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LS Live: Fans react to Pedro de la Vega BREAKOUT!
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We react and take calls following Seattle's 3-2 win vs. San Jose in Matchday 26.
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Lobbing Scorchers is a Seattle Sounders and MLS focused show brought to you by Sounder at Heart. Hosted by Major League Soccer's Ari Liljenwall and Producer Noah Riffe. Join us as we lob our scorching takes on the American soccer landscape, Seattle Sounders, Major League Soccer, USMNT and more.
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Transcript
Introduction and Show Details
00:00:00
Speaker
This episode of Lobbing Scorchers was previously recorded and streamed live on YouTube.com slash at Lobbing Scorchers. If you want to listen or catch these episodes live, see the video, and see all the rest of our content, go to YouTube.com slash at Lobbing Scorchers or LobbingScorchers.com slash YouTube.
Match Overview: Sounders vs Earthquakes
00:00:22
Speaker
Well, sir, we got a scorcher today. Gonna be real scorcher today. What, the scorcher today? Well, it's gonna be
00:00:44
Speaker
Good morning, everybody. Welcome in. to another postgame live. Hope everyone is enjoying your Sunday. We have got a big show for you here this morning. We have got a Seattle Sounders win to break down 3-2 last night at Lumen Field over the San Jose Earthquakes.
Injuries and Player Performances
00:01:04
Speaker
We're going to be talking about the latest injury to Jordan Morris, which was the obviously unfortunate news to come out of that game. ah But there was ah moose brace. There was a Pedro de la Vega breakout, which I think is going to be among if not the main topics on this show today.
00:01:22
Speaker
I think that had has some of the biggest implications going forward off this game in particular.
Guest Appearance and Community Engagement
00:01:31
Speaker
There was some defensive issues. Andy T did stand on his head. So we're going to break it. We're going to break it all down. ah We're going to have Mark Kastner, Sounder at Heart colleague, joining the show at the top here in just a few minutes.
00:01:48
Speaker
And then planning on taking some calls after that. If any of you, the people, want to hop on and lay down some takes with me. ah So a lot to get to before we do all that.
00:02:01
Speaker
I do have to ask. you all to please like the video sub to the channel follow us on all socials including instagram and tick tock uh order the lobbying scorchers hot sauce lobbying scorchers.com slash sauce And if you order your new Orca kit at the link lawwingscorchers.com slash archive, it supports the show.
00:02:29
Speaker
So definitely do that. And thank you all for tuning in. It's it's going to be a good show. It's always you know it's always more fun. when it's a w to talk about uh especially coming after coming off that uh unfortunate draw against colorado the sounders do get back in the win column so uh we'll get mark on here in just a few minutes but before we bring him on uh while we wait for people to uh keep trickling in here i'll just lay down some of my initial thoughts on this game and then uh and then we'll get to it and uh
00:03:04
Speaker
as always if you have questions topics thoughts agendas observations grievances go ahead and drop them in chat get to as many as i can and uh don't be afraid to make it a super chat that's another great way to support lobbing scorchers uh all right before i get into my takes here i'll uh i'll hit a couple of the items we got in chat to start it off Get the discourse flown here.
Player Analysis: Pedro de la Vega
00:03:33
Speaker
Joe says, Matt Doyle deserves his victory lap for suggesting Pedro on the left would fix his issues. Matt Doyle was one of the people who were beating that drum. But the guest I'm about to bring on in in a few minutes, actually, I would say was beating that drum. In fact, I know he was beating that drum even before Doyle because I'm on a group chat with him.
00:03:54
Speaker
And he's been beating that drum for a while. So that's one of the things we're going to talk about. But it was remarkable, wasn't it?
00:04:02
Speaker
how much better the Pedro de la Vega experience looked with him playing that position. You could argue perhaps that that should have been tried sooner because he looked, it looked, it looked like a different guy.
00:04:20
Speaker
I think he looked incredible, looked like a $7 million dollars player. We're going to talk about de la Vega. We're going to talk a lot about De La Vega. it's he's the He's the title of the show.
00:04:31
Speaker
But yeah, I think it's pretty clear that that's his best position. Probably has been his best position this whole time. And they need to run him more there because that was...
00:04:46
Speaker
That was electric. ah Folks, folks, that I buried the lead, actually. De La Vega, i think you know, De La Vega's lead, but I buried the lead.
00:04:55
Speaker
The Seattle Sounders have made it through a 90-minute Major League Soccer match. No fullback ejections. No fullback ejections and ah no penalty kicks conceded.
00:05:09
Speaker
They got pretty close to blowing the lead anyway, but you know, when, when you don't get a fullback sent off and you don't give up two penalty kicks in three minutes, you can concede a goal or two and it doesn't necessarily have to sacrifice the result.
00:05:27
Speaker
You see, you see how that works. Keep all 11 guys on the field. Don't give up two penalty kicks in three minutes, score three goals, win the game.
00:05:36
Speaker
In all seriousness, This offense is rolling right now. That's three games in a row with three goals. You can't ask for much better output than that.
00:05:50
Speaker
it was another It was another good showing on that side of the ball last night.
Injury Impact: Jordan Morris
00:05:57
Speaker
Obviously, a very unfortunate start to the game with Jordan Morris going down with this time a shoulder injury, AC joint, I believe. I don't know exactly what he did to it, but Schmetz did say after the game that he's going to have to get surgery.
00:06:12
Speaker
So that just, I mean, it just sucks so bad. Feel terrible for him. He just got back. he's when he's been able to When he's been on the field this season, he has looked great.
00:06:26
Speaker
I think as good as he ever has the runs he's making his finishing. He's, he's been banging in goals when he's been able to get on the field. But, uh, uh, you know, i saw the takes out there, people giving him a hard time for being like injury prone. This guy can't stay healthy. can't stay on the field.
00:06:45
Speaker
i don't really want to hear it. Okay. That is a freak play.
00:06:51
Speaker
he's going for a ball over the top. The goalkeeper, I don't really understand how that wasn't a foul. He did that like twice at least. Did he do that three times where he came off his line and just cleaned dude out? He did it at least twice. Did it at least twice. don't really, I know he won the ball on the collision with Jordan, but it was still arguably a foul.
00:07:15
Speaker
But Jordan's going to have to get surgery and we'll have to wait for exact prognosis on that. But I think anytime...
00:07:28
Speaker
Anytime you're talking about surgery, i feel like anytime you're talking about surgery, you're probably talking about like at least a month. Surgery is like going to be in that four, six, eight weeks timeframe as opposed to that two to four week timeframe.
00:07:46
Speaker
He's going to be out for the foreseeable. Uh, Maybe it's a situation where it's like minor surgery and the timeline's not. i don't know. We'll have to see. But Jordan Morris, in all likelihood, out for this stretch run of the season here.
00:08:03
Speaker
Which, it's just like, his team, I guess, was destined to never have all their DPs playing together at the same time. and Anytime they almost get there.
00:08:16
Speaker
someone gets injured. So just unfortunate, obviously. yeah Wish Jordan a speedy recovery.
Mussovsky's Role and Potential
00:08:25
Speaker
Hopefully he'll be back soon and can contribute come playoff time.
00:08:31
Speaker
Danny Musavsky, did deputize once again about as effectively as he possibly could have. he He scores two more goals.
00:08:42
Speaker
That's eight lead goals for Moose this season. Nine all-comps. Where would this team be without Danny Mussovsky?
00:08:53
Speaker
I mean, another big time performance for Moose. The Moose is loose. ah Seattle concedes the first goal in this game and then Moose equalizes pretty much immediately.
00:09:04
Speaker
So I think that was one of my first takeaways from this game is that, you know, obviously you never want to concede the first goal at home. But if that does happen, you know, it becomes about how you respond.
00:09:21
Speaker
The San Jose Earthquakes, for whatever their flaws, of which there are several, they are a very good offensive team. They have 46 goals this year. They have the second or third most goals in all of MLS.
00:09:33
Speaker
They give up a lot of goals, as we saw. But they're a good team offensively. That opening goal that they got, whoever that...
00:09:46
Speaker
whoever that like left back is he i was watching again he made an he made a nice play on that he got by obed and then yamar tried to close him out and block it and the cross got by him but his initial move the little he he hit a little step over and then just acceleration passed obed to the end line where yamar couldn't close him out uh but he made a nice run good service and then preston judd
00:10:16
Speaker
got the got the close range finish. So it's 1-0. And then again, it's like, you know, punched in the mouth. How do you respond? They get the moose goal right after. So I honestly, I love to see that.
00:10:28
Speaker
You're going to get punched in the mouth sometimes, especially down the stretch while everyone's dogfighting for playoff positioning and into the playoffs. There's probably going to be games where you concede first. Happens sometimes.
00:10:42
Speaker
You have to have the mental fortitude to respond and score a goal yourself and they did that so that was great to see uh but really from there let's talk about him it was all about pedro de la vega now i'm gonna bring mark on here in a second to talk about this topic more uh but i will say real quick for my part uh i think it's fair to say that uh
00:11:12
Speaker
Bad sequels, thank you for the $1.99 super sticker. Appreciate the support, as always. I think it's fair that we've been ah a little hard at times on on our show, on Pedro de la Vega, but ah um don't even really look at it as a being hard on him. i look at it as holding him to an extremely high standard. you know When you're a...
00:11:41
Speaker
$7 million dollar player, but not just a $7 million dollar player. ah You know, you're wearing the number 10 for the Seattle Sounders, the first player to do that since Nico Ladero.
00:11:53
Speaker
There's a weight that comes with that. There's an expectation of
00:12:06
Speaker
of production. that for for several reasons, a few of which have been beyond his control, especially last year with all the injuries he had. But, ah you know, if you were just looking at it, this is how I was looking at it. Like, if you're just looking at it, regardless of the injuries or if Schmetz is giving him the opportunity or not, whatever the case may be, that production hasn't been there to this point.
00:12:33
Speaker
And while we've seen great moments in flashes,
00:12:38
Speaker
I don't think we've seen a game like that from him where he he took over the game and he won the team the game. That's what a $7 million dollars DP looks like. That's the impact that they can have on a given game.
00:12:51
Speaker
And I think that was the first time, at least to me, that it looked like he really,
00:12:59
Speaker
he looked like a player like that. And that really is, i that could not be ah more phenomenal sign for this team. He's got to sustain it.
00:13:11
Speaker
ah But just the fact, just, oh my God, like the the assist on that first Moose goal.
00:13:18
Speaker
What a dime. It it looked like, ah that was like one of those Jordan Morris outside the foot passes, but he hits Moose right in stride on that. Great look, great setup.
00:13:32
Speaker
easy finish for moose uh and then the game winner the goal that he scored i think that was the best goal that the sound like a sounders player has scored all season and that's you know those those shots from outside the box we've known that he has that in his bag uh but god that was a sick shot And that was about as loud as I've heard Lumenfield all season. The place went absolutely bonkers because of how great a finish it was, but also who scored it, I think had to do with the ah crowd reaction. And honestly, ah I couldn't be happier for him.
00:14:11
Speaker
This is, that's what we wanted to see. And for whatever struggles he's had, it's definitely never been an issue of lack of effort or desire
00:14:25
Speaker
We all know he's a practice God. I haven't been to training as much this year, but I, you know, I was out there a few weeks ago interviewing, doing a couple of interviews for my Obed feature and that, that goal that he scored, he does that in training, that stuff in training every day just hasn't translated to the games consistently for whatever reason, injury, lack of opportunity, whatever it is.
00:14:52
Speaker
But that's the type of stuff that he can do. And I think, before I bring Mark on here, i do think that ah
00:15:01
Speaker
any sort of notion that he is like not a good footballer or not talented or the Sounders scouted up some guy that just isn't good or doesn't have it.
00:15:13
Speaker
I think a game like that, we can put that stuff to bed. like He very clearly is a very dynamic, very talented player. player that's struggled to put it together so far in MLS for whatever reason.
00:15:30
Speaker
But this was a breakout game. And it was great to see. That's a great sign for the Sounders as ah they continue the stretch run of the season and jostle for home field advantage in the playoffs. I think that's a good spot to bring on the man himself.
00:15:50
Speaker
Sounder at heart colleague, Mark Kastner going to bring him to the stage right now. And what I'm going to do here is while Mark and I are riffing on this game, I'm going to drop the call link in the chat. And if you guys want to cue in while we're riffing, go right ahead. We're probably going to go 10, 15 ish minutes. And then if anyone else wants to hop in today.
00:16:13
Speaker
going to drop the link in the chat right now and I'll keep dropping that in. Mark, what's up, man? How's it going? Thanks for hopping on. Yeah. Great Sunday after a pretty, uh,
00:16:25
Speaker
Pretty impressive Sounders win, I would say, for a lot of reasons. Wasn't perfect, but it was enjoyable, for sure. it's been the It's been fun to watch this attack over these last three games. I was thinking about how, like, last year, if you like remember the dog days where it was a lot of 1-0s or 1-1s, they couldn't score goals, and we were talking so much about how, like,
00:16:51
Speaker
ah God, it would be nice if, you know, even if they weren't taking results, could they at least score some goals, be be entertaining? They're definitely scoring a lot of goals right now. So that's great to see. But Mark, you ah you wanted to get in on this De La Vega discourse. you've been ah You've been in on it all season there's, there's been, there's been a lot of varying viewpoints takes flying around about ah Pedro de la Vega. And you've had, ah you've had your stance on it. So what did you, ah what did you think? First of all, I guess, of watching him dominate the way that he did last night relative to, you know, his, his whole Seattle tenure and what people have been been saying about him over the course of, I guess this, this season in particular.
00:17:37
Speaker
yeah i think all along my sort of viewpoint on this is the sounders have to put pedro in a position to succeed and they hadn't been for several reasons over the last
Pressing and Team Strategy
00:17:55
Speaker
let's call it year and a half you know he gets injured can't be training Other players are impressive him in training or impressive in in games and whatnot, and he just kind of becomes a forgotten man.
00:18:08
Speaker
But overall, I would say my biggest point about him has been you you have this player that you've put a lot of resource into.
00:18:19
Speaker
it you have to figure out how to make him play in the best role possible for him. him because if you think he's the type of player that you spent seven million dollars on like you mentioned it doesn't make sense to shoehorn him into some sort of like tactical fit that doesn't work for him and i think all along we all sort of realized like playing him on the right sort of like neuters his game a little bit because that's just not where he's comfortable.
00:18:50
Speaker
You know, in Argentina, he, he played on the left. He needs to be able to have a lot of freedom to kind of like go and find the game and, you know, collect the ball deep and kind of combine with his fullback and, you know, the the defensive midfielder that's playing kind of off of his shoulder. So all along,
00:19:11
Speaker
he just hasn't really been able to do that. And I think last night you saw what can happen when, I think even in special press conference last night, he mentioned like, he's giving the attackers a little bit more freedom in their structure to go and play the game.
00:19:26
Speaker
And I also think by pairing him with a fullback, like Reed, Reed Baker Whiting, and then allowing him to kind of play off,
00:19:37
Speaker
with rust neck and whatnot just is like the the best situation for him to succeed and i think going forward the four attackers that let's say ended or played most of the game together because it's you know morris isn't going to play for a while I think those are the four attackers that you have to start most games with, because as we've seen with Pedro, he's not a very effective substitute.
00:20:03
Speaker
He needs to be able to find the game, feel the game, pick up the pockets of space and whatnot. And that's so hard to do in 20 minutes when, let's say, the game state is you're chasing a lead or you're trying to protect a lead or...
00:20:20
Speaker
just like the different scenarios you find yourself in and like the 76 minute or whatever, it's different when you have the opportunity to spend, let's say most of the first half, like he did trying to find like where to be effective. And he was incredible.
00:20:36
Speaker
Like, I think I'm really struggling to like, in terms of like a single game performance that's up there with like, some of the best like any DP performances we've seen from the Sounders just like in terms of like electricity and dynamism and you know obviously the production was there with the goal and the assist um you know we've seen other Sounders DPs and whatnot get hat tricks and whatnot but just in terms of like an overall performance and sort of blueprint for like what he can actually do for the team I thought it was incredible yeah no it really was and uh
00:21:16
Speaker
I think coming off a game like that, you definitely, you have to keep running him on the left and see if you can string together, like ah parlay this into a ah a consistent run of games and a consistent run of form. And then ah see see what that can do to your ceiling. Because, you know, I've been the mind of the mind that And again, I'm not a training every day, but based on what I've been seeing in games, I've been fine with Roland Paul Rothrock out there as the as the starter. I think he's he's looked really good.
00:21:53
Speaker
He's been productive in the last few weeks. So like riding the hot hand, I think made sense. But I think what you saw with De La Vega last night is there there's just such a different ceiling of what he can do at his peak level compared to really...
00:22:12
Speaker
Any attacker on the team. ah i think, you know, Ryan Kent's a guy who theoretically has some similar stuff in his bag as far as like creativity and dynamism and ability to impact a game, but he has not looked in the last like month or so like he did his first couple games with the team.
00:22:33
Speaker
And especially i think with the Jordan injury now, the importance of De La Vega is even accentuated because you're going to need youre need other people in the attack to step up like Moose did last night, like both Jesus Ferreira and Paul Rothrock have been doing lately.
00:22:52
Speaker
But again, it's just like a ah like that goal he scored. Yeah. There's just not many players in general who can do stuff like that. And there's certainly, like, as far as this the Sounders attack,
00:23:07
Speaker
ah if they if they can get him playing, even he doesn't even have to be that level that was insane but if he can even get like 75 80 of that level semi consistently it's just like a ah game changer as far as uh this team's ceiling and what they can do this year isn't it yeah my my favorite moment from pedro last night wasn't even uh wasn't even the goal or assist it was actually think it was musaski's first goal where the keeper plays it out and
00:23:41
Speaker
Pedro wins the recovery. And instead of doing the thing that the Sounders have done all year with like, they win the ball back and then they kind of recycle possession and whatnot. Pedro collects the ball and either with his first or second touch, just fires it into Obed, who ah to Obed's credit also made like a really incredibly dynamic run, like right towards the top of the penalty area.
00:24:04
Speaker
So he he he just is the type of player that can, play with the quickness that I think the Sounders press
Attack Dynamics and Striker Depth
00:24:14
Speaker
deserves. Like I I've been saying all year um that I think the Sounders press is elite in terms of MLS term, like,
00:24:24
Speaker
in the league you're probably not going to find a better press than where this sounders team is that it's been really good like the last few weeks in particular too yeah and the thing that's been frustrating is they don't really use that press as as a like a creative outlet it's about winning the ball back and then it's just kind of like we've seen it all the time they win the ball back they pass it backwards to the center backs or the fullbacks and they just kind of recycle possession and and really try to kind of like go from there, which we've seen the Sounders be effective at that for a long time. That's kind of like a, that's kind of a hallmark of Brian's mentor. But I think with this current group of players and especially that, that kind of three man attacking band behind the striker, I think when you're playing with, with Albert Pedro and Jesus, you have like combination of players there that can like, they're all,
00:25:23
Speaker
either above average or I would even say elite pressers in and of themselves, but as kind of an attacking band, I think they can just be incredibly creative both on and off the ball with the press if they're able to kind of play really quickly. And I think that on that goal, that's what you saw. Instead of winning the ball, turning around, passing it backwards, he fires it into Obed.
00:25:46
Speaker
Hey, maybe seven out of times, seven out of 10 times, that doesn't come off. But making the opponent like realize like oh crap like they're gonna play quickly i think um you saw kind of san jose be flat-footed not only because their goalkeeper just turned the ball over but they just weren't in a position to deal with the sounders being dynamic in that moment and i was really pleased with that and then afterwards after that uh he gets a goal and assist to top it off so
00:26:20
Speaker
Yeah, no it's ah it's a great point in that, ah like, De La Vega is a player who does the the little things well.
00:26:31
Speaker
Like, he he does press. He does have a high work rate. He is, ah I think he's a plus presence defensively. And we've seen all the all that stuff, the like, the whole time he's been on the team.
00:26:45
Speaker
It's just been a matter of unlocking all of that kind of next level talent and attack that we know we've known he has it. we've We've seen it at times. There's been, he's even, even before this game, like there were really good moments this season. He had ah couple of really nice assists.
00:27:05
Speaker
Those, those like cutback passes to Albert Rusnak. He had a really nice goal in the, in the Nashville game as well. We've seen him score a few bangers. So it was just great to see him put it together like that.
00:27:19
Speaker
And this offense has been a pleasure to watch these last three games. I guess before we talk about the defense a little bit, Mark, what do you think about the number nine situation right now? Because I think it's fair to say it's a concern ah with Jordan out for the next foreseeable future.
00:27:37
Speaker
I feel great about Moose, honestly, as the ah as the de facto first-choice starter right now. like he I think he's earned equity in that this season. he's I mean, i don't know what to make of this, but just if you look at the numbers, Danny Mussovsky one of the most efficient strikers in MLS right now.
00:27:56
Speaker
so i mean Yeah, and he's always been... yeah The nerds have always loved his numbers, like and I would consider myself one of them. it is It is a ah it's a victory for the ah for the underlying numbers because yeah you know yeah i know no it's nice some people around these parts might not like that. But the whole idea behind the signing was that this is a guy that didn't get a lot of minutes in his MLS career because he's been buried on depth charts at LAFC and then he was on RSL for a while.
00:28:25
Speaker
but every time he got his minutes you could see that he was extremely efficient and that he was getting his goals so the idea was if we bring this we don't like necessarily break the bank on resources for this backup nine roster spot but we kind of we get a guy who we think is undervalued based on his underlying stats but hasn't gotten the minutes to show it you plug that into our system with our our attackers our playmakers We're going to make a bet that the ah the production will be there based on what we can see under the hood, if you will.
00:28:59
Speaker
And I think that worse. It didn't bear out last year. He got injured last year for a while, to be fair. But ah he ended up with like only one goal last year, at least in league play.
00:29:10
Speaker
But this year, with ah with a clean bowl of bill of health and a full complement of minutes that he's been able to get, eight goals two assists i mean he started like 10 or 11 games and he's got 10 goal contributions so that that like you know in in in a given game Moose, clear first-choice starter at the 9.
00:29:35
Speaker
I feel good about that. that's That's great. He's producing. However, Moose cannot play every minute of every game. They're going to have to rest him at certain points. They've got leak Leagues Cup coming up. And the way i the way I see this is that in and in a situation where Moose can't start there, they're going to have to run Ferreira there.
00:29:57
Speaker
ah which I don't like. That's fine. He played there and San Diego the last time he played there and he got a goal. And I think in general, Jesus Ferreira is looking a lot more just comfortable on this team. It seems like he's got the chemistry with the guys now.
00:30:13
Speaker
And while that's been taking place, like with him playing in the wide channel, I think sliding him over if Moose has to rotate out, that can function. ah Hopefully it looks better than it did earlier in the season when when he was playing up there.
00:30:29
Speaker
But i think I think it probably will just because he's been on the team for longer. He knows where he fits and he's just in general a very adaptable player. But it's also like both of like Jesus Ferrer has been playing a ton of minutes as well.
00:30:42
Speaker
So it's just like I think the depth at that spot is definitely an issue right now. Osaze got signed to the first team but hasn't really gotten much run.
00:30:53
Speaker
what how do you ah How do you size up the number nine situation with this ah Jordan injury, and how would you handle it? Yeah, I think well what Moose has showed us this year is that he can do – seventy percent 70 of what jordan morris can do and that's what this attack really needs especially earlier this season when do the sounders were struggling to score lot of goals and were kind of struggling for consistency in attack and i think moose just kind of slots in does
00:31:28
Speaker
You know, he's kind of like store brand Jordan Morris, which is exactly kind of what this attack needs, especially when you have the amount of resources in that attacking band behind him, as the Sounders do. And so I feel really good about that. I feel fine.
00:31:41
Speaker
But as you mentioned, like he can get hurt also. ah And he also can't play every minute of every game until, let's say, October. Christian Roldan and Obed Vargas can play every minute of every game. Yeah. Maybe they shouldn't. but Maybe they shouldn't. We could debate that. but um But i I don't actually...
00:32:03
Speaker
and I felt this way pretty much all season. I don't hate Ferreira at the nine as much as kind of other people have. And I know maybe that's a unpopular take or a hot take whatever, but I think if you're playing the way that the sound is played, for instance, last night, and as i was mentioning a few minutes ago, in terms of like using the press as like a dynamic creative outlet, instead of kind of like,
00:32:32
Speaker
being a really set possession team as they were trying to be earlier in the year when Ferrer was playing there. um I think it works. I also think Ferrer is way more comfortable with his teammates and in a new team. And I think the team is just playing better overall that it's worth, it's worth figuring out if it can work in certain situations. I don't love it for everything all the time, just like I don't love Moose for everything all the time, but I think it's worth an option. And one thing to kind of consider is, you know, we're, we're, it's late July, basically it's July 20th.
00:33:10
Speaker
No sort of signing the Sounders can make like with what they have at kind of their ability with this roster. So for instance, like a U22 signing or whatever,
00:33:23
Speaker
That's not going to be a solution for this season. Like it's not the odds of it being that are pretty much like, like I know, maybe no Ohio comes in and is just the best player ever. But like could be if i being realistic about the odds of that happening, it's just not very high.
00:33:40
Speaker
And then if you're also kind of like, well, okay, the Sounders need to make a trade or something. nobody is going to trade a striker to the sounders better than danny musowski so it's kind of like you brian's gonna have to like make this work he's just gonna have like i know it's i felt like all year the sounders have been like one thing away from having like that perfect attack and like last night in my opinion those four players that played in attacking midfield and that striker
00:34:14
Speaker
I think offer the highest ceiling for the sounders attack. And that lasted 15 minutes. So yes, exactly. um So then the logical thing for where I kind of come from is like, well, if Mussovsky is like just 30% worse than Jordan Morris, I think that that offers kind of the best.
00:34:34
Speaker
overall kind of situation but um with leagues cup coming up maybe maybe brian is able to experiment with some things and try some things out uh i would really hate to see somebody else get injured in leaks cup so personally i kind of i kind of want to come into the fines to play all those games but i'm uh i'm strange and i'm not a one i don't run a professional soccer team and two i'm not a head coach so i think I think early in League's Cup is a good time to experiment and tweak some things and run some stuff that maybe you haven't been running or don't normally get the opportunity to run.
00:35:14
Speaker
It's sort of, i don't know, it's similar to how I feel about Open Cup, I guess. Like, early rounds rotate a lot, experiment, and then the later you get in the tournament, if it looks like you're actually making a run and can win it, then at that point, yeah.
00:35:32
Speaker
play like your more normal regular lineups that you would run in in league play. But yeah, I mean, i think, i think for now that that spot is just going to be the Moose Ferreira rotation. I agree that like, i don't, I don't hate the Ferreira idea. I know I think some, I think some people are just like scarred from the games earlier this season. The St. Louis one comes to mind. The San Diego one obviously comes to mind.
00:36:00
Speaker
where he was playing that spot and they got shut out and lost both those games san diego game they lost really badly that was a different time that was a different time that was jesus ferreira's like first few weeks on the team he had never played with any of these guys he had never played for another professional club other than ah fc dallas uh The last time he played the nine, I think, was the second San Diego game, which is day one. they see He scored the game winner.
00:36:31
Speaker
And again, I'm just ah i'm just a believer in that his ah versatility and adaptability, we'll he'll be able to... Will it look as good as a when Jordan's out there or when Moose is in there?
00:36:46
Speaker
Maybe not, but I think he can play... it's For him, it's like more of a false nine role than like a pure target nine. situation but i think he can do that and be effective it's just uh it's just so unfortunate like like you said that that this was the first time that de la vega morris and rusnak have played together and i don't know when was the last time they played together like I don't know. agree mean I don't even know. I think like Jeremiah tweeted something that it was the first time all three DPs had started a game since like a long time ago.
00:37:21
Speaker
I don't remember yeah the exact phrasing, but it was, it's been a minute. It's been a minute and it's going to be another minute, which is, it's unfortunate, but you know, so it goes sometimes and Moose play great in this game.
00:37:39
Speaker
Uh, no one, in no one else in the queue right now. Uh, so let's just keep cooking Mark. Cause I think there's a couple other topics from this game that, uh, that we could hit, ah any concern about the, uh, defensive issues. This did, they did almost blow another, another lead.
00:37:58
Speaker
And, uh, I'll tell you from, uh, my perspective, the, uh, I think I was talking about it at the top of the show a little bit, uh, But the first one, the first one is, uh, it's not great defending for sure.
00:38:12
Speaker
I think, uh, the, the guy put a move on Obed and then Yamar doesn't block the cross. So could have been defended better, but I think there's also an element of like, that's a ah nice play from a good offensive team.
Defensive Challenges and Adjustments
00:38:27
Speaker
ah the second one, this is what bothers me about, uh, about the second one. They give it up on a, uh, on a set piece that Chicho Arango finishes the rebound. So the set piece defending, I, I have to watch it again, I guess probably wasn't great if they scored off it. Yeah. They get a shot. take They get a shot off obviously. Cause it's, yeah. And then he's wide open.
00:38:53
Speaker
Right. But like what, what bothers me about ah that goal. And then also it happened at the end of the game too. And it's been happening a lot this season, the fouls that they're committing to give up these free kick opportunities when they have the lead. Like it's just, I just get this sinking feeling every time they do it when they did it and they gave them the free kick in, in that spot. I was like, all right. I mean, Espinosa is nasty on these, on these free kicks.
00:39:23
Speaker
And it's just unnecessary. Like you don't need to foul him right there. And you're just, you're laying on a platter, an opportunity to, ah to give up the lead. They do give up the lead the first time off on the Chicho goal. And then at the end of the game, RBW fouls the guy an, I think an even more dangerous spot.
00:39:44
Speaker
And they almost blow the lead. Espinosa whams it off the post. Andy T said he got a finger to that. I don't know if that was a, True, but Espinosa whams it off the post and then Joseph like tries like so like a bicycle kick rebound that Andy T saves.
00:40:02
Speaker
That was offside, so that would not have counted. It was still a six save. But it's more, my thing is just like, if it was just this game, all right, maybe it's so a one-off, but I feel like it's happened a lot this year where they have a lead and they are committing fouls in these spots that are just very, very dangerous.
00:40:22
Speaker
And that is, that is a way that you put yourself in position to blow lead is giving other teams dangerous set pieces. Uh, you know, especially teams that have guys like Christian Espinosa who can hit those. So, uh,
00:40:36
Speaker
What did you, ah what have you made of the the defense? Because for as good as the offense has been these last three games, they've been conceding a lot of goals as well. Yeah, I think it, probably my optimistic side of me is like,
00:40:55
Speaker
they basically have to change the back line every game there's no consistency they even have to manage certain players minutes among that kind of shuffle anyways like yehmar apparently can't play um
00:41:10
Speaker
a full game kim kiki probably can't play a full game he's also 36 it's like what do what are we what's the realistic expectation for that?
00:41:22
Speaker
John Bell is kind of coming in and out of different positions and stuff like that. So there's just really no consistency back there. And I would, the optimism is Reagan comes back, Yamar gets fit, and that's the ah hallmark of like a really good defense, even if we kind of account for Yamar maybe not being as good as he used to be.
00:41:46
Speaker
On top of that, i kind of agree with you in terms of like conceding dangerous set pieces because this week they gave up four penalties. Those are the most dangerous set pieces of all. That's the most dangerous set piece you can give up. They didn't concede any penalties in this game. Baby steps. Credit where it's due. It was conceding six penalties in their last six games. Famously. And then four this week alone. Four in four days.
00:42:13
Speaker
this week alone like four and four days you don't really uh you don't really want to do that uh it's why it's wild that they've taken the results that they have with those types of like conditions um and then i think like a point you made earlier in the show that i think is really kind of salient when talking about periods of defensive turbulence like this is It feels way better to me to win a game 3-2 than it does to win 1-0, even if statistically it is like the same exact thing.
00:42:54
Speaker
Actually, technically, if you win 1-0, you get a clean sheet. So maybe even that's statistically better than winning 3-2. It just feels good knowing you...
00:43:07
Speaker
have you have the ability to go and like win a game if you have if you have to go get another goal rather than hanging on for dear life and waiting for the final whistle i would even say like wednesday yeah they they gave up three goals but it's still it feels better, at least to me, that like, yeah, but they still scored three times. It wasn't like they blew like a 1-0 lead late and it ended 1-1.
00:43:38
Speaker
Like those are my like, I hate those. And even if like, you're like, yeah, Mark, but like giving up three goals is worse than giving up one goal. I'm like, yeah, I know. But it just feels better knowing like, hey, the Sounders still scored three times.
00:43:54
Speaker
Like they can still go get all of the goals that they've got. So um yeah, it's just kind of like, I think what's really important, especially when we're considering how delicate the attack is right now, it's, it's fire. It's kind of firing on all cylinder, all cylinders, but like Morris's in industry, um, injury, like we just talked about, like it's a delicate situation that's Mr. Has to figure out.
00:44:21
Speaker
We could really do with like the back line just being good again. And I think like, that's probably like,
00:44:33
Speaker
Come to think of it, like, Smetzer was really pissed off at the rest referee on Wednesday because the yellow card Reagan got made him suspended for this one. And Reagan absolutely would have played the full game kind of in that left center back position. So, um or maybe he slides over to replace Yamar.
00:44:52
Speaker
um
00:44:55
Speaker
But, yeah, it's just kind of like they could really do with... they don't really they They have one more and MLS game until mid-August, which feels weird. But hopefully that amount of time gives gives them... like They can get healthy.
00:45:12
Speaker
They've got to figure out the New Who situation, even though it doesn't sound like they're really going to do anything about it. on i i i don't I don't know i what happens there, but they have to find consistency. I thought for the most part last night, yeah, Yeymar gets toasted on that first goal because he isn't as quick as he used to be.
00:45:38
Speaker
um it's still a really hard finish near post the he was it was nice he has to flick the ball behind him to get the to get the goal like it's just one you can kind of chalk that up it's the second one that makes me really kind of like rub my temples because your two center backs get beat in the air and then they're nowhere to be found after thomas makes a save so it's just like Like neither Bell nor Kim Ki-hee were particularly good on that set piece. so
00:46:12
Speaker
um But in kind of an ideal world, neither of them are playing a whole lot, right? So yeah.
00:46:20
Speaker
yeah i thought a I thought RBW had a pretty good game other than the that last foul that he gave up, which Schmitz was talking about at the presser as well. like ah It's still it's still like stuff like that that he needs to work out of his game.
00:46:38
Speaker
But like all the RBW mistakes that he's made this year to me feel like... coachable and there's still ah like that ah that ball that he put over the top on ah who had that that to Jordan yeah where where Jordan was he got injured.
00:46:58
Speaker
No, no, I think it would i think it was a the RBW ball was the one that he ah took out wide. Oh, the first one. Yeah, and then hit into the side netting. But that was a great ball from RBW.
00:47:11
Speaker
And that's that's like, you know, RBW has been taking heat this year because of like the, ah there's been some defensive positioning issues and individual errors. But like, If you're wondering where the RBW stock comes from, if you're one of those that are like mind-blown, like, why do they play this guy? Why is he such a highly rated homegrown?
00:47:29
Speaker
You watch a pass like the one he hits to to Jordan on that um that play. That's why. That's why. He can do stuff like that. Nuhu is not going to play that ball.
00:47:42
Speaker
He's not. So but you when you have RBW in there, you do have... I would i'm and think there's a potential that it could add a lot to the team if RBW develops defensively and shores up his positioning, cuts out like the ill-advised fouls that give away dangerous set pieces or penalty kicks.
00:48:04
Speaker
That could be, oh man, like he and if if you get De La Vega firing like that and then combining him with ah with a more disciplined and defensive savvy RBW that can also contribute to the attack in a way that Nuhu can't or that J-Bell also doesn't if he's playing at that spot.
00:48:26
Speaker
ah And then you throw like the KKR factor in there who he looks like a really fun dynamic attacking wingback. There are some, I think there's some fun possibilities for where this offense could go, you know, even in a, uh,
00:48:43
Speaker
even in a situation where, you know, they are, they're scoring a bunch of goals right now, but it's like, if you get, if you get La Vega churning, you get RBW churning, there's some, ah there's some fun, fun, like stuff that we could see that we haven't even yet, as far as what those two guys in particular could, ah could bring to this team. Did you have any takes on any RBW takes? And then we'll talk some Andy T maybe.
00:49:13
Speaker
Yeah, I think the thing with RBW, he just needs a consistent run of games, and he hasn't started two games in a row, at least in MLS play this year, like um either due to injury or getting suspended or rotation or whatever. If he gets like six games and six starts in a row, I think a lot of those kinks, like you mentioned, are either coached out of him or he just is like,
00:49:40
Speaker
becoming more and more confident if if he's playing well and i think every sign like i thought he was great in the austin game and it just so happened he gets sent off and that just kind of like overshadows yeah it ah he was really good against uh i thought he was great in both of the games he played in the um club world cup so a lot of people yeah disagreed with that but like uh i don't know he's playing atletico madrid yeah i like the botafogo game he was really good uh he only plays a half in that though so um i just think like given everything like
00:50:27
Speaker
given everything with new this season, like sure. Maybe there's a way back. Maybe, maybe is useful in a certain way again this season.
00:50:38
Speaker
But I think you got to like between now and let's say like the end of August, Reed's gotta to be the one starting if he can. um Now things can change. Like he could screw up really bad or you know, get another suspension and that, that changes the calculation there. But I just think, like I said, at the beginning of the show, setting your
00:51:05
Speaker
theoretically who your best player should be Pedro de la Vega up for success involves playing Reed behind him. And I think you got it You got to lean into the attack being kind of your strength.
00:51:19
Speaker
And part of that is playing a fullback that can actually attack. um And kind of going from there. Because like I mentioned, it is July 20th.
00:51:31
Speaker
There's not a lot of time to figure this stuff out. The Sounders will probably be one of the four best teams in the West come playoff time. So you got
00:51:44
Speaker
you got to kind of lean into your strengths. And I think that involves playing, uh, RBW at left back. So they got an opportunity here but before leagues cup starts because, the next game is in Atlanta, which, uh, against an Atlanta United team, which is,
00:52:02
Speaker
How do I put this? they're they're not They're not very good this year. They've been one of the worst teams in the league. And i like that that does not guarantee a result, especially because it's on the road.
00:52:18
Speaker
but Anytime that there's a road trip that's just that long distance-wise, it's going to be difficult almost no matter how bad the opposition may or may not be.
00:52:29
Speaker
ah But... I've watched yeah Mark, you know this. I watched a lot of i watched a lot of Atlanta United. ah Seattle, if if Seattle plays to their relative potential and ability, they'll be able to compete for taking a result in that game. And if you could, if you could pick off a win there, you're in pretty decent shape on the table as far as this race for a top four spot.
00:52:59
Speaker
home field advantage. Uh, and then we'll see what happens with, with leagues cup. Uh, but there is an opportunity to be had to, uh, kind of maintain their standing and their pace on the table in this game.
00:53:13
Speaker
Uh, but let's talk about, uh, one thing I wanted to hit with you, Mark, and you know, we're coming up on an hour. So if you need to to jet, feel free, uh, at any time.
00:53:23
Speaker
But, uh, this issue of, uh, the Christian Obed double pivot playing a, uh, full 90 every single game, every single week.
00:53:35
Speaker
that it worked It worked for this week. you know They won two out of the three games ah with them playing pretty much the whole time. But and a sir especially in Leagues Cup, I have to imagine that and at some point they're going to get a get a break.
00:53:51
Speaker
And the JP injury just kind of complicates. This is what I think one of the issues is, is that with the JP injury, one of your... the Your other ah primary reserve at that position is is Danny Leyva.
00:54:05
Speaker
And i I don't know how much I think a Danny Leyva-Obed double-pivot necessarily plays because not because of like ability or anything like that it's it's they're not complementary skill sets you don't have uh a player in there of the christian rolled on or jp skill set which i think is kind of important for how that double pivot functions is it like a player of that profile so to me it looks like schmetz is reluctant he's reluctant to run a danny leva obed double pivot uh and then you could do a you could do a christian danny leva double pivot but either way you still have ah one guy in there who uh
00:54:57
Speaker
who you need to be resting more than you have been lately. So, I mean, what do you think they do about this? Because Schmetz mentioned putting Alex Roldan in that spot, which I think it's a good bit. Like ah anytime you are short on depth at a position, you just plug Roldan in there.
00:55:14
Speaker
and they will do it effectively. He's done it at center back and goalkeeper. Who's to say he can't do it at D mid? Christian's done it at a at right back, at number 10, at right mid.
00:55:27
Speaker
These rolled on guys, you can just you just put them wherever and they and they'll be fine. But to me, it seems pretty clear that trying Alex there is the solution because he is more of that, that profile of like a JP or a Christian in that, like he's a, he's a dog on defense covers ground, good passer, stuff like that.
00:55:50
Speaker
So what, how do you think they should handle this issue of them having, you know, the best double pivot in the league, but also knowing that the depth behind it seems questionable right now.
00:56:03
Speaker
And these guys need a break at some point. Yeah, just I don't think they think Lele is a defensive midfielder at the end of the day, and he just doesn't play, like, plain simple. You think he's like more they seem more as, like, a 10?
00:56:17
Speaker
Maybe. i don i don't know. Like, he starts against LAFC in that game where they get absolutely boat raced. They're playing kind of a back five in that game, and he's one of the two the two midfielders in that one. That's, like, the last we really saw him.
00:56:35
Speaker
basically. I think he gets 45 minutes somewhere here or there. But I just, I don't think Smet sees him as like an option there. So ah I don't see him as an option there because he just doesn't play. So um with that in mind, it's really, with the way that the sound is set up in this system that they have, is it's really important to think about this in terms of like partnership and what does the partnership give you as kind of the foundation for everything that you're building on basically that's that's how Spencer's defensive midfielders that's the that's their job basically the reason why the ah Christian Obed partnership is really really good is because the the dynamics between the two play styles that the players have are just kind of like a perfect fit for each other
00:57:33
Speaker
And I think trying to replicate that, what you end up looking towards is like, okay, Alex can kind of be
00:57:44
Speaker
like what Musaski is to Morris. Alex Rodon can kind of be that to Obed, but I don't think he can kind of i don't think he can do the same thing for Christian.
00:57:55
Speaker
And so i think you just got to start figuring out, okay, like,
00:58:02
Speaker
he can kind of play like Obed plays and then Christian is so adaptable that maybe then Christian can play Obed plays. And then you just start trying to figure out, like try to figure it out from there.
00:58:16
Speaker
But I do think ultimately the solution here is Alex. Well done is getting, getting minutes in midfield, um which I don't feel like super great about, but it really is the only option overall.
00:58:30
Speaker
So yeah, i i don't know I don't know what they're going do because this team is screwed if Christian or Obed get hurt. like Yeah. yeah there's They're screwed short term this season and then potentially long term in terms of like looking at Obed as kind of like a little bit of a cash cow in terms of like he's going to be the next big transfer away and then they get that money and they're able to kind of reinvest in the team which it seems like they need that type of sale to invest in this team long-term because it doesn't seem like that money is going to come elsewhere.
00:59:08
Speaker
So yeah, I mean, it's kind of like a ticking time bomb and I'm really nervous about it. And I think you got to figure out, okay, Alex can hours can do a lot of the same things as Obed, but not as well.
00:59:21
Speaker
but And so recreate that and then kind of go from there, I think. So like tom yeah tom in the and Tom in the chat is 100% right. I'm more worried about the midfield than I am the the nine situation because we've seen them solve the nine problem all year.
00:59:41
Speaker
we don't know what happens next. Like, okay, so for instance, against Colorado, I think the reason why Christian Rulodon concedes a penalty in the way that he does is because he is tired.
00:59:54
Speaker
Yeah. And his physical limitations in that moment affect his mind because he's tired. And he shouldn't he shouldn't have had to be in that situation.
01:00:05
Speaker
So, like, they're not going to play Leva there. doesn't seem like they're going to play... anybody, but they got like... I'd like to see Alex start two of the three Leagues Cup games at one of the central midfield positions, just to see what it looks like.
01:00:25
Speaker
Even if it's not with... any like I don't care if they lose four zero or whatever we just got to know what it looks like and I I can see like I can talk myself into seeing like Alex can recreate some of Obed's game so he can partner with Christian and then if we have to figure out what Alex and Obed looks like I don't I don't know what that looks like in my mind i don't really like it but we got to know got to know what's there you know because like at this point because of where we are at in the year and in the season doing a like switching up the formation is a i think a terrible idea because you're making everything else worse just to try to solve a problem so i don't know i'm really worried about it i'm i'm nervous um
01:01:23
Speaker
but maybe, hey, maybe they just play 90 minutes for the rest of the year. and i was goingnna I was going to say, like, we talk about this, and then the the outcome is going to be that they just play every single minute of every game.
01:01:36
Speaker
I mean, you know... On one level, it feels ah it feels untenable. And like I definitely i share the concern of... like it's not even like you know Obviously, if if one of them got injured, that would be a disaster.
01:01:51
Speaker
But it's even like... If you have a situation where it's like impossible to play them in the game or a full 90 because of they they need to rotate or it's short turnaround or whatever...
01:02:04
Speaker
like we haven't seen a lot We haven't seen a lot to indicate that this team can function at close to its optimum peak levels if either one of those guys are out of the lineup, which is both a testament to how elite of players they both are and how kind of difficult it is to...
01:02:27
Speaker
have guys that can play at the level that they can, because they're just that good. But it also creates like a ah situation, especially with ah JP out for the year where I don't like, I, yeah, I don't even know him.
01:02:42
Speaker
We have no idea like what they would do, how it would how it would look, how it functions. We didn't know how Alex would look at center back until he played. And and i know I know it was against Austin who might set the record for least goals scored in an MLS season.
01:03:00
Speaker
um Their numbers are really shocking, by the way, if you haven't. Yeah, no, there it's a really bad offense. But he was good. He was good. a against Austin, but like what he's good at, I think can work in that position and they got to do something if only to kind of buy themselves some minutes in there in the other two's legs, like, because
01:03:30
Speaker
come playoffs time, Christian might just be like goosed. and Yeah. I, you know, i he is a, uh, He is a physical freak.
01:03:40
Speaker
Like the guy, yeah he he runs he runs too much. I wouldn't want to run that much. But like, it it just it just feels like there's a certain point where, ah like like you said, that like that PK that he gave up, that's like ah that's a fatigue. Have we ever in our entire lives seen Christian Roldan do that?
01:04:02
Speaker
No. So like that was very clearly like a fatigue foul. And, uh, that's, it's an issue. I think they're like, we were talking about, there's two big, I think there's two big issues with this team right now, uh, which is the number nine situation with the Jordan injury. And then just the situation of, uh,
01:04:21
Speaker
the concern of overworking the double pivot, which, you know, those are things that they're going to have to ah figure out. I think the nine situation with Moose in the form that he's been in pretty much all season, I feel a little bit better about that.
01:04:36
Speaker
But yeah, but you know, everyone's got issues and the team is taking, they're scoring a lot of goals and taking results right now. So that's always good. Uh, Mark, any, uh, any last topics on, ah on this game or the season coming up here that you wanted to hit? And then, uh, then I'll let you go and, I'll throw the call link in. No one, no one's, uh, hopped in the queue yet, but I'll, I'll hang around for a few minutes after, uh, mark takes off and if anyone does want to hop in i'll take a few and then if not i'll take an early day that's fine but uh mark any anything else that's on your mind uh no i i enjoy when the sounders win i and and then i enjoy when pager de la vega plays well so i'm having a good time yeah no it's uh it is ah it is a pretty good time right now the uh the colorado game was uh
01:05:28
Speaker
a little unfortunate, but like, yeah i like that my thing is like, I'm not going to, a I'm not going to talk out of both sides of my mouth on the topic of like, uh, if you go back and listen to our shows last year during the dog days where they weren't scoring, there was a lot of us being like, all right, even if you don't, even if you blow a result or whatever, just like be fun to watch, score some goals, like do something that's like entertaining, you know, and, and, uh, irrespective of results, we'll at least appreciate that. I said, I said stuff like that a lot.
01:06:00
Speaker
So, uh,
01:06:03
Speaker
Now that they are scoring a ton of goals, I'm not going to get too bent out of shape if there was a blown lead in there or a couple of goal concessions in there. Like you were saying earlier, like I'll take a 3-2 game over 1-0 game all day as far as from an entertainment and content perspective.
01:06:20
Speaker
So it is, I mean, it is great to see the offense playing like this, producing like this. It's been fun to watch. They're scoring a lot of goals and they're scoring good goals. So hopefully they can keep it up.
01:06:31
Speaker
Mark, thanks for hopping on and running co-host with me this morning, man. Really appreciate it. well Thanks for having me. We'll get you back on here very soon and take care.
01:06:43
Speaker
All right. Thank you very much. Later. That was Mark Kastner from Sounder at Heart. hopping on the show, co-hosting this postgame live for about an hour, hitting all the Seattle Sounders topics coming off a 3-2 win against the San Jose Earthquakes.
01:07:06
Speaker
I'm going to drop this... ah call Lincoln right now. I'll, I'll hang around for few minutes here and see if anyone wants to, uh, tap in before I get out of here.
01:07:20
Speaker
and in the meantime, I'll, uh, take a look at chat, see where the discourse is at. Uh, can we watch the press conferences? Interesting question right now. Actually, you will notice that I didn't play today. There's some, uh,
01:07:36
Speaker
There's like some negotiations going on about like what we are and are not allowed to ah play from what channels. So I'm not playing until we're not like in trouble. It's fine.
01:07:48
Speaker
But I got to figure out like what the official protocol is there. We had some content go ah go viral that put a microscope on that.
01:08:04
Speaker
So I think...
01:08:07
Speaker
One of the solutions is going to be we're going to have to fit we're going to like have to film them ourselves, which you know we ought to get someone to do that. I can't really go to the pressers very often anymore because of my my job on the MLS editorial staff. So we'll figure that out.
01:08:29
Speaker
Yeah, fair use. I don't know if that's like technically what the issue is, but it's it's essentially that idea.
01:08:42
Speaker
yep.
01:08:45
Speaker
The oligarch class once again coming after lobbing scorchers. I'm sorry to report.
01:08:52
Speaker
ah All right. Call link right here. um It's, what is it? 11.09 a.m. Pacific time. but hey I'll hang out till like 11.15 or so. And then if...
01:09:03
Speaker
ah you guys so the Open invitation for laying down takes. So if you were want to hop on, link's right there. Gianni says, I don't know how Kristen has been able to keep up this current level intensity during these games. Dude's legs must feel like jello. He's a...
01:09:23
Speaker
He's a freak.
01:09:26
Speaker
I remember when he got drafted.
01:09:30
Speaker
I remember like interview my first interview I ever did with Christian Roldan, and i didn't know i I watched his UW highlights. I knew he was a really good college player, but i can't i didn't know that much about like what he brought on the field.
01:09:43
Speaker
and i remember I remember one of the things he said was, like you know I'm not an insane physical athlete. I don't have like crazy size or anything, but no one's going to outrun me.
01:09:58
Speaker
And he has kept to that his entire career.
01:10:05
Speaker
He never stops running.
01:10:10
Speaker
It was a the era where he and Ladero were both like at their peak on this team. was It was so crazy to watch sometimes because Ladero also never stops running.
01:10:23
Speaker
Just two guys who never stops running.
01:10:32
Speaker
All right, hell yeah, we got Gianni tapping in. Going to bring him to the stage right now. Gianni, what's up, man? Thanks for tapping in, as always. 3-2 win over the San Jose Earthquakes. And I got to get your takes on this De La Vega breakout because you and I were talking on the last call-in show about where the stock was at and how the stock was not where it needed to be for a $7 million dollars DP.
01:11:00
Speaker
I think it's fair to say that he needs to sustain what we saw last night going forward. But wasn't it incredible to see him actually... look like a $7 million dollar player that like, like we were exactly like we were talking about took over the game, dominated the game, impacted the game and won them the game game winning goal. Like, what did you, ah what did you think of that?
01:11:22
Speaker
It was phenomenal. Honestly, like that's the best I've seen him play all year, obviously. All, all his i mean i entire Sounders career. Yeah. Yeah. Easily his best game. um I think it definitely helps that, He plays a lot more like an inverted winger than think we've seen him be able to effectively play as on that right-hand side. So him being able to cut in onto his right and be both goal-dangerous while also being able to make ah some of the passes like into the box where he's drawing defenders to him.
01:11:55
Speaker
was ah really nice thing to see. um i i don't think I ever want to see him back on that right-hand side. if like I want to see him get more minutes out here on this left-hand side.
01:12:06
Speaker
and Why did it take so long to put him out there? Dude, I don't know. like Because he played a lot of his time on the left when he was in Argentina. Yes. And that was like where he was good, as I understand it. I don't know. I didn't follow time there that much, but it seems like that is where he was most effective in Argentina.
01:12:26
Speaker
And it was just such like a yeah wild contrast, how he looked out there compared to how he's looked on the right. it it feel It felt like just like a light bulb, like, oh, that's been that has that been it this whole time? Yeah, it's like, that's literally the only issue is that he's able to perform on the left and his ability to perform drops precipitously once he um once he's on the right.
01:12:50
Speaker
I don't know why this is the first time we're seeing this. Like, we've been trying to get him going all season long and we just never thought, like, Hey, let's put him where he was playing well when it's like, and you had, you had like, uh, you had sounder heart talking about it. You had Doyle writing in all caps in his columns, play this band on the, uh, on the left.
01:13:10
Speaker
Yeah. They didn't do it until, I mean, you know, at least, at least they did it. At least we saw what it can look like because now they're, I mean, they're definitely going to keep running that more. Yeah. i know like It's going to be fun to see if how much that can raise the ceiling.
01:13:24
Speaker
Yeah, and I know Schmetzer does not like playing with his wingers inverted. He does not like that. He wants the right-footed player on the right, and wants the left-footed player on the left. He's going to have to learn to love it. i know. He's like, you know, sometimes you have to teach this old hug a new trick.
01:13:39
Speaker
Yeah. but um yeah But I think it also allows for an interesting opportunity for our wingbacks. Because by allowing Pedro to cut in from that left-hand side, it frees up the rest of that channel for Reid to come forward, if that's something that we're going to try and do.
01:13:57
Speaker
Like when Nuhu is back on the field, which you know that Schmetz is eventually going to put him back on the field, um I think that is a little less valuable. But it does still open up some space that I think we've been underutilizing.
01:14:13
Speaker
the ah The potential of a RBW De La Vega left-sided combination. i want it so bad. It could be fire. so bad It could be fire. yeah in it in just a whole different way than what any setup with Nuhu in there could look like.
01:14:30
Speaker
Yeah. because rbw i mean you saw that that pass he had over the the on the first chance that jordan had that was so good like that was that's the type of stuff that's in rbw's bag so uh like uh i want to see him run it with uh de la vega on the left rbw and and kkr yeah and then like maybe throw paul on the right or if if ken can get going like i'd love to see what ken can do from the right hand side Maybe that's the... Ah, I didn't even think of that. flip them both. Yeah, that's the key. You you just flip Kent and De La Vega profit.
01:15:08
Speaker
But, i mean, even if it's Ferreira in that wide channel, i really didn i've I've really liked how he's been playing over the last three, four weeks or so. It seems like he's figured out that.
01:15:20
Speaker
He's, like, starting to to build a little bit of chemistry. And it looks he looks better... Like, just this past past couple of weeks is like a flip switch for him, a switch flip for him or something. Like, I don't know what it is, but he's like, it feels like he's kind of finding his groove.
01:15:36
Speaker
I think he... ah
01:15:40
Speaker
he's figured out how he fits into this team from that position, which I think ah looking back on it, when they made that trade, I was like, I feel like this should pay off pretty fast because he's so, he's been so versatile throughout his FC Dallas career.
01:15:57
Speaker
And he's a very, he's always been a very unselfish player that he, he, Jesus Ferreira cares more about assists than scoring goals himself.
01:16:08
Speaker
Like, that's just how that's just how he's wired. So i I loved the idea when they made the trade. We were saying it the whole time of, like, how how a player like that, who's that adaptable and you can kind of slide in theoretically anywhere, could fit into this attack.
01:16:22
Speaker
And then it took it it took a while. i think it took longer than I thought for him to be able to figure out exactly how he's most effective within this like personnel, this group of players.
01:16:35
Speaker
Yeah. And what I think we're seeing is that, uh, he's used those adaptable attributes and that, that versatility to suss it out, figure out like what the best role is, how he's most effective, how he combines with everyone the best.
01:16:51
Speaker
And, uh, so we're seeing him look a lot more dangerous in that way. And then we're also finally seeing the, uh, the goal production in the last few weeks, which that's been, that's been the main thing where I look at it and I'm like, all right, that is it wasn't necessarily ideal that it took like three or four months of the season for him to start scoring goals.
01:17:12
Speaker
But now he's up to, ah what is it? He's got 11 goal contributions, all comps. So that's, that's looking good. the ah The offense just looks really good right now. It does. I mean, three goals in three games picking Can't argue with that. Seven points like.
01:17:27
Speaker
What are you going to like? It'd be nice if we weren't giving up like seven goals, like eight goals in that time. But it would be it would be nice. It would be nice if they didn't have one pressure it would probably be a little lower.
01:17:38
Speaker
Yeah, it would be nice if they hadn't had a run of games where they got five red cards and conceded six penalties and in six games. That would have been nice. But, you know we know, they are taking the results.
01:17:51
Speaker
No penalties, no ejections. It was phenomenal to to see them make it through a game without both of those things. They did give up the ah ah set piece goal. But, you know, that's if you if you win the game, I can forgive that. They did win the game.
01:18:06
Speaker
Yeah, so that was that was good to see. I mean, outside of ah out of De La Vega, what did you what did you see in this game that you liked or didn't like? um We need to get better on our set piece deliveries.
01:18:19
Speaker
Like these things are just not good right now. and Albert was really good from dead balls last year. Yeah. And. I don't know what happened. Like we, it hasn't been as he was nails on those free kicks last year. Like he was, he got so many assists from direct free kicks, corner kicks, not as much as I, as I understand it has been like an ongoing issue for us, both on like offense and defense. Like for some reason we don't defend set piece as well.
01:18:46
Speaker
And our corner kicks are just never really threatening. I think the ah set piece issue in general is one that hadn't brought up yet, but you, uh,
01:18:58
Speaker
there's There's just like a a... They set benchmarks of like how many set-piece goals that that they want to or need to hit in a given season. This season, i don't think they're anywhere like not in the ballpark of that. And then, like you mentioned, they're also giving up a fair amount of goals off set-pieces, which is its own issue.
01:19:18
Speaker
But... Yeah, i did ah I did love the Rusnak assist last night because it was that was the type of stuff that he was... that That wide service is one of his best attributes, and I feel like he's gotten his assists this year, but we haven't seen that particular type of assist as much.
01:19:37
Speaker
Just ah whipping the ball in there right on Moose's head, perfect delivery. That was good to see, and I know i know he's a good... free kick taker he has been his whole career and those things can be a high variance thing i'll say that but uh that that's another thing that would it would help a lot Yeah.
01:19:58
Speaker
And I'm wondering, because I know we like it's not just this year. It was last year to like our set or our our corner kick specifically, like we are just not threatening. And I don't know, is this like a service issue or is this just like we are not getting like guys running to the ball? We're not picking up second balls.
01:20:16
Speaker
I don't really know. Like, it doesn't really seem like the ball is getting to the player that we're looking for most of the time. And some of those balls were just like blown, like past everyone towards the garbage zone, like, like going out of bounds.
01:20:28
Speaker
um And it might just come down to you the delivery that you use for a free kick and the delivery that you use for a corner kick are not the same. And I'm wondering if the way that Albert is shaping the ball for his corner kicks is just not effective.
01:20:47
Speaker
Yeah, I don't know. ah You know what i might want um what I might do is watch some ah Minnesota United film. I don't know if you've been following this at all, but if you look at their set piece numbers. They're just like long throws for days. they're the Well, there's that, but also their free kick routines and their corner kicks.
01:21:05
Speaker
They are ah like statistically, I think the most productive set piece team in the world. yeah like oh in the level like in terms of how in terms of how many goals they generate off those situations, like statistically, if they're not number one in the world, they're like up there. They got like a whole feature in the and the Guardian about how they've just ah figured out set pieces.
01:21:32
Speaker
And they're such a weird team because they're hyper elite on set pieces. They're having the best set piece season any MLS club has ever had. And then they also do the weird Eric Ramsey anti-possession tactics.
01:21:46
Speaker
Yeah. so So... But that's like maybe... Maybe if they just copy something the Loons are doing, they'll score more off those. But no, I... I agree with that. And also, what do you, what do you make of the defense right now? Just in general about talking about those goals conceded, ah but they, they do blow the lead in the Colorado game. And then yeah they almost blew this lead. Like Espinosa whams that off the post. That could have easily been the equalizer.
01:22:15
Speaker
Yeah. how do you ah What do you see that's concerning or do you think needs to get better on that side of the ball? Um, Concerning, obviously, that we're giving up this many goals, it seems like every time Yamar comes off the field, like within the span of a couple minutes, they score.
01:22:31
Speaker
So having Yamar on the field, i mean, I think they got their first goal while he's out there, but um he's really like, I didn't realize how, like, we know he's good.
01:22:42
Speaker
I didn't realize how much of a step down it is once he's off the field. I mean, like, we're also playing, were playing J-Bell back there. um I love KKR.
01:22:53
Speaker
so like I don't really think that there's a huge drop from Alex KKR, but there's like a little bit of a defense i think defensively there probably is a little bit. yeah like KKR is a much more dynamic attacker, but Alex is just nails on defense.
01:23:07
Speaker
Yeah. So, I mean, you're playing with, you're playing a little bit more aggressively and it's kind of showing up on the score sheet, but also we're playing down like one of our best center backs.
01:23:17
Speaker
And then we're playing with a little more, but but a bit more of an aggressive wingback. So I think you're kind of are opening yourself up a little bit there, but I honestly think if once yeah Yamar's back to 90 minutes bit, I think it'll probably help a lot of those issues.
01:23:33
Speaker
um i I don't really want to see Jonathan Bell as a center back anymore. um He was getting turned a little too easily on some of those balls in behind. I don't think, ah can't remember if any of those ended up in the back of the net, but there were a couple of times where like he just got spun too easily.
01:23:54
Speaker
Yeah. I don't think they got any goal. The goals they got were the one that, uh, the left back shot by Obed and then yay Martin blocked the cross and then they get the set piece goal, but it was, I mean, that game could have had more goals on, uh,
01:24:12
Speaker
both sides could have had more goals. J bell had the one off the post. That was almost Ferreira assist. That was a nice play. I would, I wanted that one to go in and then ah Andy T had to make some, ah he was huge, crazy saves. Yeah. he What do you think of ah the Andy T stock right now?
01:24:31
Speaker
Um, he's a very aggressive goalkeeper and it's very exciting. It, that goes both ways. Um, like as an, a as an aggressive goalkeeper, you can, uh, you can make some mistakes.
01:24:46
Speaker
Like, I mean, he comes out really aggressively like he did, uh, in the midweek game and he gives up a penalty, but then he comes up with these dynamic saves, which are like, like, uh, actually adding to the, uh,
01:25:00
Speaker
expected goals against stats, your goals versus expected goals given. So I've been enjoying it.
01:25:11
Speaker
I am looking like, obviously stuff is 39 now. So there's probably not a ton of time left for him on the team. And I am not concerned about goalkeeper. Like once he retires, like I think Andy T is good enough that I think with more experience, he's just ready-made slot him in.
01:25:33
Speaker
Yeah, no, I agree. And he's a, He's so athletic. Well, like one of the, uh, one of the first things that I like noticed when I started going to training day to day, when I was back on the beat was like the goalkeepers are low key. Some of the most athletic guys on the, on the team. Like if you think about like the, uh, the kind of nimbleness and flexibility and like flying jumping around that you have to do watching it up close is like,
01:26:02
Speaker
it's so impressive. Andy T has like some of the springiest, like he's just like, why he's got hops. Like I didn't realize he was, he was like that, but yeah, yeah no, he's been, he's been great.
01:26:14
Speaker
Yeah. I've also really liked how aggressive he is coming out to claim crosses. Yeah. Cause he gets out there and there was one, he just like, but like two fisted that thing out of the, out of the 18 yard box. And I think it was collected and I think they came back and tried to put a shot on frame.
01:26:31
Speaker
But it's nice to know that he's going to come out and make it more difficult for the opposing forwards to get their head on the ball. Yeah, no, he is aggressive goalkeeper is the is the right term for him.
01:26:46
Speaker
Gianni, I got a couple people now in the queue behind you, but ah any last thoughts, takes or observations that were on your mind before we go to the next caller?
01:26:57
Speaker
ah Not too much. It's nice to see the boys continue to put the ball in the back of the net. um I don't know if three goals in... ah Three goals per game is sustainable.
01:27:10
Speaker
And I don't know what our longest run of scoring three plus goals in a game is, but I'd like Let's find out. yeah extend it and Extend it in Atlanta. that sounds ah That sounds good to me. All right. Well, Gianni, thanks as always for tapping in. Appreciate you, man. And we will catch you on the next one.
01:27:31
Speaker
All right. See you later, Rory. Yeah, take care. all right we got mish up next and then jack after that mish does not have video going so just gonna bring to the stage and hope you can hear me mish can you hear me yeah i can okay i got you awesome what is going on how are you feeling after a uh 3-2 win over san jose last night no man i mean it was a really good game i really enjoyed the uh the play uh some of it was really good some of it was really bad so as as it goes
01:28:06
Speaker
Yeah. and what What did you think of ah of the offense? You know, like you said, there was some positives and negatives.
Game Highlights and Adaptations
01:28:13
Speaker
Positives, three goals, ah yeah Moose, Brace, er and De La Vega breakout game.
01:28:20
Speaker
They do concede two goals, almost blow the lead at the end. Where are you at in terms of what you saw on offense versus the the defensive pressure they were under at the end? Yeah, so at the beginning, I was really intrigued by the by the lineup that Brian put up, especially thinking that it was going to be rotation.
01:28:39
Speaker
And kind of he did like half rotation and then assumed like he was going to use five subs to do the rest of the rotation depending on the game. But then Morris got knocked out like second minute of the game.
01:28:53
Speaker
and that that was just crazy, especially with him just being back. Because also, like I see there's the connection between Ferreira and Morris seems to be getting really good.
01:29:07
Speaker
yeah And then all of a sudden, like he goes out and then he brings Musavsky and it's like almost that kind of style of play has just left the field. Because couple times, Ferreira had tried to catch the moose somewhere here and there, but it's like they're not on the same page. So then De La Vega just,
01:29:27
Speaker
steps up and like does really well all of a sudden like it seems like the team was kind of expected them to be disappointed when Morris got out but then they also like collectively stepped up to to get up to the game and I feel like that there was energy there that was awesome that's ah That's a good point, actually. like when you When you have a player get injured like that, especially like you said, Jordan Morris just coming back, it can be like demoralizing on the field for for the other players, and it can sometimes affect how they play, at least in the short term.
01:30:06
Speaker
And I thought outside of the response from San Jose scoring first, They also, after after Jordan went down, they they scored, they Moose scored right away. So that that was, i think, like an example of some mental fortitude that has perhaps been lacking in recent weeks with the five red cards and six penalties.
01:30:28
Speaker
yeah So that was another good aspect of the performance ah ah offensively. But ah what do you think was ah what do you think got into De La Vega? Is it as simple as what we've been talking about with... ah him moving to the left and playing his more natural position or yeah just more confident? did you think?
01:30:46
Speaker
Yeah, if you look back when he did really well against LAFC the first time, he was also playing that position. I feel like that's kind of his comfort zone. But because the competition is high on the left side now, like kindda we're stuck with like a lot of good players on that position between Rothrock, Kent, and him.
01:31:06
Speaker
So seems like as Bryan is trying to find him in another spot, just like he's doing with Ferreira, putting him on the right. So being in that position seems like, oh, he found the ball again. And like with the space and how open the game was and how each team was really trying to get after it, it seemed like it was just like the perfect storm for him to get that grip on the ball and actually like feel like he belongs. That's what it seems like to me. i don't know.
01:31:37
Speaker
Yeah, he just looked so much more more comfortable, was finding the ball more. he was finding space to run a lot more. And then that shot that he hit was just an insane thought.
01:31:49
Speaker
And he dribbled a couple of times, too. so it's like, that we haven't seen that in a while. You know what was crazy about that shot is he you could tell he knew it was in as soon as he hit it. youre like You know how when like a baseball player like sits there and watches it and like flips the bat? like he yeah he was like celebrating before that ball even went in.
01:32:09
Speaker
that must God, that must have been a good feeling. like yeah Yeah, I'm hoping we can see more of this. But now, OK, the real question is, OK, what are we going to do on the left side? Because all of our big performers are on the left between those three.
01:32:24
Speaker
I mean, Kent still hasn't really shined up again, but potentially given given the chance he might. But I don't know, depth? but I don't know with Brian stuff. It's like, it's, it's crazy.
01:32:37
Speaker
i mean, I, I could think he can think, but at the end it's Brian is going to do what Brian does. So exactly. yeah ah All right, Mish. Well, I got it. I got a couple calls behind you, but ah any last thoughts or takes or observations you wanted to, to get out there either about this game or the stretch run of the season coming up here?
01:32:57
Speaker
No, I mean, it seems like Brian wouldn't do a lot of rotation at the moment. I hope he's not ah can or like he ah betting that we're just going to leave after the group stage and League's Cup and get the rest we want. So he's pushing the team now.
01:33:13
Speaker
ah But defensively, as crazy as has been, i feel like the last couple minutes of that of yesterday's game, we held up our ground ah very well, especially with Andrew Thomas.
01:33:25
Speaker
He's doing very well, although like with the lack of experience. But man, what one more can you ask of the guy? yeah Yeah, he gives up the penalty in the ah Colorado game. But other than that, like, exactly. Like, he having to step in and deputize like this when hasn't played a lot. Yeah, that's quite a skill kick save Martinez.
01:33:46
Speaker
That was boss level. That was awesome. And he he made a few of them. But all right, Mish, thank you so much for calling in. Great stuff. Yeah, thanks, man. Yeah, take care. We'll catch you next time. See you.
01:33:58
Speaker
All right, we got Jack up next, then we got Hunch after that. Jack's got his video going. in can you hear Yeah, he's got the thumbs up. He's got the guitars in the background. Jack, how is it going? Yeah, what Ari? Long time, first time. Happy to be here.
01:34:09
Speaker
Thanks for tapping in. ah How are you feeling after a 3-2 victory over San Jose? I mean, i'm feeling I'm feeling great. I mean, it was a ton of fun to watch. I mean, it's great to see Pedro step up and do what you know we all have been wanting him to do.
01:34:25
Speaker
for ages. I think for him too, it's like finally getting to see him get one of those bangers and have it count. Yes. Cause he had, I mean like a, had that one in the champions cup game. They got called off for not his offside, but someone else fair barely being offsides. And then that one last year in leagues cup where he had that like crazy curler that was called off for the Obed offsides.
01:34:48
Speaker
Yeah. I kind of forgot about those. He gets the full celebration that actually fully counts. I mean, yeah, it just feels, feels good to see that. that's ah That's a good poll because when we talk about his lack of production, you know it is true. like he He's had like almost 50 games, all comps, with the with the club. and he it's it it was like five goals, three assists or something coming into last night's game.
01:35:13
Speaker
But he has been like so unlucky, so snakebit. There was the the incredible Leagues Cup goal he scored last year. There was the one and the one that you mentioned as well.
01:35:25
Speaker
What was the second one? Oh, the freaking Cruz Azul game. Yeah, the Cruz Azul. That could have changed the whole series. The whole thing, yeah. i Because we if we come out of that game 1-0, I mean, that just makes the whole game in Mexico look different.
01:35:38
Speaker
Like, yeah, I mean, I think that's like and that was i mean that was a pretty rough one. But, yeah, good to see that. I mean, even without the hair, he still has the power. So, get the good to see that.
01:35:49
Speaker
Like, I wonder, like, so I think someone alluded to this in chat, if, like, part of him not playing over there is the whole New Who situation, where it's like, I cannot see them playing on that side together. Like, that's just really hard to envision that working out in any way.
01:36:04
Speaker
um but like, I mean, as far as the idea of New Who combining with any left winger as, like, an attacking duo, I don't know if there's much, if it's, like, it makes a difference if it's de la vega or anyone else in that regard you know what i mean yeah i mean like kent seemed to make it work at least for oh yeah that is true and i wonder if that's almost hurt kent too or like that was his like introduction into like his like combination with the team is with new who but like that was like kind of like that wasn't gonna do well for him long term i think with the team like there's like you know building attacking chemistry and everything but i don't know it'd be interesting to see interesting to see what ends up happening over there
01:36:44
Speaker
Johnny's asking about the timeline for the Morris injury so that can lead us into and this next topic ah recovery time i I don't I didn't say the recovery time we don't know that yet.
01:36:56
Speaker
but I've been seeing people say eight weeks, but I think that's just people speculating on like the type of surgery. Anytime I hear surgery, yeah I'm thinking four to six minimum. That's just usually what we're talking about.
01:37:07
Speaker
And then depending on the severity of the AC injury, it could be longer than four to six. It's kind of it's a long-term injury, guys. like It's not like a he's going to be back for Atlanta type situation. Yeah.
01:37:21
Speaker
Which sucks, but ah Jack, what did you make of ah the Moose brace? You know, Moose is up to eight goals, two assists this year. like Yeah, I mean, it's crazy. I mean, I think I'm with everyone where I had that moment early in the season where like we just need to get anyone else out there instead of him, and then he just fully proved all of us wrong.
01:37:39
Speaker
He did. no Yeah, it's been yeah great to see. yeah He just keeps putting it up. I mean, I think that's because, yeah, credit to having both, you know, Grusenak and De La Vega putting in good service for him. But, I mean, he was able to get it. Like, those are were some tough headers to get to, and he just, you know, put those right away. Especially the first one.
01:37:56
Speaker
Yeah, seriously. So, that was, like, yeah, like, really good work on his part to run in there and get those and take those down. So, yeah, I mean, yeah, definitely feel like, good with him there, especially with all the attacking power behind him.
01:38:07
Speaker
But, like, I don't know if, like, Like, are we going to get like o sae a little more of a run? Like, is he going to get some try? Because like, I mean, if Ferreira is kind of solidifying himself on that right hand side, it's like, yes, he can like step in do the 9 roll.
01:38:19
Speaker
As well, but it seems like he's better suited on that right side, at least now. So do we at least see all that? I get to try to see. I mean, if everyone else is kind of firing behind him, like if he can put some stuff away to that, that feel pretty good.
01:38:32
Speaker
Oh, yeah, yeah it's it's a good question because the way I'm thinking of it right now is that this is what I expect Schmetz to do, which is, you know, Moose is the starter. but ah But in the Moose contingency situation, it'll be just Ferreira sliding over. That's what I think he's going to do.
01:38:50
Speaker
But what he could and arguably should do is is run osaze a little more and just see just see ah yeah if it if it works there are opportunities especially with leagues cup coming up i mean if he got his first goal that he should have gotten like i feel like i wonder like what that changed like ah him being just put out there more i think it would like he really yeah he's i mean he that's like pretty much the only chance he's like actually had i mean he's been run out for a little bit but in terms of like a clear-cut chance i mean he's maybe had a couple others but Yeah, like I mean, I think that definitely changes it if in his first five minutes of playing, he got a goal.
01:39:25
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. there You're talking about the one he skied and whatever. Yeah, yeah, yeah. yeah yeah i I do think that if he puts that away, it does change like the whole narrative and people are like, oh, yeah so give Osaze more run. I i think that... ah I would hope that they at least find some opportunities to at least try that and see if there's anything there and see if that's something that you can go to in in a situation where Moose is unavailable or needs to rotate out or whatever the case may be. Because it just it just feels like you do need to be more than too deep at that.
Lineup Flexibility and Player Roles
01:40:02
Speaker
yeah position you you need a third option that you can go to that's that you can credibly believe will perform and right now i think it's sort of up in the air what that would be beyond moose and then false nine ferreira which i'm not like super against that i think that uh it's something that he can do but i think you're right he is kind of finding his uh coming into his own in that wide channel so uh That's I think that and what we were talking about with the ah with the double pivot. What do you what do you make of that situation with ah Christian and Obed famous? I mean, yeah, I mean, it's rough. I mean, like, you'd love to see Christian get a break. I mean, I think it's just like I don't I mean, I think Schmetz seems to maybe eluded. It might happen during League's Cup.
01:40:46
Speaker
But I think it has to. Yeah. like But then so what do you do? What do you do? and like Yeah, I don't know. I mean, I think of the options you have, I think. Trying Alex out there is not, I think that might be one of the best things to at least give it a shot. And was like, maybe do that in Leagues Cup where it's like, you're not as worried versus like, I think he has been like, they're stressing about getting some results right now to climb up a bit, make up for some lost ground. So I think he's like kind of pushing hard there, but yeah, maybe try that out in Leagues Cup.
01:41:14
Speaker
You had JP going down. It's just super rough. Cause like, I mean, was, you could just definitely tell some of these last games, it would have been great to be able to just slot him in there. And then, i mean, I think it adds like pressure to try and like, if you're going to fill a slot, like gotta, you gotta get some backup there because like also like, I mean, Obed's probably going to be gone sooner rather in than later. So yeah you need to fill something in there. So.
01:41:35
Speaker
Yeah, hopefully they can figure something out. But for like what the piece that they have right now, I think get try i think try Alex out and let's just see. I mean, he's played every other position. so Exactly. but if you have ah If you have injuries, if you have a a questionable depth situation, you just plug a Roldan in there and it's fine. that's just yeah they've been They've been doing it for years. They just did it a couple weeks ago at center back. So yeah I think they are going to try that.
01:42:01
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, I guess like an Alex rolled on Danny Laiva double pivot. Is that what we' we're talking about? Like, I mean, I'm okay with it. Hopefully if you try it out, you're trying out, you're maybe slotting him in with Obed to at least try it. Like not doing a full switch up there if going to.
01:42:15
Speaker
But I mean, like, as I guess like when you're going have to, have to try it out at some point. Yeah. But like, I mean, other than that, like, I don't really know, like. Cause like, I mean, you can't have Danny Leyva arresting both of them. And I think they don't trust him to come in for Christian's role.
01:42:28
Speaker
It doesn't seem like that. He's just not that type of player. Yeah. The, the kind of the conclusion I've come to with it is that,
01:42:37
Speaker
the The whole kind of idea of the double pivot is that you have differing complementary skill sets. And if you have like the same type of player in there, it's probably not going to function as at as high a level.
01:42:50
Speaker
So that's sort of what they have to figure out is i don't i don't think it's like a Schmetz doesn't trust Danny Leyva. He's played Danny Leyva a lot. Yeah, yeah. I think they liked him more at the 10 subbing in for... More advanced role. But like if they are going to play Danny Leyva in the double pivot...
01:43:05
Speaker
they To me, it seems pretty clear they want it to be with a partner who complements his skill set and doesn't have the same skill set. I think a Danny Leyva, Obed, Double Pivot, they're too similar in in their types of profile. Yeah. for and I think even just having like a more senior player too, I think like having complimentary in terms of just like their and MLS experience, like just having someone that is a little more senior in there with the younger guy.
01:43:32
Speaker
They could be part of it as well. But yeah, just the profiles for them, they just don't seem to line up in the same way. Whereas Alex is more of the profile that you're... Yeah, think so. I mean, I guess, yeah, we don't... Yeah, we've never seen him... I don't think he's ever played that role. Not in MLS, but he was a central midfielder at Seattle U. I want to say he was even... He was more advanced. He's probably more of Yeah. He was more of like 10, but like... Yeah. But it did play deeper. Well, what was he for... Was it El Salvador, right, where he was...
01:44:02
Speaker
That he was like a winger or a 10? They had him like a peer attacker. Yeah. Which is what he was in college. And I guess like kind of on that line, if we're looking to, so for the left back position, if we're trying to move off a new who, what do we think about either of the Pauls sliding into that role? Obviously, Ariel is not able to do that now, but like.
01:44:26
Speaker
for ah For what position, sorry? For like the full back position the left i I like the idea of either of the Pauls at fullback.
01:44:37
Speaker
Areola, that was something that I was actually expecting him to do at times this year. Yeah, he's playing the wingback position, so like I feel like yes sliding him back just a little further, I feel like that seems... It's logical, and I think you could say the same thing for Rothrock, and I think Rothrock's skill set is... It lends itself to wingback. He's got the motor for it. He's got the motor, he's he presses, he works hard on defense. I think he's...
01:45:02
Speaker
he's not like uh, elite one V one defender, but he, he scraps and he gets after it. So that, that all makes sense. And then he is, uh, he's dangerous from out wide. He has really good service from out wide. And, uh,
01:45:16
Speaker
can make runs for Pedro being a little more central too. So I think yeah, it allows like Paul to kind of fully get on the wings. Like, I don't know. I think it could be interesting to see. I think you'd feel better about it once you have Jackson uh, Yem are kind of fully back in the back line. Like once that gets a little more solidified, I mean, that hasn't felt fully we solid in like, well, like two months.
01:45:36
Speaker
So it'd just be nice to have, like, feel some more comfort back there before you try something out like that. But I don't know. Like, I mean, we're trying to yeah figure out where everyone fits in, getting all the best players on the field at the same time, like maybe trying him back there could be good.
01:45:50
Speaker
Yeah, no, I actually, i'm I'm pretty into that idea as far as ways to, if you if you want a left back option in there, that sort of, it's like a medium between ah um RBW being super good in attack, but ah making some defensive errors.
01:46:11
Speaker
Yeah. And like, but then Nuhu being better defender, but giving you nothing in attack. So yeah, it's maybe that's the middle ground. Yeah, that could work out. I don't know. Yeah, just be you nice to see. And then, yeah, next year like when, like, Paul Ariel is back, I mean, you're going to have to find some role for him in, like, that left winger position. Like, you just can't add him into the depth chart there because that's just too deep already. So, and they're not really doing, like, the, well, like, the 3-4-3. They're not doing too much of that anymore.
01:46:38
Speaker
So, I don't know. Yeah, got to find some spots for him. Yeah, wing wing back Pauls. I like the idea. jack I got a hunch in the queue behind you, but ah any last thoughts, takes, or observations about this game or the season going forward that were on your mind?
01:46:53
Speaker
No, I mean, yeah just like yeah, just happy to see a team that actually goes out there and scores <unk> goals. It's definitely been a lot more fun It's been way more fun going to games this season. Even like the bad games have been like fun. like The Minnesota game was the most fun loss I think I've ever been to.
01:47:08
Speaker
if you You're going to lose some games over the course of the season, but if you ah I think we can all live with it a lot more. if they're If they're being entertaining, they're scoring goals, like a shootout type game where you lose 3-2 or 4-3, that's way more like it's easier to take than 1-0 where you want to gouge your eyes out the whole time.
01:47:30
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. Yeah. but No, yeah. And ah the the hot sauce is good. I love that shit. Oh, hell yeah. Thank you so much for, for copping that. Appreciate it. Jack, thank you so much for calling in and we'll catch you next time. Call in again, please. Yeah, sounds good. Yeah. Catch you next time.
01:47:47
Speaker
Yeah. Take care.
01:47:50
Speaker
Thanks to Jack for hopping on there. We got we got hunch in the queue. He's the last one. I'll drop the ah link in one more time. If anyone else after hunch wants to jump, jump on, I'm good to take a couple more, but if not, we'll wrap it up with hunch right here.
01:48:10
Speaker
Hunch. I got you on the stage. Can you hear me? Yeah. What is up, man? How are you feeling after a ah three, two win over San Jose? And it's hard to know anymore. ah ah Happy, of course, with the wins and and the trend overall, um which is interesting.
01:48:28
Speaker
um But I'm going to come back to that. I want to start with ah sort of like specific performances and we'll go back to grand scheme, I think. But overall positive, I think, just in general. I mean, who's going to complain about a win?
01:48:40
Speaker
A win where they score three goals, there's not much to complain about. ah Yeah, exactly. um So, like, individual players, I thought Danny had, you know, he obviously balled out a brace in less than 90.
01:48:53
Speaker
I mean, how can you argue with that? And maybe he had a chip on his shoulder saying, okay, bring me off the bench. Just watch this. I don't know. ha ha but he... he He played ah like he was a man on a mission, I think. And I'm glad for him, especially considering his career best year already.
01:49:15
Speaker
Yeah, no, moose is ah Moose has been on fire like ah pretty much all season when he's gotten his opportunities. like yeah And after that brace, he's got eight goals, two assists, and it it gives you more I think it gives you more confidence that the attack can keep producing ah with Jordan out again.
01:49:38
Speaker
just sucks because, mean, obviously Jordan just got back, and he's looked great great this year when he's played like it's not like an issue of of that it's just uh it's just like a cursed year for him i guess it's just really unlucky but uh well what else did you see i thought hazes had a good game i know didn't um you know he didn't have the danny type performance but i still thought he did well um Which went along with, I thought, Resnack had a pretty good game as well, or a very good game as far as that goes.
01:50:11
Speaker
um You pointed out earlier, and and I'll even go further. He does well in wide positions. That cross, he was out wide in ah back when they were in, was it Kansas City?
01:50:25
Speaker
where Jesus scored. Jesus had tucked up underneath and passed it out to Resnac, who was wide, who then assisted back to Jesus for the goal. Yeah, yeah.
01:50:35
Speaker
So Resnac does well wide, but I think... given his goal scoring, you know, tendencies, he finds himself wanting to be in the middle for the shots as well. So he, I think he plays conflicted a little bit, but it's also where we started. We started him in the middle. So, um you know, he has ownership of that space, but you can see how Jesus and him swapping, especially in the flow of the game has been productive.
01:50:58
Speaker
Yeah. That, uh, that cross that Rusnak puts in on the, uh, on the moose goal is one that that that that that wide service like where he ranges out that far but can still hit it like on a dime that's what i think one of his best attributes is his ability to to send that service in and like that pass you cannot hit you can't place it any better So yeah, it was a roof snack. It was good to see him get another goal contribution 17 for the year. So he's on pace for another year where he's going to put up some crooked numbers, which that's, ah that's what you want.
01:51:37
Speaker
Uh, What did you think of the De La Vega breakout, Hunch? I got to ask. what was So a couple of things. One, we need to cool our jets. Kent had an amazing game at the beginning and we've gone over him since.
01:51:49
Speaker
we We need to see consistency from Pedro De La Vega, but I'm big on him. We talked a couple shows couple weeks ago that last year was a nothing year. It did not count and from the perspective of the organization.
01:52:01
Speaker
They were getting him healthy. They were getting him fit. them He's definitely, you know, grown in stature ah in terms of just you can see that he is in a different physical shape from when we got him. And and he's a kid. I mean, it's the first time, my knowledge, that he's left his country He's here. He had to make all the adjustments last year. He was injured.
01:52:22
Speaker
He comes with a $7 million dollars price tag, whether he wanted it or not. so you know, he's walking around the organization where knowing he's got the internal pressure, like last year to me, just I'm throwing it away.
01:52:32
Speaker
And this year is the production, you know, we're trying to carve him out of wood here. Like, and we're going to see what we get. And this whole year, I think is an experiment to do exactly that. And i mean, you hear Brian talk about him.
01:52:44
Speaker
ah That seems to be the approach is like we're seeing what we can do. We're seeing if he's improving, which he's committing in practice and on the field. And as long as we continue to see those results, you know, that's what we're hopeful for.
01:52:54
Speaker
But I think there's a little bit of experimentation and a little bit of like mentoring if or however you want to put it in terms of just trying to grow him as a player and and not just expect that, you know, he's a solution automatically.
01:53:08
Speaker
So I'm hopeful, still big on it, and I still want to this year play out. But you can see that we've got a high ceiling here. Yeah, exactly. like I agree with what you're saying. like ah we We should – and this this is directed at myself. We should learn from a the the Ryan Kent situation in that – I've been saying I fully stand by our evaluation of the first couple Ryan Kent games.
01:53:31
Speaker
he looked He looked absolutely incredible in those games. He was flat-out dominant. ah But we do need to see De La Vega sustain it over like ah the course of a full complement of games and minutes before we declare it a true full-on breakout. But what was so encouraging to me was just just the fact that he can do that.
01:53:53
Speaker
you know yes like that ah Both of the goal contributions he got. the ah The assist was a fantastic pass to be able to pick that out. And then the technique on that with the Jordan Morris like outside of the foot, like that that is a picture-perfect dime.
01:54:12
Speaker
And then the goal is absolutely world-class. like That is a a finish where any league in the world, if you saw a guy do that, you would be like, that is a world-class goal. He set that up.
01:54:23
Speaker
He set that up at at midfield. You can watch it. yeah He receives the ball. He's attacking down the left. He already knows. he's got He's got the defender with him, defender. He knows as soon as he makes the one touch to turn the defender and the defender turns his back away from him, it's one touch to the inside. The defender does not have a time to reset and he instantly shoots the ball to the top right corner. He knew exactly where he wanted to be. He knew exactly when he wanted to turn that defender and he knew exactly when that moment happened, it was going be an immediate shot and all of it was executed. like He knew at midfield what he was going to do when he made that attack run, if it opened up for him. like if If the defender closes him down, obviously you he could modify but
01:55:01
Speaker
And that's that's the confidence we want to see from him. But if that's also his comfort level, then, you know, let's let's get him a little more comfortable. Let's give him those opportunities to settle. Because when he does that, he plays confidently. I'm being redundant here, but it's it's, I think he's been shaky since last year. And it has to do with all the things, you know,
01:55:24
Speaker
moving here, language, you know being healthy, not healthy, having results in the games. like I think a little bit of him having high performances will mature him and bring him along that much quicker.
01:55:37
Speaker
Yeah. so and ah I think what we're going to see to a Creature's comment and in chat, I think he's definitely going to get run here. like the Especially with Leagues Cup coming on, like everyone's going to be playing. But I think Just how good he looked at on that ah at that left wing spot.
01:55:57
Speaker
ah You're right. Like the ah it's it's such a potential game changer for the for the ceiling of this team. If he if he can look anywhere like close to that consistently.
01:56:09
Speaker
yeah Yeah. mean, the problem is is I think if we have more competition for one spot on this team, it's left winger. ah it's so That's not great. If he plays like that, he's going to win that competition. yes That's the thing.
01:56:24
Speaker
As somebody who has been saying, like, ah it makes perfect sense that Paul Rothrock has been a starter on this team lately because of ah the end product that he's offering and just how he looks.
01:56:37
Speaker
that De La Vega offers just an entirely different upside than, ah than any, than really anyone else. Ryan Kent is a skillset and his whole thing in theory is comparable to De La Vega.
01:56:51
Speaker
But in terms of what we've seen in recent weeks and how De La Vega looked last night where he took over the game and won Seattle, the game,
01:57:04
Speaker
that's that's just like a That's just a different level, I think, than anyone else that we've seen in that in that spot. what a lot of yeah There's a lot of opportunity and flexibility here. So let's say you start paid Pedro ah on the left.
01:57:17
Speaker
You could start Kent on the right just to see what he does. I don't know what Paul would do on the right. You obviously could have Jesus on the right. um There's a lot of opportunity there, but let's say you bring Rusnak off you know in the 70th, and let's say you started Jesus.
01:57:30
Speaker
Well, you take Jesus from the right, you tuck him inside, bring him central, and then you bring on anybody else on that right side, Roth, Roth, Kent, whomever. like There's opportunity for flexibility, especially with the complementary styles of Rusnak and Jesus.
01:57:45
Speaker
mean, you sub either the one of them off, although hey I don't think, well, as we discussed, Rusnak on the wing does really well as well. I just don't think we're putting anybody in the middle. It's more of you bring somebody on to you bring him off slide. height he's Well, opportunity, flexibility.
01:58:00
Speaker
I kind of like the idea of ah of flipping Ryan Kent to the other to the other side. now just Yeah, it was just ah they it worked with De La Vega. You switched you switched sides and he looked incredible. Maybe that's what it takes to get ah Ryan Kent back looking like Ryan Kent again. It really feels like Kent is in his own head to me. Like, it just feels like yeah he's trying too hard when he he's taking those guys on like when because they're double and triple teaming them.
01:58:22
Speaker
And he's like, well why i still have to win this battle? It's like you don't. You don't. You can recycle it. Yeah, pull it back. You've pulled someone open if three people are marking you. there's so There's at least two other people in the field who do not have a defender on them right now. Yeah, yeah. And, like, we've been – I've been kind of attributing that issue with him to, like, a – team-wide uh like inability to adjust to how teams scattered him up and are attacking that too but it's like it is his individual situation uh decision making does play into the situation well i think he has some that same mentality ah as as maybe pedro had and that is like i'm coming in
01:58:57
Speaker
You know maybe with the price tag, maybe with this expectation, I need to perform that level. I can't be giving the ball up. I can't be thinking about pass first. I need to win this. I need to show my skill. And what he did in those first couple of games, because people were surprised by him.
01:59:09
Speaker
Well, now they've adjusted and I don't care how good you are. You know, if a team's going dedicate three and four people to you, you know, there may be one or two people in the world who could handle that. Yeah, yeah.
01:59:21
Speaker
But like the reason that ah it's a dangerous defensive strategy to send two, three guys at ah at one one person is because it unbalances you and it leaves other people with space and can you it can create opportunities.
01:59:36
Speaker
The onus is on the team that is getting hit with the double and triple teams to like take advantage of that. And it depends on where on the field you do it too. If they close him down at midfield, then there's plenty of risk to be taken behind them because you're not bringing your center backs to be one of those two or three people.
01:59:50
Speaker
you're bringing your midfielders, your outside winger, maybe be a forward, they can afford to expend that because you're not jeopardizing the back line. Yeah. But if they do it deep in the field, then there's a problem. Although they still have done that, but they bring someone from up top. I feel like that's what they're doing more. It's when he's like out, it's like when he's out on the flank trying to cut inside, like in into the box and get service in there.
02:00:11
Speaker
And what what teams are doing is, i mean, they have the his one-v-one defender. Right. And they'll send another guy – Like every team, i think some team figured this out and every other team has copied it.
Player Adaptation and Future Starters
02:00:25
Speaker
copied it they They play zone defense behind it.
02:00:27
Speaker
Like they have a guy floating behind him. And if he does make it by the first guy or some cases, the double team, then they have another guy. Exactly. He'll shed one of the two. One will stick with them, but they're aware of that. And then as soon as they he shed the one, another one will come back and be the second.
02:00:44
Speaker
Like they down that right side or left side in his perspective, they're, um They're prepared to constantly have a swinging two people coming that way, as long as he doesn't break free of all of them.
02:00:55
Speaker
But yeah, so I still still big on Kent. um I just think he needs to figure it out. There's the same situation, new to the country, new to this amount of travel. you know had a couple years off or whatever much time he had at his last club and you know brought in with some like hey we expect a lot out of you kind of situation which that's fair but i just don't feel like he's still settled it's been rubber banding for him up and down up and down i'd like to see him going level out and i think like if he's around till next year which they asked him at the business meeting i mean it sounds like his contract is only this year he says he wants to stay but
02:01:30
Speaker
you know if we have ariel coming back and him back and rothrock and we put pedro over there unless they find different positions. I don't know how ah that works out. like they they have to They have to... If they want to keep him, they just have to do some roster maneuvering. They can't have ah Paul Areola come back on the books and also exactly have Ryan Kent's hit and then still be cap compliant. So and ask to they have to... I mean, the oh I think what could affect this is the potential Obed sale.
02:02:01
Speaker
But also what's going to affect this is if he... if he looks like he's got to start looking like the player that he did his first couple games on the team again.
02:02:11
Speaker
And then i think that makes it like a legitimately ah very, very, like a tough decision because, you know, you got to think about the ah the cap and the roster compliance and all that.
02:02:24
Speaker
But if he looks if he looks that good, then I think I would want them to keep him. But right now, the pecking order seems it seems pretty clear that it's this is a De La Vega, Rothrock, left winger rotation.
02:02:38
Speaker
Yeah, and I mean, Jesus has gotten more into the into the chemistry of the team working with Resnack and with whoever's up top. we're not really talking about who Kent's working with. And I, mostly because his, his lack of performance has to do with being dispossessed. So it's hard to know who he's established a good chemistry, whether it's the left back behind him, which him and New Who had a little bit of one there for a minute, but it's, that's been so inconsistent with just New Who on the field, but also who's on the, you center mid and who's in the,
02:03:09
Speaker
just on his side of the field. Like he it's, I don't know what the chemistry is there. I don't know good pairing. I don't, we need to see more just because of, like I said, where it's kind of turned down as of recently.
02:03:19
Speaker
If he, if he jives with some of those players on that side, then you know maybe, maybe we'll unlock him by the same token. Maybe we put them on the right. Maybe we'll unlock him. I don't know. And it would be nice, especially if he's getting double teamed to really throw a curve ball to those other teams.
02:03:35
Speaker
to switch them during the game left to right. Cause are they prepared to double them up on the other side? You do that enough. Suddenly they get miss marked and then people are really coming open. and So it'd be interesting to see if in real time we can them to the right.
02:03:51
Speaker
um Let's see here. Thomas had a good game. He's obviously getting aggressive because he's, well, he's, he's aggressive overall, but he's feeling comfortable. And so he's taking more risks, I would say. And that's just,
02:04:04
Speaker
you know you you've you've you're familiar he's very green in that respect but i still say he's heir apparent and absolutely glad that he's going to be whenever steph um decides to call it a career that you know thomas is here if if steph goes another year though and Thomas is as good as he is, um how much longer will he want to sit is question.
02:04:27
Speaker
i think my understanding of it, and i don't I could be wrong, but my impression is that he is very much of the mind, like, I'm good with staying patient for as long as Steph Frye wants to play. And if i if i have if I have to be the backup for another year or two, like going into this year, probably how was thinking of If have to be a backup for another year or two, I'm cool with that because...
02:04:55
Speaker
I know that, you know, he's 26. So if he becomes the starter when when he's 27 or 28, goalkeepers can play. Like, you know, we see what Steph's doing. He's exactly 39.
02:05:06
Speaker
So I don't get the impression that Andy T is a situation where he feels like I need to be starting by this time. Otherwise i want to leave. I think he's, ah he's like got roots here at this point.
02:05:22
Speaker
but And he's set for a career if he does. because yeah And of all the teams in the U.S. at least, you'd want to be basically lifetime contract, which not that it would be that, but effectively it would be that ah given his his potential.
02:05:35
Speaker
you know Why would you go somewhere else and risk unless somebody was just immediately trying to sign you? Why would you like why would you not want to have the rest of your career here as a starter even if a year later? Yeah, I mean, it's good gig.
02:05:48
Speaker
um let's Let's talk about things. Well, The ref.
Refereeing Controversies
02:05:55
Speaker
Oh, we haven't done any ref discourse yet. Let's do it. So all of the benefit of the doubt that we don't get in like these last four matches where the yes second yells are coming instantly and like there's contact in the box and it's like, oh, it's a penalty.
02:06:09
Speaker
Like no VR are necessary. Just called straight out. How many opportunities was there for anything along those lines? And it's just nope, nope, nope, nope. nope Not even a look. Okay, i'm I'm glad that you brought this up, actually, because I did have a grievance about this.
02:06:24
Speaker
i You know, I try not to be the ref guy. I try not to be the ref guy. And, you know, i don't think it was the worst officiated game I've ever seen in this game. but But here's what I will say.
02:06:38
Speaker
Here's what I will say. There were two calls, two calls in this game, one on Albert Rusnak and one on Obed Vargas, where it was ah kind of soft contact in the box and they go down and the ref waves it off.
02:06:52
Speaker
Those are getting called on Seattle right now. no There is no difference between those those calls that ah that they let go on Rusnak and Obed Vargas than there is on the ones that Moose got called for in Kansas City and that Christian got called for against Colorado.
02:07:09
Speaker
they It's the same thing. And if you are going to call that on Seattle... Then if it happens to them on the other end, you have to call that. There is no like, there's no way around that to me.
02:07:21
Speaker
There's not like there. If, if it's the exact same type of foul and exact same type of contact, you can't not give it just because you gave one before and you're like, Oh, well that's kind of soft. I don't want to give another one.
02:07:33
Speaker
It has to be like a uniform standard. Like, can I get some consistency? Yeah. Yeah. And to play devil's advocate, kit let's be fair here. And I 100% agree with you. That has to do with reference standards.
02:07:44
Speaker
What we asked for is a ref to be consistent through a match. And we can't really say ah ref in a different game is going to ref the way this game is. But to your point, the standard needs to be the standard. And you know different standards were applied in different games.
02:07:58
Speaker
I can give you a comparison in this game where this guy was not consistent. um there was in the first half a cross from the outside i don't know who it was uh left side of the box went to go cross in defender came over with a handball in the box because the cross hit his hand ref said nothing no paul no penalty no call Later then, in the second half, Jesus Ferreira, not in the box, in our end of the defensive field, is down there blocking a cross coming in from their defender. Same thing, five to 10 yards away.
02:08:32
Speaker
Arm is down against his body, hits his hand, ref calls a handball because it's not in the box. Same exact type play. Now, I get that you don't want to penalize defenders ah you know in the box who are trying to defend and when it's a bang, bang play like that, but it shouldn't have been a call against Jesus. We should have retained the possession there.
02:08:50
Speaker
just because it was outside the box. And if you listened, I'm sure you probably didn't because you were there. you listened to the announcers, there was said again and again and again, Zach Awani was pointing it out. If it's a foul outside the box, and there were a number of calls where that was true, then it's a foul when it's inside the box.
02:09:07
Speaker
That cleat up to the thigh of, was it Danny? No, that was, who was that? I can't remember.
02:09:20
Speaker
Might have been. I can't remember. ah Was it Mosovsky? but it might It might have been. I honestly don't remember. there There is no incidental, your cleat goes into my thigh that isn't a foul anywhere under any circumstances. No, yeah. Zero.
02:09:34
Speaker
I cannot think of any other time where it's like, well, he just graced his thigh with the studs. Jack says it was De La Vega. I think that's right. I think it was. Yeah, it was De La Vega. It was because he's like, what are you talking about? if I could see his face with his arms up.
02:09:49
Speaker
That is nonsense. And the fact that it was so bad. And the guy, I mean, I'm not going to fault him for the Jordan play, but I thought that was a card in real time because it was aggressive. I think so, too.
02:10:01
Speaker
I think so, too. Like, i I don't know. I get that he like he got to the ball way before the collision or whatever, but like he cleaned him out so hard. You like, yeah, that's a great example of something that I've had a a conversation with this last week with several people.
02:10:17
Speaker
And we need to we need to put this aside, including announcers, and and it'll never happen. Getting the ball. does not precipitate or eliminate that a foul occurred. Exactly. As a player gets the ball, it doesn't mean there's not a foul.
02:10:30
Speaker
And because a player doesn't get the ball, doesn't mean it wasn't like if you get the ball, it helps your case, but you couldn't, you couldn't clean somebody out and still get the ball and it can still be a foul. So let's just remove that as criteria.
02:10:42
Speaker
Yeah. Um, but yeah, it gets repeated again, again, the other one, um What was it? So, uh, Oh, there was the pullback in the late and like an extra time. Uh, and I think it was De La Vega again.
02:10:57
Speaker
Wasn't he La Vega? Were they the Jersey tug? Yes. He, that defender to his left was behind him and only being pulled back, put that defender in front of him. He, the defender who who pulled him back was the last defender.
02:11:11
Speaker
It was, yes, that could have, that would that could have been dog. So absolutely. Absolutely. And considering the two chances that San Jose had at the end of the game, that free kick, and then there was another shot that was just barely saved by Thomas.
02:11:25
Speaker
Like, and it may have been after that point. It may have been extra time. But yeah if you don't give us that and they score, now we're talking about a tie. Yeah. i did The consistency in the game was not great from this ref.
02:11:39
Speaker
Yeah, it's ah it's been a frustrating week or so of of reffing. I like I said, it's funny. I i talk about how I I try not to be that guy. And then apparently every week, apparently every week I'm the ref guy.
02:11:58
Speaker
but But no, I'm not blaming this game on the ref. What I'm saying is is those things that deserve criticism when there are things to point at are worth having conversations about. I just remember sitting in the press box and watching those the the one on Rusnak and the one on Obed and being like, if Seattle did that to them, you you know he would be pointing at the spot.
02:12:19
Speaker
It's not even a question. We've seen that do it the last like three games. He would be point at the spot before the foul even finished. He's like, oh yeah, this is clearly going to be a foul. The vein in my forehead was about to burst on that because it's just like uh all right like i don't think that's a penalty either that's been given as a penalty like three times on seattle in the last two games yeah so like about it you gotta you gotta give it that's just it um much i gotta ah i got tie in the queue behind you but let me give you two more things yeah yeah go for it first the fun one pedro de la vega if you want to go and look and maybe this gets him a nickname i don't know
02:12:58
Speaker
where he started versus being where he is now it's not unlike thor ragnarok he's cut the hair he's got to you know figure it out don't if you've seen the movie or not but uh he's kind of stuck in the situation and they got to figure the way out in some kind of new kind of way and i'm just saying that pedro is going through that exact kind of scenario in terms of a not a redemption but a a humbling and figuring it out type moment uh I don't know.
02:13:28
Speaker
It's he also quite resembles Chris Hemsworth with the the short hair being cut like you could put the put them up on screen and you'd see they're identical. The other thing I'll talk about is grand scheme. We've cracked on. ah I have the discipline, the consistent lack of discipline over going back to Vancouver.
02:13:47
Speaker
But if we're going to talk about trends and grand schemes, what are we talking about now? We're talking about two wins and a tie with nine goals across three games. That also deserves credit.
Team Composure and Offensive Growth
02:13:58
Speaker
And I will say this, if we were down these goals, if we were down three goals, what was the who's last game we played?
02:14:07
Speaker
colorado Colorado. If we were down 3-0 and came back and tied that game, we would have a completely different perspective about how well. It's like, wow, we got a tie out of that. um and Same with Kansas City. If we were down 2-0, if we were down in this game 2-0 and we came back at 1, and now again, that's not great, but it's it's all matter of perspective.
02:14:25
Speaker
What I'll say is this, and it's it's true if you really think about it, especially this year, this team is not used to being the team with a big lead and playing with it. They're not used to being hunted down where teams come out in the second half and say, how are we going to close this two and three goal lead?
02:14:41
Speaker
And just having, they're used to maybe getting some of the brunt force of like Club World Cup or some of these other, when we were playing the La Liga teams or the Mechies teams.
02:14:54
Speaker
But they're not used to having a three-goal lead and having the best effort and then seeing things suddenly collapse in some cases. And I'm not excusing it away, but it is a different mentality in terms of how you compose yourself and, more importantly, how you find that fourth goal to really put things away.
02:15:10
Speaker
So if we're going to give credit, I mean, three goals in three games three times, I'm not sure the Sounders have ever done that. and i don't i'm not i don't think so. um And so just overall, learning how to play as being a hunted team in the second half is a different thing because right now they've been focusing on how do we get the offense going well they figured that out and again i'm not blaming it on the defense per se because a lot of it has to do with silly fouls when you're getting an exorbitant amount of pressure you're the pks the red cards learning to deal with that in a half of a game scenario in 45 minutes so i think there's some credit due in terms of
02:15:47
Speaker
They have turned it around and maybe it's a glass cannon kind of situation. Now we just got to figure out how to shore that up. And more importantly, use the same energy, which we did a little bit in the Colorado game from the first half and the second half and doing that consistently where we just don't open ourselves up. So I think credit where credit is due.
02:16:04
Speaker
if we If you told us, which we talked two weeks ago, three wins or two wins and tie so far out three of the four, we would have signed up for that in a heartbeat. Yeah, the way I was thinking of it was like, just pretend the KC game was the tie and the Rapids game was the win, and then we would be like, that's fire. like Yeah, mean we're talking style points really at the end of the day right now. If we if we say what what matters is the results, and I don't mean just in wins ties, but that's what we are discussing here, but in other scenarios in terms of like, what is the fallout from this?
02:16:33
Speaker
So you can't argue a whole lot with these results, and they were really close to having three wins of three. So you get that corrected in scoring three goals and just knocking down wins.
02:16:44
Speaker
Who's going to complain about that? Yeah. I mean, ah there are definitely issues to be pointed to defensively, but as far as will, and also the discipline stuff, like you mentioned, but as far as the attacking output and the results right now, ah that they're what they need to be. So that's a, that's good to see a hunch. Any, any last. I'm good. Glad to be on. Thanks y'all.
02:17:11
Speaker
I'm glad to see so many callers in, in the, Always love the post. We got it. We got a couple more in the queue, so we're going to keep on rolling here. Thanks for calling in as always, man. Appreciate you and ah catch you next time. Thank you.
Defensive Strategy and Improvements
02:17:23
Speaker
Shout out to hunch as always for calling in, ah got tie and then Kenny after that ah stick and wiggle. Thank you so much for coming in with the $5 super chat.
02:17:35
Speaker
Our third super chat of the stream, ah you know, Not as many as i would like, but we we take we take them all. Appreciate you guys who are giving us the support.
02:17:46
Speaker
says also call me when we're leaky and have 90 minutes of our number one and two CBs. I think that's a ah fair point. i think that's a fair point. I think like in general, the backline rotation has probably led to some of these...
02:18:00
Speaker
these issues. So hopefully with Yamar back healthy in the hole in the fold and Jackson Reagan coming back from suspension, that evens out a little bit. ah Jake, to answer your question, this is Homer radio hour. Yeah. That's what did you think it was?
02:18:19
Speaker
uh but the reason that you could argue guys that that's dog so is because he had runners in the middle you it's not yes they had the cover but if if you have runners that you can hit for like an open look on goal or it's happened and they pull you back that is can't that can be argued and considered an obvious goal scoring opportunity You don't see that called that often, but on that play, you could you could argue it.
02:18:48
Speaker
i i'm I'm not like super bent out of shape but about that one, but you could definitely argue it. Because if he doesn't pull him back, he has a wide open lane with two runners for like a potentially wide open goal. So you can call that.
02:19:02
Speaker
ah Ty, going to bring Ty to the stage right now. um that He's got the Noah icon. Ty, what's up, man? ah Can you hear me, first of all? Yeah, can you hear me?
02:19:12
Speaker
Yeah, I got you. How are you feeling? 3-2 win over the San Jose Earthquakes. Three more goals for the attack. Brace for Moose in the pedro but ah Pedro de la Vega breakout. What did see?
02:19:25
Speaker
Well, before that, um talking about the dog show thing, yeah what's funny too is that was kind of like best case scenario to get a red card because there's like 90 seconds left left in the game.
02:19:38
Speaker
But ah if if the Sounders do it, it seems like they're happy to give us a red card. and like They would have called that dog. That's the other thing. If it was Seattle that did that exact same thing, you know that would have been dog show.
02:19:49
Speaker
You know it. ah But pertaining to the performance in general, it was it was pretty good. Funny enough, I was kind of glad, not glad, I'm not going say was glad we got scored on first, but um I knew it meant that we wouldn't be blowing any leads. if but mean Like it was a different challenge than we've had to see the last two weeks.
02:20:13
Speaker
i didn't mind seeing it I didn't mind seeing it either because it was like, all right, let's see how you respond. Yeah, get your ass in gear. Yeah. And then what was also kind of funny is, ah you know, we've been pretty leaky ever since we moved um Defender of the Year, Alex Roldan, out from center back.
02:20:34
Speaker
So I don't know. I don't know what that means because I feel like Columbus is definitely a way better team than Kansas City or san Jose. But we just keep...
02:20:46
Speaker
and Or Colorado, for that matter. So I don't really know where the leaky goals come. like I mean, Andrew Thomas had... like but i In real time, when I was watching it, like I thought it was the greatest save ever made.
02:20:59
Speaker
I didn't understand how it ended up back in the middle until I saw the replay and that he saved it like perfectly against the post and right back to Chicho. Yeah. Like, it was a fantastic save that he's not going to get very much credit for because, you know, it ultimately did go in.
02:21:16
Speaker
But that's just another, like, our set piece defending. Like, every time i see a team around the 18, especially with Espinoza crossing, it just it feels like we're ready just to concede, like, another header.
02:21:30
Speaker
Yeah, the ah the fouls to give away these set pieces to like the one that the Chicho did end up scoring as soon as they fouled him. I was like, they're going to score like gotta they got to they got stop giving up those those free kicks in those in those spots, especially like when you're protecting a lead. That's like one of the best ways.
02:21:52
Speaker
uh the they found a lot of ways to leads lately uh penalty kicks red cards giving away dangerous set pieces that's that's another one and it almost it did almost cost them in this game so that is among the uh defensive improvements i think we should hope to see in the coming weeks that's one of the main ones for me is stop fouling guys around there god damn Yeah, I think Reid also had one.
02:22:17
Speaker
And I think Schmetzer did mention mention it in the press conference. He had a chance to like pull down the guy 40 yards from goal. He gets beat. He kind of does the thing where he pretends like he's going to tug his shirt, catches up to him because he's pretty quick, and then just ends up fouling him 22 yards from goal.
02:22:34
Speaker
yeah Yeah, exactly. Schmetz did point that out. What are we what are we doing? and And especially, you know, he kind of had that last week. Or, you know, it's funny, all the penalties, all the soft penalties start to blend together.
02:22:49
Speaker
But, like, he had a similar one where he had a chance to kind of freeze the guy on the touchline, which, granted, is a good assist zone for a set piece. But he ends up chasing the guy and then fouling him in the box. Or, like, almost fouling him in the box. Yeah.
02:23:06
Speaker
i don't Maybe it's because he has so many yellow cards and double yellow experience. like He just doesn't seem to get when and where to commit his tactical fouls.
02:23:18
Speaker
um he seems pretty smart on the ball, but I have noticed that there's a lot of times where it's like, read, I just need you to tackle this guy and just take your yellow. But given his track record, it's almost like, I don't want him to make the right play because I don't trust him for another 20 minutes.
02:23:38
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. No, it's a it's a good point. What did you, ah what did you make of the De La Vega breakout?
02:23:48
Speaker
Uh,
02:23:50
Speaker
Well, it's kind of complicated because obviously like he played really well. any kind of did that he always He's either like the sharpest player field or like incredibly raw.
02:24:03
Speaker
I feel like it's rare to see kind of both sides of that come together. like i can remind ah Whenever we played in Champions League, he just looked super sharp.
02:24:15
Speaker
even if it was against like Montagua, but like even like the games we played against LAFC, he's had really good games. um But I also think it's hard that when he's playing on the right, like we saw this in Champions League, and this is kind of to my point, and even last year in League's Cup against Nacoxa, when he plays on the left, he's just a lot more free. I think he's a lot more comfortable playing...
02:24:40
Speaker
those like reverse passes with his dominant foot when he gets in the middle, as opposed when he cuts in on the right, He's kind of on his left foot, and then you're kind of looking at, like, outside the foot shots and stuff. But when he's been able to put his laces through balls, he's been really good this year. And I just, I don't think we've seen enough of him on the left.
Forward Combinations and Tactical Advantages
02:25:03
Speaker
But I can also acknowledge that that's, like, Ryan Kent's strongest position. And, like, I know he's been kind cooled down, but, like, there is kind of a log jam at winger.
02:25:16
Speaker
And, like, Pedro did get a goal and an assist, so that's fantastic. But Paul Rothrock, he's still getting, like, goals and assists, like, pretty consistently.
02:25:29
Speaker
So it's like Paul Rothrock's doing just enough. to keep a dp off the field which is like good and bad that makes see the way the way the game last night went changes the way i think about that a little bit and i say that as someone who has been at the very least like the last few weeks here i think it made perfect sense and was the right decision to keep riding the hot hand with uh with Paul Rothrock. And you definitely, ah you have to find ways for Paul Rothrock to maintain a big role on this team. I think he has earned that.
02:26:05
Speaker
And he is like the end product that he's offered the last few weeks shouldn't be overlooked. Like he's the one who scored the goal against the Columbus group. He's the one who assisted ah Jordan Morris goal at a sporting Kansas city. Like he, he's the one who's been making things happen and dangerous and attack all season. and de la vega ah well first of all i think it's clear that when they do give him run which they're going to be doing over the next few weeks in league's cup and stuff that it has to be on the left he looked exponentially better there than he has looked at any other point and that also i do think uh i said this earlier but like there's just a different ceiling that you could potentially tap into with a guy like de la vega compared to rothrock
02:26:51
Speaker
Rothrock has incredible value from his like consistency and you know what you're going to get. And he's refined his game a lot. I think he actually, he's, he's offered a lot of and product in his MLS career. I'm going to look this up right now, but if you actually look at it, ah he's started like, let's see He started
02:27:21
Speaker
32 games and he has like 17 goal contributions. Like it's his contract is also really good too. I mean, that's another element. I mean, he's probably going to, I mean, he has to get a raise at some point, but like, it's funny. It's like one of our minimums versus one of our DPs.
02:27:40
Speaker
Even even like with all that said about Rothrock, you watch De La Vega score a goal like he did last night, and you're like, that's just something that not very many human beings can do.
02:27:53
Speaker
like That was an incredible shot. so i the The upside that he flashed in that game, finally, like was just so tantalizing that I think you have to at least you have to give that a lot of run to see if ah it can...
02:28:09
Speaker
really be a ceiling raiser which i think there's the potential that it can be well and he almost he had a really good run i can't remember if it was obed krishn rust neck but there's like a little sliced ball through three people where pedro was in on goal kind of on the left but it it touched his foot but it kind of skipped off his foot out of bounds but he was pretty much clean in on goal again so like he's making the runs he's super active I thought, yeah, I thought he was fantastic. And like, Jesus on the right with Petra on the left, I feel like, like if you just think about the game and like a total or like total football sense or like just covering positions on the field with you, when you have Jesus, who's really good with his vision and going in the middle that gives Alex or Costa Rienzi room to go in that right channel anyway.
02:29:03
Speaker
Ideally, on the left, if New Who's playing well and he's defensive, then that allows more freedom for Pedro to do crazy stuff on the right, and you just have a really good shape. And ideally, you have Jordan Morris to give you that speed behind.
02:29:21
Speaker
um But, you know, Mussofsky, it's like, He's scoring, so I'm not complaining. But he he ultimately has a ceiling, but I don't think it's a ceiling that's going to keep you from winning ah like playoff games.
02:29:36
Speaker
like You're not going to win or tie any Club World Cup games with Danny Mussofsky, but we're you know we're kind of past that. So like you just need Daniel to get a goal against Houston in the playoffs. Well, Houston probably won't make the playoffs, but you know what i mean.
02:29:52
Speaker
No, I think it's ah it's a good point. Like, the ah the question there, it's not it's not about, like, at this point, if Danny Mussovsky can be a productive MLS striker. It's like, can you really, like, make a playoff run and contend for silverware with Danny Mussovsky as your starting striker? Whereas, like, you know, we already know that. They have done that many times with Jordan Morris.
02:30:14
Speaker
ah But, like, for me, where I sit today, it it feels like... ah i don't know i i feel very like comfortable with moose out there and that he's gonna get his looks and that if he gets enough of them he's gonna finish some of them like he uh i think i think you can like contend for mls with we won a mls cup with nelson valdez Yes, that is very, very true. A remarkable feat, honestly. And honest Nelson and even he didn't even take a penalty kick to win MLS Cup either.
02:30:49
Speaker
So it's like like he didn't he didn't even score in the biggest game. I don't even think he had a shot in the biggest game, and he didn't even score his penalty kick in the biggest game. And we still... Granted, MLS is very different now, but...
02:31:04
Speaker
um i I feel like the floor is so much higher. Like, soccer is still soccer. I mean, there's a lot of games where, like, like Manchester City still going to win 90% of their games, but sometimes they lose to, like, but an amateur middle table team because they just have some guy who's 6'2", and he wins a header, and you hit the post a few times. Like,
02:31:29
Speaker
There's no reason to think we can't win anything without Jordan. It just kind of sucks that he's like absolved the, or he's taken over the DP injury bug, which we've seen for Nico.
02:31:40
Speaker
And then we saw it for Raul, obviously. and now, like, I feel like Jordan's been even more unhealthy than Raul was last year, which is insane to think about because Jordan was so healthy last year.
02:31:56
Speaker
ah Yeah, it just it sucks how this year has gone. ah It's just it's just it's just unlucky, man. Like, I feel bad for him because, you know, like we've talked about, he looked he's looked awesome to me, like in the games that he has played.
02:32:12
Speaker
It's just like this latest one. It's a freak collision. Like, it's just yeah one of those things. Yeah. Ty, I got a couple people here behind you, but ah yeah, any last thoughts or takes you wanted to get
Future of Jordan Morris and Team Transfers
02:32:25
Speaker
out there? Real quick, I guess like upside, I guess to Jordan, like if there is one, if he can't play um eventually, I mean, I feel like they'll maybe be able to buy down his DP contract sooner than later and the sense that, you know, he's not hitting metrics and he's not healthy.
02:32:47
Speaker
It's just, I don't, And I don't think he has a ton of value going anywhere else at this stage. Like, I think he's 30 or 31. Like, for a striker who thrives on speed and stuff, like, he can really only do this for another year or two before he kind of becomes more like a Daniel Mussofsky where, you know, you just win headers and finish chances.
02:33:13
Speaker
But considering we seem to be kind of a poverty franchise, he's not even going to be able to sign U-22. When Jordan got hurt, I'm like, it would have been nice if we had a U-22 striker to at least like have his backup. But now we're back to Dwayne's child.
02:33:30
Speaker
So i don't know. Yeah. it's ah it's definite The number nine situation is is tough right now. but Do you know when the window closes?
02:33:42
Speaker
Yeah, it's it's July 24th to like August 20-something. It's like something like And if we don't have, I mean, we don't have any rumors right now. I don't think. other I haven't heard any other than Noah Ohio, which the last I heard on that, right they jacked up the price and it's probably not going to happen.
02:34:00
Speaker
But maybe that'll still happen. not No way. we It'd be crazy to think we go through this transfer window without adding anybody, but. Yeah, we'll see. the rumor like Once the window opens, the rumors will ah will pick up. I know they had targets outside of NOAA, Ohio. Maybe they get something done with one of those.
02:34:19
Speaker
Yeah, I just feel like we hear leaks and stuff by this point. That's all. black Sometimes, but sometimes they they keep it close to the vest. So we'll see. him but All right, Ty, thanks for calling in, as always.
02:34:32
Speaker
Good stuff, man. Appreciate it. And we'll ah catch you on the next one. Okay, bye. Later. ah All right. We got Kenny and then ah w and then I'm going to call it. It's been a long one.
02:34:45
Speaker
So I'm going to do two more and then I'm going to get out of here. So if you tap in the queue, sorry, I'm going to cut it off. But let's knock these last two out and then.
02:34:59
Speaker
Call it a wrap for this postgame live. Kenny, i don't know if you can hear me. I'm going to bring you to the stage right now. Can you hear me? Yeah, i hear you, Ari.
02:35:10
Speaker
Okay, I got you. All good. all good What's up, man? 3-2 over the Quakes. How are you feeling? ah It's okay. It's okay. Nine goals in a week, seven points in a week.
02:35:21
Speaker
One of them's at SKC. One of their fans got a face full of ball. Yep. Picked that out. Um, no, um, on that Noah Ohio thing, it's kind of funny.
02:35:36
Speaker
It's like, they're like, how much, how much purse did Seattle get for Club World Cup? That's, that's the transfer fee. That's what we wanted all along. That's exactly right. Nine, 9.9 million. Perfect. Perfect.
02:35:46
Speaker
Done deal. You're saying they jack to jacked up the price to the Club World Cup, the exact Club World Cup, uh, earnings. of what happened i didn't think of that that could be true it's the exact same price i mean you know people don't want to lose their young strikers for cheap to a smart club who's always poaching diamonds in the rough like seattle but uh the thing i really wanted to hit was um You know, maybe maybe people are a little burnt out on it, but I want to get to the new who discourse just a little bit.
02:36:17
Speaker
Because one of my biggest problems with this squad ah in the last year and a half, maybe, is it it's nice guy FC, right? Nice guy I've been saying that. I've been saying that, too.
02:36:29
Speaker
Who isn't? Knew who? He's the new Aussie. He's the honey badger of this team. He's the go seek and destroy. He's the bully that people don't want to go around.
02:36:40
Speaker
You know what I mean? Like he's not gonna let some Brazilian fuck face come in our house and fucking shove on him off the ball. He'll do it in front of the ref. Who gives a fuck? Kim Tee, who says stop that goal? No.
02:36:51
Speaker
I think the difference is, like, ah with Ozzy, it was... Calculated. It was aggression, but it it was calculated. It was controlled aggression. What we're talking about with Nuhu is stuff that's, like, outside the bounds of that. Like, it's like... ah The Botafogo one, that's off the ball. That's got nothing to do with the game.
02:37:11
Speaker
The Sporting KC crash out, that's like an incident with fans, which outside of whether you think the fan was in the right or in the wrong or like what you think of throwing the ball or whatever, that's just not smart from the standpoint of any time get into it with a fan and that boundary gets crossed, you're susceptible to even more punishment past the red card that you're going to get. So it was just like... doubly, triply, not smart.
02:37:37
Speaker
So, I mean, I see what you're getting at, but it's like, there's a difference between being like ah an enforcer and like the bully on the field and ah doing stuff that is like out of control and like getting you sent off. Ozzy really didn't get a lot of red cards in his career.
02:37:54
Speaker
He got more than knew who has and only what, 50 more games at this point. Wow, is that true? Yes. Jackson Reagan is one suspension away from matching New Who in his career in about 200 less games. So these are some contextual things that we don't...
02:38:14
Speaker
We don't always add to the conversation when we're bringing up New Who. i think it's fair to point out that ah I think it's fair to point out that New Who has historically not gotten like an inordinate amount of red cards for a defender. No, it's normal. He has in the last like couple weeks, but like yeah track record throughout his career.
02:38:34
Speaker
But it's like that's why it's like, why is he crashing out like this right now? like Yeah, who can say? Who can say? It's been a lot of games this year. It's been a lot of pressure on this team when the results weren't going right.
02:38:46
Speaker
He did the same thing about this exact same time last year. Crashed out really hard on his own teammates, on his own coaching staff. so You know, maybe it's maybe it's deeper than just what's going on on the field. People have been asking Brian Schmetzer about that. He says he doesn't know anything about that.
02:39:02
Speaker
They said, what are you going to do for new who? He said, oh, well, when we had a conversation and it's like, don't you guys got like sports psychologists and stuff? Don't you can't we get a little deeper into this than a conversation? But he's old school.
02:39:15
Speaker
The, the, it was, I did think it was kind of, he was very like dismissive. I would say like when he was talking to the ah press about it, my favorite Schmetz quote was, well, that was the first time he's ever thrown the ball in the stands and got, and then flipped off the ref.
02:39:30
Speaker
what Well, it's true. Usually he is much more controlled. He's been, he's been on a wild streak and, um, I don't know. I like, i like Schmetzer defending the guy. I'm,
02:39:41
Speaker
I get that. I get why he's doing it. You need to come harder, Ari. You need to harder for Newt. There's a way that he could have addressed it that was defending and protecting his player yeah and also being like, it's probably not good that the team has gotten five red cards and conceded six penalties in the last six games and we're working on that.
02:39:59
Speaker
There was not like a lot of that, which don't know. Every coach handles stuff differently, but I thought there would be a little bit more of like this is kind of when you're getting ejected and giving up penalties at a league record clip.
02:40:11
Speaker
Yeah, that's not good. And that's not just new who like I wanted to talk about the fullbacks in this last game. Reed caught up field jogging back. If that was new who he'd be crucified.
02:40:22
Speaker
Kalani getting spun badly for that first goal. If that was new, he'd be crucified. But they're young, they're young. they're What, Kalani is three years younger than NuHu? Checked out.