted to say about that. um umll I'll get into the soccer stuff for you guys now. I know that's why you're here.
Seattle vs. Houston Analysis
00:05:07
Speaker
um We do have a dub pod. We do have a dub pod. So, you know, um we do have to deal with the ah the downfall of society, but got a playoff series dub pod. So at least there's that. um So yeah, let's talk about this ah game two against the Houston Dynamo. um Seattle going into this game. um They were head 1-0 on the series obviously after winning game 1 in PKs on the 0-0 draw. Everyone was pretty underwhelmed with that result. I think it's safe to say Noah was seething mad. um He was on the dub pod talking about how embarrassing it was. I was trying to calm him down.
00:05:43
Speaker
ah but he got unhinged and he's not here to defend himself so I can lambast him for it. um But I mean, I think he was right that the performance in that game one was, I mean, it was good enough to beat the dynna Houston Dynamo and PKs in the first round, but I think the conclusion that we agreed on was that that would not be a sufficient attacking performance to beat in LAFC or in LA Galaxy later on in the playoffs. So what I was really looking for going into this game was um you know hopefully a better performance offensively but really I do think the ah flip side of this guys is that um in the playoffs a win is a win especially when it comes to a series win um so
00:06:29
Speaker
um I'm going to talk about it a little more in the other results, but was Seattle amazing or world beating in this series? No, but I mean they at least swept their series. They were only one of two teams, I think, to do that. The Galaxy were the only other one.
00:06:45
Speaker
Every other one went to a game three. So I mean if you're underwhelmed by a scoreless draw PK victory followed by a 1-1 draw PK victory where you gave up the equalizer While down well while the other team was down a man Yeah fully within your rights to feel like that's not gonna be sufficient later on in the playoffs. But um, you know Go ahead and ah go ask ah LAFC fans if they would take a ah an underwhelming draw to advance right now as they ah gear up for game three after losing to the Vancouver Whitecaps 3-0. Ask inner Miami fans if they would have taken an ugly PK win to advance in that series instead of having to go home for game three, put and find themselves at risk of what would be a pretty pretty embarrassing upset.
00:07:33
Speaker
um Ask FC Cincinnati fans if they would take an ugly PK win after getting boat raced by NYC FC in their game too. um So ah Seattle's actually in one of the better positions in the in the league right now as far as taking care of business in their round one series and just getting getting a break here to rest up, see who their opposition is gonna be LA FC or Vancouver and get healthy and rested and ah then back and form and fit before that game.
00:08:03
Speaker
um But let's talk about this Houston game itself and how Seattle closed off this series because this really this really is the type of scenario that the Sounders have thrived in over the years, these these high stakes elimination matches. This is when they're at their best typically.
00:08:19
Speaker
Or at least in the era where they were making them make an MLS Cup every year and winning in Champions League So I was interested to see how this team would fare in this situation um Given the ah offensive struggles we've seen at times, but also I mean that's a good segue into the lineup reaction Let's do the lineup reaction. There was so much going on with this lineup. Morris and Rusnak were both out, ah which I think it seemed precautionary to me, but they both were held out of this game, which I was pretty, I wasn't surprised by that. I thought they would be out, but the result was that you did get, you got a Ruby Diaz start up top, ah but I thought the real interesting thing was you had CR 10. We haven't had a CR 10 appearance. Christian rolled on playing ah playing at the 10 in a while. It was CR 10 with De La Vega and ro ah Paul Rothrock as your wingers. and
00:09:10
Speaker
Then just your your standard issue back line stuff with Stefan Fran goal and your obed JP double pivot um I guess my first reaction when I saw that lineup was definitely I mean I took note of CR 10 Christian rolled on being listed as the 10 as opposed to de la Vega but I think that the that was ah that was a smart way to line it up just from the standpoint of Christian has shown he can be very effective in that position he hasn't played him that much this year but he has like quite a bit in his career and I think just given where they were at with the injuries um and with a you know De La Vega I think you don't want to be moving him around at this point probably
00:09:53
Speaker
ah you probably want some consistency with his role so um tactically I had no issues with the setup and the game itself I really thought ah by and large was a really good road playoff performance for Seattle there are definitely things to nitpick, but overall I thought the game management and the tempo control were really good, sound at the back. It was a bit like pulling teeth on offense, but road games and the playoffs be like that sometimes. You have to be able to figure out some way, any way,
Hector Herrera's Red Card Incident
00:10:27
Speaker
to win. Any way that you can win a game like this is is a good way. There's no like, I don't deduct anything for an ugly win.
00:10:37
Speaker
really on the road ever in mls but especially in the playoffs um but let's go over the key moments from the game uh all right the first one i think was actually the best one uh this game was zero zero and really um i feel like there was not all that much of note offensively either way uh and you know there was some chances some half chances but it was definitely not like a high octane back and forth transition warfare zero zero like this was uh this Like I said, it felt like a little like pulling teeth, um but in ah in the 66 minute, it really popped off when Hector Herrera, Houston Dynamo captain and superstar, Mexico International, got one of the craziest red cards I have ever seen for spitting in the direction.
00:11:25
Speaker
of the referee he committed a foul um that I can't remember if he it even got him like a yellow card like if it was a tactical foul but uh he was he disagreed with the ref's assessment that there was a foul on the play ah and he did something that i I don't think I've ever seen a player do this which is that he kind of He kind of leaned towards the ref as he was he was walking away from the ref and then he leaned back towards him and he spit. Clearly, he clearly spit. I saw him do it live on the broadcast and then you know when they replayed it, it did pop into my mind. I was like, I mean, if the ref had seen that, he probably would have given him a red card. and ah then
00:12:08
Speaker
you know the next place my mind went was well I mean they have VAR that probably does look at something like that like if a ref doesn't see a like a flagrant act of dissent like that they probably do radio that down to him and I thought I did think to myself in the moment I was like that really like he clearly spit at him and that should probably could arguably at least arguably be a red card and sure enough VAR called on down and uh Acha Acha out of there with a lot of time left second straight game that the dynamo get a red card in the series they pretty much did everything they could to lose this series and Really like I think if if there is a critique of Seattle in this series It's that in both games when they had the man advantage they did not take advantage of it to the degree that they needed to and they didn't score any goals in game one and they they did score in game two to be fair but um not till the very end of the game and then they gave up the equalizer as we'll talk about later so again seattle seattle did get lucky in this series and it's definitely fair to point out that given the uh advantages that the houston dynamo seemed insistent on giving seattle by getting two really really dumb red cards like
00:13:28
Speaker
karisilla in game one was ah Really dumb red card too ah and aché achés was just like it's one of the crazier red cards I've ever seen not in terms of like I'm like I've seen Like dirty tackles and like plays like that that are crazier but just in terms of what must have been going through aché achés head in that moment and the craziest part about it is um they literally announced earlier today or yesterday that he's leaving the club and this is their flagship player that that they brought in a couple years ago who's one of the best players in the league um last year and ah this year was slowed by injury a lot but I mean this is a 17 assist guy and ah he's he's one of the best like string pulling tempo setting midfielders
00:14:21
Speaker
that i've like that i've that I've watched in a while you know outside of Busquets and the inner Miami boys who we disregard for discussions like this, but Aceh Aceh is a ah very class player, decorated career, um but he lost his head in that moment and got sent off in the 66 minute, which at that point Seattle is once again for a second straight playoff game in a situation where it's like if you don't finish it off um it's embarrassing because you've given you've been given so much time you've been given so much time up a man and really it just seems like the dynamo we're kind of melting down Benio
00:14:59
Speaker
was not very happy. we're not I'm not going to play the audio of ah the Benio Red Blazing Hot ah press conference this week because I don't understand the technology required to do that. But um rest assured, your Blazing Hot Coach press conference of the week was Benio after the game.
00:15:18
Speaker
um Seattle got their one goal of the game like I said in the 87th minute. um It was a really good goal and I think it was um it was a just reward for how they had been playing in the last few minutes while up a man but really leading up to that I think just without the Rusnak and Morris duo with De La Vega still trying to make the type of impact that he was, everyone hoped he would make going into the year. Ruby Diaz up top in a year where he really hasn't been that productive at all outside the penalty spot and long range Hail Marys all season.
00:16:07
Speaker
um There's probably always going to be an element of this that was tough ah offensively um But once you go up a man like you want to be able to put it away there um Especially you know it's different if you get the red if they get the red card with like five minutes left like you're not always going to be able to to cash an opportunity in a time frame like that but both of these red cards were so early in the second half and It was disappointing that they couldn't just put their foot on their neck a little more but I did really like this goal this goal had a new who assist none of the ah Anti new who brigade really ah Had much to say about the assist they they they didn't like to point it out when he does something that contributes positively to the team um But new who had a nice assist low driven cross Christian rolled on with a good finish It looked like to me that he got ah
00:17:00
Speaker
That ah Steve Clark might have got screened by his own guy and Christian was able to just place it to where he didn't know The shot was coming till it was already passed him So at that point this I mean this I think this is the other disappointing part about this game for Seattle Is that like any any game even when it's 11 on and and even when it's 11 v 11 if you score in the 87th minute to go up one goal like you had you've got to see that out without conceding the equalizer and It's definitely a knock on this performance that Seattle couldn't do that Houston down a man in the 93rd minute They get an equalizer off.
Playoff Series Format Preferences
00:17:36
Speaker
It was in it was an unlucky own goal off Christian, but
00:17:42
Speaker
It's one of those situations that we talked a lot about earlier in the year where like you're you're putting yourself in a situation to get unlucky when you kind of lose control of the game state when you're up a man that late in the game. like That's when you need to bear down and really, really try and minimize sequences like the one this goal came on with the knowledge that their season's on the line and they're going to be they're going to be pushing for that leveler, but to ah I think it definitely, the fact remains that to to give up that equalizer was disappointing. um The other, the ah I forgot to write this down, but the other thing that I wanted to say about that was it did it did have me thinking about what we were talking about on the last show with the format. you know I was saying I don't necessarily mind the premise of multi-game series in the first round, but
00:18:39
Speaker
I like the home and away aggregate scoring road goal system of old a lot better than a best of three which I think is kind of weird and the more I think about it just like overly Americanized way of doing the playoffs like I get that we're doing playoffs like as part of like the it's the it's the USA top flight so you got to have playoffs um that I'm totally with I'm totally with MLS cup is the most important trophy but um I think the home in a way aggregate format is better and I think this series was a good example why because if this had been home in a way
00:19:20
Speaker
on on aggregate then Seattle would have won outright on or they would have run on road goals because Christian's goal would have had the series tie it would have been tied on aggregate and Christian's goal was a road goal I think Seattle would have deserved to ah to advance in that situation um So I don't know. I just like the home and away aggregate scoring better if you got a different ah opinion on that feel free to drop it in the comments because there's definitely different schools of thought on the best format and
00:19:50
Speaker
um The shootout again did not feature a lot of saved or missed penalties but Stephen Fry was able to save one on Tate Schmidt and Seattle sunk all of theirs so it's on to the semis where they are going to face off with either LAFC or the Vancouver Whitecaps who have pushed l LAFC to a game 3, so LAFC could go out. i I don't expect that will happen, um but we're going to talk about how badly they got worked in their game 2. It was interesting.
00:20:27
Speaker
um Not only did they not win that game 2, they were non-competitive. in that game too. so yeah I think it's worth talking about, like even if LAFC wins this Vancouver series, which I do expect them to, are they as infallible as it may seem? I think most people would probably say Seattle has no chance to beat them specifically, but I'm talking about like in the greater scope of the playoffs, like how much of a real contender are they i mean after seeing that game against the whitecaps i mean i don't know what i think about that i'm gonna have to i'm gonna see i'm gonna have to see how they respond to that because that was bad um but anyway it got off on a tangent there uh i'll hit my rapid fire takeaways from this game that i wrote down which was uh again i already touched on this but
00:21:15
Speaker
This was an ugly win, giving up the equalizer at the end, not capitalizing ah on being up a man generally over both games. Those are all ugly components to this series. But um like I said, in the playoffs, the ends justify the means. Advancing at all costs is all that matters. And I mean, again, if you think that you are entitled to win a series like this,
00:21:42
Speaker
or advanced past a team like the dynamo that you consider inferior but was relatively similar to you on the table. um You're not. Inner Miami have the greatest MOS roster ever assembled and they didn't sweep their series. Atlanta United beat them straight up in game two.
00:22:00
Speaker
um LAFC, we've talked a lot all year about how LAFC and the Head to Head matchups have demonstrated a level that Seattle just simply does not seem to be on and how closing how important closing that gap is.
Columbus Crew's Playoff Exit
00:22:14
Speaker
Well, I mean, they got boat raced in their game two against the Whitecaps. It was 3-0. Scottish Messi looked like real Messi against LAFC at BC Place.
00:22:27
Speaker
Um, ST Cincinnati, another team that I think most sounders fans and prognasticators at large would say is, uh, a better side than Seattle right now. Boat race in their game too. They have to go to an elimination game. The Columbus crew guys, the Columbus crew season is over.
00:22:52
Speaker
It's over. They lost to the New York Red Bulls. They they lost to the seven seed as the two seed, which, um you know, that happens in the and MLS playoffs. But this crew team, this crew team was literally people were, so I think most people realize that this inner Miami team is the most stacked MLS team of all time. But people were talking about this Columbus team like it was this generational team. They won MLS cup.
00:23:15
Speaker
last year and they won league's cup this year so they have a good trophy hall to back that up there's no doubt about that they are a date the crew have a seat at the elite club table in the league without a doubt I still believe that um but they really fell flat in the Red Bull series um and I think the sheer amount of games the volume of games that Columbus had to play this year had a lot to do with that I'm pretty sure like if they had played like even a slightly more regular schedule than they ended up playing with all every every all the competitions they were playing in this year. Maybe they do better in the playoffs, but um they're done. I mean their season's over. So ah if you want to critique critique Seattle's performance in this Houston series, by all means I just did there was a lot of stuff that could have and should have been better and it shouldn't have been as difficult as they made it but they're the only team I believe correct me if I'm wrong on this but ah I think it was the galaxy who swept their series and that and that was it so um I don't know I think that's just worth pointing out um also just the CR-10 thing
00:24:33
Speaker
Christian is a beast for that. like He's been played all over the field this year, whether it was at right mid originally, the double pivot, ah right back a lot. I don't know if there had been a CR 10 game this year. There have been a lot in like previous years. ah like When the year that Nico missed all that time with injury, I feel like there's a lot of CR 10.
00:24:56
Speaker
and then also just earlier in his career when they had injuries in the in the attack they would play him there and it's just uh i think he's we did uh i had a take on this on a previous show but i think he's the most versatile player in mls right now as far as like you can you can plug him in anywhere on the field and he's going to do it at a high level and For him to get get a goal in this game that it that that goal is the reason that they advanced through um Because otherwise is one zero dynamo if you grant that the dynamo we're gonna score a goal in the game. So CR 10 CR 10 is a is a club legend um All right, I'm gonna get it into the agenda check now I got three written down ah One of which is a new one that I'm excited for you guys to hear two of which are
00:25:49
Speaker
Our stuff that we've talked about
Evaluating De La Vega's Impact
00:25:51
Speaker
ad nauseam. So I'm gonna do I'm gonna do those I'll do the two old the two old ones first and then I'll unveil the new agenda for you guys um but first I'll Talk about the de la Vega is a busted agenda. I Consider that unchanged. I feel like I was pretty clear on a The status of it is unchanged. I was pretty clear on the last show that I just I still think the sample size and the injury issues Make it they just create a situation where you can't really make a full evaluation yet. and I understand Everybody wants to in the sample size has reached a point at this juncture that
00:26:35
Speaker
people feel like you can make a definitive call i really don't like i look at this as a uh at just the pure number of minutes if a guy is in the like three to five hundred minute range like de la vega is right now that is just not a big enough uh sample size to judge anything good or bad So I'm gonna try and stay patient with this even though I think everyone and including us we're correct to critique ah how the performance in game one seemed to backslide and just in general like I Think everyone knows at this point what do we mean for this team ceiling if he can break out and I think that's why everyone's hinging on it so bad, but like
00:27:22
Speaker
For now, I'm not gonna say he's a bust. I'm not gonna say he's not a bust. I want 1,000 to 1,200 minutes before I start to formulate a final take on that. um The new who can't cross agenda.
00:27:40
Speaker
Tough week for that one. I mean, I'm being a little facetious here, but that was legitimately, it was a nice cross. It was a nice cross. um Here's the new agenda. Here's the new agenda that I think ah might be a little fun one to start kicking around. I call this one the Stephen Fry is the MLS GOAT goalkeeper over Nick Raimondo agenda. Nick Raimondo has been considered the MLS GOAT goalkeeper for as long as I have obsessively followed the league and totally rightfully so like in terms of
00:28:17
Speaker
just the stalwart he was for Rial Salt Lake how many years he did it at such a high level man ah honestly watching him in person at Lumen Field all those years when Rial Salt Lake would come to town he was actually like incredible to watch it wasn't just the ah uh the highlight reel saves that he would make which he made a lot it was like the uh it was the timing of him he's a super clutch player however much you believe in that uh he just uh he would come up with these crazy saves for them timing again in the biggest moments
00:28:53
Speaker
So I think his his it's it's not this agenda is not about his status as a goat to this point being undeserved um But I just feel like when you consider the run that fries had um And the trophy case that hes he's been the starting goalkeeper for the entire trophy case pretty much except for a couple of the early open cups but really since the 14 open cup shield season he's been the starter in goal for a Every major trophy that they've won including Champions League, so he's got a shield. He's got an open cup He's got two um MLS cups. He's got an MLS cup and MVP ah and he's got a Champions League where he made a Champions League best 11 and was a key part of the Sounders winning that so
00:29:38
Speaker
I don't know, man. I don't know if you can tell me Raimondo's credentials are better than that. Drop them in the YouTube comments if you think so. I'd be curious to hear ah people's takes on on this debate. Alright, that's it for agenda check. Let's get into your questions because ah there's more De La Vega discussion to be had here.
00:29:57
Speaker
I pulled a couple of ah the new De La Vega takes, so let's get into it. I pulled this one from YouTube. This is from Christbro. Just in general, you know I crowdsource these on Twitter, but I do read the YouTube comments as well, so if you've ever got a take or a question or an agenda that you want to toss our way, ah feel free to drop them on YouTube and I might might put them up here. if the If it's good though, it's got to be a good point. If it's a stupid point, I'm not going to read it. But Christ Pro made some interesting points here. He says, as much as Pedro had a terrible game and I get wanting to bench him, he had like five very solid performances prior and his best one in a Sounders shirt against Portland two games ago.
00:30:41
Speaker
Georgie also doesn't provide end product either. He has one goal that was off his kneecaps from a half yard out because the ball bounced perfectly his way, but he also terribly missed his strikes and crosses too. We just don't care because he doesn't have the expectations the same expectations as De La Vega.
00:30:58
Speaker
However, Pedro is definitely the more talented player, and his mistakes last game are incredibly coachable. If I'm Branch Metzer, I would roll him back out, show him he backs him. It helps Jordan get out of a miserable 15-game slump, and look where he finished. um All right, yeah, so that was a long one, but thank you for that comment. I wanted to ah wanted to highlight this one because there's points in here that I agree with and points in here that I disagree with.
00:31:25
Speaker
um I'll start with the one that I disagree with which is the whole the whole point about you know, Georgie doesn't provide end product either and Discrediting the goal because that was it was off his kneecaps from half a yard out and the service was perfect blah blah blah So like that that the whole the goal doesn't count because it was an easy goal is a poacher goal argument I just don't I just don't subscribe to that at all a poached goal like that, like the one that Georgie scored against the Whitecaps in that game, is end product. Finding those positions take to have high percentage, easy poached finishes is is a skill that all good goal scorers have.
00:32:13
Speaker
That is end product. um And I think he has, ah like you're totally right, Christbro, that Georgie doesn't really provide the end product either. I'm just saying, ah in recent weeks, i would I would point to that goal as evidence that he's displayed more of it than De La Vega. A goal like that,
00:32:37
Speaker
ah where it's about just like positioning and making it as easy as possible that's that's what you want from your attacking players as much as as much as you can get those goals now to be fair as a counterpoint to my counterpoint De La Vega has scored two really good goals that both got waved off on like very, very minor, like offside ah and like obstruction technicalities. But he, I mean, he scored on the shots. One of them was a really great shot in league's cup. That would have been a Galazzo and it was criminal that that didn't count. um But then also like a post one exactly like the one that Georgie scored. Remember that one in Portland.
00:33:21
Speaker
um People forget about that one, but like he's you know ah he's offside by point two centimeters But that type of goal had what I was talking about with that positioning and that you know creating end product for yourself through like smart movement and ah Finding those high percentage looks um If Georgie Georgie has done he did that on that goal But i I do think it's fair to point out that okay like de la Vega had like one exactly like that too it just got Way to waved off by 0.2 centimeters. So I get that but I guess i I think the allure of Georgie right now is just the yeah the excitement of the unknown and There's a lot of consternation about the de la Vega thing right now. So maybe that's where I was coming from a little bit.
00:34:10
Speaker
um But anyway, those are well thought out points. I did like that comment, even if I don't necessarily agree with the whole premise of denying Georgie credit for the goal. um Ryan Shane had another take on this. He said, I think the criticism of Pepo De La Vega is too harsh.
00:34:28
Speaker
i Know that players open themselves to constructive criticism given their profession, but at some point we have to get behind our players Especially young kids who are visibly trying and working hard like y'all said he's got promise. He's just had some serious setbacks sad face you got a feel for the guy and uh Yeah, no, that's that's a good comment Ryan and I try to make this clear every time we talk about this but it's really like not like none of the ah None of the critiques that I've had of De La Vega are anything against him like as a kid or um or even like as a player yet like I've said that I that i think it's way too early to make a final judgment
00:35:11
Speaker
on them yet um But i like I'm coming in from it from the perspective of what gives Seattle the best chance to make a run this season. And if his fitness and end product is still at a place where it's just a work in progress to the point where he can't contribute to the team at a high level. And in like I think there's honestly, i think I think he would even acknowledge this.
00:35:36
Speaker
there's a there's a case to be made that in the houston in the game one against houston he was like actively detrimental with how just off it seemed um in terms of his combining with the other players and um how he's hitting passes and stuff so it's just that's why the georgie thing is such a debate you know uh it's uh i fully like believe that there's a not crazy outlandish scenario where He has an off season to recharge, get healthy. He comes back next to your fit and finally comes good on ah the promise and potential that we've seen. um But like you have to right now you gotta make your lineup decisions and your calculations on this stuff based on what's gonna help you win in the playoffs. So that's where it becomes a discussion. So again, I'd be interested to hear what what all of y'all think about that.
LAFC's Playoff Challenges
00:36:29
Speaker
ah Cody says we are going to get destroyed by LAFC. Yeah, maybe like I I've been saying the same thing based on how the um how the head-to-heads went this year um but LAFC just got Guys, if you didn't watch this game Go watch the highlights of what Scottish Messi did to LAFC. It was It was disgusting. It was disgusting. Scottish Messi is tired of the Whitecaps' own storyline of constantly losing to LAFC.
00:36:59
Speaker
so um I guess what I'm saying is that I like ah don't think it's outlandish that the Whitecaps win that series. They got LAFC a little rattled, I think. LAFCs, I consider them a pretty unflappable group, but Scottish Messi had them flapped they were flappable Matty B says what do we need to do to capitalize on playing? Teams a man down subs look good, but it just wasn't potent enough also knew who did that bit again shout out now
00:37:33
Speaker
i'm Not sure what the new bit and shout out Noah was I thought we were gonna be recording this together So I was gonna let him explain it but not sure about that reference But yeah, I mean as far as what do we need to do to capitalize on teams playing down a man? um Okay, I think in general like this offense without the Rusenak Morris stack
00:37:58
Speaker
like where do you go ruy diaz ah that's like if he scores a goal at this point that's like a statistical anomaly i don't even remember the last time that happened um dala vga we've talked about that ad nausea and Paul Rothrock yes like he can be your source of goals but like you can't we talked about this on the very first episode ever of louding scorchers if your entire attack is predicated on Paul Rothrock you probably are going to need other sources of production eventually you know you can never rely on just one guy but uh
00:38:38
Speaker
if it's Paul Rothrock or Bust, you're not always going to be ah able to score when you're up a man. so um Really, like I think the takeaway from Maddie's question is just that um This team needs the Morris Rusenak duo to be healthy, fit, and informed to make a run first and foremost. um because that's i mean To me, that duo is the centerpiece of the pretty much the entire offense um when you throw in Paul Rothrock.
00:39:15
Speaker
but um Yeah, Robert says, should Andrew Thomas be subbed in to take PKs? I don't feel as passionate about this as some of you apparently do. um i think ah like As I understand it, Thomas is considered better specifically specifically on PKs than Fry. a But they just won two shootouts with Fry, although um he only made one save across those two shootouts. And a common criticism of Fry in his career is that he's not good like proficient enough at saving penalties. I tend to think of penalties as like pretty random.
00:39:53
Speaker
Unless you're timelia timelia is like the one guy who has this like weirdly high percentage of penalties that he's saved um But I think you're kind of just at the mercy of the gods like I don't think like What goalkeeper is in there whether they're considered better at penalties or not makes like as big a difference as People might think um All right, I did want to talk a little bit more about these other results I know I were already hit on a lot of them already. I couldn't help myself um But there was just a lot of interesting stuff that that went on in round one here like I said The Columbus crew are out and again, I think that reinforces the point that I was making earlier like
00:40:39
Speaker
at this At this level, at a top flight level, like you're not you're not entitled to ah like in tournament soccer. You're never entitled to results to begin with, even if you're the higher seed, even if you're the more talented team. But in a league like MLS with the salary cap and the parity, you can think that you're way better than another team, and you can get got. Anyone can get got.
00:41:05
Speaker
And this just shows that. Did anyone pick the Red Bulls to beat the crew? No. Red Bulls were a very mid team this year. how They look solid to sometimes ah above average when Emil Forsberg's playing.
00:41:23
Speaker
but I consider them a very standard average MLS team. They knocked out a Columbus team that many, including myself, considered to be one of the one of the best MLS teams of the last four or five years.
00:41:39
Speaker
And some people consider them one of, if not the best teams of this last era, you know, there's, there's, you can debate LAFC in that. Um, depending on how far you go back, like Seattle is in there. Um, obviously what inner Miami is doing, uh, FC Cincinnati has climbed into that discussion in recent years. But point is this Columbus team is an elite team in the league right now. And, uh,
00:42:05
Speaker
they're out of there also i do think uh i did want i do want to revel in the schadenfreude a little bit of you know there's a whole dispute earlier this year of uh of when seattle destroyed columbus uh because their goalkeeper got a red card and they didn't have a backup so shawn shawn zawatski had to bla play goalkeeper That was funny, but um a lot of the city of Columbus were not happy with lobbing scorchers for the episode that we recorded about that. um So now that ah now that they're out of the playoffs, I say again, get wrecked, get bamed on, get a backup goalkeeper. but
00:42:49
Speaker
um This inner Miami getting pushed to game three two is just further reinforced is that They literally have four four of the top Like 13 to 15 players who have ever played the game Including the literal number one best player that has ever played the game Arguably the best defensive midfielder that has ever played the game. I think a lot of people who hold Sergio Baskets in that high regard. I think Jordi Alba is certainly the best attacking fullback or one of the best attacking fullbacks to ever play the game. I certainly think Luis Suarez is
00:43:32
Speaker
I don't know. People disagree with me on this. I think he's one of the top five to 10 strikers to ever play the game. I think he is both in terms of raw production and skill level. So you have that team. I don't even know why I just explained it. Everyone knows what's going on with that team.
00:43:49
Speaker
playing in Atlanta United team that's they're actively bad they're actively bad and they squeaked into the playoffs and have now pulled off this this this it was a good win they got a late goal 2-1 win they got the dub If Inter Miami got knocked out by Atlanta United, that would be funny. It would totally undermine all my takes about how they're gonna steamroll the MLS Cup, but I don't care. like ah i do I do think it would be fun to see Messi deeper into the playoffs. I think it would be funnier if Messi lost to atlan this Atlanta United team. That is not good.
00:44:27
Speaker
um LFC again man like this game. This game was not close. It wasn't close the whitecaps were all over them all night LFC they might be in trouble i don't think that result is indicative of their quality or like where they stand right now at all i still think they're ac ah but i think like losing on the road is one thing that in itself i
00:44:58
Speaker
probably They had just lost a normal competitive game on the road i don't think i would think much of it i would think it's just like ah random fluke result and they're gonna absolutely destroy the white caps in the next game. But ah the nature of this result is what made me pause a little bit. The score line, but just how one-sided it was from the run of play. It made me feel like there might be fatigue going on with this LAFC team that I think we also saw with Columbus. Those are two teams that have just played a lot of soccer in the last couple years.
00:45:33
Speaker
That does catch up to you every team at a certain point even la fc like I know we joke about how denny bawanga Like doesn't get tired and plays every single game It is gonna catch up to you at some point. Maybe it is for la fc I doubt it, but it's possible. It's possible.
00:45:53
Speaker
um FC Cincinnati, again, got destroyed by NYC FC, and they they're sort of they're so injured this year that I don't think there's as much, if anything, to read into where FC Cincinnati's at. um But it did make both mine and Noah's upset predictions.
00:46:14
Speaker
We had that upset look a little better and that was another that was a really one-sided game NYC FC won that easily and I'm hoping they go on because that was I liked that pick and I kind of like NYC FC's team I think they're a pretty young and fun team The LA Galaxy Looked like the best team in the playoffs so far and ah you know, it's LA Galaxy podcast oh but this was a and even more one-sided series than I thought it would be I thought I thought it would be I picked them to win it obviously I have LA Galaxy going to MLS Cup and they've been my favorite team in the league to watch all year but this even by those standards
00:46:57
Speaker
This was, they absolutely destroyed the Colorado rock Rapids four to one in game two, won that series by a combined score of nine to one, I believe. I think the first game in LA was five zero. ah So the ah Galaxy, they rolled through that series. It'll get harder as they get deeper into the playoffs, but I feel pretty good about that ah MLS Cup pick right now. And I also feel good about my take that I had to previously rescind that the galaxy I rated the galaxy over LAFC didn't age particularly well LAFC took the number one seed from them on the last day of the season decision day um but now I feel kind of good about that take again so there you go
00:47:46
Speaker
uh and then minnesota united beat rsl in pks which i think was the biggest snoozer of a series and i really uh i really don't think this holds much significance at all in the sense that ah rsl had been fading for a while they were one of the better teams in the league the first half of the year didn't really hear much about him again in the second half of the year Chicho Arango got injured at one point I think stopped scoring Diego Luna is an awesome player he's probably the reason to still watch their team with Chicho injured or not producing ah but
00:48:24
Speaker
he's not ready to like carry an entire club to an MLS Cup yet so RSL got hit with a little dose of reality not just in the playoffs but really whole second half of the year in Minnesota United um they look a lot like more interesting since Kelvin Yoboa got here. I'm excited to watch him for a full season next year to see what he can do. um But I think, to me, when I look at Minnesota's roster, I feel like they need to, ah they have like a good foundation, they have a good start, but they need to build it out a little bit more to be a real contender. So maybe they get hot and make a run, but based on how they looked in this RSL series, I didn't really see much to ah indicate that.
00:49:09
Speaker
um All right, ah I had three other headlines I wanted to hit before I get out of here for this little solo pod on episode 73.
Player Awards and Recognitions
00:49:19
Speaker
I'm gonna keep this one. due It looks looking like I'm gonna come in at under an hour here, which I think is pretty good for a solo pod. I can't do the 90-minuters.
00:49:27
Speaker
That Noah and I do so we'll keep we'll keep this one shorter tonight um ah First headline just real quick Diego Luna who I was just talking about segue that ah he has been named your young player of the year and Lewis Morgan also um One comeback player of the year, which I think that's who I voted for I was torn between Lewis Morgan and Maxi Morales, but I think I voted for Lewis Morgan because um Maxie didn't play as much as him and Lewis Morgan was An integral part of a playoff team all year and came back from like two or three injuries last year. So Congrats to the Eagle Luna and Lewis Morgan This coaching news. This is this is some of the biggest news of the day though.
Bruce Arena's Return to MLS
00:50:15
Speaker
ah You have Bruce Arena who
00:50:20
Speaker
Unceremoniously exited his most recent post as the manager of the New England Revolution ah Hired by the San Jose earthquakes Bruce is back Bruce is back in the league um After after his little scandal in New England, which it never really it really never came out in exactly what happened with that I really don't know I've heard things but nothing that I would want to report or like divulge because I don't have it confirmed or anything um but
00:50:53
Speaker
i can't speak to whether It's like the right or wrong decision to have him back in the league ah Because we don't know we don't know what happened don't know what happened So as far as all that goes, I don't know but um It does seem like as far as ah Name value and ah like pedigree within the league this is about as High profile a higher I guess as an MLS Club can make like I think what Bruce does is he gives you a just gives you he gives you a floor is what he does like
00:51:35
Speaker
if you give bruce his time to make a mark his mark on any mls club he'll have you i mean like when he got to the revs they were down horribly bad robert craft hired him to like rescue their franchise and bruce had them winning the shield and stuff so um i guess what i'm curious about is if he can pull that magic with a club that just gave up 70 like six goals i don't know we'll see but i'm also thinking that the quakes might be less of like like as bad as they've been they've been like entertainingly bad if that makes sense in the last couple years maybe not this year they were mostly just terrible but like the almeida teams matias almeida is what i'm talking about when they were just like uh run and gun with the man marking and the counter attacking and stuff like uh
00:52:29
Speaker
They're just kind of chaos merchants. i'm interested Bruce is does not, i don't he's not a chaos merchant type of coach. So I guess I'm curious if like it changes their whole club identity. Because even after the Almeida era, um like under Lucci, they still had that same kind of vibe. um But I don't know if it was by design or not.
Jim Curtin's Departure from Philadelphia Union
00:52:53
Speaker
So that's what I'll be keeping tabs on with Bruce Arena going to the quakes.
00:52:59
Speaker
It makes sense if you think about it because he used to coach the galaxy. He's got a lot of California connections, so ah But it it is interesting too because he's a legendary galaxy coach right now. It's like Kelly Classco rivals So that's a good storyline and then the other one Jim Curtin Jim see out in Philly Now this is one well first of all sounders assistant ah But in all seriousness um This was a surprise around the league ah because this is one of, if not the the longest, and I mean, oh no, Peter Ramirez is the longest tenured, but ah I think Jim C is the second longest tenured manager in all of MLS. And I won't lie when I first heard that, uh,
00:53:50
Speaker
the union were getting rid of gym C, my first thought was that that that's dumb. That's dumb because gym C is a provenly good coach who has consistently had this union team punching above their weight for years and years.
00:54:11
Speaker
they famously are one of the biggest they're definitely the most successful like pure money ball team in the league that really doesn't spend that much at all and uh they uh they have excellent scouting and ways of finding like market inefficiency it's literally like they literally have some money ball thing going on with that club to have the success that they've had over the last few years, like years, they had a year where they put up like a crooked gold differential that was like the year they made MLS cup in 2022. They had like a plus 40 something gold differential that year with it's got to be like the lowest spending to largest gold differential I've ever
00:54:56
Speaker
seen and uh you know ern stanner their sporting director you gotta give him a lot of the credit for that too but like jim c he's always struck me as like uh we talk a lot about man managing with brian schmetzer and how that's an elite skill of his and that's what makes him a great coach more than like being the guy who's gonna out tactic you jim c i think you could say a similar thing he's He's widely known as like an awesome great really nice guy, which it doesn't always equate to a great coach But if you talk to any player who's played for him, which I have um They all they all talk about what a great man manager he is and what a great like culture builder he is and that's
00:55:40
Speaker
It's a big reason why the union have had the success that they've had along with Ernst Tanner. And the thing in these situations is that the grass is not always greener. Like, what are the actual odds you upgrade on an MLS coach from gym C?
00:55:57
Speaker
Doesn't seem especially high. I mean, you know, you could take a big swing and have a knock it out of the park higher But when you have like a club legend type of coach who admittedly the union had a very down year But you have a long track record of winning and success to fall back on if you wanted to bring him back now all of that being said I do understand the flip side of Sometimes I mean we saw this happen with ah with Ziggy towards the end of his tenure in Seattle like sometimes like an era just runs its course and a coach's messaging either gets stale or um Or it's just time
00:56:40
Speaker
And without knowing the specifics of the situation and not really having many contacts inside the organization, I don't really have a kind out concept of how much of Jim C's exit was them feeling like the team underperformed to an unacceptable level this year and that had to do with coaching or how much of it was just like he'd been there since, but your second longest tenured manager in the league, been there since 2013 or 2014.
00:57:07
Speaker
so um maybe there's a mutual agreement that okay like it's been a decade plus we've had a great run won a lot of games had some great seasons didn't win anything choked a lot of trophies but It's gone as about as far as we can take it like now we need to hire a coach who? Was gonna take us to the level past that but thing is man like I Think for the Philly Union to ascend They need to stop money balling and I think their fans are There during the years where they were money balling and putting up a plus 48 goal differential it was chill but when you have a year you're like they just had a
00:57:56
Speaker
You might have to go splash some cash, man. You might have to go splash some cash. um All right, I'm pulling up just about on an hour here. An hour solopod is quite a lot, so I'm gonna call it right there. Thank you all so much for bearing with me on this solopod episode 73. You know, it's... ah It's not the easiest thing to just talk to myself here for an hour straight. um But I had to get this dub pod out. I had to get this dub pod out with everything that's happened in the playoffs and all that. So um yeah.
00:58:37
Speaker
Thank you all so much, as always, for tuning in.
Closing and Listener Engagement
00:58:41
Speaker
Like, comment, subscribe, rate five stars, write us a review, sub to the YouTube, sub to our other socials. We got TikTok and Instagram that like no one follows, so yeah, go follow the Logging Scorchers TikTok.
00:58:58
Speaker
and Instagram and again like I said earlier if you find yourself struggling with the with the host of the apprentices autocratic takeover of the US government and you you could use an escape from that and our content can provide that in any way that's what i that's what I hope to provide
00:59:29
Speaker
That's it. Gonna call it right there. Thank you you all again so much for listening. Until next time, we out. Peace.