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What's next for Seattle Sounders offseason?

Lobbing Scorchers

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We are back with our first episode of 2026 as we work our way through the dog days of the MLS offseason. We'll check in on the Seattle Sounders and assess their offseason to date, including the news that the Rave Green have officially re-signed Paul Rothrock. Will they show ambition and sign more players, or is this it for Craig Waibel and Co.? We'll also discuss some of the other big headlines from around the league, including Riqui Puig's injury setback for the LA Galaxy.

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Introduction and Seattle Sounders' Offseason Overview

00:00:02

Speaker

Good morning, everybody, and welcome to the very first 2026 edition of Lobbing Scorchers kickoff. I'm Ari. That's Nico. Happy New Year.

00:00:12

Speaker

Hope everyone is having a good holiday season and getting back into the swing of things. We got a big offseason show for you all here to kick off. the new year We're going to be talking some Seattle Sounders offseason and we're going hitting some of the other headlines from around Major League Soccer. So thank you all for tuning in and kicking kicking this off with us. right Excited to get back into it. you know It's kind of been the dog days of the ah of the MLS offseason.

00:00:38

Speaker

It was nice to lay low, spend some time with the family. i got sick for about a week and a half there. I was just telling Nico, but I'm better now. And I'm ready to get back after it on this content grind. Nico, thank you for tapping in. happy to new Happy New Year to you, my guy.

00:00:54

Speaker

Looking forward to catching up with you. How are you doing? How are you feeling as we navigate our way through, like I said, kind of the, it's the dog days, it's the dead zone right now, but we still got some stuff to talk about and some fun stuff on the horizon for this month. ah What's up with you, man? How are you feeling?

00:01:11

Speaker

Hey, what's going on, Ari audience? Happy to be back. We are in preseason stages, though. We are ah you and I, not the team, did you and I. So i I was getting everything figured out. I was trying to get the the mics correctly. So if today we are not to our level, then just... Let's say that we are shaking some rust off, or at least I am, because it has been a decent break. And it has been more about just enjoying the holidays. And I did have some good ones. I have not gotten sick. So I'm going to go ahead and knock on on wood, make sure that that doesn't happen to me. And now that we are back on, there there is some some news. And we have been able to throw a couple of things here and there. If you follow me on on the socials, you know, you've seen some of it.

00:02:00

Speaker

Of course, Sounder and Heart consistently, as always, providing great content. And, you know, there is some news to talk about for the Sounders.

Key Offseason Moves and Reactions

00:02:08

Speaker

But MLS in general has been interesting. So we can definitely touch on that today, Ari.

00:02:14

Speaker

Yeah, not a lot going Seattle-wise since we last recorded. We are going to talk about the Paul Rothrock re-signing going official. And then we're going to talk about, as a couple of you have mentioned in chat, Andy Rose, Seattle Sounders assistant, ah going to LAFC. So there is a little bit of Seattle-relevant stuff, but ah like you mentioned, there's just there's more...

00:02:37

Speaker

More stories around MLS that are at the forefront right now. We're going to hit on, ah I don't know if you all saw this, but Wilfred Nancy watch at Celtic is unfortunately come to a close. He just got sacked within the last hour, which is something that I think we expected was ah was probably to happen. But now that it actually has happened. it's really uh the whole our whole nancy tracker has come full circle uh big news with ricky pooch dave st claire at the philly union are getting active so we are going to hit on all that uh everyone before we get into all that if you could please subscribe to the channel uh follow us on tick tock and instagram rate five stars subscribe to sounder at heart sounder at heart.com ls

00:03:23

Speaker

all that good stuff. We're going to be cranking it back up during the offseason, maybe not as hardcore as our usual schedule during the season. We're gonna work our way back up to that, but we will be we'll be out here providing you all the content for the rest of this offseason and leading up to what's going to be a huge 2026. So looking forward to all that. And Hebrew Hammer, thank you for getting us started on the Super Chat Train. with the $10 appreciate the support happy new year let's go 2026 that's right let's go 2026 and nico let's just uh get into it without further ado we got a couple of seattle headlines to uh hit here and i guess the first thing is uh uh Last time we recorded, Paul Rothrock had not officially re-signed yet. you would You reported that it was imminent and that it was going to happen.

00:04:12

Speaker

ah And it did happen. it was announced in the last week or so that Paul Rothrock has officially re re-signed with the Seattle Sounders on a multi-year contract, I believe through like 2029 with an option for 2030. I'm not sure if that's exactly right, but it's something like that. uh nico is there anything new that anyone should know about the paul rothrock re-signing i guess do you have uh specific numbers on where it ended up i know people were curious about that or just uh any new or relevant information as it pertains to uh him re-signing and remaining a seattle sounder which everyone here i think at lobbing scorchers is uh is happy about but uh anything new on paul rothrock nico

00:04:52

Speaker

No, nothing new aside from what you've already mentioned, what the press release was ah indicating and and and expressing about that contract in terms of how happy Brian clearly clearly is about having his guy back. ah Craig Weibel as well, clearly someone who...

00:05:16

Speaker

Did his job to the best of his ability and had the negotiations, was hoping for the best, and it ended up going his way. So other than once again reiterating that The numbers are not going to necessarily be shared immediately, but as far as we know, it's along the lines of the 650,000 marker. We, again, won't know exactly what the number is until the um and MLSPA numbers come up for salary, and that would be later down in the year. i don't expect anyone or even the player to...

00:05:58

Speaker

give us any additional information when we do get a chance to talk to him or whenever we're back on the training facility. But the reality is that now with that official, it does seem to provide a little bit more calmness to at least the fan base, right? There was so much turnover this season, or there were so many pieces that were going to be departing ah the the team that,

00:06:26

Speaker

When you sat down and looked at the roster, you were thinking if Paul leaves, there's going to have to be a lot of doing to get it right to where it was before with a proven player, with somebody that does so much for this team. So it does feel like...

00:06:45

Speaker

Paul Rothrock came in as this ray of sunshine where maybe there was a lot of skepticism from fans about how next year was going to go, knowing that there isn't room for a lot of big moves. There isn't room for going out there and getting ah big name players or players that might maybe move the needle for certain casual fans or or in general senses of players.

00:07:12

Speaker

the people that want the big names, right? So for me, I'm just excited to see Paul ah now officially announced and we'll see where that leads us. But ah I think that the fan base has been very open about how excited they were that they were able to get this deal done.

00:07:33

Speaker

Yeah, I think most people ah are happy to see the Rothrock deal get done. It would have been a real a real vibe killer if he had if he had walked and signed with like the San Jose Earthquakes or the LA Galaxy. That would have been tough to take. And I feel good about you know i think what we understand about the numbers. It's somewhere in that 650 range. And I think that is about right for the value he provides and the raise that he's earned based on how he's played playing on numbers way lower than that. So happy for him to get his bag, happy that it's here. And I think that is something that needed to happen just vibes wise for the offseason. I don't think, like you said, maybe there's ah there's some portion of the fan base that ah that didn't want Paul Rothrock signed back on him on a much bigger number than he was on, but i don't think that's a very widespread sentiment. I think most people are stoked about that. And then obviously the other big move of the off season so far for Seattle was the signing of Hassani Dotson in free agency. We talked about that on one of our last shows and the impact that he's going to have next year. That's a guy that's going to be starting a lot of games, playing a lot of minutes. But I think, Nico, the next logical question becomes is you alluded to it a little bit, but is there any more movement to come roster wise for Seattle? Is there

00:08:53

Speaker

Is it possible for them to make a new signing? Are they maxed out on the cap now? Is the roster what it is with Rothrock back and and Dotson coming into the fold? Could anything else be up their sleeve? Or you thinking that the roster is more or less set and any movement that we see will be of the auxiliary supplementary type type type nature and not necessarily a big splashier type move for like a starting player or impact player?

Roster Dynamics and Potential Transfers

00:09:19

Speaker

Yeah, no, look, nothing's off the table right now. I think that there there's definitely room for bringing in another dead piece to this team, whether that is at the striker position or that is at the winger position or the left back position. That is still to be determined. The team clearly brought another body, to say it that way, in Ryan Saylor, guy that in Inter-Miami had like 49 appearances.

00:09:49

Speaker

in like four years. So he's not a guy that I'm super excited to see, but it's just another body at the center back position. And that leads me to believe that Craig Weibel and Brian Smetzer are happy with what they half in the roster depth so far. ah You heard me talk about maybe a Tino Lopez being brought up or, ah you know, something in that capacity of the center backs at that the Tacoma defiance level. But the reality is is that now with Jackson, Yamar,

00:10:23

Speaker

Kim, who should be your main three, I would put Stu Hawkins right there with Kim. Actually, I would rather i would like to see Stu get more minutes than even Kim. Kim is clearly your experienced guy, your high floor. He's going to keep us even-keeled. He's going to come in, and you're going to be able to...

00:10:44

Speaker

expect him to perform, but it is just as important to get Stu Hawkins going and getting him a lot of minutes. Then after that is clearly Ryan Saylor, who I think takes that position of, let's say, a Leo Bernie, who came here, is gone now, they didn't get on the field a lot. So there isn't huge shoes to fill.

00:11:05

Speaker

But look, I hear, at least from the sounder side, that they're very excited about Ryan Saylor. It sounds like because he was in the Inter-Miami where Chris Henderson was a part of, he was very high on Ryan Saylor. This is per Jeremiah Shan and...

00:11:25

Speaker

If anything, Chris Henderson is a great talent evaluator, so I got to give him the benefit of the doubt. Him and Sean Henderson are phenomenal when he comes to just knowing what type of profile of guy they're looking for, what it is that they can...

00:11:42

Speaker

maybe revive of a player that playing for UW seemed to have a lot of potential and maybe just didn't get a situation where he got to prove it on the field. So that's interesting. and the other one was Max Anker, the Whitecaps acquisition, another goalkeeper, your third goalkeeper, if you will. I still expect Andrew Thomas to be the number one, Stefan Frey to be number two. and now Max Anchor to be the number three. He takes the position of one Jacob Castro that wasn't also re-signed by the team. So for all accounts, I do think that there is room for depth, but if there is going to be another big move, or at least a couple, one depends on Obed Vargas stays or not. i i have

00:12:33

Speaker

I'm confident that I have a lot of believe to think that

00:12:41

Speaker

over the markets will not be here by the start of the year. I do think that, yeah, I do think that there, I think that there will be a suitor for him. i know that the team is actively obviously trying to negotiate with him, but at the same time, They are listening to offers for him. So we'll see if there is one that comes official that is on the table and that has all of the requirements and needs for both club and player. And that allows the team to have some room to ah either replace that position or

00:13:19

Speaker

go get their U22 striker in the summer window. So that there is a little bit of a domino effect that could fall if players like, let's say, Obed and maybe Nuhu, who are, I think, the most marketable or desirable ah in in terms of moving the market. So those two players ah are two that I would watch. And depending on if there's any moves on either one of those players, perhaps there's other moves coming in. But As of now, if everything stays as is, I would think that this is what you start the ah season with.

00:13:56

Speaker

That is interesting to hear about Obed. I had kind of been operating under the assumption that they were going to go into the year with him still on the team. ah Just based on the fact that a deal hasn't happened yet. And also, we've you know we've talked a lot about how Craig Wives has... talked about this and it is felt like he's sort of been planting the seed for a situation where they go into the year with Obed still on the roster. And then ah it sounds like the plan potentially was da have him just play out the contract and, and leave on a free. We've all made our feelings known about that, but you know, it's it's a kind of a yeah it's a tough situation because obviously you're a better team with him on the roster and on the field.

00:14:39

Speaker

But when we're talking about the future implications, I don't think there's anyone, even even Craig Weibs, if you gave him truth serum, I don't think there's anyone who thinks that it would be a good option for him to just play out the contract and and leave on a free, almost no matter what on-field benefit that you get.

00:14:55

Speaker

It just doesn't seem like good business. ah And it also seemed like that they were ready to just go in into the season with the roster as is with Obed on it. But now it sounds like there actually might be some movement there.

00:15:08

Speaker

And that's really, i get it to me. It feels like as far as major movement, that's the, ah what's the, what's the term? That's the shoe that needs to drop the domino that needs to fall. That would create the space for something more significant. I guess my question, Nico is like, what are the, what are the percentage odds you would give that Obed Vargas is a Seattle sounder on the 2026 season opener? Is this something that's like a 50, 50 possibility to your understanding?

00:15:38

Speaker

Or is it more like this is probably going down and it's more just formalities and he's actually going to be on the move? My educated guess, based on my experience in in in the transfer market, my relationship and understanding of what the Sounders front office might do.

00:16:06

Speaker

I see tells like when you are in the poker table and you kind of see somebody maybe grab their hat or move their glasses or just kind of give you a tell of what they might have in their hand.

00:16:19

Speaker

I like to look at that. I'm i' i'm looking at absolutely everything when he comes to a club in a situation like this one. And based on everything that I just said to me, the Hassani Dotson move is a huge tell that when you go out there and spend what i believe is going to be like 800,000 plus 800,000 worth of salary to bring in a guy that could essentially be a starter on your team,

00:16:45

Speaker

If everything goes well and he plays to his utmost potential and you get him back to ah a 2024 season that was very good for him. um You are making a potential indication That you're hoping to move over to Marcus.

00:17:06

Speaker

That's the way I see it. Now, can Hassani come here and and and provide you depth? Sure. But I don't think you spend that much unless you believe that he can be a guy that's going to come in, perform, has the ah overall capabilities to do so, that he fits the system, that he can play next to Christian Roldan.

00:17:25

Speaker

If you don't have a a good idea, or at least you're hoping that you move Obed Vargas. Now, both you and I have sat here and talked about what it could mean if you don't re re-sign Obed and he's still here by the time the winter window closes. So with all that said, I believe that if it is up to the Sounders,

00:17:50

Speaker

And there is really no way that negotiations are going to come to an agreement, which as far as I know so far, that seems to be the case. There's just not enough of what Obed Vargas camp wants to what the Sounders are willing to give or can give.

00:18:10

Speaker

So with that as my conclusion on the negotiation end, I would think that the only other move is shipping the player to Europe to the best possible offer. And that's what I think will happen. So all of that to tell you that at this particular point in time, I see a...

00:18:31

Speaker

40% chance that Oberbargues, maybe, yeah, let's but let's go 40. I'll go 40. 40% chance that Oberbargues is still here by the time that the MLS season starts.

00:18:44

Speaker

I think that with all the tells and the indicators and what I think the team hopes to do, Ober will be gone. Now, well the the reason why I'm only giving you 60% possibility that that happens, that that he does move,

00:19:02

Speaker

is because the team is also not going to ah take less than they're hoping to get. My guess is it between the $3 million and $4 million mark that they is the the minimum they're willing to give for Obed Barga. So if that if there's offers that don't exceed or meet that number, then...

00:19:22

Speaker

as Craig Weibel has said consistently, he doesn't think it's a big deal and he will just let, let it ride and we'll try to get the best and most out of Obed Vargas this 2026 season. And then he will walk out on a free, but I do believe that at this particular time,

00:19:42

Speaker

If I had to guess what would happen is that Obed Vargas gets moved in this winter transfer window. Two to four million would be significantly lower than the figures that we've been talking about, would it not? Like if if they move him for a number... along those lines, I feel like that would be considered pretty disappointing for the type of bag that we thought that they could get for this player. And it also, i think something you have to think about is, for me, it's kind of hard to see a reality where...

00:20:16

Speaker

you go into the 2026 season without Obed Vargas on the roster. And it's hard to see how you are a better team or as good a team as you were last year in the, in the short term.

00:20:28

Speaker

How would you feel about a situation where they do move Obed Vargas for whatever the number? And then has Hassani Dotson is the one who is tasked with soaking up that role and soaking up those minutes. I think a lot of people would see that as like a super significant downgrade. ah I don't know if I see it fully like that. I think they're pretty different players. It's not exactly a like for like comparison ah with Hassani Dotson. You have a guy who is not as like dynamic with the skillset and upside of Obed Vargas, but you do have a solid proven veteran contributor who, you know, you kind of, you kind of know what you're going to get. And I could see, I can see Hassani Dotson slotting into this team with a big role and being ah effective and being a high level starting player.

00:21:15

Speaker

But it is with Obed, we're talking about a player whose talent level is sort of just like on another level from that. So do you think if Hassani Dotson is that guy, the the de facto Obed replacement, how much of a drop off do you think is there? Do you think that really significantly would drop this team's level in quality from what it was last year? Or do you think that they can stay afloat and maintain the level that they were playing at when they were playing really well? last year, even with that theoretical switch?

00:21:50

Speaker

It's a great question. And although as of right now and on paper and with everything that we know, it does feel like Hassani Dotson's latest form or what we've seen out of him lately ah could be or it might it might It might certainly be a downgrade of Ovid Vargas because you have a player in Ovid that just seemed to be on the rise while Hassani Dotson has either plateaued or

00:22:26

Speaker

some might argue that he might be on a decline and and you got to try to figure out where he's at, if he can come back up or, or if you could get him to his best form.

00:22:38

Speaker

I don't want to give my expectation on the player until I see him on the training field. That is something that I like to do is sit there and zero in on one specific player that comes in, look at the, the work rate, look at the,

00:22:56

Speaker

camaraderie with the rest of the the club, the talent level, where he's at in terms of first touch and movement and field awareness and all of these things. But at the same time, i think that we know enough to understand that, and both you and i have talked about this, that I don't wanna recycle that same conversation.

00:23:23

Speaker

Hassani Dotson doesn't quite give you the things that Obed does as a profile of of a midfielder. The ball progression, the ah the dinette the dynamism, and the...

00:23:40

Speaker

Ability to break lines on the ball and get to the end line and give you those back passes and be a another goal scorer and give you everything that Obed was. Didn't just show you, but you could feel like he was getting better and better. Hassani.

00:23:55

Speaker

as far as I see it doesn't quite give you those things. So with him Hassani and Christian being so much alike, it's going to be interesting who does what and who is the guy that does get more offensively and does certain things. um

00:24:15

Speaker

But the fact that this, Midfield is going to look very differently and that maybe he won't have the ceiling that Obed and Christian showed you last season. I feel like that's a fair assessment and that is something that fans should be ready for because that does seem to be the most likely scenario if Obed Vargas is to go in the winter window.

00:24:40

Speaker

All right. Well, Obed Vargas transfer watch is back in full effect. We'll be keeping track of that and we'll see what happens. I mean, like I said, I think that is that is the biggest domino to potentially fall that could create more significant roster movement than we might have been initially anticipating. I've been sort of under the assumption that the roster as it is right now is essentially what we're going to get. But we'll see what happens.

00:25:06

Speaker

with Obed. And of course, Hassani Dodson is one that what we're going to be watching him in training camp, like you said. Also, that ah i think that compet ah competition for CB3 is going to be a good one.

00:25:20

Speaker

Stu Hawks, Kim Keehee, and Ryan Saylor. Let's see who steps up and ah earns those minutes. I think in terms of ah upside, Stu Hawks is the one that we're all rooting for. But we'll see what happens. I think that that's one where you just ah you get to camp and you say, the three of you, battle it out, compete for it, may the best man win, and let's see what happens. So I think there's gonna be there's always a few little positional battles like that on the depth chart to keep track of. And I think that's among the biggest of them. Let's hit this question from chat, and then we'll talk about some ah Andy Rose. This is from Jake. He wants to know, Nico, I'll kick this to you. He wants to know about Yu Tsukunome, who was named by Sounder at Heart as someone who got a semi-guaranteed contract from the first team. No news there. Any insight into the Yu Tsukunome situation, Nico?

00:26:11

Speaker

As far as I know, and this is something that we have ah touched consistently on this show and and in every show that we've done with Jeremiah, is that all indicators say that Yutukonomi will be a first-team player next season. ah Clearly, ah there is a ah need there to have another player that can come in and perform as an attacking midfielder. He is a guy that's highly rated by both the coaching staff, team teammates, and players.

00:26:41

Speaker

the ah The only other piece of news would be that as we look at the moves that have been done, It feels like that's not somewhere where they're adding any other players and to me is yet another tell, another indicator that the Sounders are going to to a first team contract. So ah that is something that both Jeremiah and I, Sounder Hart in general, have been following pretty closely and we have...

00:27:12

Speaker

put out as almost a guaranteed. So I don't expect that to to deviate or change in any sort of way. He is going to, I believe, need a um a work visa and an international spot. All that is available right now. So that shouldn't be a problem. But the the the work can permit and all that stuff that for this year would be renewed and all that. I feel like,

00:27:39

Speaker

It's a pretty clear indicator that he will be here next year with the first team. Yeah. And assuming he does join the first team, I think that is ah something that could sneakily be more impactful than people realize. ah You know, bringing up a defiance, Tacoma defiance attacker isn't always the most exciting or exciting. splashy thing but this is a guy who uh you know he drew a lot of hype last year he was ripping up mll mls next pro for however much stock you put in that but there is precedent for them bringing these guys up who are ripping it up for tacoma defiance and them actually becoming impactful at the first team level uh we've mostly seen that with you know sixes and eights and midfielders of that ilk uh

00:28:24

Speaker

such as Obed and Snyder B. And, you know, you got your fullbacks like RBW. There's not as many. What I'm interested to see is, ah you know, this is an attacking mid. This is ah a player of the profile that they have not successfully developed as much as they have the sixes and eights. And, ah you know,

00:28:43

Speaker

Tearing up MLS Next Pro, that doesn't necessarily mean that it's going to transfer to MLS. But if they if they're this high on him and think that he could be impactful as an MLS player, I'm inclined to trust their judgment on that. ah They've been pretty dead on with a lot of the guys they brought up from Defiance. And more specifically and recently, they were correct on Osaze de Rosario, who helped them win League's Cup. So it's a different position, but it's a similar kind of idea So it's one of those ones that's not super exciting or splashy, and it's not going to get like the hype and the coverage of an outside edition.

00:29:22

Speaker

But I'm kind of at the point where, you know, if they're not going to make splashy outside editions for the foreseeable future or until their cap situation changes or until they move Obed or whatever, if it's going to be like the editions are the guys internally, like Osaze or Yusuke Nome,

00:29:40

Speaker

That's fine with me as long as those guys actually produce. That's that's the reality. like If they're actually producing like an outside edition at those positions would have, I'm okay with it even if it's not that exciting. That's just how I feel about it. like To me, it doesn't really make a difference whether it's Osaze banging in the goals or someone else banging in the goals as long as they're going in. So I guess just the way I feel about that is if that's the route they're going to take to supplement and bolster the roster, that's fine. It's just got to actually work. But I do think you got to take into account that, ah I mean, it did work last year. like we gotta I think you got to give ah credit credit to the Osaze situation. And in my mind, that gives a little equity as far as if they're saying, all right, Yutsu Konome is someone that we really believe in.

00:30:27

Speaker

i I think their judgment has shown to be sound on that so far. It doesn't mean it's guaranteed to work, but that's sort of how I view that the that situation. do you see that Do you see that differently at all? you Do you think it's kind of like a... ah I think people sometimes see this as sort of like a cop-out to not do other stuff. Like, oh, we're bringing up the Academy guy, so now we can and we're just trying to justify not being splashier with the rest of of the roster, which even, you know, even if it's true, I think you do have to judge it on the outcome, which like with Osaze last year, the outcome was very good and we'll see what the outcome is with you. But ah how do you kind of come down on that? Nico?

00:31:06

Speaker

Yeah, I think both things have been true. And I don't think it's a cop-out. It's just a ideological and MO type of thing from the Sounders where it's worked.

00:31:19

Speaker

And, and, and I feel like, You need to give the Sounders credit regardless of what your beliefs are because he's worked with Georgie Menungu, he's worked with Kalani Kosari, he's worked with Paul Rothrock, he's worked with Danny Leyva, Osasera Rosario. mean, these are guys that have come in and performed and put up real minutes and they have been part of the Tacoma Defiance up and down. They play for Tacoma and they play for the Sounders or they come up and they have a short-term contract and eventually the team signs them. But they've got a very good hit rate on that. And so with that in mind, I would think that, yes, the Sounders at the time don't have a lot of flexibility. And to be honest, I'm not saying anything that everyone doesn't know. The team isn't the most...

00:32:07

Speaker

ah They're broke. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. The cap, it isn't quite there. So ah for right now, without new investors, we'll see what happens here moving on forward. But with that in mind, regardless of the reasoning, they've put up some productive players. So I think you took a Nome would be a guy that follows on their, the same profile, the same style and ah the same checklist before they decide to make a decision on a player. So,

00:32:35

Speaker

um Flashy, not flashy Regardless of What you may think of it I do believe that he's going to be a high contributor When he does get on the field And that's going to be interesting So ah We'll see Once again, i think that other than That move, the other guy to look Ad is going to be Nuhu. He is currently Cameroon's captain. And, you know, anytime that I see that consistently get out there and you got that being a high, ah ah you know, something that gets put out there so consistently, he's ah going to play Morocco, I believe, in the semifinals of AFCON here, I think today at 11. So he is getting a big exposure. He's playing a big platform.

00:33:24

Speaker

Can that get you a an offer? you know Can that be a showcase for Nuhu? We'll see. and yeah And if he moves, that would create another potential move for the team. But ah that's what I'm talking about, that domino effect with a couple of players him being one of them. Maybe Georgie Manungu. would love to see him here next season But you know he's been really good ah For Berkey Faso so He has scored, he's assisted He's been sparkler coming off the bench We all know that he is a guy that In a highlight reel is man and You you've kind of feel like, who's this player? so

00:34:00

Speaker

you know Can those players be moved? Are they going to stay? i think that's the other component But all strong players that can stay here And perform for the Sounders How many years have we been doing New Who transfer watch, though? Pretty much much since he's been the team. We've been on New Who transfer watch. That's one where I'll believe it when I see it. And he also, New Who doesn't seem to think that he's going anywhere if his commentary on the Lobbing Scorchers Instagram is to be believed, which, you know, for those of you who didn't see, I'm referencing the comment. We had a graphic and a little clip of Nico talking about how new who was a potential transfer target on this team for for other teams over the offseason and knew who himself commented on the on the graphic, which we appreciate knew who for weighing in. He sent about 37 cry laugh emojis in a row, I believe was his ah response to all that. So that indicates to me that he would be surprised to see that happen. But, you know, you never know. Maybe this is at the time where, like you said, he is literally he's captaining Cameroon. He's really he's become ah yeah team captain and just one of their most important players starts every game for them. is playing at AFCON, doing all that stuff. So it is more exposure for him. He's also, you know, 27, 28 years old, been in the league for eight, nine years at this point. And it's kind of a known commodity. Like at one time, New Who Transfer Watch was based on upside like, oh, if well, if he he's such a physically dynamic defender with so much pace, he's so good 1v1. If he could become that modern attacking fullback, he could go for X millions of dollars on the transfer market. And then he just kind of never really got there.

00:35:44

Speaker

But he did, I think he did, if we're being for being real about Nuhu, he did meaningfully improve some of those facets of his game last year in a way that he hadn't really previously in his career. He had the most goal contributions that he's ever had, which is not a lot. It was like five all-comps something like that.

00:36:03

Speaker

But that's more than he used to put up. So maybe someone sees that and is like, all right, this is the year. We're finally going to drop a bag on Nuhu. We'll see. it just It seems like there's still more...

00:36:14

Speaker

ah potential shoes to drop as far as what's going to happen with Obed if anything happens with Nuhu. And we'll see how that affects how the Sounders are going to go into 2026.

Coaching Changes and Their Impact

00:36:25

Speaker

Nico, Andy Rose, so Seattle Sounders assistant, former player,

00:36:30

Speaker

uh, has been on Brian Schmetzer staff for the last, what, like three, four years. One of he's one of Schmetzer's right-hand man, right-hand men, most trusted assistant. He is off to LAFC to join the staff of Mark Dos Santos. I believe they, they had a connection from when Dos Santos, Marky two saints was the coach of, uh, the Vancouver whitecaps when Andy Rose played there. So I think they have rapport from that. And Andy Rose, uh,

00:36:58

Speaker

is now off to the black and gold, which is, you know, it's always unfortunate to lose a coach to a rival like that. It happened with Ante Razov as well, I believe. But it does happen. But I think it is noteworthy because he was one of one of, if not Schmetz's, most trusted assistants. I mean, you got, I guess, Freddy Juarez is probably the right-hand, right-hand man. But Andy Rose was one of the right-hand men. And he also is a guy that I brought up at certain junctures as the potential Schmetzer successor whenever that day comes. ah And, you know, i was thinking of guys who are already on the staff internally in a similar way to how LAFC brought up Mark Dos Santos to replace Steve Terundolo. which i've I've praised that approach to it. I think the way that they handled it, making an internal hire instead of like going on this big search and bringing in some rando, I think that's that's the type of stuff you see the more stable, well-run organizations working

00:37:57

Speaker

do. ah Mark Dos Santos is not like the biggest splashiest LAFC Hollywood type hire, but they're smart enough to realize that they don't necessarily need that. If they have a guy that they already trust and know that they can do the job, has the respect of the players, knows how the team plays, knows the tactics, knows the system. There's no reason to overthink it and go bring in someone from the outside who doesn't have all that knowledge and foundation and experience. Uh, so I like that hire and I think bringing over Andy Rose makes a lot of sense for them. Uh, but it is, uh, it is L for, for Seattle to not have one of their top assistants anymore and to have them join a rival team. Uh, Nico, what can you tell us about this, uh, Andy Rose situation? I guess, what do you think about it? do you think this is going to have a big, uh, effect on the, on the coaching staff? I kind of tend to think that the impact of assistant coaches can be overstated. But that doesn't mean it's ah it's a meaningless loss. What do you what do you think of this?

00:38:56

Speaker

I certainly think that it's going to be a bigger void than some people may think and understand.

00:39:08

Speaker

Regardless of... a coach's licensing and in studies and and and the way, you know, they they have the necessary certifications to do their job. ah To me, there's always a a big component of coaching that has to do with cohesiveness with the group,

00:39:35

Speaker

um how you deliver your message, and the respect that players have for you. And I think that regardless of being one of the youngest, well, actually the youngest coach in that staff and the one with clearly the least amount of experience, because ah prior to getting in and and the job with the Sounders, the only thing that and he had, in terms of his coaching capability, was U17, or the Whitecaps, as a coach, I think that he had all the elements of coach.

00:40:19

Speaker

assistant coach and essentially a good coach. So when I hear, when I used to hear from teammates and players within the team, who was a coach that I thought, you know, they were thinking had a lot to do with the rise of the team and who was a guy that they can look forward to and who is someone that they really, you found common ground with, the answer was always Andy Rose. He's clearly a the most recent player. He had this charisma about him, and he had this dialogue with players that

00:40:57

Speaker

I feel like he's overstated. and Look, Brian is a obviously the head coach and he is the main man. And then right after that is Juarez, right?

00:41:08

Speaker

But the guy that always came up, especially for from those defensive players and ah the the midfield players that talk to him the most, he definitely left a big mark.

00:41:24

Speaker

And regardless of how how many issues the team had on set pieces defensively last season, the amount of work that he put in with these players, the amount of time and dedication that Andy put in with everyone was just felt. So I think that the biggest absence is going to be having a guy like Andy Rose who could be that...

00:41:51

Speaker

um Almost ambassador for both players and coaches and kind of that midterm guide that just made it all that much easier, that much smoother.

00:42:03

Speaker

And I don't know if you're going to get that on your next coach, right? And and there's ah going to be a learning curve, but there's going to be an assimilation process. So, I do think that is going to be felt within the group, within the players. And um I can only hope that whoever is the new hire has a lot of those attributes to bring in to this coaching staff.

00:42:29

Speaker

Yeah, no, I mean, it's a meaningful void that they have to fill. ah you're You're out of training more than I am these days. But the times I was out of training last year, I remember specifically Andy Rose was ah he was running training a lot of the time, like when they're doing like small sided scrimmages and stuff like that. He's the one who was blowing the whistle and stopping and going out there and running points. Schmetz does do some of that, but he lets his assistants, he empowers his assistants to do stuff like that a lot.

00:43:01

Speaker

And ah Andy Rose, at least when I was out there, he was the assistant I think that I saw the most, like really getting hands on, like like I said, stopping the drills, stopping the scrimmages, going out there. And it's ah it's always fascinating seeing that behind the scenes stuff where they're game planning and he's he's telling guys where to go and how the coaches do all that.

00:43:21

Speaker

But ah he is a guy that ah that played a lot of that role for this team on that coaching staff. And now they're going to have to replace that. I'm sure guys like Freddy Juarez and people who are already on the staff can help with that. But ah yeah we got people mentioned in Gonzo Pineda in chat. Maybe bring him home.

00:43:40

Speaker

but ah Oh, yeah don know yeah. I've heard that. That's not going to happen. Gonzo Pineda will take his time to get his next head coaching job. ah Being an assistant is not In the deck of cards for him He has certainly He has options, it's not like he doesn't He just wants the right situation Before he makes that move So that that one's out of the question But whoever comes in And and takes over that position Is going to have to It's going to have some big shoes to fill to To be quite honest And

00:44:12

Speaker

Look, there was plenty of players last season. And even after I found out and I, you know, I think it was on the 1st of January that I posted on X and Blue Sky that this was happening and that he was going to LAFC.

00:44:27

Speaker

There is ah plenty of players that ah were at all and they didn't know it was, you know, and and they were like, this is going to be a tough one. It's going to be a big loss. So, you know, attacking players, midfield players. I mean, it it was just something that it's going to be a big deal. And, uh,

00:44:44

Speaker

to To give a little bit of an important context on on Andy Rose, this is a great move for him. This is a very good move for him. He has he always becomes number two to Mark Dos Santos. He has a lot of connections to the LA area. He... is a yeah All of that, right? He has a ah good report with Mark Dos Santos, who I'm very high on and who I am excited to see next season. And to those that might just be focused on his time at Vancouver, go look at that roster and look at the problems that the roster had and go look at a lot of things that he had to deal with. And then after he was done, that success they had right after him, sometimes you're the guy that kind of puts it all together, moves it all around, you get fired. And then the next guy comes in and does wonders with what you were working with.

00:45:38

Speaker

Just look a little bit of that and and I've had the privilege of sitting down and talking to Mark Dos Santos about X's and O's. He is a motivator. He is a strategist. He is someone that I believe is gonna Retain the culture and the good things that were done by stitcher on the low adding his own Spin to think so i'm I'm high on what he's gonna do and now Andy Rose gets to be right next to this guy so For me, it's it's great for Andy Rose. No one should feel like he's a traitor or he's just leaving us hot and dry. he is working on building his resume to eventually become a head coach. and And this is the perfect pathway. The Sounders have always been very...

00:46:27

Speaker

um supportive of building their coaches career. This is a great coaching tree, right? Anytime that you have a phenomenal, successful team and you have coaching staff that comes and goes is because there is certain respect for what the Sounders have done. And that's credit to, of course, Brian Smetzer. So, you know, it's happened with Gonzalo Pineda. It's happened with Jimmy Traore, you know, all all kinds of moves that have happened to me. This is just another one of a yet much younger coach, And it will be a loss, but, uh, you know, the sounders will find a way to, to replace it, whether or not that specific staff member, that specific, um, assistant coach has the influence and impact that Andy Rose had here in a very short time, still to be determined. And again, I think it's some big shoes to fill, but, um,

00:47:17

Speaker

I'm happy for Andy. I'm really happy for Andy Rose. Yeah. Shout out and good luck to Andy Rose. I'll share a quick story, Andy Rose story, before we move on to some of the other MLS headlines to close it out here. Andy Rose was on the Seattle Sounders when I first started beat writing, and covering the Seattle Sounders back in the day.

00:47:34

Speaker

ah And, you know, you You get to know the players a little bit as a when you're beat writing, but not too much. You know, you see him at media scrums and sometimes catch up with them when they're walking off the field, but are in the locker room after games. And that's about it. But I saw I didn't know Andy Rose really much when he was on the team past that. And then he went and signed with the Vancouver Whitecaps. And while he was playing for the Whitecaps one day, i got a little notification that he followed me on Twitter. And I was like, oh, that's sick. Shout out Andy Rose. That's kind of cool. But then he actually DM'd me and was like, hey, man, like hope you're doing well and and all this stuff. And I was like, oh, damn, Andy Rose like remembers me and like thought enough of it to follow me and like send me a hope you're doing well DM? like What a freaking...

00:48:22

Speaker

Great guy. That's the only player I've ever had do that. So I think that's that ah that's just like a little story that I think speaks to the the character of the guy. Like that's literally the only the only player that's ever like reached out to me like that. It kind of stuck with me as far as like his character.

00:48:40

Speaker

I love the anecdote because that is Andy Rose. Andy Rose will give you the time of day. Andy Rose will remember you. Andy Rose is someone who just has this great aura about him. and Once again, that is something that gets consistently overlooked. you know Everybody goes into the trajectory and what have you done and where have you been and where have you played? But there are things about coaching that are just in you. You know, that thing that they say you can pay for school, but you can't buy class. That's a real thing, baby. I mean, it is what you come with that they can be taught that Andy has. And that's why I believe he's going to be a successful head coach at one point. And he's going to be a great coach.

00:49:26

Speaker

addition to Mark Dos Santos' coaching staff at LAFC, where you know it's kind of like tough, the rich get richer there, ah but you know you're just adding another guy that think is going to be very personable and is going to know and understand how to deal with ah players. Now, obviously a different group of players, right? These are some big-time players. It's going to be interesting how he adapters and how that works. I think Mark Dos Santos, for everything I hear,

00:49:56

Speaker

has a very good hold on that group, regardless of the stardom power that there is in that locker room. ah So I think that Andrew Rose is going to learn from from all that. So, yeah, it just talks about how great of a guy he is, and and that's why we wish him nothing but but the best.

Seattle Sounders' Offseason Strategy

00:50:15

Speaker

But before we move on and going into kind of putting a bow into the Sounders'

00:50:23

Speaker

Rather silent off season so far, ah regardless of some of the the moves that they have done. um i was reading a Jessica Lasso um article. Jessica Lasso writes directly for the Sounders and she's at all the trainings. Um,

00:50:45

Speaker

It's interesting that in in this article, and you guys should definitely go check it out at sandersfc.com, there is a quote from um Craig Weibel that talks about what you and I just mentioned, right? you know She asked him about about the group and the group of players that are you know going to be moving on from next season. um And he says, this group that we had, this group that we, which obviously won won't Won't be exact next year, but this group is capable of winning you know any game. you know He's talking about last season and ah the group that they had, and he says that they they would be able to win any any game. And then he says, ah in terms of any specific piece missing, I'm not sure if there's one that would ah unlock. So it sounds like Craig Wild was pretty comfortable with what he has. He doesn't feel like there's any need, any... Shocker.

00:51:39

Speaker

Any pieces that are missing and And he says because the truth is That this is the exact group of players That won a big trophy yeah So I think that we have a lot of ah Quality right so um Go check it out is ah I'm obviously kind of just taking bits and pieces Of what Craig Weibel said here but To no surprise to us, ah Craig Weibel and Brian Smester, who both quarter in this article, they're very high on what they have. They both see a bright future in 2026, which once again falls to me believing that this is going to be a very quiet offseason or at least a quiet winter window on last Thursday.

00:52:19

Speaker

Other pieces move around and even then we'll see if they don't just hold off all the way till the summer where Maybe there's other options for them to bring in players anytime you hear the GM Say anything to the effect of that That means that they're not going to make it like Garth. Garth, anytime it's this is the same group that did X, X and X. You hear this is the same group. Garth always used to say that ah as a way to lay the groundwork for ah we're broken. We're not going to do anything in this. transfer window. So if you were hoping for like a so surprise splash move out of left field, that probably puts that to rest. I don't know why you would have thought that ah that anyway, but ah kind of I think that kind of says it. ah

00:53:06

Speaker

Nico, I think ah this whole, ah the Andy Rose discussion is ah is a good segue to our next topic as we transition into some ah MLS headlines ah from ah around the offseason, not Seattle

Celtic's Coaching Woes

00:53:18

Speaker

Sounders related. And I do think, Nico, we got to talk about our boy.

00:53:22

Speaker

Wilford Nancy. It was announced in the last like hour or so that he, uh, we were joking about it. We were memeing. We were saying I was, I was, uh, posted on blue sky about how, uh, he was going to get sacked so fast that he could just come back to the Columbus crew. The Columbus crew hired their new coach, their Wilford Nancy replacement. So that won't be happening, but Wilford Nancy is unemployed.

00:53:44

Speaker

His Celtic tenure has come to an unceremonious ending. uh after it was this is one of the quicker 10 years even taking into account how it works in europe where there's a lot more turnover and you it's a lot more of a dynamic where if you have one poor run of form you can always be on the block even if you just got hired uh but i do think Nico, isn't this kind of stupid when this happens?

00:54:16

Speaker

he literally He literally just got there. i like I'm sorry. he has not I'm not trying to make excuses for him because he's the MLS guy. I think any coach, though, man, like there's only so much impact you can have, positive or negative, one way or the other, in that short of a time period, that short of a sample size. If they had been playing well, it wouldn't have meant he's the greatest coach ever. But the fact that they were not playing well...

00:54:43

Speaker

That is is an indicator on the... that That's an indictment and an indicator on the people who gave him the roster that he was that he was rolling with.

00:54:54

Speaker

If he had had a a good roster that was sufficient to do what Celtic normally does... their results would not have been that bad. But you you can't really, you can't tell me that he's like such a bad coach that he torpedoed Celtic in that short of a time period and that a different coach would have had different... Why why even have a coach at that point? Just...

00:55:18

Speaker

have the Have the GM or someone or an assistant just stand in and take the lumps and then go hire a coach next season instead of bringing in someone midseason when your season's already chalked and then firing them immediately when they get results that were very predictable. I don't know. I just think ah i think there's a balance between being kind of overly...

00:55:41

Speaker

loyal like at some MLS. You would never see an MLS coach get fired this fast. That just like would not happen. And sometimes coaches get too long a leash.

00:55:52

Speaker

But I think, I don't know, i think Wolford Nancy, maybe maybe it was just an unsalvageable situation vibes and optics wise for them. And that's why they did it. But if they think that he was the reason why their team sucks and that if they get like a newer, better coach than him, their team's going to not suck. Their team is still going to suck no matter who they hire. You know why?

00:56:13

Speaker

Because their players are not good. And that's got nothing to do with Wolverdance. So I don't know. I think it's kind of a raw deal. And I just think in general, firing a coach after... Six games is just kind of stupid. But what do you think about the Wilfred, Nancy, Celtic tenure, Nico? Legendary run. Legendary tenure in the Scottish Premiership for our boy.

00:56:35

Speaker

I've been looking for the right way to elaborate my opinion without offending anybody. But I think that this is ridiculous. I think this is a bigger indictment Of the shit show that Celtic is. And the inept people that are running that club. yeah Rather than anything that has to do with Wilfred Nancy. You cannot give a coach. 33 days. And spare me. It's because it's not a molest. And everybody gets this long tenure. And you get to just not be good at your job. Stop it.

00:57:11

Speaker

Stop it. Stop it. If you know soccer. You know that there is a process. You cannot expect a coach in 33 days. To... put out his whole curriculum, understand the league, understand the the the roster, and immediately succeed, it's clear that Wilford Nancy was put into a bad situation because he was coming in.

00:57:34

Speaker

He decided not to leave Columbus halfway through the season, waited it out, and that put him in a bad situation. position to just have game after game, meet meet with games, all of this important matches coming up one after another without the possibility to have a preseason to understand and have that time to have a a learning curve that happens in any league. I don't care who you are. And if Celtic decided that Wilford Nancy was the guy prior to those 33 days and decided that they went through the interview process and they thought that he was the guy and they liked a B and C about him. Why are you decided that after six games, you need to cut him?

00:58:15

Speaker

because of the pressure, because of whatever it is that is your excuse to let Wilford Nancy go, it is unacceptable and he makes you look like clowns. It's not about whether it's, you know, and MLS or not and in the and the pressure of other leagues. The reality is is that if you decided to Get a manager that I'm sure went through a vetting process and you as an organization evaluated him and decided he was your next head coach. Give him the time. Give him the year. Give him half of the season. But, oh, my God, 33 days.

00:58:51

Speaker

Celtic is a joke. And the way that they handled this specific circumstance terrible. a real indication of how poorly that organization is being ran. And if you listening out there are saying, well, you know, the, the players weren't really feeling them and he wasn't really doing his job. Then why did you hire him? You knew who he was. You knew where he came from. You knew what he was going to do. If he wasn't a fit with your players, that is your fault.

00:59:19

Speaker

That is your fault as the Celtic organization for saying we're going to bring Wilfred Nancy. So spare me the BS. And this has nothing to do with Wilfred Nancy. He'll have a job. I'm sure no problem going into 2026 and at Celtic for for what they are. They're not going to be any better, regardless of the roster or not, is of how poorly he's being ran and how this situation was handled.

00:59:44

Speaker

how does How does their sporting director skate on that? Like, if you have to fire a coach that fast, like you said, that' that is on you. Like, how do you sell to Celtic ownership? We have to fire this guy, but I get to keep my job.

01:00:01

Speaker

It's like, dude this is your, this is your fault. Like we're firing the guy whose fault it's not really. And you get to keep your job. I don't know. What sense does that, what sense does that make? But like, like you said, I think it's, it's more of a reflection on, ah on that club and what kind of a fall from get fall from grace they're experiencing right now. Whatever's going on with them would have happened no matter who the coach was. And also just on the line of some of those narratives that, uh,

01:00:29

Speaker

Like the MLS coach couldn't handle the the rigors of the Scottish Premiership. The Scottish Premiership, I mean, i don't know. I'm not watching it as much as Noah is. I can tell you guys that Noah has been on Nancy Watch religiously, and he's become an expert pundit on the Scottish Premiership. He claims that it's significantly worse footy than MLS, and I haven't watched it enough to say that, but I'm inclined to believe him based on ah what I'm seeing. I am seeing absolutely no evidence.

01:01:01

Speaker

that that league that we're talking about is even on the level of MLS, let alone better. And I know that's going to be blasphemous to a lot of our friends in ah Scotland who've been commenting on our Wilford Nancy shorts and and videos, which shout out Scotland. We love you guys, but I don't think your league is that good there was only there was only two relevant teams in it anyway and one of those teams Celtic is becoming increasingly irrelevant globally and even in their own league where they're now not the big bad team or whatever so

01:01:35

Speaker

ah i I don't know. I just think I think the reality of it, it was looked at like this big move. Oh, the MLS coach is going to this big, reputable European club. What a step up. I think it might have been a step down. I think that league might be like a pretty bunk ass league. I don't know. i'm I'm not even really saying that like I know it because i don't watch the Scottish Prem.

01:01:58

Speaker

But I mean, come on, man. What are we? What are we talking about? you add yeah there's There's two actually good globally relevant relevant teams, and one of them is such a disaster right now that they fired their coach after 33 days, and people were saying like eight games or whatever.

01:02:16

Speaker

I mean, how much how much class and how much pedigree within this league are we really are we really talking about, man? Like... i'm I'm not even trying to be a hater. I'm just i'm just saying what i ah what I have observed from following Wilford Nancy watch decently closely and kind of seeing, I don't know. i think he got I think he got hard done. I think he got hard done.

01:02:37

Speaker

He got a raw deal. He was set up to fail. No coach could have succeeded in those circumstances. So that's where I come down. Nico, anything else on Wilford Nancy before we talk some Ricky Poosh? No, I just, I agree with you. watched two games, Wilford's first game and the last one, which was a 3-1 loss against, I don't even remember the name of the team, ah but it was, it was hard to watch. I mean, says I have more fun at times watching League MX, to be quite frankly, to be quite frank. So I, I,

01:03:08

Speaker

I just don't know what i guess I'd have to really sit there and and really look at the league to have a a more sound and ah insightful opinion on it. But for what I saw in those two games, I mean, it's it's laughable to think that it was like this huge upgrade aside from regardless of where you are in the world.

01:03:29

Speaker

You know, in terms of Europe or not Europe, I mean, the league wasn't good. It it just didn't feel like the soccer was that much better, if any, than in MLS. So, uh, We wish Wilfred Nessie the best. This is just a speed bump. I'm sure that he is going to be able to go ahead and bounce back from this. And Celtic will continue to be Celtic. They are the one team in this cottage league that seems to be relevant. So they'll probably still be that. But it's just ah a joke of how poorly teams are ran in in other leagues and how people who...

01:04:06

Speaker

try to minimize and stigmatize MLS. We'll use that as a cliche about how, you know, in um MLS, there's no pressure, which is a bunch of shit. And yeah, but I'd rather have...

01:04:22

Speaker

a league where a manager is allowed to have time to decide what he can provide rather than giving a coach 33 days and letting him go. Yeah, I think that's that's the kind of the issue I have with the ah with the narratives globally and ah coming out of Scotland that like, oh, this is an and an indictment of MLS that that a coach from MLS came to the Scottish Prem and these were the results. It's like, no, no, no, no. no no no no no no no This is an indictment on you. This is an indictment on your league.

01:04:52

Speaker

and your trash class has got nothing to do with uh with the coach from our league he was just going into the situation that your club created and then was a victim of those circumstances if y'all were competently run that wouldn't have happened so it's that's sort of i think the discourse around it has lost the plot a little bit in that uh in that way like i don't know what the implication of of What about MLS would have would have led to any different results than what they got. They got they got what they ah what they deserved and their league's not that good.

01:05:31

Speaker

ah Nico Ricky Pooj big news here ah in the last couple of days. I'm going to pull it up so I get all these facts right. LA Galaxy superstar Ricky Pooge, as we probably all know, he missed all of last season with torn ACL that he suffered actually against Seattle in the playoffs in 2024. Really, the whole the whole kind of narrative around the 2025 LA Galaxy was, well, we're kind of chalked from the jump because we don't have Ricky Pooge all season. We'll have him back next year.

01:06:02

Speaker

ah So we're just going to have kind of have to muddle through this trash season where we had to unload half of our and MLS Cup winning roster and we don't have our superstar player. there They got off to the worst start in MLS history, brought it back a little bit, ah became more respectable from then on, but we're still pretty bad. One of the worst teams in the

LA Galaxy's Challenges with Ricky Pooge's Injury

01:06:21

Speaker

league.

01:06:21

Speaker

But then they had been retooling Nico. They had been at it this offseason. They traded for Jacob Glessness to shore up that defense. They were the team that ah landed Justin Hack, one of the most sought after free agents, a guy that I would have loved the Seattle Sounders to acquire if they hadn't gotten Hassani Dotson. So those are two pretty big moves, two moves that theoretically address areas of need. Glessness has been one of the better CBs in the league. Justin Hack can play CB or as a, as a D mid. So he he's got that versatility that can help them out. And then you had theoretically Ricky Pooge coming back into the fold. All of a sudden you're looking at the 2026 galaxy roster and you're like, all right, like I can see strides here. They've got some, ah they got some credibility in the back line and with Glessness. Maybe they're not going to have to roll out a,

01:07:10

Speaker

Maya Yoshida, age 48, and Amiro Garces, not good. So, like, it was kind of, things were actually looking up. I think there was a lot of reason to believe that the Galaxy were going to have a much better 2026 than they did 2025. But, Nico, in the last two days, this was announced on Saturday, Ricky Pooj has us had had a setback in his career.

01:07:35

Speaker

ACL recovery. He's undergone successful surgery. It's the it's the same knee that he, ah that he blew out in 2024, just over a year after a similar procedure in late 2024.

01:07:47

Speaker

According to LA, Pooja is expected to fully recover and rejoin the team for the start of the 2027 season. So Nico, he's out. He is out for 2026. He will not be playing competitive soccer for the LA galaxy or anyone else next season.

01:08:01

Speaker

And this is something I think that has pretty major ripple effects throughout the rest of the Western Conference, potentially, because like I said, this was a team that seemed like it could be reasonably projected for a pretty decent step forward with the defensive signings that they made. And then if they had gotten Ricky Pooj back. He's one of the best players in the league, bar none, just talent-wise and production-wise. He's got one of the most dynamic, unique skill sets I've ever seen. I was actually like looking at his numbers, and you know what's crazy about Ricky Puj is it's not just the stat sheet production, but he's got a little bit of that kind of like...

01:08:41

Speaker

ah Nico Ladero in him in terms of how much he runs and he can also ah he he he can kind of play like as a 6-8 in a 10 all at the same time and he's one of the most gifted facilitators in the league and he also A lot of times with high volume playmakers like him, ah they can be, you know, as dynamic and as productive as they can be, they can be sort of error prone and he's kind of like a high risk player sometimes. If you look at his completion percentage, it's like as high as, ah as like Albert Rusnak and some of these guys who have a much more like simple, clean style to their game. So he's just so good, man. Like, and not it It sucks that he had this setback because he's really fun to watch and he kind of single-handedly turned to the 24 Galaxy. Not single-handedly, he had the ah ah Joey Paints and Gabriel Peck and Dejan Jovulic, but he was the real, the heart and soul, the heartbeat, the metronome, everything. He was everything to that team. And not having him last year kind of chalked their whole season. Now they don't have him again. And it's like you look at what they've done this offseason with trading for Glessis and signing for signing Justin Hack. I still think those are good moves, but it feels like this really limits the ceiling of a team that was supposed to be one of the front runners in the West again. Nico, what do you what do you think of ah all this? This is this a big.

01:10:04

Speaker

This is huge. This is ah the most influential and electric player MLS has. One of the closest things to Lionel Messi in terms of how important he is for one specific club. I mean, if you look at LA Galaxy's success with and without Ricky, it's night and day. It's ah a title or not even making the playoffs. I mean, that's how important he's been for this team. He ah is so good on the ball. He is a guy that...

01:10:39

Speaker

can put the whole squad on his back. And not just that, he was even starting to become this um villain ah for ah the LA Galaxy, kind of this slotting type of player where, you know, he was getting into it. He was doing little dances, doing his hair. I mean, it was just a guy that you wanted to see week in, week out in terms of what Greg Vanny wanted to do. i mean, he was so big.

01:11:09

Speaker

He's one of the players that going into the season you were hoping was completely back at at his full fitness and would make the LA Galaxy a contender. Now you don't even know if LA is going to be able to replace him in any capacity, right? I mean, if they go out there and, and you know, do they move on from him? ah Do they, you know, get a DP? You know, what is the move they're going to do to make up for such a huge loss? But I'm more curious about what happened.

01:11:40

Speaker

In his IG, this is what Ricky said. After a whole year of working every day with a single goal in mind, yesterday at a medical checkup, the doctor gave me News, the the news that you never want to hear. The plastic surgery wasn't good and I had to go back to surgery.

01:11:58

Speaker

So this is per um what he put out on his IG. And I'm wondering, was that was it the surgery? Was it the setback? He was training in Barcelona. It it felt like he, everything that we're hearing is that he was getting better. He was getting stronger. There was even a point last season that I remember saying,

01:12:18

Speaker

people wondering and if they were going to add him to the roster at some point. I mean, it just seems like there's been a lot of... I don't want to call it shadiness, but I just want to know if it was the procedure or is the setback something that happened during training? What is that really happened? They were debating last year if they should play him or not. They were like, oh, okay, he's ready, but our season's been chalked for like four months. So is it even worth it? I thought that was the calculation, but yeah, no, it is. is It's weird. How does that, how does that happen? You don't really hear about that happening like this that much. No. How do you go from potentially being back and everything just progressing adequately and then all of a sudden you're out for a whole other season, you have to get another surgery? i just want to know a little bit more about it. LA Galaxy as a club has been very quiet about it. i'm I'm sure that they don't necessarily want to get too much into it, but the reality is is that Ricky won't be here. And as their most influential player,

01:13:19

Speaker

I don't know how do you replace him immediately. And they definitely have the resources to do it, but it's a big loss, big loss for the galaxy, big loss for MLS as someone who watches the league consistently every day during the regular season.

01:13:38

Speaker

It's a big loss. Yeah, and that's the thing. They can put him on the season-ending injury list, which is famously something that they did not do last year, and that really screwed them over. So, I mean, they're going to do that this year, would imagine. They're going to learn from that, and that that frees them ah for some flexibility to sign a replacement on loan, like Reese is saying, like getting someone just for the year, or you know maybe you sign someone who can stand in for him,

01:14:07

Speaker

that you also have long-term. And then when he comes back, you pair them or stuff like that. But for right now, it's not, a it's not the vibe that the LA galaxy wanted. Like they they're, they're off season. I would say was among the more,

01:14:23

Speaker

impressive on paper when you factor in the pedigree of a guy like Jacob Glessness. And then Justin Hack was one of the two, three most sought after free agents on the market. So it was like, it was, it was looking good. And ah now they're, I wouldn't say they're fully back to square one. I think they've got a lot better of a foundation with those moves and that they're more prepared theoretically to deal with this this year than they were last year, but it does,

01:14:49

Speaker

It calls into question whether or not they can be a competitor near the top of the Western Conference in 2026. Yeah, and there's a lot of question marks about what a a Galaxy does. I mean, does not seem mean to stay. i know that his loan is getting close to ending. You know, they do need a lot of help there in the striking position, aside from Christian Ramirez. So, yeah, Hack is a very good player. Does he play in the midfield? do Does he play at center back? Do they go to a back line at three? I mean, there's a lot of things that we're still to see from the LA Galaxy. But the reality is, is that he's going to be a hard, hard fight if they don't replace him with someone just as good and just as influential.

01:15:28

Speaker

Nico, ah I got to run, so we're going to call it right there for this episode of Lobbing Scorchers Kickoff. Thank you all for tuning in to our first show of 2026. That was a good one, even though there's not a heck of a lot going on right now. Things are going to pick up this month, so we'll ah we'll be back on something resembling our normal schedule. I don't know if January is going to be exactly the normal schedule, but we'll be cranking out some shows for you guys. We'll be back on it. And any news that may or may not break regarding the Seattle Sounders or league-wide, We'll be covering it. So we're not going anywhere. ah Get ready. Mark your calendars ah when I tell you when the shows are. And we're going to get back at it. Thank you all. As always, sub to the channel.

01:16:09

Speaker

Rate five stars. ah Follow us on Instagram and TikTok and all that. And we will see you guys next time. Love y'all. Peace.