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Episode 380: Josh Anteci-OMG
68 Plays2 years ago
St. Louis City SC came at the kings and they missed - big time. The latest to game the throne were flying high coming into the matchup with the Rave Green sporting a 5-1 record, 1st place in the West and sitting above the Sounders. Seattle pulled STL back to earth behind Josh Atencio's first MLS goal (a golazo/a banger/a wonderstrike/rightfully Goal of the Week) and left the visitors wondering what happened after that 3-0 rinsing. Raul Ruidiaz came off the bench and quickly doubled the lead leaving Brian Schmetzer some more sleepless night ahead of the Portland matchup. At least Coach has some things that might help him combat that - the team is perfect at home still and they are back at the top of the West.
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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)
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Transcript
00:00:00
Speaker
This
Introduction and Sponsors
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Speaker
episode of Nos Arietes is sponsored by Fullpool Wines, a Seattle-based wine retailer and proud sponsor of Nos Arietes since 2011. Fullpool was founded in 2009, is based in Seattle, and is owned and operated by longtime sounder supporters. They offer the best boutique wines of the world to members of their mailing list, with special focus on their home, the Pacific Northwest.
00:00:21
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. Come on! Hey, Ocean! Let's go! I want to say bye-bye! The Seattle Sounders have done it! MLS Cup winners! And Portland can't say he's cheating! Here comes Rudy Diaz through the middle to crowd it for Seattle! They have climbed the mountain!
00:00:51
Speaker
And now our masters of all that they survey. Michael Adero leaves absolutely no doubt. The Sounders rule the region. Seattle Sounders is confused. Seattle Sounders, the greatest MLS team in history. Is that what you young people call twerking? How does this one feel? This feels fucking awesome. What a win. What a win. This is Seattle Sounders, bro.
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the bluest skies you've ever seen are in Seattle and the hills the greenest green in Seattle like a beautiful child growing up
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Speaker
Thanks
Episode Introduction and Sounders' Recent Game
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Speaker
to Watson's Counter for sponsoring this episode. Located in Ballard, Watson's Counter is your neighborhood specialty coffee shop, brunch spot, and now, coffee roaster. Sourcing exclusively high-scoring coffees, Watson's Counter has started their coffee roasting project to showcase amazing coffees grown around the world. Their first featured coffee is the beautifully complexed, washed Ethiopian Odola.
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Follow them on Instagram at wantsonscounter to keep up with all the upcoming releases or check out their website at www.watsonscounter.com. Whether you want to stop by for your daily coffee to go or sit down for delicious Korean inspired brunch, Watson's Counter has got you covered.
00:02:24
Speaker
Hello everyone, and welcome back to another edition of No Sadietas, brought to you by our good friends at Fullpole Wines and Watson's Counter, as well as our wonderful subscribers. This is episode number 378, and we're recording the evening of Monday, April 10th. As you've probably managed to put together, I am not Jeremiah O'Shan, I am of course Han Campo, taking over the hosting duties this week as Jeremiah has gone fishing.
00:02:46
Speaker
Joining me today is our engineer Lickett as well as what is likely a familiar voice to most of you, our good friend Mark Castner. On today's show, we'll be talking about the Sounders' big 3-0 win on Saturday over St. Louis City FC at Lumen Field and previewing the first Sounders-involved Cascadia clash this weekend down in Portland. But first things first, Mark, how are you doing this evening? I'm doing great. I appreciate the opportunity to be on the show again. Yeah.
00:03:13
Speaker
It's always easier to record a podcast after the sounders win. It is. It is. It's also easier to record a podcast before 11 PM your time, which is when we usually record. So very, very happy that we can have it on. So let's get to it.
Sounders vs St. Louis City FC: Tactical Discussion
00:03:27
Speaker
Let's talk about that 3-0. And that was a lot of fun. So the score line, I don't think, flattered the sounders necessarily. But I do think that for the first hour or so, St. Louis were pretty tough to play against. The sounders had a lot of possession.
00:03:41
Speaker
They didn't create a whole lot. St. Louis, similarly, I don't think created a whole lot, but they did have some moments of danger with their pretty effective high press. But I think the Sounders, after that first goal, totally different ballgame, right? But with that first goal, before that first goal, pretty tough to break down. And so I thought it was really encouraging from my perspective that once the Sounders were able to get that goal, get that breakthrough,
00:04:11
Speaker
totally different game, opened the floodgates, was very comfortable from there on out. Pretty much a night and day difference. But how does that jab with how you felt about the game? There was a lot of talk about how good St. Louis was in the first half. I'm curious to get your thoughts. I have my own thoughts on that, but any opinions on any of the tactical changes that we maybe saw that led to that breakthrough and just how you felt about the game in general.
00:04:40
Speaker
Yeah, so I thought it was really interesting that St. Louis came into the game with a completely different formula. They came in with kind of a three, five, two, kind of five, three, two thing, depending on where kind of their widest players were at.
00:04:59
Speaker
And I think that their hope with that was to kind of just overload the midfield with numbers. And they did a really good job with that, I thought, for the first half until halftime where I thought the Sounders came out in the second half and they were just a better team for all 45 minutes.
00:05:23
Speaker
And so I think Brian Spencer alluded to it in his press conference at the 352 situation, kind of threw them for a loop a little bit. But at the same time, I don't think it benefited St. Louis in any sort of like kind of creative manner. I think they did really well to kind of like keep the sounders at bay in the first half, but I thought
00:05:52
Speaker
This, the entire performance was kind of a hallmark of like Brian Spencer's best teams where they figure out what's happening in the first half. And then they come out in the second half and just blow them away. Like how many, how many matches in 2019 and like even 2021 did we see that it was like, all right.
00:06:09
Speaker
The sounders are going to figure this out. They're going to go into halftime and they're going to come out and just be the better team. And I thought that's basically what happened. And it was really encouraging that it happened against a team as good as St. Louis, because I don't think St. Louis played that poorly at all in anything that they did. The sounders were just like basically night and day better.
00:06:31
Speaker
Yeah, that's I think that's a great point. You know, this this season in the Sounders wins, we've kind of become accustomed to them starting very fast and not really needing to make those adjustments as the games went on because they were comfortably ahead very early on. And the only real adjustment they needed to make was to decide when to take their foot off the gas. And this game, it wasn't that way at all. It was, as you said, they spent the first half sort of
00:06:52
Speaker
feeling out St. Louis, figuring out what St. Louis was doing tactically. St. Louis has been known as a very high pressing team. That's worked pretty well for them for the most part this year. They did press in this game. I mean, I think it's just sort of inherent to their identity, but I think it was less intense than it has been in other games. And I do think that you're right, that the approach was to try to make that midfield so clogged up that the Sounders couldn't create much through it. The Sounders weren't able to create as many counter-attacking chances.
00:07:20
Speaker
no goals in this one for for layout two or for Jordan Morris, no assists for either as well. And I do think that some of that is just that it was much harder to find that space in behind, they've been able to find because not necessarily because St. Louis was sitting so deep, but because the runs may have been there, but the balls to find those runs weren't weren't as easy to come by. And so I think that
00:07:40
Speaker
you know, we saw Brian Schmetzer make the change to Raul Rui Diaz pretty early on in the second half to underscore, I think four minutes later. And I definitely think that that change made a difference. I think that that's a little more a conventional guy to break down a team that's not necessarily bunkered in, but that you're having a hard time playing through. And I think that that was a good switch.
00:08:04
Speaker
not necessarily that it ultimately created the opportunity for the goal to be scored, but I do think it allowed the Sounders to attack St. Louis in a way that was a little more well-suited for the game. So speaking of Raul, speaking of Leo Chiu and Jordan Morris, do you think that
00:08:22
Speaker
After this game, Leo two not getting on the score sheet. I thought he played well. I don't have any complaints with his game. But does that make it a little easier for Brian Schmetzer to put Raul back in the lineup this weekend against Portland?
00:08:35
Speaker
Yeah, I think it does, and I think that's probably what will happen. I don't know if you've gotten a chance to read Jeremiah's postgame pontifications, but he basically opens that up with apparently a conversation that Brian Spitzer and Josh Atencio had earlier this week. I think on Thursday, or maybe it was Friday, that basically
00:08:57
Speaker
Hey, Josh, you've been playing really well, but you're going to have to sit. And then kind of a thing developed with, with, uh, uh, Joe Paul's hamstring and attention ended up starting and having the game of his life, which I'm sure we'll talk about that a little bit, but I think it's probably going to be a situation like that where, you know, Leo choose not been playing poorly. He just did like.
00:09:21
Speaker
And I even thought he played like really well. He like, I thought he could contribute it. He, you know, did everything. And even maybe even this is a conversation they have with Jordan Morris too. Like maybe, maybe it's Jordan Morris that sits, but I doubt it. Um, I think, I think it's just kind of like, it's a really good problem to have, I think, where I think maybe coming into the season, I don't think a lot of Sounders fans had, uh,
00:09:49
Speaker
at kind of not necessarily faith in our depth, but they just weren't convinced by a lot of the depth options, but now, you know, seven games in, it's a completely different story. And you can kind of, as the season goes on, you can make tactical decisions with your lineup instead of just making decisions about trying to fix, like playing your best players, like whatever sort of like,
00:10:19
Speaker
situation the Sounders are going to come up against. And I do think a team like Portland and the struggles that they're having, which I know we'll talk about playing Raoul, he's the type of player that can get on the ball in kind of 40, 30 to five yards out and like cause problems, which is the type of problems that Portland's are having.
00:10:39
Speaker
Whereas if we're playing against a team like Kansas City or LA, that's just going to give you a ton of space behind their full backs. Then maybe you, maybe you decide to go to, um, Leo Chiu or kind of a, maybe even a different little lineup formation and whatnot.
00:10:58
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, if you've got a lot of space in the behind both full backs, that's a situation where maybe Christian moves back a line and you put Jordan and Leo to out on the on the planks. You know, it's it's like you said, it's a good problem to have. And it's been a consistent team over the past month or so, especially of on the show. And just I think generally in the in the sounders verse of it.
00:11:20
Speaker
The sounders have always been a team that had their guys, right? And I think that's very common in MLS, just because of the nature of the way the rosters are built and so forth. But, you know, Oba Martins was going to start when he was healthy, Clint Dempsey, Freddie Monteiro and his heyday.
00:11:35
Speaker
those guys were always going to start Aussie. And I still think there are clear starters on this team, like Raul is a clear starter who, okay, he was temporarily benched because Leo and Jordan Morris were in such great form. But I don't think anybody ever really felt like he was getting Wally pipped. People knew as soon as
00:11:55
Speaker
there was a reason for him to work his way back into the lineup. I think that that was obvious. Joao Paulo, same kind of deal, right? Josh Atencio had a fantastic game. Game of his life, as you said, and I think you're absolutely right there. And I'm getting really excited about the steps forward that it looks like he's taken this year.
Sounders' Tactical Flexibility and Challenges
00:12:13
Speaker
But Joao Paulo was going to start until he gives you a reason not to. But the difference, I think, is that when Joao Paulo can't start, when Raul Rudeas can't start, when somebody needs a break, you don't go into that game thinking, all right, well, we just got to get through this one, right? I mean, it wasn't that long ago that the Sounders had three or four injuries and
00:12:36
Speaker
They were throwing Darwin Jones out there to struggle for 90 minutes, three times a week. And that's not shaded Darwin Jones, but I think the depth is much better. I think the Sounders are in a much better place. The players that have come up through the academy have, I think, taken a step forward, taken a step up above maybe what we had in years past.
00:13:00
Speaker
Leo true coming good has obviously been huge being able to get a little bit younger and upgrade a little bit at the sort of.
00:13:09
Speaker
second forward, I guess technically, but ultimately kind of third forward spot in a bear. Just, it's a, it's a whole different ball game for the Sounders and, and you know, the storms that they can weather with the personnel they have. And obviously there's a lot of season to go. I don't think it's reasonable to expect Joshua Tencio to play that well in every game. I don't think it's reasonable to expect Jordan Morris to score at the clip he scored at, but the Sounders could score a lot less and play
00:13:36
Speaker
much more poorly and still probably be a very good team in this league. And I think that that's the exciting thing for me. And this game was really a litmus test in a way that LAFC maybe wasn't. LAFC, I think everyone knows how good they are. And I think that it's unquestioned that they're going to be
00:13:55
Speaker
MLS Cup towards the top of the favorites. They're going to be in the supporters shield conversation until they're not. And they probably will never get to that not phase right until like the last week or two of the season. Maybe they're one of the best teams in CONCACAF. I don't think there's any question about that. So for the Sounders to struggle, get a nil, nil, even though I think I do think they played very well in that game.
00:14:16
Speaker
is not a huge deal. St. Louis is that tier below, right, where they're a very good team. They're a team that's going to make the playoffs, I think almost unquestionably. They've been, I think, much better than anyone expected. They've done it in a repeatable way. They are an interesting team that does things a little bit more differently than other teams in MLS. I think that some of the praise of their early performances was a little bit over the top, but
00:14:42
Speaker
You know, that's neither here nor there. They're a good team that I think came in, gave the Sounders a little trouble in the first half. And then the Sounders ultimately went out and waxed them in the second half and beat them convincingly. And I think that that's the kind of test and did that without Raul Rodriguez and the starting lineup without Joao Paulo at all.
00:15:02
Speaker
the Sounders were still able to very convincingly win that game. And those are just the kind of games that in years past, aside from, I hate to say it, but aside from 2014, the Sounders weren't doing that regularly. I think that game would have been a struggle. And that's not a dig at past Sounders teams. It's just the reality that I think that this team clearly has a second gear that maybe some of the past teams haven't.
00:15:24
Speaker
I think what's kind of interesting, and I'll do my best to kind of tie this into what you just said. So if I talk for a few minutes and I'm not making sense, just tell me to shut up. So this is obviously the first season that the sounders have not had Garth Lagerwey as the president of soccer and GM. And Garth Lagerwey's kind of philosophy of constructing a roster is this like nine plus whatever
00:15:55
Speaker
ideology of constructing a roster where you basically have your nine guys plus two additions to the starting lineup and then used to just be three subs and now it's five subs. So you have this strong core and then you have these supplement players that can come in and kind of do the thing. What's I think a little funny, it isn't necessarily ironic, but it is kind of funny,
00:16:24
Speaker
is that the season that Garth Lagerlei leaves is finally the season that the Sounders kind of have that. I would say it's probably eight. It's probably eight plus for this Sounders team. I guess that kind of comes down to depending on what you think about the center back situation.
00:16:47
Speaker
You basically have like, if everybody's healthy, you're going to pick eight guys, like for sure eight guys to start. And then you can start making some like tactical arguments for why a different player should start over the other one.
00:17:02
Speaker
They finally have this incredibly deep team. That's something that Garth always wanted. And it's happening the season after he leaves. And he's kind of struggling in Atlanta right now because he has like six plus zero guys. So the sound is have this kind of like wealth of option and
00:17:28
Speaker
It's still pretty early in the season, even though I think a fourth of the games have been played. A fifth of the games have been played, yeah, seven times. Yeah. You still have Brian Spencer saying in his press conferences, he doesn't really know what his best lineup is, which I think that's just Brian being coy and whatnot. Sure.
00:17:56
Speaker
you know, the sounders still get to figure out how good they are. Whereas I think like, and I think that's, that's an advantage that the sounders have on a team like LESC and also like a team again, like St. Louis is like, we don't know where the ceiling is for this team. We're pretty sure the floor for this team is
00:18:19
Speaker
Like maybe that second half against Cincinnati, which wasn't great, you know, but Cincinnati is a great team too. Yeah. And that was only, that was only a ones that are lost on the road against the supporter, she supporter shield leaders right now. So.
00:18:36
Speaker
Whereas you were mentioning LAFC, they know how good they are. They know that pressure is on them to be that good. And as Sounders fans, we've seen what that pressure can do to you. Literally last season, we knew how good the team was and they didn't qualify for the playoffs.
00:18:57
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, like I'm just, I've just been so impressed through these seven games because you can pick pretty much every situation you're going to experience in an MLS season and it's happened to the Sounders through these seven games. They've beat the crap out of bad teams, which is what you want to see. They've not played well. It's still one like against the galaxy. They've gone toe to toe with two of the three best teams in the league since Natty LFC. And then if you count.
00:19:26
Speaker
Uh, the sounders is probably the third in that conversation. You know, they've, they've, they've gone toe to toe with those things. And then they played this complete wild card that. Yeah. I think like some of the narratives are surrounding them is a little weird and whatnot, but it's an expansion team that won five straight games.
00:19:44
Speaker
and they are well coached and they've got good players, and they've just handled that situation. And so without maybe some of the weirdness that they're going to experience this weekend in a Cascadia Cup game, they've done pretty much everything they're going to face this season, and they've come out
00:20:04
Speaker
above two points a game, which is incredible. And I think, too, worth mentioning, they've done it without Raul Rodriguez, missed several games through injury. They've had a national call ups. Joe Apollo is miss time. It's not like they have their full complement of players and they are. I mean, they have faced the kind of selection struggles that they're going to face that have been. Their undoing in years past, not their undoing. That's a little dramatic, but have been the thing that has caused them to struggle and.
00:20:33
Speaker
they've they've weathered the storm so far and that's I think really encouraging and I and I do we talked a little bit about Josh attention I want to talk a little bit more before we move on to looking ahead I think you said and I completely agree his best game is a sounder I don't think any question he's had some good games in the past but they were always to me sort of like
00:20:53
Speaker
I like this kid. He's got potential. I feel pretty good when he plays. This was a this kid might be really close to being really good. Yeah, he like arrived. Yeah. The goal obviously was a screamer. One of my favorite kinds of goals to see, but it wasn't just the goal. I in my memory, he had one mistake where he had a giveaway under pressure that ultimately ended up being nothing. He recovered pretty well, but it wasn't a great giveaway. It wasn't a bad part of the field.
00:21:22
Speaker
But that happens against the team that presses high. And the Sounders ultimately were in pretty good shape to handle it. And I don't even think it came to a corner kick or anything like that. I think it just went out for a bull kick. Other than that, I don't remember him putting a foot wrong all game. He was doing everything that you want to see from somebody playing in that position as the more defensive
00:21:42
Speaker
of the defensive midfield too, but he was creating a lot of havoc getting forward after the goal, especially he seemed to have a lot of confidence and was making really good attacking runs. He was kind of, you know, doing that thing where he splits out to the flank and becomes a little bit more of a creative player in the attack.
00:22:00
Speaker
I loved his game and you know I don't think that this is a situation where Brian Schmetzer has to start him in the next game but I think he is very clearly at the very top of the depth chart for guys behind JP and Rusnak and I think that there are games
00:22:19
Speaker
on the strength of this performance, but also his other performances this season, because he's looked good in every game. There are games where I think you can say, I think Atencio is a better fit for this game than Albert. And I would not have thought that. That seemed crazy to me at the beginning of the season, and I'm someone that's been high on Atencio for a while.
00:22:39
Speaker
Yeah, or, or you kind of look at, you kind of look at the situation either. Okay. Maybe, maybe actually we play a tensio in the midfield and Alex Rodin goes to the bench. Christian slides back. Debra snack goes in place, the wing, which his best games of season have happened, have happened to be the two games that he's played out there. Um, so it just gives you like so many options. And I think.
00:23:04
Speaker
The thing that impressed me so much about this performance from Atencio wasn't even necessarily something he did. It was just that the coaching staff and Brian Spencer recognized that they could use Joss Atencio's skill set to actually win the game. And they went into halftime going, okay,
00:23:25
Speaker
If we can start getting second balls to the feet, like if we can start putting Josh into the positions where he can win the second balls and increase the tempo and move, move the Sounders up the field 30 yards quicker than they had in the first half.
00:23:39
Speaker
They'll win. And that's basically exactly what happened with the goal. Uh, maybe like a minute before it happened, there was a goal kick. He wants second ball sounder start cycling back and forth. They worked the ball up the field and then he's just arriving because they put, they pushed the same way. This has been filled back into their own box, basically. And a tensio just gets to step, step, step up 30 yards away and put it in the top corner, which I agree is one or.
00:24:06
Speaker
one of my favorite types of goals as well. So defensive midfielder goals are always a lot of fun for me. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, like I grew up kind of idolizing Steven Girard, who wasn't necessarily a defensive midfielder, but he would score goals like that all of the time. Or just like Freddie back in the day, shooting him from wherever.
00:24:29
Speaker
I will say XG has ruined those goals because nobody takes those shots anymore because they know they're bad shots. Yeah, it is one of those things where, and this is a total, this is a side quest, but. Yeah.
00:24:45
Speaker
I I'm I'm a stat guy. I don't think that it's any, you know, there's any real surprise there. But and I do think that actually is important and it is important not to take too many of those shots, not to make that like a game plan. Yeah. But there is something to be said for taking those shots when you get the time and space, because a lot of those shots are low XG because a lot of the time they're getting blocked. You don't have a good look. You're you're taking those shots late in the game when you're desperate.
00:25:10
Speaker
he had a wide open look and he put it where the goalkeeper wasn't going to save it. And I think even if you're just taking a couple of those a game to keep the defense honest, there's value in that because that opens up space in behind you. I definitely don't want that shot being taken all the time. You know, that's that's not great. But
00:25:30
Speaker
There's a time and place for it, especially if you're going to hit it there, especially if like, you know, cool. So Dara's going to give you the ball like that. Right. You like. I would, I would have been upset if he didn't take the shot for sure. For sure. But yeah, now that that side quest is done, I was just impressed. Like I think, I think we kind of have to look at this as like going forward in terms of like roster selection.
00:25:56
Speaker
I think, I think Brian Spencer even said something like this in the press conference where it was like, you know, if it was a playoff game, JP probably would have started type of thing.
00:26:08
Speaker
If this team has the ambitions to win a supporter shield, which I think that's the quiet thing that nobody's saying out loud quite yet, we have to start looking at these things as like, is a fully fit Josh Intensio better than a 70%?
00:26:29
Speaker
Jau Paulo. Right now, probably yes, based on form. Or you go, okay, a fully fit and firing Quorum of His Life, Leo Chiu, gets three starts over Raul Ruideas, who's kind of coming off of a long offseason with injury issues and hasn't started the season necessarily as well.
00:26:48
Speaker
Yeah. Okay. We, we make that decision, but then now maybe we have three or four games where we try to get Raoul in the form and maybe in a month or two, the next time I'm on, we're talking about Raoul scoring seven and four or something like that. And it's like, of course he's going to start type of thing. Um, and I think like good, good managers love to have this kind of problem and it's a problem Brian hasn't had.
00:27:15
Speaker
very often in his kind of career. And so I think like, I think we just say kind of tough and
00:27:24
Speaker
And I think it makes everybody better because they go into training every day being like, I have to be better than the next guy, or I'm not going to play. Right. Yeah. I think that it is indicative of Raul's mindset that he looked pissed off after he scored that goal. And you don't want that to continue. But I do think that that's what you want to see, right? You want to see somebody
00:27:49
Speaker
Even, I mean, Brian was, was very quick to say that rule is a team guy. There's no indication that he was disgruntled, but he wants to start. He wants to play. And you want one of your highest paid players and a guy that you sort of built your team around, you want him to feel that way. Right. And you, and you want him to feel slighted to a point. And, and it's finding that point that, you know, that's where guys like Brian Schmetzer make the money. Um, and I think, I think it like worked. Yeah.
00:28:19
Speaker
I think it worked perfectly. I think you asked Brian, like if we ever got Brian off the record and he had been like, hey, what about this situation? He would have been like, I would want Raul to be just pissed off at me enough to score. And score for like 10 minutes after he gets on the field. And he did. And so I think Raul was kind of like faking it a little bit. He was gonna go celebrate and then he realized
00:28:49
Speaker
Oh crap. That's like the first goal of the season. And I came off the bend and then he liked it as like hard man. Great. So I think, I think he was kind of, I think he was kind of selling it a little bit, but for sure. I think that's good. Right. Like, I think you want to send that message, even if you.
00:29:05
Speaker
I don't know. We're being armchair psychologists, which is fun, but who knows ultimately. But I do think- Other than the type of armchair psychology we were doing at the end of last season. That's true. That's definitely true. This is way more fun. That's definitely true. Ultimately, I think it only becomes a problem when playing the hot hand turns into a philosophy.
00:29:31
Speaker
And I think that was an issue I had with Ziggy at times, where somebody would go on a great run of form and then it was pretty clear that they had lost it and he would keep going with them over what seemed like better options. I think that Brian got this one right, that he
00:29:53
Speaker
I don't think you can bench a guy like Leo, too, after what he what after the way he'd been playing. But I think he was pretty quick with the hook. And and I think that that's the right way to handle it. And I'm sure Leo understands it. And I do think that it's indicative of good things, that they have this sort of iron sharpens iron mentality right now. It's it's good. It's that competition is good. And it and it like. And I just think like
00:30:21
Speaker
going forward through the schedule, like the games coming up, none of this could happen at a better time. Because nobody loves scoring against Portland more than Raoul. Exactly. The kind of matchups that I think we're going to get in the next handful of games, also including the Open Cup game, where she was almost certainly going to start, he's a better option coming off of the bench in those anyways. So that's an easier sell. Like, hey.
00:30:51
Speaker
Jordan Morris is going to go tire that guy out on the lane for 55 minutes, and then you get to come in and get to assists. How's that sound? Yeah. And I think Leo has got to be aware of the fact that he's playing great right now, but he hasn't in the past. And you have to do it consistently to earn your spot. And I think especially with more midweek games coming in and all that, it's a problem.
00:31:18
Speaker
It's a good problem to have right now. I think we're getting pretty close to the point where it's not really a problem at all because everybody gets to play. And speaking of which, let's change gears a little bit and start looking ahead. So with the win, the sounders are first place in the West.
00:31:34
Speaker
second place in this Porter shield standings behind FC Cincinnati, Cincinnati 17 points under 16. So very close there. Even New England also on 16 points, but they're behind the Sounders on gold difference. LFC on 14 points, but they actually have the highest points per game in the league. They're unbeaten and they have just played one fewer game than everybody else. Obviously it's early.
00:31:55
Speaker
And obviously still lots of games to play. There are very good teams who have been underachieving. Teams that maybe aren't as good who have been overachieving. But right now it feels like FC Cincinnati, the Sounders, LAFC, potentially New England.
00:32:12
Speaker
are the teams that you would say look to be in a supporter shield race right now, right? There might be some others that are nipping at their heels. From my perspective, just based on what I've seen from the Sounders and from those other teams,
00:32:30
Speaker
New England I'm skeptical of, but I think that they are a good team with talent and so they could be this good. FC Cincinnati and LAFC I think are both the real deal. Now, I don't think FC Cincinnati is as good as Sounders or as LAFC, but I think that they are going to be able to keep pace for most of the year.
00:32:48
Speaker
What about you? Do you think that these are the teams that are going to be there all year? Do you think that the Sounders are going to be able to keep this up and stay in that in that area? It's kind of crazy, given how well the Sounders have played, to me, at least how well they played over these first seven games, that they're still sort of in the thick of it, right, that they haven't really elevated themselves yet. Yeah, I do think Cincinnati is as good
00:33:16
Speaker
as everybody says they are like I just like I think they're so good I thought the way that they beat us was so clever and like I was just so impressed by that game and you know we don't as like fans of a Western Conference team we don't get to see Eastern Conference teams that much but I would say
00:33:36
Speaker
There's a, there is a gap between Cincinnati and probably like, I would say maybe Columbus is the second best team in the East. There's a pretty clear margin. Um, there, or I guess, I guess we have to talk about new England. I hope no new England fans listen to this segment and make me, made me feel bad about forgetting about them. But I just like.
00:34:01
Speaker
There's a literal one point gap between New England and Cincinnati. And I know, I know New England won the supporter shield in 2021 with effectively a worse version of the roster they have now, but, uh, I don't know. You just got it like for no other reason than I'm just not convinced. I'm just not convinced about New England. Yeah. Mostly maybe just cause it's Bruce Arena and, uh,
00:34:28
Speaker
I don't have to like him. But, but yeah, I, I like now that we're set, like we're seven games through the start of the season, things have more or less gone like much better than expectations. I would say you have LFC dealing with kind of the.
00:34:50
Speaker
the CCL thing, which we're acutely aware of what that thing does to you. The thing that I'm the most impressed about is the sounders have one of the best away records in the league. Only St. Louis has a better away record.
00:35:14
Speaker
And that's just by the virtue of them playing one more game. And maybe by Saturday night, we'll have the same record. But I really like, I do think you kind of have to like, what's the saying about making hay when this
00:35:34
Speaker
Sun shines or something like that. Yeah. Yeah. You're familiar. Yeah. Like you have to take the opportunities that are in front of you. And I think the sound is doing that basically the, the, whatever that saying is that is actually exactly make a well, a sunshine. You got it exactly right. And then, and then you just kind of see where, where things are. Like the thing, a thing that's weird about this season that.
00:36:02
Speaker
nobody can fully comprehend yet. Cause it's never happened before is there's not going to be a league game for six weeks because of the, because of the week's cup. So I think the sounders just get to that and you know, maybe do the open cup thing, depending on kind of how the draws and stuff happen. Um, do you just do that and you see where you're at and then you do the league's cup thing and you try your, like winning that would be cool, but
00:36:31
Speaker
And then you just kind of like, the season has like a cadence to it that no other MLS season has had before. They can just kind of like, they don't have to make decisions. The decisions can make them for themselves. The only decisions they have to make are kind of like the day in, day out, like winning games type of decisions. And that's great. That's the type of thing that you want to do.
00:36:56
Speaker
Yeah, you don't want to be in a situation where you're you're talking incessantly about what kind of move do we need to make because we have to make a move to get us over the top. That's that's a good situation to be in. And I just I guess we didn't we didn't really mention Atlanta who has been pretty good this year as well. You mentioned Columbus. I think that's the one I did. That's the thing, right? Is that I just knew England.
00:37:22
Speaker
A good team does not lose six to one. I don't care what their excuses are. Yeah, pretty much. I agree. I think Atlanta is better than expected, right? I think they're making improvements. I think, you know, hopefully their best player is probably going to get sold this summer. Yeah. A lot of money. So.
00:37:38
Speaker
But I don't think they're in that conversation.
Cascadia Cup Match Preview: Sounders vs Timbers
00:37:42
Speaker
They're in that second, maybe even third tier. New England, I think the same thing. And I haven't seen anything from any of the other teams that make me think these teams are clearly better. And more importantly, these teams are more well set up to maintain this level of success and to do it
00:38:02
Speaker
while also placing an emphasis, because I do think the Sounders are going to place an emphasis on the open cup this year, although Brian Schmetzer has been pretty consistent in saying, like, look like we have to win those early open cup round games with the guys that need to get those minutes. Still, I think that they're going to place an emphasis on it. I think they're going to put an emphasis on the league's cup. And I think because there is that huge break, it makes sense to do that because you don't want to get bounced early and then just have a bunch of time off in the middle of the season, right?
00:38:30
Speaker
Um, in any case, let's move on to a little more, uh, near future and talk about Portland timbers. So first Cascadia cup game of the season for the Sounders, uh, down in Portland and.
00:38:47
Speaker
The cliche is that, oh, in rivalry games, you can throw out the records. And I think there's some merit to that. It's very rare that there are big blowouts in Cascadia, but the timbers have been abject this season. There are some very bad teams in MLS this year. Montreal is very bad. Charlotte's very bad. Sporting Kansas City, the galaxy, very bad teams that have played really poorly.
00:39:12
Speaker
Portland, I think, has looked as bad as any of them. Their last game, they played Vancouver at BC Place, two shots in the whole game, two shots, lost one nil to Vancouver, who better than the tempers, right, could be. Vancouver was coming off of getting shellacked by LFC. Yeah. And yeah, their first leg of the CCL.
00:39:35
Speaker
I definitely think like Vancouver could be a playoff team. I think that they're a respectable team. That is not a team that you feel great about getting two shots against, whether you're on the road. Portland given up 12 goals in seven games. Second worst in the West behind RSL, who has played the Sounders, which is going to skew your goals against numbers. They've only scored six goals, so less than a goal a game. Just a really, really bad team.
00:39:59
Speaker
But if there's a game that timbers can get themselves up for, if there's a game that Joe Sabarazzi can can get his guys up for and that the timbers can bring their best selves to, you've got to think it's this one. The question that's a big if to me, I just don't think this team has it. They I think that whatever it is, whether it's.
00:40:18
Speaker
merit policy becoming disengaged, whether it's just the turning over of the core, whatever it is, this team just does not seem to be taken as seriously in house as they have in the past. They feel neglected. It's a pretty underwhelming roster. They haven't been super adventurous in their signings. They haven't shown a lot of ambition lately.
00:40:41
Speaker
But it's still a Cascadia game. It's still in Portland. The atmosphere is going to be intense. How worried about this being a trap game do you think the Sounders should be? And do you even really believe in the concept of a trap game? I do believe in the concept of trap games, but I don't think this is one of those.
00:41:01
Speaker
I don't think you need to really explain it beyond obviously the context of the two seasons the teams are having, but it's a Cascadia Cup match, particularly ones in Portland tend to be a little bit more flavorful in the rivalry than, or at least as of late, right? Yeah.
00:41:25
Speaker
And I just, I don't, I don't think Brian Smetzer and Tommy Dutra and Andy Rose and, you know, these guys that have been around the Sounders for a long time, Stephen Fry, Christian Rodin, Jordan Morris, Nicholas O'Darrow, they just wouldn't let, the Sounders very well could get beat on Saturday. They could even get beat bad, but I don't think it's because like they took their opponent lightly, which I think is kind of the underlying definition of a trap game.
00:41:55
Speaker
With that said, and this may come back to bite me, I'm not worried about this game at all. I think Portland is as bad as any team we've played, RSL, LA, SKC. I think they're that bad and they might be worse. The week before we played the Galaxy,
00:42:19
Speaker
Portland made the galaxy look as good as us. And that was in Portland. I don't want to pour gasoline on the fire or anything, but the vibes could not be worse for the Portland Timbers on the field, in the stadium.
00:42:40
Speaker
out, you know, kind of off the field with the ownership and all that stuff, not really kind of my place to speak to any of those issues. Um, but yeah, they just like, they seem out of ideas, you know, this could, you know, geo server easy is probably coaching for his job. Um, I don't know if he really has a boss right now. So maybe he's right. Um, but yeah, I mean, even when they go out and make a record signing, it's this guy who.
00:43:11
Speaker
It like this, this, uh, Evander guy, like he was playing in, um, like Denmark or something. Um, he was playing Champions League football, but that's just like, I don't know, Mike.
00:43:26
Speaker
At least the guys, Atlanta signs, like you've heard of before, right? The timbers seem to have not really changed their DP strategy since Fernando Ady. Like those are the guys they bring in that same level and the league has changed. I mean, they, they, obviously they've, they've hit on some players. Sebastian Blanco has, has been a great time for them, but he doesn't start anymore. Right. And I just like, I don't know, man, it's, I don't.
00:43:54
Speaker
Whatever's going on with them is none of my business, but there is part of me. I never want to lose to the timbers. I don't want the timbers to be good, but there's part of me that is kind of depressed by what's going on down there. Not depressed enough that I don't want to win 5-0 in Portland. Or 6-2. Or 6-2. That would also be fine.
00:44:17
Speaker
Um, but it's, you know, it is a bummer. Like I want them to fail because they fail, not because of a bunch of really nasty stuff. And it feels like the really nasty stuff is, is really sort of what's caused the dominoes to fall. Yeah. Um, yeah, it is, it is really nasty. Yeah. Um,
00:44:37
Speaker
I have a lot of friends who are timber sands, timber supporters, timber army members, and I feel for them. I really do. I really do feel for them. It's difficult. That being said, I think you're spot on that the sounders
00:44:53
Speaker
This to me, I think you're right. A, that a trap game sort of necessitates you lose because you overlook your opposition. I don't think that's going to happen here. B, the Sounders have lost to Timbers teams that were worse than them. But this is maybe the worst Timbers team that we've seen since they joined the league. The team that Gavin Wilkinson ended up coaching, I think that was 2011, I want to say. That was a pretty bad Timbers team, I think.
00:45:21
Speaker
relative to the level of the league, this one might be worse. And it's the kind of game I think that, again, not to keep coming back to this, but if you want to win the supporter shield, it's the kind of game you kind of win. And I think, you know, the galaxy, I'm not convinced are all that much better than this timbers team, frankly. And they made that game down in LA very difficult. So anytime you go on road in MLS, you should be prepared for a battle.
00:45:46
Speaker
But I think the sounders have got to feel pretty good about their chances in this one. And coincidentally, games in which the sounders feel like their chances are pretty good are something of a theme, I think, for the next couple of months. So the sounders go to BMO to play LAFC on June 21. Between now and then, there are no games when I look at their schedule where I say,