Can the Seattle Sounders take down TIGRES? (feat. Jeff Rueter)

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Good morning, everybody, and welcome to a very special historic edition of Lobbing Scorchers kickoff. I'm Ari. That's Nico. And uh like I said, we got a big show here this morning. I mean, you already know the situation. Uh the Seattle Sounders one zero victory at Houston over the weekend. CCC quarterfinals coming up against Tigris on Wednesday. Uh, and we're gonna have Jeff Reuter.

Friend of the pod of the formerly of the athletic now of the guardian. He's gonna be tapping on the show uh a little bit later. So obviously a lot to get to. Uh but before we get into all that, I haven't even more. Important announcement than all that. And I'm not going to bury the lead. I'm going to, I'm going to get right into it. I'm going to come right out and say it. Lobbing Scorchers kickoff.

is now sponsored. We have a new title sponsor. Let's go. Lobbing Scorchers Kickoff will henceforth be known as Lobbing Scorchers Kickoff, presented by QED Coffee. Our new title sponsor. We're really excited to bring them uh onto the team. We got a lot planned for it, uh, and I'm going to be uh I'm gonna tell you guys.

All about QED and everything you can do to support them and subsequently support us in just a second. But uh before I do that, Nico, I I do gotta bring you in on that because uh It's big time, you know. We've been grinding this show for uh over a year now, putting in the work, putting in the hours. And now we got a title sponsor, QE D. Coffee. How does that sound to you? Title sponsor for uh for the show. How you feeling about that? I'm feeling great.

As somebody who is uh the coffee drinker around here, um I am excited. I I drink maybe three. four cups of coffee a day, you know, being Colombiano. So I'm kinda excited to get those guys on and and and tr and try him try the the the the actual product and get to tell you guys a little bit about it. But I'm excited, man, that's Love and Scorch is doing big things, man.

Yeah, no, exactly. And uh, you know, I already I got my uh I got my mug right here, QED coffee mug. I got my uh I got my sample bag. Right here, the median blend. So uh I'm gonna tell you guys about that right now. Yeah, and uh it's gonna be it's gonna be big time stuff. We got a lot planned for it. We're hoping at some point to do a uh co-branded product similar to the Hakes and Ferments, Lobbing Scorchers, hot sauce.

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And we're gonna be doing a lot of work with them. And it's exciting times. It's exciting times here at Lobby Scorchers. The other thing I wanted to say is uh thank you to you all for tuning into this show and all our shows. Every week. People wouldn't be sponsoring us if we didn't have an audience like you all tuning in. You guys are the ones who make it happen. So I gotta say thank you to to the audience, to the people, to everyone who makes the show happen because

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QED coffee dot com slash collections slash subscription. Yeah. And you know, we when we were su hurt hunting for sponsors for this, we figured a coffee company, it just makes sense. You know, lobbing scorchers kick off, everyone's Getting their week started, getting the morning going, you know, getting ready for the week. Uh yeah. Now yeah. Now we have uh now we have an official title sponsor to uh bring that to

All right, Nico, before we uh get Jeff Reuter in here, uh we do have some sounder stuff to uh to talk about and we got C C C to talk about as well. So it's really it's just a uh it's a big time it's a big time show today. Uh but let's uh let's start with uh I guess the Houston game. That's the most recent. uh match that the Sounders have played and they have CCC quarters coming up on Wednesday. But Nico, another win for the Seattle Sounders roadshow, this time one zero at Houston.

Uh they're now three one and one on all these uh on on the on their road games for the season. Three road wins and uh they still have only played one match. at home, which is kind of crazy to think about. Uh where are you at on the Seattle Sounders Road show, Nico? It's obviously Uh the results have been great. I don't think you can argue with three one and one to start the season on the road, already three road wins.

Uh you could say that these have been a little bit of uh, you know, not the prettiest games. They've been smash and grab. You've got one zeros going on. You did have a zero zero draw in Minnesota. So uh I guess where are you at right now on terms of the the results that the team has been taking, which have been fantastic.

uh, you know, mixed with the performances which have uh yielded great results, but there have been, you know, they've been under pressure a lot. You could say they've maybe gotten lucky to not concede a couple more goals in one of these games. Sir in a couple of these games. So uh where are you feeling uh coming off the Seattle Sounders Roadshow with C C C quarters coming up on

Yeah, look, it it's really uh five wins, one loss and one draw away from Lumen Field. If you add the Spokane game, if you add uh the game in Vancouver for uh CCC. So it's impressive, man. That that's the bottom line. Yeah, you've been able to, if I'm not mistaken, get six overall shutouts as well, uh, combining uh the the entirety of the season. It just talks about great about a team when you're able to

Find ways to win. When you you know, they say defense wins championships. Well, then the Sounders are on the prol because their defense has been outstanding. Andrew Thomas was unreal against Houston. And I I don't know if people realize the amount of firepower that this Houston team has. I told you guys about Guilherme. He's a guy that could do absolutely everything. I thought it was even more remarkable that Ben Olson tried to

I think take the sounders by surprise by starting Guilherme on the left side away from Nuhu. He deep plays on the right. Him and Bogets, uh Gilerman and Boguts were switching back and forth trying to get him unlocked. He he put the Sounders into a lot of bad positions and he was a handful without a doubt. But still when he came to the final product, it was either

Andrew Thomas with a big save, or it was new putting his body on the line, blocking a shot, or it was Kalani Cosa Riensi forcing, you know, a a pass back. It was just another collective effort for this team to put it together. And if you look back at the the ways and the forms that the Sounders have been able to win games, not all have been great. I wouldn't call this a a smash and grab. I I I don't feel like that's the type of game this was.

I think that the Sounders out possessed Houston. I thought that it was a very even back and forth match. Seattle had a couple of moments. Jesus Ferrera had that opportunity in front of the goal. I think he does what he can with that shot. It's not a he doesn't have a great angle, doesn't have all the control in the ball, so he kind of like pokes at it. It's a good save too. Bond makes a phenomenal save. So I I really do think that this was a very even match.

Seattle went out there against the high pressure Houston team that really try to get out there and and play this team differently. I uh you know, talked to uh Uh Ben Olson before the game during the presser, and he had nothing but great things to say about the Sounders. He said, you know, I kinda wish the Houston was the Sounders. We wanna be like the Sounders. And uh he you know, he mentioned I hate this team but I respect them. So you knew that he was gonna bring out his team to

to fight, to t to play differently, because when you play a team that you respect, that you know they have your number, you make sure that your guys come in at the highest possible level. And they did that. I mean, it was thirty seconds in. And Andrew Thomas was already making a big save against Bogus. So that sort of dynamic, uh, when you are the team that All teams are trying to really beat and you're able to absorb pressure, create your moments.

uh uh play with your principles and your concepts because they did that throughout the game. Yes, can the offense get better? I think that that's the final piece of the puzzle that maybe Brian hasn't quite put together. I think Jordan Morris is gonna be part of that puzzle. I thought that he came in. I thought he was

uh important. I thought that he was dangerous behind the the end line. He gets a well-earned and well-deserved assists with a little head flick that eventually falls to Paul Rothrock. polyprimetime just doing polyprimetime things by just you know being there far post Being dangerous, getting uh uh rewarded for his effort, puts the ball in the back of the net. So I don't think it was a smash and grab. I think it was a greedy win against a good quality, very offensive Houston side.

Can Seattle be a little bit better on offense? Sure. But you cannot. You cannot dismiss the fact that this team right now. Are we talking Shield? I mean, that's crazy. With with all of the amount of of of games that you've had away from Lumen. This far into the season, the fact that, as Brian said, you haven't lost the shield and you're still in contention, I mean, I think that's that's amazing. That that's something that this team hasn't done for quite some time.

Yeah, as Wade points out, you know, the West is looking real stacked right now. Uh the fact he says we are the fact that we're on this good of a run and sitting in fifth is wild. Yeah, Seattle is sitting in fifth right now. I mean you got uh Vancouver and LAFC obviously uh ripping it up. And you know, there there's a lot like San Jose is doing really well right now. So you got all these teams averaging over two points per game.

But it is pretty remarkable that Seattle has managed to average two point one seven points per game in the league playing on the road this much while also playing in CCC. And uh getting through to the CCC quarters against uh this is what we were talking about on the postgame show too, Nico. Uh this isn't this has been a

gauntlet of a schedule. This has not been the type of, you know, people like always like to do the the wins don't count because they're playing against cupcakes thing and then, you know But every team decides three is considered a cupcake, so it kind of makes it impossible standard to meet. But you definitely can't say that about this portion of the schedule. I mean, that quake.

win is looking real good right now. Uh the even the Rapids win, they've been playing a lot better. I know they just lost to Toronto. That was a crazy game. There was a bunch of red cards and stuff. But I don't think the Rapids look

that bad. Obviously you had Vancouver in CCC. Uh RSL is the one game that they lost, but they're looking like one of the better teams in the West and in the league right now. So it's been a really hard schedule and to make it out at two point one seven points per game. Uh yeah, I think when you look at the table right now and you see the you look at the goal scored. call them. All the other teams that are up upper tier in the West

Have scored a lot more than Seattle. Seattle only has six league goals, but that's where I do think you have to factor in CCC. Like they scored five goals in that series, and that's uh that's the priority right now. I think that's the focus is You are in a situation where where you can actually make a run at C C C Uh which is exciting, but it also means that uh the league season.

There's there's questions as to how you balance that and if you can maintain your form. And they've been able to do that so far. So that's been good to see.

Bad sequels, YouTube member for thirteen months. Nothing more Seattle than a coffee sponsor. Exactly. Uh if you're just trickling in late, I'll give you the update again. Lobbing scorchers, Lobbin Scorchers kickoff, now sponsored by QED Coffee. We've got a uh title sponsor. Go to QED Coffee.com slash collections.

Slash subscription. Subscribe right now, folks. Subscribe right now. That's one of the, if not the best ways at this current juncture, that you can support the show. Uh go sub to QED Coffee. Uh Caleb coming in with the five. Thank you, Caleb. He says, I need royalties on Philip. Uh he's referring to the Philip Anschutz trophy, the MOS Cup trophy. Uh, real quick, Nico, where do you uh where are you at on the uh

Like how are you valuing C C compared to MLS Cup? Caleb was making the argument that MLS Cup is uh should be the most important Top priority, which I understand why people feel that way. Seattle hasn't won one since twenty nineteen. I'm also the type of person that

I value CCC a lot. And if you have a chance like they do right now to make a run at CCC and win a second one, not only would no MLS club have won the modern incarnation of this tournament uh one time like Seattle has, but then you'd have two. I mean, that's pretty hard to pass up. But what do you what do you think? Uh look, I think Caleb's right in terms of once again being the top of the domestic league, right? Domestic play is important in in in every single country and every single league.

the Sounders not winning it in as long as they have is does start to wear down on the fans, start to wear down on the club, especially when the Sounders are a team that, you know, they play for trophies. However, I am with you in terms of regional tournaments or international tournaments. create a a globalization of success for every single team.

In Europe you got the Champions League, of course. Here we got CCC. And and that it it should have the exact same value of where you go out there and you want to be the best team in your region. And so if you're able to beat Tigres, Something that, you know, not a lot of MLS teams are able to say and do. If you're able to, I don't know, let's say get past America, I mean that would be an unreal

rode to a a championship facing let's say Toluca in a final, be Toluca in a final. I mean, my God, I mean that that's something that is historic. It's not just Something that I I'm not trying to devalue a MLS play in any way or shape or form, but it it even takes upon the success of the league because that is always an argument or a discourse that's out there is Why is League of MX so much better than MLS? Why can't MLS teams go uh beat teams in Mexico? What you know, so that that is

the importance of that tournament. It's is the Sounders putting themselves in an international level, an international tournament, putting the league, the city, the fan base on their shoulders and winning a tournament, to me that that just has a lot greater value to a certain extent in in the optics of of the global aspect of things.

Nico, let's talk about a couple of these Sounders news items because we have not recorded one of these since uh this news. dropped. Uh but there's two things that we got to get to here. Uh number one, Nikola Petkovic, torn ACL in training. He will miss the rest of the uh rest of the season in all likelihood. Uh so let's just let's talk about that because uh obviously unfortunate it also has implications for the roster and we're gonna talk about P. Kingston as well.

Uh but Nico, uh what's your reaction to the Petkovic news? Obviously this uh this sucks. You always feel for a guy when there's a season ending injury like this and they lose a whole year of their career. And then this one is uh doubly unfortunate, man, because he was actually looking good. Like he actually was playing well. And I think he was playing he was definitely playing a lot better and being more impactful than I expected. You know, when they went out and got him, I think it was

I I I was mentally preparing for it to be kind of a Leo chew outcome type situation. Obviously he's talented. and got pedigree. But when you have a guy who uh couldn't break through for the Charlotte FC first team, he was playing for Crown Legacy for the most part, you kind of don't know what you're gonna get. And then he comes in here and to his credit, it looked like he really

He is not necessarily the Brian Schmitzer prototype skill set uh for what Schmitz typically wants at that position. But I think to his credit, you could see he was at least genuinely trying to apply the type of uh sounders Stuff that you need to get minutes. on this team.

And uh, you know, was he doing it at the level of you say a uh Christian rolled on? No, but he was trying and the stuff that he was doing well, you could see the how it could help this team as far as the the long passing and just His all around attributes as a facilitator. Um and he was pinging some nice through balls and uh he was uh

He was doing really well and we got Noah tapping into the studio. So uh Nico, why don't you uh riff on Petkovich real quick? Then we'll get Noah in here. I don't know what he's doing here, but Hey, of course. Hey anytime Noah wants to jump on, you gotta let him on. Uh Obviously good, mid or bad, it is unfortunate and disheartening to see a player go down for the rest of the season. Every single player, specifically for the Sounders team that has a rotation of sixteen, seventeen guys.

It's it's a blow and it's a mental blow and it's a uh depth blow and there aren't many teams that can deal with it the way the Sounders do, but even then I thought Petkovich was a fine player. I thought that he was uh producing. I thought that he was gonna be a good rotational piece within this team. So I was unfortunate to see him go down like this.

uh he has a specific skill set just like dotsen dotsen is more of a defensive guy physical Petkovich was a guy that was gonna be cerebral, that was gonna switch the point of attack, that had uh some really good passing skills. that to me overall in the system, he was okay. Uh and I was more excited about, you know, Pete Kingston than I was about him, but that does not dismiss the fact that I have feel horribly for a guy that

He had just talked to the press. You could tell that he was starting to feel lighter on his feet, a little bit more. at home, more comfortable with everything. He was fitting in with the group extremely well. And that's something that I I like to highlight. And so to see him go down with an ACL when you know that he's someone hoping to

Get some sort of consistency, right? Because he was a Charlotte. He didn't get a lot of playtime. He didn't feel like he could really perform over there. He comes here. He felt like he was a a a uh a better fit to what the sounders like to do. He himself said that. So it's awful. Uh and and I feel for him hope that he is

well recovered, quick recovered and and fully completely recovered. I don't know if he's gonna be back with the team. If he if he does, he'd have to be a like at a very high discount for uh the Sounders. But On the personal level, I just wish him the very best.

uh now in terms of the depth in in in of that specific group the sounders do counter by signing peter kingston a guy that uh fits extremely well that has this underdog story and uh so it's just very sounder like to just say, hate to see you go, but it's next man. Yeah, let's uh let's talk about Pete. Uh but first Caleb says not trying to devalue anything from CCC, but this really was the start of hunting for Philip.

Phil uh Phil uh Philip is what made you relevant uh made you Nico relevant. We have used other tournaments as excuses. Let's get Philip and back to values. I feel it, man. Like uh I I want I want Phillip too. I want Philip too. It's been too long since Phillip has been held in Seattle's clutches. So I I agree with that. And this should be a year where uh they put a lot of weight on that.

Uh and I think, you know, you can walk and chew gum at the same time. Like you're in a situation where You like a a lot of CCC comes down to the path and circumstances. And, you know, do the threats get knocked out? Uh, you know, it's just stuff like that. And Seattle is in a situation right now where they're in the quarters and you've got a Tigris team that we're gonna talk about it with Jeff. But uh Nico, I was I was scouting them up.

a little bit. And I think I was feeling wary of this matchup because of what they did to Cincy. And just watching how they did what they did to Cincy in that series, uh, it made me feel like, man, like this is gonna tough just to go into that environment, that stadium with those insane fans. Like it's gonna be a great experience for the team to get to go play in that, but taking a result in there is going to be difficult.

Uh, but you know, how much of that is Cincy not being ready for the smoke and how much of that is T Gress being insanely good? They are very good. Like I will say that. When you're talking about guys like uh On Hell Correa, that's his name, right? Uh I mean this guy played at the World Cup with Argentina like

Very good. He came from Atletico. Yeah, he's like he was one of the best players for Atletico Madrid for like ten years. So you're you're talking about guys like that, and it's gonna be a big challenge for this defense. If you do look at their uh form and league play though. They I think they've lost two straight games. They've lost six times in the Liga Classia. So far. They're like eighth on the table.

So their league form is not super great right now. That doesn't mean it's gonna be an easy matchup or an easy series, but it does mean that they are beatable and you can score on these guys. That's that's the thing that I will say about them. Is very talented attackers. When they get going in attack, it's kind of like a freight train. It's like a buzzsaw. It's tough to stop. But they also leave space in behind.

Uh they're prone to individual mistakes and they've got some crash out red card boys in them. They've gotten a bunch of red they're doing this year kind of what Seattle was doing last year. Remember when Seattle was crash out red card boys every week? Uh that's kind of what they've been doing so far in their league season.

So all that's to say, like it is going to be a very tough difficult matchup, but I don't think it's one that is like impossible or they're overmatched or they're an underdog to the extent that taking a result in the first leg would be uh a crazy upset or surprise. But uh real quick, Nico, like how are you sizing up Tigris? Because when I looked into it a little more, uh I, you know, I still felt wary of the matchup, but maybe not as much as I had previously.

Yeah, look uh going back to Cab's point, that the the beauty of C C or international tournaments is that In Spanish is what we call torneos cortos, just short tournaments. Uh there's only a specific amount of games. So you can, as you mentioned, uh Ari, do both. And and the Sounders have definitely done that. They have the depth to do it. I asked Brian right before the season You've won it all. If you could have it your way, what would you rather have? MLS Cup.

Or C C C Brian did not even hesitate. He said I want MLS Cup. So he has shown that he's put a lot of stock into MLS play. He's trusting His players, his depth, uh, but he goes out and puts a team together to to win every single time. And so Now with CCC, as long as you continue to manage that workload, I think you can do both. So the the Sounders, they always have in their

philosophy, we are a team that wins titles. Uh they gotta show it. So I I hope that they can definitely do that. Uh in terms of Tigres, I think they're a very good team. I I do think they're streaky.

And right now they're actually on a really bad streak. Uh I know that they rotated some against Tijuana, but they ended up losing against Tijuana. They l uh they lost against Juarez as well, I believe. Uh I think they depend a lot of their play and their volume of play, uh, in what uh uh Burrata can do, Gorian can do, uh, and uh I think the Sounders can really manage those areas of the field pretty well, overpopulate, make it uncomfortable.

Uh El Bufalo is gonna be a guy that the Sounders are gonna have to lock in extremely tight, right? You don't wanna let him get loose, you don't wanna let him off in the eighteen. I think that Angel Correa i is extremely Shifty and quick and has a lot of burst of accelerations. But after seeing this team manage. Guilherme the way they did, and Bogutz the way they did, and in Ali the way they did. I mean there was a lot of speed on the left side for Houston and the Sounders did a great job at just

If not stopping it, just limiting it, right? You're just trying to detain it. You're trying to hold them. And and I thought that they did a phenomenal job at that. So with the way this team has been playing, the effort, the shape, uh how compact their lines are, how quickly they get uh jerseys back behind the ball. I think that if you're gonna if there's gonna be a team that can put these ticket teams under pressure, is the Sounders. So the reality is that playing in Mexico on the first.

Leg, it's all about getting a result. It's all about doesn't matter if it's pretty or not, if it's, you know, with a lot of dark arts or not. You know, Brian talked about, you know, th there are some things that we can't coach i and it is just Some of those dark arts. I think you're gonna have to play every single trick that you have on your sleeve in order to get a result, bring it back, give yourself a chance and win it at home. The exact same way you did it.

in the CCC TCL final against Pumas where you went down there, you got a two two draw, you brought it back to Lumen and in Lumen you put these guys away. So that's that's the formula. I think the Sounders can do it. But Do not sleep on this Tigres team. They can absolutely turn it on any moment. So Seattle has to play 90 minutes.

90 minutes of concentration, 90 minutes of discipline, 90 minutes of effort, and bring the intensity. That's number one. You gotta win every battle. You gotta win the duels. You gotta push it. Everybody's gotta be a little Rothrock out there.

You gotta make sure that you're fighting for every single ball. Create havoc. It's important. Rob's been a member for 12 months. Thank you for the support, Rob. Appreciate you. Rob, when are you gonna when are you gonna call in again? Haven't called in in a while. What's up with that? Gotta get you back on the next uh next postgame show.

He says by the end of the year, I hope we trade for Pekovich's contract. He earned a spot and he obviously meshes well with the team. Uh yeah, Brian Schmetzer made a comment uh to to that effect. He said something like Uh as far as I'm concerned, he earned his spot on this team and with this team. And so he didn't he didn't come out and say that they're for sure going to uh to do that, but he did indicate that they're at least

thinking about it. And uh, you know, it is It's kinda tough with the guy who just tore his ACL and uh y it's not like you got that yeah, it's not like you got that extended of a look at him. I I I liked uh we've talked about it. I liked what I saw from him more than uh than you did. So it'll be interesting to see what they do with that. But if you know if they do keep him around, I personally

I wouldn't I wouldn't hate it. Like I know there's the injury situation and they're gonna have to assess that. Uh but you know he he is a he is a young guy who theoretically still has his. whole career in front of him and he did I thought he contributed some genuinely good stuff. So we'll uh we'll see what happens with that. But uh uh I just think it's tough business. Uh you know, in a salary cab league.

There's other holes that you need to fill. Adding another midfielder is not a priority. So as much as Brian is saying that, probably truthfully and maybe a little bit to, you know, give a guy some positive feedback in a really difficult time. I I just don't see it. Uh uh there there's just other holes that need to be filled where the money can go into. So, you know, there's uh

There's a buying fee, there's a transfer fee that you're still gonna have to buy, whether that's cheap or not, you're still gonna have to take on that. There's a high salary that you're gonna have to take. Let's bring it down to five hundred thousand. From the million, I believe, that that that you could potentially I think that's what it is. Uh, regardless of, I mean, five hundred thousand for a guy with an ACL in a

place where you have a lot of depth already. I mean, you something would have to have gone really wrong with the guys that you currently have for you to make that m that decision. So uh uh again, it's just tough business. Caleb's got sticks for for Pekkovich, all right. So that means that means we they they gotta keep him around if if Oh hey hey man everybody loves the sticks. Brian loves his sticks.

Yeah, that that so that's a good segue into our next topic though as we wait. We should have Jeff Reuter tapping in here in just a couple minutes. But let's uh Nico, let's talk some Pete Pete Kingston because uh, you know, you had the Georgie trade, you have this Peck of Itch in uh injury. And uh, you know, the Sounders they they've made a new signing to address these uh these roster holes. Uh I know can you know, people hate it when you call it an internal

Uh signing a new signing. It's a bit. It's a bit. It's a joke. Okay. They did make a new signing. They made a new signing and it's Pete. Pete Kingston officially on the first team. Uh shout out to Pete. Congratulations to him. I mean, that's uh we've talked about kind of the uh out of left field ascent, the rise of Pete, but that's uh I guess let's start with what he can actually bring to the table because

Uh, you know, I didn't really know what to think of Pete. I I watched him on Ballard FC and Tacoma Defiance, but you never really know how the MLS deployment is going to mirror how they played uh in MLS Next Pro or for Ballard FC.

But well, I think what you have is a skill set that's uh it's a lot more dynamic than I would have thought. I was kinda, you know, I was ignorant. I was picturing him as more of kind of maybe like a a Danny Leva typ s type skill set or like a Petkovich type skill set when he first got in the mix. But uh I mean Pete he gives you a a lot of kind of attacking juice more so than than you would think. I mean Pete can uh he can dribble with the best of them. He can win his 1v1s.

He's a pretty goal dangerous player and he's a really good facilitator. He kind of gives you a a little bit of everything. And so I'm excited to see what Pete can do. But I think Nico with the with the Pete thing. Uh this this is what this type of thing right here, this is what Schmidt is a lead at. This is what he's the best at. All right. You got decisions to make on who gets these kind of auxiliary minutes.

And who's gonna step into those roles? Who do you give those minutes to? Uh, you know, when Georgie was here and when Kipetkovich was healthy. Is it Georgie? Is it Petkovich? You got Pete in the mix. Who should uh who should get these? And uh a lot of what a lot of what you're honestly doing in those situations, and we've seen this with Schmetz, it's vibes. You're riding the vibes. Uh and the Pete vibes right now, it's just like the uh the it's a heat check.

All right. Like everyone is invested in the story. It's a fun story. It's got the underdog component. Uh with we saw it with Paul Rothrock, like the guys on the team when you have a guy like this. They rally around that and it just helps vibes. It helps morale. And that's what's going on with Pete right now. And so Schmetz is key checking. He's pulling up from behind the three point line. And he's gonna give Pete this expanded role and see what he does with it, but

I think we've seen Schmetz do this kind of stuff in the past to great effect. I think the Roth Rock thing is the most prominent example. This reminds me a lot of that. Your heat checking, your vibe checking, and It looks like s it looks like it's gonna it's gonna work. Pete's been making the most of his opportunities so far. He had two assists in CCC, and I think he's got a lot to offer this team. So I'm excited to see what he can do with uh

with a more expanded role and he's gonna get that. Like that's basically how I feel about this Georgie trade and the Petkovic injury. It's like, okay, like obviously sad to see Georgie go. Sad to see Petkovic uh get uh go out for the season. Pete, it's your time. Step into your destiny. Like that's basically, that's basically what it is. And we'll see what he does with it. So uh what do you think of the Pete Kingston situation, Nico? I mean, you want to talk about you've earned your keep.

I mean, he is the one guy that earned his keep. No doubt. Go back and look at that San Jose game. Really focus on him as a player. I watched that game maybe three times during that week. And Really zero in on Pete and the things that he does and uh the the the type of the the range of passes that he puts in that game, the composure and how easy he turn he he handles balls in a half turn.

Look at the work rate. Look at the gamanship. He's a gamer. Like he is a gamer. And those sort of players that just have that roughness. They have that ability to just earn their their their minutes. They just feel different. He plays, I mean, he's 24, but he plays like he's 30. I mean, he just has that

Beyond his years, type of play. And he hasn't done it at the highest level. He's done it, like you said, Balor FC. He was a guy at UW that obviously didn't get drafted. I mean, you know, he's had this rough road. Where when you put him on, that underdog is in him and he just plays with a chip on his shoulder and look. If there's anything I miss on Kingston was his technical ability. Kingston's a guy that you heard.

All the time, whether it was from Pete Fewing, whether it was at Baller FC, because of his set piece skills and all these other things and his grid. He's a name that you that you knew about. Shoot, I I even heard from people that are just like public level. And just being like, look, this guy sometimes shows up and he's a monster. I mean, it's there is something about Pete that

you can't teach that you just have to earn and you gotta have and absolutely love it. But the technical components, that that's what's been impressive to me. And you look at that assist Against Vancouver in Spokane when he came in, the sort of ball that he gets. the the the awareness to cut through those two uh defenders. He puts a ball into space. He's not really looking uh at where he's putting it, but he knows that there's there's gotta be trust in that guy crashing the box. I just

Absolutely love the players that are gamers. And that's what he is. He's the cut by the same type of template than you do Paul Rothrock. Those are guys that have always been doubted on. Have never been the guy. And every time they get on the field, they want to make it count.

So to me, there's a guy that has earned his spot on this team. It was Peter Kingston and it was with his play. And whether it is on the training field or when it matters in competitive minutes, I I'm just excited to see him continue to grow with this team. Stuff like this is uh some of my favorite part of covering and uh following this team. You know, you go you go into the season thinking that you uh know the roster and all the key contributors.

And uh everyone who's gonna be making an impact in these games throughout the season and in all these tournaments. And then uh, you know. You get a new character like Paul Rothrock, or like in this case, this year, it looks like it's Pete Kingston, someone that you wouldn't expect.

Someone who's been doubted. Uh, like you said, Pete was undrafted. Like he came out of UW, had a really good college career. He was playing for Seattle U and UW, Ballard FC, all that. And uh no one gave him a chance. No one thought he could do it.

And uh I mean I've all we've talked about it, but uh you know, he's got his little vlog channel. He's a YouTuber, content grinder. And it's actually cool, Nico, because I don't know if anyone who hasn't uh gone watch There's some it's it's pretty fascinating be now that he is actually making it onto the first team.

Pete basically made one of the most inspirational uh document sports documentaries that I've ever seen. He filmed everything. He was filming his entire time at uh at UW. He was doing his day in the life videos at Tacoma Defiance. as well. And he was also Uh he was doing a lot of stuff that was very thankless and very unglamorous. If you watch some of these videos, he is setting up a camera at Cal Anderson Park or wherever. And it's him like a Seattle U teammate and a trainer.

And they're just grinding. They're throwing cones down and they are doing the like like I said, the most thankless type of work that you can uh possibly imagine. And that's what you, that's what you got to do to make it though. And like the fact that he put that work in.

And also kind of gave us the behind the scenes of it. It's it's great stuff and it's gonna be fun to see, you know. Like there is a very real situation that we're gonna see Pete Kingston playing against Tigris in CCC. And uh, you know, I feel uh I feel good about that. Like I haven't seen anything yet that would make me feel like that's something that uh that he can't handle. Uh everyone, 29 likes on the video as of 846. That is criminal, folks. We uh we can't have that. Come on now.

Like the video, sub to the channel, and uh here you go, Kingston Vlogs. Uh i I I'm telling you guys, I'm telling you. Like you will I I was watching some of those videos. And I found it genuinely inspirational. It made me feel like, man, like I wanna work harder on like the stuff I'm trying to do right now because it just it it shows, man.

It shows that if you put your head down on on something, like you can make you can make stuff happen that you wouldn't even think yourself could happen and definitely you can make stuff happen that uh other people Don't think would happen. So that's it's definitely a fun story, fun subplot to the season, new character, and uh we'll see what comes of it. Uh Nico, we're still waiting on uh on uh Jeff Reuter here, but let's uh let's jump into some CCC.

as we uh as we hit the stretch run of the show. We talked about it a little bit, but uh let's talk about it some more, you know, Tigris. A uh historically very successful, revered club in Mexico, having a bit of an erratic season in league play, but they did absolutely pulverize FC Cincinnati in their uh in their last series. Uh what do you uh what do you think? How are you feeling going into this one on uh on Wednesday? I am feeling as Positive and confident as

You possibly can. Uh look, Tigris is a team that without a doubt is putting all their eggs in the CCC basket. Uh they're eighth place in Liga MX. They have some injuries. Uh they have had what I would call irregular play throughout their time in League IMX. Uh, I think that they're a little bit old in certain facets of of the field. Uh I think that once again, uh El Bufalo

For as much as he can be dangerous, he's a streaky type of goal scorer. Um they tried uh Angel Correa at the nine in in the last game. I don't think that quite worked. So uh they're a team that to me is looking to hang their hat somewhere and CCC is what they're gonna do. Short tournament. Uh where they could still have and and manage their league play. So they're gonna come in with everything they have to put it on the Sounders, understanding that

Visiting goals count, so I'm sure that they're not gonna want to give up any, but they're gonna put Seatt uh Seattle under a lot of duress. Uh they're gonna try to put him away early.

Uh they're gonna try to put a lot of goals. So going back to that second leg is less important or or it has less impact, is less influential in the overall uh take of of of those two legs. So With that said, and and respecting Burrata and and respecting the that team and and the quality both at midfield and in the attacking third and even defensively. I think that Seattle is a team that is battle tested right now. They have had The ability to just

grind out games, find ways to win with all kinds of obstacles, with all kinds of injuries, without their best players. And I think that Jordan Morris is gonna be a guy that will have room to run into against Tigris. And I think that Jesus, Albert, and Jordan are gonna be key component in transition moments for Seattle to be

i in that facet of the game and be able to get a result. You look, I think both you and I would agree that a one-one would be a phenomenal result over there, right? You take the away goal, you give yourself a chance to come back and finish it at home. But hey. What about a a one zero? What about a two one? I mean, I think this Seattle team has the ability to

play the way they played Vancouver at B C plays. And it you just gotta be quicker in transition. I think against Houston that was the problem. There wasn't enough Creativity and attacking movements. I think you saw a little bit more of that with Jordan Kim on the field. uh th they they were kind of forced to just try to figure out what Paul Rothrack could do. I thought that Ferrara didn't have his best game, but I didn't think he had a awful game either. Um

He maybe forced one too many passes, uh, but that's what he does. And I think that you need to continue to play him. So he can zero down on those moments to really thread those needles. So I feel confident. I think that The Sounders defense gives them a platform to stay in every single game. And as long as they don't shoot themselves on the foot and they don't give any easy goals or cheap goals or whatever you want to call'em. I think Seattle has a very good chance to get a result in El Burkhan.

Caleb is pumped for CCC. Thank you for all the super chats this morning, Caleb. You're carrying the super chat train. So Caleb's support as always. He says, up the bridges, Kingston getting sticked. Uh best sounder story we knocked them out with three black players history, uh and then a bunch of drums. Not sure what that's a reference to. Probably uh the Seattle has knocked Tigris out of this tournament before. I want to say, wasn't that the 2013 uh series with the Jimmy Triori goal.

Uh I don't remember. I I I I can't recall, but uh I know that Brown was just asked about it and he didn't remember, so I I have a hard time with it myself. Uh Jeremiah's the historian. Uh but but but yeah, no I uh that sounds a bar, right? That was a that was a long time ago. I d I do remember that the Jimmy the famous Jimmy Triori banger was against

uh Tigris, which is I think you can make an argument for that for greatest goal in uh in club history, but they're gonna they're gonna have to do it again and they're gonna have to do it against a Tigris team that uh I mean they definitely have some guys. Korea stands out obviously. Uh but their their whole attack, I mean, this is a uh this is a big time big money Liga Mekis attack.

Like there is no doubt about it. And they are I think when you're talking about a uh a first leg opener quarterfinals where you have to go on the road in Mexico, it's it's basically it's all about Not having what happened to FC Cincinnati happen to you. That's the best way I can just it describe it. These games can get out of control pretty easily. I mean, it's a crazy environment. It's gonna be a frantic pace of play, especially at the start. They are going to come out.

bloodthirsty. They are. They're going to be trying to put this thing away with a couple goals, two, three goals in the first half. So you have to be able to absorb that. And you also you have to be uh What happened to FC Cincinnati is they got a couple goals scored on them in the first ten minutes of the game, and then they they Got rattled. They came in totally unglued. You can't panic in these situations. You can't panic if they score first. You gotta just be able to.

Calm down. Take a deep breath. Not panic. and just keep playing ball and try and get the goal back. You can't let them You can't let them punch you in the mouth to start the game and then let the whole thing go off the rails and spiral out of control. That's what happened to Cincy. And that's what you need to avoid, you know? If you go down one-zero in the first half, it's not the end of the world. Like you have The entire rest of the series.

To play. And by the same token, like if you go up one zero or even two zero, it doesn't even mean all that much. Like it would be great to have. A road goal or two, especially early in the first half. I would love that. But as far as like the impact on the final outcome of the series.

That's that's kind of the uh nice thing about these two leg series is uh there's ebbs and flows, they go back and forth, and if you uh if you get punched in the mouth, there's plenty of time. Blue air, blue signature purifiers remove airborne pollutants. So you can recover and sleep better. Peak Performance isn't just built in the gym. It's built at home. Shop BlueAir.com, official air care partner of the New York Knicks. To punch back.

Uh, I think this is his third or fourth appearance on lobbing scorchers, but you know him, you love him. We're bringing them to the stage right now. It's Jeff Reuter, formerly of the athletic, now of the Guardian, tapping into Lobbing Scorchers kickoff, now brought to you by QED Coffee. Jeff, thanks for tapping in here this morning. You are our first guest now uh now that we have a uh title sponsor. So this is a historic occasion. Uh what's going on, man? How are you doing?

Good. Uh I mean just just finished wrapping up a newsline on Patrick Ojimang leaving Derby County's game with a possible Achilles injury. So a little less good because of that, because he's one of those guys you like cheering for on this pool, right? But Um beyond that, I'm thrilled to be part of this first uh sponsored show for you guys. Congratulations on Lane being a uh a reputable uh I there's something I I I love it. So it feels good work. Good get. Good get.

Appreciate it. Uh Jeff, before we uh we want to talk some USMNT with you and some Conca Calf Champions Cup here this morning, but uh real quick. Uh what do you got going on at the uh at the Guardian? You were the at the athletic, now you're at the Guardian. What do they what do they got you doing? What's the what's the role? What kind of coverage do you have coming up this year, especially, you know, with the with the World Cup going on? I'm sure you guys are gonna be going hard for that.

Yeah, we will be. And uh no, it's it it's been a a fantastic transition. I I'm loving it over there right now at The Guardian. Uh it it's a very similar scope to what people who were used to reading me at the Athletic for seven years are used to. A little bit of men's, women's club, country, domestic abroad.

Whatever the story of the week, uh that that kind of pulls my eye will be. I've been doing some reporting on the USL uh player lock or you know, kind of partial lockout strike uh against the uh the league office for the continued labor.

issues about player treatment in the US L ecosystem. Uh for the World Cup, I will be our lead US rider. So I'll be traveling to all those games. I'll be up in Seattle for the second group stage game and then bopping up to Vancouver for a couple of Canada games as well. So Uh, you know, just generally really, really excited to get after it. I was out in Atlanta all week uh for those games as well. And so kind of starting to see uh how they're gonna carry themselves in a camp like this. Uh

Obviously the results raise plenty of questions. I think you could actually say less than the results, but the performances in this case maybe lead to even more concerns about this US Men's national team. But from my side, I don't know. There's gonna be plenty to write about. I'm not worried about that.

Absolutely. Uh everyone go follow Jeff on all socials. We got his blue sky in the link right here. Subscribe to The Guardian. Uh support soccer journalism. Uh Jeff. US MNT camp. I mean you hit on it a little bit right there, but you were you were boots on the ground.

in Atlanta for these uh this March International Window friendlies. So let's uh let's talk about that real quick before we get your take on Seattle from a more national perspective. But uh yeah, March international window for the US MNT did not go. that well. Got worked by Belgium and by Portugal. And uh, you know, my take on that coming out of uh that camp, Jeff, was that uh I think the issue that they're having right now is the team is not very good.

And I think when you're not very good at the sport, it may it makes taking results. More more difficult because especially at the international level, you're playing teams that are quite good. You know, Belgium and Portugal come to mind, especially Belgium. I mean, that team.

But uh yeah, like it's because they're not that good and they're playing teams that are very good, that's an issue. And, you know, I think the the problem is a lot of people thought they were going to be good by this point and they're not. So that's kind of the way I see it. But uh

What are what are tell us what the vibes were like at camp because honestly it seemed like going into the camp Pachettino had the vibes about as good as you could hope. And I've honestly I I've been saying it like, you know, I clown on the US M N T a lot, but I've been impressed with Pachettino just as Like I think is like yeah, no, honestly, more than I thought. Like

He uh I like how he handles the player pool. I think he does a merit-based system. Obviously, uh all his quotes about how much he values MLS are pretty funny, but I also think it's the right approach to the player pool and honestly some of the performances and the results leading up to this camp would be better than I thought. So I was thinking of it like poach is uh

He's doing all he's doing all right. He's not it's not a total disaster like I was kind of talking about at the beginning. But uh what did you see at uh at camp? Like, did it surprise you that the results were were so poor, or were you kind of expecting that based on what?

Yeah, I mean like as you alluded to, right? Like when there's a perceived talent deficiency, I think coming into this window there was a lot of I don't know if it was wish casting or if it was recognition about the state of Belgium and there

team and the idea that they were coming off of this golden generation of a team that beat the United States at the round of sixteen in twenty fourteen and expected to be able to make a run, maybe the the nation's first World Cup final, and then ultimately didn't materialize. Okay, well no Rumelu Lukaku.

On this squad, no Thibaut Courtois. So you have a young goalkeeper, Sam Laman's in goal. Um, and it was much more dynamic. It they actually played like a team that didn't have pressure. And I think that when you saw that contrast it with the US men's national.

It just really sunk in that this is a group that likes to say that they don't feel the pressure, right? But but they certainly don't play like they're free of it, you know. Um I I think that when you look When you think back about the Greg Burrhalter era, I think a lot of the reason why it all

And there are understandable grievances and questions about how he got the job, how long it took them to give him the job a second time, how much wasted time they wasted about seven months from the conclusion of the twenty twenty two World. And you know BJ Callahan obviously did excellent work in the

And even better work with Nashville, right? But but the idea was that you were replacing Burr Halter with someone who was maybe a little bit more experienced of a coach. Well, they didn't hire an international manager, right? They hired a you know a foreign manager, but they didn't hire somebody who had ever worked.

And so what you're seeing is a group of players that is kind of balancing mentalities where the players who had been doing very well under Pochettino so far had been guys who are outside of Burr Halter's core, right? They were guys like Patrick Achimang, Diego Luna, uh Matt Freeze, you know, just players who were really coming into the fold and impressing in a way that they hadn't enjoyed under the previous pretty predictable lineups of Greg Burrow.

Um well now you have a point where those players are coming back and for whatever reason in the March window, Pochettino kind of leaned back to a Berholter like lineup when you look at it and and granted Sebastian Burholter actually started. Um you know, there's still a burr holter in the pool right after they got rid of water.

Um, you know, you you have lineups that are that are throwing players who hadn't been involved since twenty twenty four back in. Anthony Robinson had been injured, but he gets his first start. Mark McKenzie and Tim Reim hadn't partnered since twenty twenty four and they're back at it. Um and it just was a very Concerning response to a lot of the positivity that you alluded to

That you had seen in September, where it seemed like he was figuring out, okay, these are the players I can trust, and these are the players who just aren't gonna cut it in time for 26. So we've got to leave them outside of the pool so that everyone gets used to playing alongside each other, uh, if they're gonna be the actual team for the World Cup.

Uh or this is the team shape and we need to play with three center backs because even if it's not one of our deepest areas as a country right now on the men's side, well, okay, well at least we have the structural stability where we're not gonna get overrun over and over and over again as

against Belgium, right? And and and he was just constantly second guessing his own learnings to such a degree that it just doesn't seem like he's really learning much as he's doing this job. And that's even more Because this is a group of players that needed someone who could come in and foster them in a productive direction.

that was different than where they were heading under Burrhalter. And now I'm I it feels like it's pretty rudderless. It feels like, you know, Pachatino's already cracking jokes in press conferences saying you'll miss me uh during that March window, you know, pretty much already just kind of admitted

was a gig, which is what everyone assumed, but that's still you know, shouldn't say that you shouldn't say that, you certainly not yet, right? Like ask Julian Lopateggi what happens when you talk about your future plans before

right. Um and I think that you get to uh you just just a point where it looks really confused. You know, Christian Polistic playing as a striker because you just want to get the guy your goals because it's so easy to play as an advanced forward guys. I don't know why all of us don't do Through any player, any soccer player in the world up there, he'd score 12 goals with the red service, apparently, right? And you could just see it, right? Like Polisic was making wingers runs in striker terror.

Gave Portugal enough time to neutral. Well these are your final tests. This is the final evidence that we have. I learned nothing from covering this window, if I'm completely honest. In fact, I left this window with far more questions about this team than I had had. um to the point where it was very easy for me to do like a three things, three three questions I'll be watching for coming into the window and then leaving it. I pretty much just threw out 10 or 12 more up on the Guardian.

Just like, all right, well, time's up. Like the squad will be announced before we see this team play again. And it really is anyone's guess. It's where something like Ajimain's injury. Continuity and quality and work ethic to make this team work, even if he was going to be second or third choice striker. Um, but even when you just look at the demeanor, how he approaches train. I think that's a body they can't really afford to lose because that is a personality that they can't replace.

It's actually a profile they can replace. Right. That that physical component that Adjuman brought to the table, like it or not, I mean he has been performing. And that that is I mean you you dampered the show, I'm not gonna lie to you, man. Uh I I'm an Adjuman guy and and that that that really sucks. This is my issue And I say this as a Pachettino guy. I I like him. I really enjoyed the way he started to

Basically, say, look, I don't care where you're playing, as long as you're performing and you can perform for the team, you're gonna be part of it. And I I am a big believer. National teams, unlike everything else, sometimes it's not putting all the best players, it's putting the best team together. And that sometimes doesn't mean that you have the most talented.

midfielders or holding mid or you know uh left back or right back. Sometimes it's just what fits the system. I really enjoy that. But as you mentioned already, It was almost as he was contradicting himself with some of the things that he did in this window. And I was not expecting what six or seven changes for the Portugal game. I mean, you just got beat down against Belgium. Give this guy's something to

Put their hat on and and just feel better about themselves and put it together. So now you're experimenting with pullistic up top and you're trying to make

uh putting Aiden Morris to start and you're just making all these changes when you're this close to the World Cup. That was my biggest issue with that. And again, I say it as a Pochettino guy. But my question to you, Jeff, is In order for that philosophy to work, that you're putting the best team together, your X factors, your amplifiers, they have to play at their best level. Policy isn't quite there. It seemed like Team Boya didn't really do much. I think

Robinson and and and Winston McKinney were maybe the saving grace is there. So what happens next? Is there a plan B if these guys are not performing? And and am I being too hyperbolic or is that the biggest issue?

I the biggest issue, Nico, I think is just that we haven't seen it. We we haven't had the the they haven't had the time and some of this is the trade off of making the decision to replace a coach mid cycle as you just run And when you don't have World Cup qualifiers, you don't have the hard games that are going to force some of these relationships to just gel trial by fire.

Right. Like I think that the idea with the Gold Cup was we felt okay with the Gold Cup and with players like Polisic taking the tournament off and so many guys missing it for injuries or the Club World Cup or just fatigue from the world, I guess.

Um, we were okay with it because we generally saw some positivity. We saw Malik Tillman kind of embrace leading man status for the first time with this team in his career. We saw Diego Luna step in. We saw Matt Freeze cement himself as a really quality goalkeeper. But it seems like all of those lessons were just kind of cast aside at the second. the more famous team became available, right?

Um the hard part is when you when you think about a plan B, a plan B is almost usually uglier than plan A, right? It's more pragmatic. Plan B is almost always like, well, we wanted to play this way. We wanted to inspire hearts and minds. We can't do that. So we might as well. And uh we haven't seen the the grit squad. We haven't seen uh enough partnerships, frankly, forge themselves across midfield. You know, I would have liked to have seen

you know, you have 180 minutes, I would have loved to have seen just like different partnerships get sixty minutes in a row, right? Even if it means closing one game and then leading into the next one. But whatever the case may be, I think it does really help to have that sort of peace of mind of like

Let's take Giorena as an example. Giorena comes back into this, he's played twenty nine minutes since the start of the That is objectively just not enough to be in good fitness and form for a camp like this. So so if you recognize that and say, I'm always gonna bring him in in the seventieth so that I get used to him as a twenty minute super sub, okay, well then as a coach, what you're doing is you're experimenting.

You're getting him ready for that mentality that he clearly didn't have coming into the last World Cup, by the way, where he was not happy being viewed as a super sub sort of guy. So you're saying, look, man, this is where you're at in your career. How do we get the best version? And we weren't even seeing that, right? Like there's there's just a lot of these things where if I'm looking at what plan B is, maybe plan B is just simply playing with that back five.

The double pivot midfield, and you have kind of two number tens operating beneath a striker. That's probably going to be Malik Tillman and Weston McKenney. That was one of the few partnerships that. Looked decent coming out of this window, specifically looking at players who played alongside each other in identical roles from the first game to the second, Belgium to Portland. Um we just didn't see enough.

that. There wasn't enough evidence really to see that Pochettino's taking this job terribly seriously. There isn't really a much evidence to think that he's learning lessons and committing them to memory and building upon those lessons rather than saying, Okay, I learned that. We'll we'll bring that back against Paraguay if I need to, but until then

Let's just keep trying other stuff, right? Like I don't know if it's like the club manager mentality that preseason truly doesn't matter and the games only matter when you're gonna start paying squad bonuses for all of the performances like you're not paying in preseason, right? I don't know if that's the case, right? Like I don't know if that's his mentality just saying like when I'm with Tottenham, when I'm with Chelsea, with I'm with PhG, this is when And you hope that's a good idea.

But for these players, it is really difficult to project. In terms of This is how they will win. This is how they will get through a tough group. Like a really, it has to be said, a deceivingly difficult group of.

three opponents that are very cohesive, that are used to outperforming their, you know, individual qualities as a collective and will make games very difficult to get results. All three of Paraguay, Australia, and Turkey are very good at that. Turkey also has the game breakers that the U Just providing in the final third, right? It's gonna be tough for them, and they've made it look even tougher at this point because of a window like this one, and that is the last thing.

Like make no mistake, this is about as disastrous as March could have gone short of two or three players exiting with Mate. Yeah, and no sleeping Paraguay. Paraguay is a very hard team to score on. Alfaro does a great job with that team overall. Uh they they drew in points basically with Colombia. Uh they beat Brazil in the Come Val uh. World Cup qualifiers. I mean, that that is a quality team. So I I'll leave you with this one. I I'm just I'm concerned that the top level is

for the for the US best national team is not at his best moment. Pulisic has struggled at the club level. Giorena barely plays. Musa's not even in camp because we don't know what happened to Musa. He just was the greatest player and all of a sudden he just fell off. And these are real Tavishi, look, I'll tell you as a Colombian, the country's falling apart because they don't know what's gonna happen because of Hamas's

poor play and lack of conditioning and I mean th the sky is literally falling in Colombia. So I know what it feels like when your top players aren't performing because that's who you look to when it comes to those national teams is those guys that are gonna carry your team and right now for the US Mith national team they're just not at their best. Yeah and and frankly they're not even close, are they? Yeah. No. Dicey times for the old Yanks. The I'm looking at the World Cup like, ooh, this

This could be tough. This could be bad. Uh Jeff, one more on the US MNT and then let's talk some Seattle Sounders and Conscalf Champions Cup. But uh we'll take this one from chat because I was gonna ask it. But this is what the people want to know. And I don't know if you have any insight on this, but Gianni asks.

Can you ask him why Jackson Reagan can't even get a sniff at the C B position? You know, I'm not gonna lie. I was watching that uh that Belgium game, watching Tim Reams stick his hand out there and swap the ball. uh away in the penalty box and I was thinking, would Jackson Reagan have done that? I don't know. I'm not saying that he wouldn't have, but I would like to have seen him get the uh chance. But in all seriousness, do you know like

Have you heard anything or do you know anything about Jackson Reagan's US MNT stock? And if it's just a case of like you know, he hasn't been in the mix, so you can't bring a new guy in. Or is there anything you've heard about this supposed beef between him and uh the Sounders in US soccer? Or what's why can't our boy get uh look the team could use

The team could use him. Yeah, the team could use him. And I think that he's the profile of center back this team needs more of, which is a lot less about how do I impact the game leaving the back line and and more so like how do I do the work that I

The rest will come, right? And I my understanding is I think that there was a big part. Um, this would have been before Pochettino, but this would have been that January 2024 camp he had to leave early with an injury, right? And so then I I think it was.

Pochettino comes in with zero familiarity with this player pool. You just have to admit it. Like he'd heard of Polisic and McKenny, he'd scouted against them, he'd look played, tried to game plan against Reyna and anyone who would have played in the Champions League. But beyond that, every new name is about as familiar.

Right. And so what he's going through at this point is looking and saying, okay, well, that guy wasn't called in there. That guy didn't make it for the Copa squad. Um my guess is he's gonna be someone who's gonna be looked at for this next cycle, right? But I I think it

Just he wasn't really available at times when Pochettino maybe started being familiar. Uh, I I seem to remember him being understandably aggrieved Jackson about not making the January squad last year. Uh yeah, keep in mind they didn't do a January squad.

But whatever. Um, yeah, so I I think that there's just been like an infrequency of availability and then also couple that with like last summer would have been a great opportunity for him with the Gold Cup to cement himself as a starter, and then of course with the club World Cup he participate. So like I think that that was really the biggest one where

Maybe he could have been available in a tournament to show Pochettino his his ability and and to work into that rotation more. But I think that this is simply a fact that because of that club World Cup, he never really had that opportunity and other center backs were available. And every coach is gonna go with guys that they know have been available um for them when they need them over guys that they haven't had.

Jeff, let's uh let's talk some Seattle Sounders. We did want to get to that with you because, you know, everyone around here, uh, we we follow this team every single hour of every single day. And I think that that colors how we see it sometimes. So when we uh when we get a national guest in, I do like to ask about their perception of uh of where the sounders are at at any given time and especially right now because

Uh there is now uh an eight-ish game sample size that we've got to work off of between the league season and CONCACAF Champions Cup. They are in the CONCACAF Champions Cup quarterfinals. Uh that series with Tigris starts on Wednesday. And uh I think for the most part, the vibes are good right now. Four-one and one in the league. Uh the Vancouver round of sixteen series went very well. I mean, if you told me five one on aggregate going into that series.

I don't think I would have believed you. So that was a that was a fantastic performance. The league season has the the performances haven't necessarily been incredible, but it is the Seattle Sounders roadshow right now. They've played one home game and the rest of them have been on the road.

So to make it out of that with the point haul that they have, I'm I'm pleased with it, even if I wish there had been a few more goals scored. But overall, I don't think you can argue with 2.17 points per game in the league while you're in CONCACAF Champions Cup, especially when you had to play a team like the White Caps.

who uh I I know the Sounders made them look not that good, but if you look at how they're playing in the in the league, they look like one of the best teams in the entire league again. They're putting up crazy numbers. The they're uh they're win over Portland.

over on the weekend was one of the best games of the season so far, honestly, from an entertainment perspective. But anyway, that was not an easy matchup or an easy series. And they were able to get out of that at five-one. So I think for the most part, people are feeling pretty good going into this Tigris series. Uh how are you sizing up the Sounders start to the season from the national perspective? What have you liked? Uh what do you want to maybe see more of?

You know, it's really funny. I I've actually been pleasantly surprised by how well they've started the season, just given the the very well established sort of the regular season isn't the trophy. So like the first you're figuring out first ten weeks, fifteen weeks are where you're figuring out who are the guys The business end and make sure that you're crescendoing at the right time coming into the playoffs. So I pick, look, I pick Seattle the win MLS Cup. You can check the Guardian.

in print. Uh I'm not just pandering here. But the thing is, they look better than I expected. very well, assuming that they do not, you know, kind of overextend themselves now that they have this run available to them. The good news is, you know, when I when I think of the the most impressive performances so far this year, I would say it is leg one against

Um, and I know that's not league, so it's kind of cheating, but I watched it so it counts. And it it was one of those games where you just looked and Vancouver played their. Vancouver was lining up exactly the way they wanted to. Vancouver, the first 30 minutes, were creating the movement patterns that they wanted. They were able to advance their high line as far as they usually look to. They were able to retain possession in a way that Jesper Sorensen has made them accustomed to.

And so it looked like it was the White Caps as close to their early season best as you could possibly sit. And then Seattle comes and just absolutely breaks through it, wrestles control over it. Wasn't just the fact that this would like look, you could win Smash and Grabs 3 now, right? Like you can have those sorts.

opponent and that's all it takes to win a game, right? But this wasn't that. This was Seattle looking and saying, here's our identity. Okay. Well now you're seeding a foothold and we're gonna take it and we're not Temporarily take it, we're gonna own it, right? And we're gonna make it incredibly difficult. And it is that sort of

kind of reclaiming the the momentum, but also re-establishing and saying, like, we're building from strength to strength and we're not just gonna take our opportunities and be content. That was something that unfortunately you saw too often.

And you have a congested schedule and that's just gonna happen, right? But there were a lot of those results that were flipping or or opportunities where it looked like this team could have really harnessed something special and just kind of let it sit too long too often last year that I think a

them back. They should have won that first round series against Minnesota. They played better and they didn't get through because they just weren't ruthless enough. And now they're looking more ruthless. So that's something that bodes very, very well. And I've seen that it seems like it's a pretty

last year. Uh with Tigris, I mean I backing Seattle to get past them. I really am, because I think that you're catching um you know Tigris. And this is a team that usually is making it to the semifinal or first Right. So you're very used to saying this is a final. This is the this is the territory of the bracket where.

Right? Credibly, you could also say, and I argued as well on Blue Sky that Vancouver, Seattle was a credible final because both of them were recent final lists. So how could you argue that it wasn't? Right. So we're already at the point where they're getting tested. But Tigris is not at their best. Um they've been

pretty middling as they're adjusting to uh gignac taking a lesser workload. Uria uh Antuna also left the club I believe for Pumas. So you know they're they're without some you know they have some differences in their attacking fleet right now uh and they're still working it out in real time. I think that they're barely carrying a positive goal differential through about a dozen games in Liga MX.

the Klausura. So um it's a good time to catch them is what I'm saying. I I think that, you know, playing the second leg at home I do think is an advantage generally in a series like this. Especially when away goes goals goes, that's when you know you just need to really get that one on the road on Wednesday and you're setting yourself up for a better series because of it. And I think that there is the talent to do that.

Um, so I would be bullish, I think, in your position. Like I I I think right now The response to losing Obit Vargas has been very positive. I think that the attack looks a little less congested and it's a little clearer how it flows best. Now you could argue it looks thinner without Manungu and without Ryan Kent, but I As thin as availability dictates. Um a lot of reason for positivity, guys. I I I really do think that this is built.

Um, one of the most sturdy and dependable cores in major league soccer from year to year. And that isn't just on paper, that's on performance at this point.

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Price and coverage match limited by state law. Not yet on the Kingston tape, but I need to. I just I finally got I finally got fully brushed up on Snyder Brunel before the start of the season, so I thought I had a couple. kind of back off, but I guess not. And that's good. That's a positive development. Um with Manungu, it it just was a case where he wasn't

getting elevated to the level of minutes he really needed to to be able to stick with Burkina Faso, right? And there's there's a part of this where you look and say, making that AFCON squad as a relatively untested guy, you get a taste for it and you want to become a major player for for your national team like that.

you know, if that is part of the motivating factor there, then you aren't getting enough minutes. Twenty, thirty minute cameos and some cup games and some Wednesday midweek rotations aren't gonna be enough to really pad that case and continue to hone his development. He was looking

He was being discussed outside of Seattle for for being like, you know, kind of a guy with one trick, right? And and that's not Georgie Manunko. If you watch enough of him, you see that he has a lot more dynamism to it. But but when that was how he was being relied upon in Seattle. Now Colorado is gonna be a very difficult one for

I think that Colorado is a team that is used to building itself for two year cycles rather than five, right? They they generally detonate their core uh very quickly as soon as offers come in for their players because that's how small market they operate under Stan Cronkey of all people. But Um, regardless, he will get more minutes. Uh Matt Wells is a coach who does want to retain the ball, so he shouldn't be forced into this structure where now he is having to be a counter-attacking merch.

set up really good for pressing triggers and things like that. He should get opportunities on the ball so long as Matt Wells is there. And I beneficial for him. Um from a Seattle side, yeah. I mean at at that point you didn't have the valuation from Hammerby when they came in with a bid over the winter, if I remember right. Was that like one million just about? So to be able to get more money and to have it directly all converted.

Usable squad resources'cause keep that in mind, transfer fees aren't directly converted to GAM. There's like a calculation of when that stops and when it's a portion of it gets turned into GAM. So you can't have team selling guys for 20 million dollars of gam into the you know, the economy. We can't have that apparently. Uh it's fake currency, but we have hard standards. That's that's major league soccer for you. Uh but you know, in this case when you have two million dollars game.

Jackson Reagan needs a rate. Um, or we need another midfielder. We want to bring in that dynamic winger. What is happening with Pedro de la Vega? Are we gonna be able to count on him as a strider? Do we need to possibly have someone who can start for him and he's a super sub? You know, at 100% this season and then next year we'll see again. Like whatever the case may be, they are able to better adapt their squad in the summer than they were going to be with Drew.

Really difficult for the short term, but keep in mind the summer window comes much sooner in the calendar this year than usual. Usually an MLS, like the summer window opens after about 20 weeks, but because of the World Cup break. So there is still a majority of the season to get things right. Um, and I think it's a gamble that then late in the window it's tough to lose a player without a replacement. But, you know, like you said, if there's a guy already on hand.

Just gotta kind of trust your your your culture and your ecosystem to continue to self-generate and self-perpetuate. We have got about uh five minutes to go and then we gotta get out of here. So uh Nico, why don't you uh why don't you get one more in here and uh and bring us home and then we'll call it a wrap for this episode of Lobbing Scorchers Kickoff, now presented by uh QED Coffee. Yeah, I'm gonna use my time to simply

Put a guy on your radar that I'm pretty sure you have. But look, man, if we got Chris Brady and Cholte for the US Bus National team, where can we put? Our guy Andrew Thomas, cause he has been absolutely unreal. I mean, shot stopping, just bracing a guy that just continues to grow. He's developing his footwork, his distribution. Uh man, uh, you know, is there a possibility that, I mean, if we got these other MLSers, I mean, why not Andrew Thomas?

I I mean why not Andrew Thomas at this point? Because I think what you're looking at um with uh with with Matt Freeze is someone who's in the best form of his career, and so you're kind of rewarding a player for that. Matt Turner is someone who's of that different kind of old school what you think of a US.

Where it's like no matter how Nick Romando's doing with Rails Alt Leg, you knew he was gonna be called in alongside Guzon and Howard, right? Because that that that trio just kind of picked itself, you know, much to other goalkeepers' dismay, right?

Now Thomas, I I always forget. I had to look up his age after you brought him up. He is 27 and he strikes me as someone who is far younger. Um, but that doesn't mean that he can't get that look because goalkeepers up as as No, like goalkeepers develop later because the job description kind of requires more of the brain component than maybe some of the you know the lung busting runs up the flank.

Right. Like, and that's not to say it's like a dumb person's work to be a fullback, but at the same point, you tend to see fullbacks be more young and athletic. And that is kind of what gets

It's why, like, a good like a Christian Roldan type, a Kellen Acosta type, a Tyler Adams type will usually begin as a fullback, right? And then they eventually shift over to midfield because they're So Thomas, I think, is finally getting those looks and he has that big game testing when you look at the League's Cup last year, when you look at this year now getting the regular season.

smart what Schmetzer has done to give Stefan Fry the biggest games early in the season, right? And then look, if they win Conca Caf, is it going to be an open question? Who starts in the playoffs? Absolutely. Are you guys going to be able to cover the pants off that thing? Absolutely. So looking forward to that one as well. Um, but I think with Thomas, the good news is there's no number one.

For Golkey to Totally. There is nobody. Like I think leaving this and this isn't just like Turner gave up five against Portugal. I think only one of them is maybe something he could have done something about. I think the other No, if anything, he was kind of yeah, exactly. He had a huge double save that was waved off because of the penalty kick that I thought was going to be like this really huge moment for him kind of stepping back in. Um the second save in particular gets lost.

But um with Thomas, there is a clear w runway for him to run into if he's the most informed goal. twenty thirty will hit him when he will not have yet turned thirty two. That's great. That's right in your prime, right? So he is one to watch. I think that with Brady, I'm still seeing a lot of

Concerning signs that it isn't just that he was young and he'll learn it. And I think that there's still some evolution to go. Schulti and Celentano have been the other two who've been in the chase for the third. And I think that they will have very, very good evolution. Um I I think time Thomas can make sense uh so long as he continues with these.

International coaches love nothing more than a guy who has had a good tournament and has won a trophy. They love a guy who has come in for the FA Cup and has stood And they say, yeah, that is the mentality we need for this landscape. And I think Thomas is ready building really good tape along those lines. It's the case that I'm making for why Patrick Schulte should be the third goalkeeper for the rest of this cycle when you look at the World Cup. And I think it's a case

Replicating with Seattle. And that could only be an encouraging saying. Another one that I want to see, by the way, I do want to see just like one cat pull.

I just wanted like just I think that he's here to be able to give him a post-World Cup call, give him let him space it. You know no one's gonna play harder. Um I just think it's such a deserved when I'm looking at the guys who haven't gotten a look under Had the best four-year window. Obviously, some recency bias at play here because it's really only been two. Um, but I would love to.

I wasn't gonna say it, you know, no one would no one takes that seriously coming from us. So I'm glad you said it'cause uh I'm I'm pretty much fully there. Why not? What do you have to lose at this point? Call'em in for the World Cup for all uh We don't have ringers either, by the way. Yes, like so it's not like Yeah, it's not like you're you're you're shuffling off someone else who's been more deserving this cycle. Point to a third deserving winger in this pool. It's tough.

Zendaya. If you need a wing back, he can do wing back. You know, put him back. Do it. Do it. Like seriously, put him wherever. I I just think that there's a certain point where this program used to be really good at it.

incredibly well for it. And um I don't think that they've been doing it as much lately. I think it's been much more what club have you been at. And I think if you're trying to send that message of what matters for the next cycle and it's actually like how you compose yourself and not just like what you're doing in your Instagram, call in Paul Ryan.

He heat check it. What have you got to lose? But uh all right, guys, that is all the time that we have here this morning. Uh Jeff, thank you so much for tuning in. Jeff Reuter, now of the Guardian. Go follow him on all socials, keep an eye out for his coverage of uh Major League Soccer, US M N T. in the World Cup, uh this guy does it all, so

Show uh give him a follow, give him some support. Jeff, thank you so much uh for the time, Jeff. Uh do the man. We'll get you back on real soon. Um we're we're gonna get out of here, but uh before before we get out of here, everyone, everyone. Go subscribe to QED Coffee. This is very important. Support the show. Subscribe to QED. QED Coffee.com slash collections slash subscription. Code LS74.

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