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What's going on, everybody? Welcome to episode 75 of Lobbing Scorchers. This is Ari Lillianwall. I've got producer Noe here with me remotely. And folks, we have had some technical difficulties. We've had... A battle with technology, as happens sometimes on Lobbing Scorchers. But I think we've got it all figured out. And Noah, we are set to record. We've had multiple attempts. We are set to record.
The biggest dubpot in Boston Scorchers history. How are you feeling? It was so big. It broke the scales. It broke the platform. It broke all recording metrics. We're in for... We're in for a good one. It's going to be a good one. Yeah, that's right, folks. The Seattle Sounders, they did it. They did it. They went down to LAFC for the Western Conference semifinals, and they won.
A 2-1 victory in what I think can comfortably be called one of the greatest performances in club history. I mean, we're going to talk about exactly where it ranks. in that pantheon but it's certainly it's certainly up there with the best of them jord morris with one of the best goals in club history one of the best goals of his career extra time game winner to break a 1-1 deadlock
and send the Seattle Sounders to the Western Conference Final, where they're going to take on the LA Galaxy. And if they win, Noah, the Seattle Sounders host MLS Cup. How does that sound? And how crazy is it that... That's something that I just said, given where we were.
Earlier in the season. I mean, this is how we drew it up, Ari. This is exactly what we knew, how it was going to happen. We predicted this preseason. There was no problems throughout the season. It's exactly how we drew it up. Definitely how Brian Schmetzer drew it up. Who's stoked? You know what? Let's win this next game and host MLS Cup again.
Yeah, that's right. But before we do that, we do have to lay down the dub pod. We're going to hit our game review. We're going to hit our agenda check. We're going to hit your questions. And then we're going to talk about the other results in the semifinals around MLS. We're going to size up these conference finals. this game against the galaxy a little bit um
There's kind of a lot to get to, too, later in the show, Noah, because there's a lot of MLS news with coaching entrances and exits. Inter-Miami's got a new coach. Atlanta United's coach is gone. New York City's coach is gone. So just... A lot going on in MLS right now between the playoffs and all the news that's happening. We're going to talk about all of it. But before we do that, I do have to let you all know that Lobbing Scorchers is a part of the Sounder at Heart podcast network.
If you want to get the best independent Seattle soccer coverage, consider supporting us by going to sounderatheart.com slash LS. That's sounderatheart.com slash LS. Scroll down to subscribe and support to get 30 days completely free. Every sign up through our link helps support and grow this show. Know what we have. new sub to thank don't we yeah we do we do rick kosik rick thank you so much for being number 47 agent 47 perhaps of the loving scorchers podcast you're the goat
Thank you for subscribing. Ari, if they want to join the ranks of Rick and all 47 others, where do they go? Sounder at heart.com slash LS. Thank you, Rick. We love and appreciate you. We love and appreciate all of our subscribers. If you're listening to this and you have not done so yet, sub to the Lobbing Scorchers YouTube. There's a lot going on. Oh, yeah. There's a lot going on out there right now. If you're not subbed, you're going to want to. The Road to 700 is alive and well.
We've closed that gap, despite some of the controversy that we've been embroiled in. Lobbing Scorchers has had a controversial last couple days, too, so I think we're going to have to talk about that at some point. But we are two subs away from 700 on the Lobbing Scorchers YouTube, so sub there.
And also we hit triple dig on the Instagram today, which is a big, there we go. So sub to our Instagram too, please. There's actually like some of the content we've been putting up there has been pretty good too. So yeah, we've been putting some memes up there as well. Some more shareable content, you know. Well, we're venturing in. We're venturing in. We're venturing in. All right, let's get to this dub pod. We got to lay down this dub pod. Like I said, it's one of the...
It's the biggest dub pod in Lobbing Scorchers history, certainly. And, you know, I guess before we get into our lineup reaction and the key moments and everything, I mean, I think it's worth just kind of... I want to... I don't want to let this moment kind of...
get blown by you know i think these types of wins are worth savoring and soaking in like without a doubt um you know that's kind of the feeling i i i've always had when i when coming off the winds like this of which uh we've been fortunate to witness a lot of big wins like this
following Seattle um but like this games like this and wins like this this is why we do it you know that was the prevailing feeling that I had after the game was just uh the allure and the excitement of potentially getting wins like that is like
like we're always chasing that dragon of results like that. And it's been, I mean, it's been a hell of a ride getting as many of them as the Sounders have given us. And this, this is just the latest one. And this was one of the best ones. Yeah. This felt so sweet. Not only because. It was the final get-back game against LAFC. It felt like the sweetest revenge of all time. But even more than that, the way that this season has played out, the way the twists, the turns, the...
the very deep downs and the very high highs. This is like, this has to be one of my favorite Sounders matches that I have ever watched. And I'm telling you, I was... planning to go down to this game and i didn't end up doing it and i had never had more fomo in my life sitting on my couch i know i wasn't there either um And I was at the one in 2019 and I had the same type of feeling, but we are both going to LA for the galaxy game. So hit us up. Good content.
We're going to, we're going to be making content. And if you want to, if you're going down there for the game and you want to say hi, let us know for sure. All right. Yeah. I think that was all. I think that was well said. You know, like I just. This win, it deserves to be savored. It deserves to be recognized in the pantheon of great wins that this club has had over this last era where there's been a lot of these.
All right, but let's talk about this game. Let's talk about this game. Let's break it down. This is going to be a fun one to break down. I mean, we had a Jordan Morris game winner. We had LAFC score the funniest zone goal I've ever seen. A straight banger on both of those goals, by the way. I think as good as Jordan's goal was, Maxime Cheneau's was arguably better. It was a perfect strike.
Let's do our lineup reaction because there's a lot going on with this lineup. You had Jordan and Rusnak back after missing game two. uh in houston but no new who and no paul rothrock and there was a paul rothrock update within the last hour or so actually brian schmetzer was doing his hit on a kjr with softy and um he said that paul rothrock is going to miss the rest of the season
of the playoffs with the quad injury that's been keeping him out. So no Paul Rothrock in this game. No Paul Rothrock in the Galaxy game. And if Seattle does make MLS Cup, he won't be playing there. So I guess... Let's just take a moment to shout out Paul Rothrock. I mean, he's been...
I think the key character on Lobbing Scorcher is really since episode one. And it started as a bit. It became a real thing. And by the end of this season, he became a nationally known name. We had Max Bretos on this show. And we did like 10 minutes on Paul Rothrock. Yeah. So shout out to Paul Rothrock. Like in all seriousness, like he really added a fun.
storyline at a time of the season when it really needed it um and then he became like one of the feel-good stories in mls this year yeah i mean um yeah best wishes to him in his recovery and he'll be back next year you better believe oh yeah no i mean to you know We would not be in this position as a club without Paul Rothrock. So, you know, I think his presence and his clearly his sacrifice physically to get them into this position. Shout out to our boy. We love you. We love you, Paul.
Thank you, King. Get better soon. And this trophy, if we win it, is dedicated to you. So this lineup, you had John Bell in this lineup. You had RBW in this lineup. You had De La Vega starting over Georgie, which that's been subject of some debate. But I think when I looked at this lineup, my first thought was, okay, well, if they do get this win, this is going to make it even better.
Cause you've got like a, got a little bit of a rotated lineup or like you got some key guys out. If you take the dub in this situation with this lineup, that makes it even sweeter. And God damn it. That turned out to be. Correct. Um, what a performance I, uh,
It was shades of like the member of the Austin FC game, the famous Rui Diaz and a bunch of teenagers games. This was not like that lineup. That lineup was the youngest lineup in MLS history. But it was like a similar idea of going into a game.
as the underdog already and then undermanned on top of it and still getting the win um so i think uh out of all the i'm gonna do a sequence where i give out my flowers to everyone later on uh but john bell and rbw absolutely in there yeah and i mean you know those the young contributors were insane like played lights out i mean
You're not even mentioning Obed, but I think Obed had his best performance of his career in this match. Brian Schmetzer said after the game that he thought Obed was the best player on the field. I mean, Stephen Fry, I might pick, but like the fact that Obed is in that discussion, I think this was one of, if not his best game of the season. I think probably given the magnitude of the game.
this was probably his best game as a pro. All right. Key moments and observations. Let's talk about the first half to start because there was no goals in this game until the second half. But going into a game like this, the things that I'm looking for are. When you're the road team, the first 15 to 20 minutes of the game are all about withstanding whatever pressure that the home team is going to bring at you right after kickoff. A team with a home field advantage as good as LAFC.
They're going to come at you early. They're going to try and get out on the front foot. Can you weather that? Can you withstand that? Can you get through that just initial part of the game without conceding? That's sort of, it's like your first test. I look at a game as a series of.
like tests, you need to get from point A to point B accomplishing this task. In this case for Seattle, point A was kickoff, point B was getting through the first 15 to 20 minutes in control of the game state and without conceding.
And they did that. And they were able to do that, I thought, for the whole first half. And I don't know about, you know, I'm interested to hear how you were feeling. But when this game got to halftime and it was still 0-0, the thing that was going through my mind was like, OK, this is winnable.
This is winnable right now. LAFC, they look fatigued. They look like a team, I think, that's played like... over 200 games in the last like three years that's a made up stat but like they played a lot of games and um they just did not look like their uh their normal lafc selves i didn't think really
at all during this game save for like the one sequence where hollings had scored um but i do think the first thing that you have to credit um from a seattle perspective with this performance and getting this win was how they managed the first half
and uh really how they manage this whole game yeah no my my entire giant flower i'm throwing my flowers already i know you'll get to yours later but brian schmetzer played this game So well set it up defensively to tire out and frustrate LAFC and a huge credit to the entire back line for.
pocketing Giroux I mean Giroux was effectively a double agent in this game with how ineffective he was like that was crazy the fact that that we were able to just I know he hasn't been super successful with LAFC so far But even so, he's still a French national team legend, a man who can be dangerous when given the opportunity, and...
He was just completely ineffective. And then Denny Bawanga, completely ineffective. I mean, this was like insane. I was blown away. After that first half, exactly like you were saying, I was like, whoa, like... We can actually win this game. I think everyone felt it. I think the deeper into the game it got, everyone kind of got that same sense of like, this is here for the taking. And frankly, even after, this is a good segue to the Hollingshead goal, because that was the first goal in the game.
He scored first. Frankly, even when they scored, I still felt like the game was there for the taking. Very much so. It was a good goal by Hollingshead. It was tilting that it was Hollingshead. It would be him, right? It would be him, and it has to be him. Apparently, Ryan Hollingshead is actually the most dangerous attacking player that LAFC has because...
He can't stop scoring against us. I feel like this goes back to his FC Dallas days, dude. 100%. He would torch the Sounders when he was on FC Dallas. Yeah, okay. I'm glad I'm not crazy because after he scored this goal, I was like, how many times? Is this 12-year veteran MLS lifer going to score against the Seattle Sounders? But no, I mean, in all seriousness, this was the one sequence in the game where... LAFC looked like LAFC. They got out in transition. They had the numerical advantage there.
uh bogus sends in a good low cross and honestly i mean like i really can't like yaymar sort of whiffed on the challenge if i remember correctly but like hollingshead that was like a striker's finish in the box that was like a ruy diaz yeah finish so yeah I rewatched it, and honestly, I thought that it was a great goal. One, he positioned himself really well. I mean, Ryan Hollingshed is just great.
in in transition and in movement like he's just so good in that space he reminds me a lot i mean like paul rothrock reminds me a lot of him in terms of his Just like the way he can sense space and get in really well. But I mean, yes, Yamar didn't close him down quick enough. But I think that like the defending that he did do.
it was the best he could do given the position that Hollingshed was already in by the time the defensive transition had happened, if that makes any sense. Well, and I think, you know, for me, I don't go into a game.
like this expecting to necessarily keep a clean sheet against LAFC obviously like if you can that would be awesome but you're playing them on the road in the playoffs they are very likely uh i mean they're pretty much assured to get one on you and i it's pretty likely that they're going to get multiple goals on you and really it's about if you can hang with them offensively it would seem um so
Like I said, just based on how the game went to that point, even when Hollingshead scored that, I very much felt like Seattle was still in the game. Sure enough, less than 10 minutes later, they get their equalizer via what I think will, what will go down as one of the all time galazos in Seattle Sounders history. And really, I think the man who scored this goal.
I consider him not just a legend of the Seattle Sounders, but a legend of the city of Seattle as a whole for his service to our city. And I'm talking about Maxime Chennault. Build the statue. Build the statue outside of Lumen Field for this one. This was a hilarious own goal. And honestly, just like there's so many little things about this game that just make it so good. And the fact that this was the equalizer. is so good. It was like...
Everyone, when you see an own goal, people are like, you can't credit the attacking team for that because that's a fluke. That's a defensive error. So you got lucky is basically the implication anytime there's an own goal. I don't think all goals are necessarily created equal. I think this was an own goal where it happens. It's a situation where Seattle creates their own luck through a dangerous sequence of play where Albert Rusnak did a great job on this play.
win the ball and then find Obed out wide in that space, right? Obed, he gets the ball out wide and sends in a low cross that's tough for the CB to deal with. He dealt with it. as poorly as he possibly could have, but that doesn't happen unless you put him in a difficult situation to handle, you know? So I think, I think what I'm saying is it's a long way of saying, I think this was a just equalizer based on how the game had been going.
and the quality of the danger and the chance in that particular sequence. And Maxime Cheneau, he's been a really good MLSCB. The year NYCFC won... MLS Cup, remember how good he and the other CB on NYC were that year? So he's a good player. He got unlucky. But what I thought was funny was, you know, it's like the roughest own role I've seen. all season in just a terrible spot. And then at the end of the 90, did you see how he was like praying? He was like faking the heavens.
And I think he was like thanking the heavens that they hadn't lost yet, but it was just, I don't know. He was down bad. He was down bad. He was down bad. I mean, you know, and you do like going back to Obed, especially on that play, like. I thought he did such a good job in that small space to like be able to get to a position, get to the end line to get that cross off because yes, nobody was there for the Sounders in terms of like finishing that, but.
It's just like you say sometimes, when you play a low-driven ball into the box and it pings around, you never know, it might go in. There's a point to doing that, and clearly Obed knows that. He played that ball in. worked really hard to get to that position with great playoff Albert Rusnak, who, you know, I heard a lot of people talking shit about Albert. I think there was some fair criticism this game, but like...
they don't score that own goal without Albert making a really nice pass to Obed. Yeah, absolutely. God, that own goal was so good. It's so good. we got to talk about the game winner this game goes to extra time um which all right i guess first uh
Let's talk about our feelings going into extra time. There were 50 minutes before that of the Stephen Fry masterclass. I feel like we should hit on even more. I was going to hit on that after, but yeah. Okay. All right. That's a good, that's a, that's a, let's do it chronologically. Stephen Fry I mean was insane in this game I asked on Twitter after the game if this was the best Stephen Fry game ever
I think there's different criteria. Obviously, MLS Cup 16 with the save, that's the highest stakes, highest magnitude. moment that he's come through in and that was a bigger game than a semifinal was but in terms of just like the uh amount of shots he got bombarded by and the degree of difficulty on some of the saves i mean he saved the season
He saved the season. There are multiple goals, both in the second half and in extra time, that easily, easily could be goals if the goalkeeper doesn't stand on his head. And as he's done, his whole... career in seattle stefan fry was up for those moments um i think my favorite one let's let's talk about our favorite ones out of all these saves um
I thought the craziest one was... Everyone's going to be talking about the kick save on Bogus. I thought the craziest one was the reaction header on Hollingshead. Guys, if that goes in, that game is over. Yeah. like that that just there there's so many scenarios where that play happens and that's a goal like yeah um
I really liked the one where he smashed into the post. Yes, that was the other one I was going to read. It was like 105 or something, like 105th minute. Oh, no, that was way later. That was 119th. like okay that was it yeah that was 119 sorry so that was like yeah that was like at the end i mean literally to save the game like it goes to pk's if that one goes in and i mean talk about putting your body on the line like yeah i mean she like just laid it out lunges into the
Freaking post. Yeah. Whole body weight just smokes the post. The whole goal's rattling. Like, dude. Stephen Fry is... That man is 40.
That man is 40. That's amazing. He's pushing 40, and he just had one of the best games, if not the best game of his career. Unreal stuff from the goalkeeper in this game. I couldn't even believe what I was watching at times. He was... going off tommy dutra is the greatest coach of all time of any position coach ever because dude has fry playing like a 21 year old like
La Liga Barcelona keeper. Like, seriously. That's what he was looking like out there. Was there anything else in the second half that we wanted to hit before we get to extra time? Because really, I was rushing because I want to get to this JMO game winner. I mean, I want to get to this JMO game winner too. Okay, but before we do that, let's hit on our mindset going into extra time because I think nerves and tensions were high at that point.
I don't know, man. I felt good. I felt good the whole time. It's weird. It felt like the 19 game where going into that game, kind of like this game, my expectations were pretty low. I was pretty sure Seattle was going to lose. both of these games but then as the game gets like further and further into it and you kind of see how the guys on the team are feeding off the moment and playing up to it like as uh
as an observer, you kind of start to feel that same belief, right? That's how I felt. How did you feel? I felt nervous because I wasn't seeing a lot of attacking output, but I also... I was trying to, I was like, okay, like we got through the 90 this next. 10 minutes this next 15 minutes is going to like dictate how i actually feel because i wasn't feeling confident or unconfident was just like i want to see how hard la comes at us and if we can absorb that pressure because i knew that like
All they're going to do is go, LAFC is going to come out in a full-on press, full-on all-out attack, see what they can do. If we can hold them for 15 minutes, I was like, we can win this game. If it's in PKs, it's in PKs. If we score some kind of goal, it's like that. Like they're going to tire themselves out in the next 15 minutes because that's the Steve C plan.
Like that's, I mean, if I was at home on a playoff game against a team you've beat a billion times, that's exactly what I would tell my players to do too. Just balls to the walls, try and score. I think for me, the other thing that was going through my mind was you've given yourselves a 50-50 toss chance, and that's really all you could ask for. in a game like this where you're the underdog. You are not favored in the game and you're playing on the road. If you give yourself that 50-50 shot...
You take that like going into it every time. And so it's a credit to Seattle for giving themselves that shot and getting to extra time where they got their game winning goal. Let's break this goal down. 109th minute. Jordan Morris, one of the greatest goals in Seattle Sounders. history i think this was the best goal of his career um wake not not
Because of the stage of it, like the semifinal stage, I understand is not as big as some of the Champions League games and MLS Cups that this team has played. But when you take into account the... LAFC bogey team storyline. Some of the struggles that this team had had on offense this year. Some of the criticism that Jordan Morris has taken this season and his career from both MLS and U.S. He had a scoreless streak.
streak coming into the game but just with what was what was riding on this game for Seattle their whole season the LAFC bogey team storyline and also the quality of the finish and the goal itself, which we're going to talk about right now, all combined for what I think is, this was the Jordan Morris magnum opus goal, in my opinion. I love that. This was footballing nirvana.
The quality of the goal, the highlight, the moment, the celebration, and the win. Like I said, a moment like that, that is why we... do this why we watch every single one of these games and follow this team obsessively as we do is chasing moments like that for him to deliver that amazing amazing goal um let's just break down the whole sequence because a lot of guys a lot of guys deserve credit
on this play it's a jp corner kick actually that goes into the mixer uh lafc i think ilia gets there for the clearance clearance goes up in the air christian rolled on on this sequence is the first guy that you have to give credit to he doesn't give up on the play he closes down the space and gets to the clearance and just taps it back in the mixer. Right. Um, which was that that's the goal. Doesn't happen if Christian isn't heads up in that moment.
Doesn't make that play. He sends it back in the mixer. And then the next guy you have to give credit is Georgie. Georgie and Kai Kamara are going into a 50-50 challenge off the ball that Christian puts back into the box. And Georgie gets his body positioning right. wins it ball goes okay this was my favorite this is my favorite part of the sequence after georgie wins his challenge and the ball starts rolling towards jordan what jordan did here was just brilliant
It was brilliant. So he could have turned an uncorked first time right away. Or what I thought he was going to do was hold it up and then try and go from there. But what he does is he turns his body to shield the defender off and just lets the ball roll into the perfect place for him where he has just enough space to get the shot off. And he just.
I mean, he timed that up so well to where the ball was rolling just on a platter where he had the defender shielded off and he just had just enough space where it's just him and Hugo Lloris. the French national team legend, World Cup winning goalkeeper. Jordan Morris roofs it to the near post. Perfect placement. Ball game. LAFC season over. That's a playoff dub. That's a playoff dub. I mean, I mean, let's just bask in this goal in this moment for a sec. Cause God damn it. Like what a goal.
What a moment for a player that I think has had a lot of adversity. in his career like honestly if you take the u.s national team narratives and all that stuff out of it just the injuries yeah adversity that he's overcome uh but like The storyline of him being the hometown guy to, you know, Mercer Island native, homegrown star.
already won a bunch of trophies for this team but like I said this was I think this was like a signature moment for Jordan Morris yeah and you know for him too I think this is a big deal personally as someone who has constantly been battling internally with saying, I'm a nine. I know in my heart of hearts, I know that I am a striker. I can play the wing. I'll play wherever you want. Like I'm a team player, but I am your nine. And to go out there and score one of the most important goals.
in the history of this club, regardless of what happens, the narrative around this game and the narrative around Jordan Morris, that becomes one of the most important goals, I think, in club history. I really, and like... I don't know. I know a lot of people might disagree with me on this and everyone has like their own standards and expectations. I really feel like the rest of this season is like house money.
Oh, yeah. I very much feel like that. Obviously, now that you're this close to it, like, yeah, go win Cup. Go win it. like they have reason to believe that they're able to do that if they got eliminated by the galaxy i would feel pretty happy about this season like uh i really i'm in it for uh for moments like we got in this game. And I don't measure success by winning.
mls cup every single year because i think that's impossible it's impossible to do and when you make that your barometer you're just setting yourself up for um not good mental health Yeah, well, and you know, like I was saying, and I actually still believe this, even if we win MLS Cup, this is the season of almost, right? Like, regardless of what happens...
There are still gaps. There are still almost. So taking that into account, being like, okay, this is not the best season the Sounders are ever going to play. But man, what a fun storyline. this has been what a fun ride this has been like being able to go and follow this club follow jordan morris's progression follow all these other side stories and then get to the western conference final
That's just gravy, man. That's just gravy. All right. Let's go through and give our flowers real quick. I want to go through and give every single person... their credit that contributed to this result we talked about a couple of them so i won't spend that much time on the ones that we already talked about but
I mean, Stephen Fry goes without saying one of the best games of his career. Jordan Morris goes without saying one of the best goals, if not the best goal of his career. Extra time game winner. Obed Vargas, arguably the best game. of his career he oh man like he was doing every little thing he's on he's on some different stuff right now he is
Did you see the video after two of, of him going over and hugging his dad and his dad getting super emotional and just so excited. Like that video, I will, if you guys haven't seen it, go check out the Sounders Instagram page and stuff like that. It just shows you what this means to this club. And again, like we always talk about, it's so easy to love all of these homegrown talents. Like there's so much connection. It's just.
That made the whole game worth it. I feel even 10 times better. I have De La Vega and Rusnak on here, and I intentionally did that because I feel like they both... didn't have like their best games. The De La Vega is still struggling, I think. And Rusnak, he was not cooking. I don't think like at the level that he has at times throughout the year, but when it mattered.
when it mattered and he needed to make a play he made he made the play on the uh on the play where jordan got the game winner and uh he's been clutch this year for this team uh his I think the thing I most enjoyed about Rusnak this year is his dead balls. I'm kind of just a sucker for a nice free kick. You're the perfect Sounders fan, Ari. He puts them in about as nice as anyone in MLS right now.
But I think even in a game where you're maybe not playing your best, if you come through in that moment, you deserve your credit for that. And I think Albert Rusnak did that. Jordan doesn't get that goal if he... Or the own goal doesn't happen, I should say, if he doesn't set up Obed for the cross. This is a big one.
rbw and john bell rbw uh well okay so let's talk about my one of my other favorite moments of the game was when rbw was cramping or had his injury and yaimar uh was trying to get him to go down so so that they could stop play. But RBW wasn't going down. I think he was trying to gut it out, and Yaimar was like, go down. And he was like, no. So Yaimar pushed him. Just pushed him over. And the ref gave Yaimar the yellow, and he was laughing about it. I love it.
the dark arts man that was a fun little but in all seriousness like uh an rbw john bell lineup who would who would give that a chance to do what what the team did like and i mean i i was critical john bell let's talk about john bell John Bell, I was critical of him. I think he looked tired like towards towards the end of 90, kind of like probably like 20 minutes till 90. And then.
dude locked dude locked the fuck in for the rest of extra time i mean and we'll talk about the the next person on the list i think even more uh personifies this but next man on mentality dude john bell well yeah okay so and then let's talk about all the cbs um i mean reagan yaimar like what else do you even need to say they've been beasting really like this this i think
This whole last stretch of the season where Seattle's been playing up towards two points per game and basically running through everyone that was in LAFC and now has beaten LAFC, it's been on the back of this EIMR.
reagan cb duo which i think uh most of the pundits and analysts consider the top starting cb duo in the league at the moment um so really like this team is gonna go as far as the defense takes it it was the best defense in the league this year as far as goals conceded and uh you have to give these two guys most of the credit
for that. Um, but Yemar goes out of this game. Uh, Schmetz told softy that there's like a 60% chance he'll play against the galaxy. So we'll see if that happens. Um, but I would, uh, I would honestly be a little surprised if he plays, given the nature of the injury, like a muscle injury, and how short of a turnaround there is before this game. But let's talk about Nathan. Nathan, man. Noah, I had forgotten he was on the team.
I was flipping through my yearbook, my Sounders FC media guide. I was like, who's this? what in the first who is this like okay i think everyone had like a similar reaction you know when he subbed on which was oh yeah he's still on the team and oh okay this is not good i'll tell you what like after two or three minutes i was like he's got it it's fine um
like i think there's like a little uh revisionist stuff going on with nathan like that signing is considered a bust but not because he's a bad player he's been injured all year he was injured yeah busting because of injury is different than busting because you're a bad player i don't think he is bad player he was pretty good when he was on san jose um so i don't think he was just a high ticket price i don't think yeah what we got exactly but like honestly
would you pay 500k of the team's allocation money for that win i would so like i would i'm not saying it was like he performed when it mattered like he he came through when it mattered he didn't really uh so on the uh On the play where Fry made the kick save on Bogus, I think Nathan was the one marking Bogus. But...
Aside from that, like, I don't think you could ask much more from him in those circumstances. And for him to come in after Yamar goes down and for the team not to concede after that, that's big time. That's big time. And dude, he hasn't played. When was the last time he played? I don't even know. Dude came in and played significant, important, hard, like, pressing minutes against one of the top attacking teams in the league and was...
Was great. He locked it down. Had one error. He locked it down. I had one person that you didn't miss. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Go, please. Georgie, man. Georgie. Good shout. Georgie should have an assist on the Jordan Morris call. I don't get, like, why he wouldn't get one.
He was the one who touched the ball out to him. I thought it clearly hit him, but they would never give that to him. If it was messy, they would give it to him, but Georgie... Oh, yeah, no. The league is... Don Garber hates Georgie. He actually gave that... assist too messy instead so you know and how the bit goes um agenda check you ready i should ask you if you had any um i added one on there oh okay you added one all right so there's a couple there's a couple
old ones and a new one in here. I wanted to revisit my one that I... Put out on the solo pod a couple of weeks ago, the Stefan Fry's MLS goalkeeper over Nick Raimondo agenda strengthened. No disrespect, no shade at Nick Raimondo, the rightful. title holder like of this last era like i think when you again like i said it on the on the show that we talked about this but uh
If you look at the trophy cases and then also you add another game like this to Stephen Fry's portfolio, come on, man. He's got to be the best goalkeeper in MLS history. Yeah, just the amount of games. Not only, like, games that he's saved, right? But, like, okay, this game is to go to the Western Conference Final. Does not happen without Stephen Fry. No. MLS Cup Final.
CCL, right? Like, all of these times where he's just gone crazy, okay? He's the GOAT. He's the GOAT. Nick Raimondo, with respect, never would say a bad word about the guy. I'm sorry, but... Your reign is over. Stefan Fry, you're the GOAT. Fry just had that wild look in his eye. Oh, dude, he was playing out of his mind, man.
God, well, we have a, I think we have a question about that later. So we'll talk about that more, but God damn, that was crazy. The Jordan Morris as the number nine agenda. So what I'm talking about with this one is not like, where should he play? But like, should he be?
the like primary one next year i was saying before the playoff run that this playoff run would be a case study for that question um he certainly made A statement that you kind of alluded to earlier that, I mean, I think strengthens his case to be considered the primary number nine on this team.
going forward, but I think it is still an interesting debate as you assess how they should tinker with this roster over the offseason. Should a Rui Diaz type skill set number nine be on their... off-season wish list with the intent of having Jordan be a first choice winger, like in a first choice 11, and then you rotate them at the nine, or do you devote those resources?
to a wide attacker like that we've talked about and roll with and maybe a lower financial commitment signing for a backup striker like they've been doing and keep Jordan atop that depth chart. I don't know. We're going to talk about it a lot more. That'll be an offseason topic. But a goal like this certainly, like I said, it makes a pretty strong case to keep running with Jordan up top. Yeah, I mean, you know, listen, I love Jordan and I do think that he should still get good time at the nine.
I think that he can be dynamic though. And I really do think you could serve as a DP spot with a Benteke style nine with the way that this team plays. I mean, that would just be, that would be my dream. That would be my dream. But I do think that he's making it interesting, especially when there are other gaps to fill. And like your most expensive spot is always going to be your nine. If you can find production elsewhere, like, OK, you know, Jordan's already there and he's.
clearly been able to do it at the highest level. So well said, um, all right, this is the new agenda. This is the sounder. The Seattle sounders are still the class of the MLS Western conference. Agenda. Strengthened. They could end the debate, I think, if they beat the Galaxy in this next game. But really... I mean, I was, if you listen to the interview I did with Jordan or the, the read the piece that I wrote off that interview, like, you know, that, you know, everyone.
who follows this team and on the team is aware of the kind of pervasive narrative that surfaced that this team had been usurped by the LAFCs, by the inner Miami's, by the Columbus crews of the world. And Jordan told me, he told me that they heard that and that they took it personally, that people thought that their run was over and they wanted to make a statement. No, like we are still the top dog out here. We have.
the most trophy the decorated trophy case of this era leonard messi lost to dax mccarty no they didn't think that famously um You know what I'm saying, though? This was a statement that this team is still the top dog of the Western Conference, and really that they've run the league over this last era.
And LAFC, Columbus crew, and even these inner Miami of the last couple years be damned. You know, it reminds me of a... specific quote from alexi lawless that uh i had another mls podcast back when i was like in high school there was two episodes you're never gonna find them good luck but atlanta united After they won their MLS Cup, right? Alexi Lawless said, Seattle Sounders move over. The new kings of MLS are Atlanta United.
They were having record attendance. They were, you know, explosive. They had, you know, I mean, you knew that team. Yeah, exactly. You knew that team. And I said, I said this, and I still have this clip. I said, It does not matter for this short period who dominates. It's about the longevity of a team. The Seattle Sounders, at this point, had made the playoffs every single year. They've won the Shield.
Four, you know, four Open Cups. They've been the most successful team in MLS since they joined the league, right? And I was like, if Atlanta United can keep this up for five, ten more years, happy to admit that. But I promise you that the Sounders are going to be right there with them, slugging away. Because even if there's a down season for the Sounders, there's always a chance that they come up with some silverware. There's always a chance that they put up some crazy, stupid numbers.
And I mean, I think this is it. It's like you cannot kill this team. You cannot. You would think that we would have like learned to know better than to doubt them at this point. I tried to make that point later in the season after they started playing better and people were still. It was bleak early in the season. Like, I think we can both admit it was bleak. Early in the season, but really since like July.
they've been playing a lot better. So this has really been in the works. I think just how the LAFC games in particular went soured a lot of the good work they did the second half of the season. But no, that's the beauty of this result. It washes that away entirely. oh yeah that the the you realize you realize dude dude the lafc like 10 game unbeaten streak that's a bit now it is a bit they did that all so they could lose in the playoffs again
It means nothing. It means nothing. Like Seattle came out of a 10 game unbeaten run, like with the upper hand bragging rights wise and status wise. That is, I mean. It doesn't get better. They are royalty in the West. You can't touch us. It doesn't matter. It's a new year, and that means new gear. The 2025 MLS jerseys are available on MLS Store. It's the ultimate destination for every fan, whether you're repping the Seattle Sounders.
or, you know, any other club you secretly root for, MLS Store has it all. From jerseys to exclusive team gear to championship gear, it's all there. They are always running some kind of sale, whether it's free shipping, 20, 30, 40% off. So there's no excuse not to load up on some brand new gear. Get yourself looking right for the new season. So check out MLS store by clicking the link in our description or going to lobbying scorchers.com. Every purchase helps support the show and keep us going.
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Again, F-E-R-M-E-N-T-S dot com. And right now, if you use code LS at checkout, you will get a hot sauce completely free with your order. Again, so go to hoxonferments.com, use code LS at checkout for a free hot sauce. with your order hocks on ferments proud sponsor of the flaming hot press conference trademark pending there and like honestly uh real quick before we get to your last agenda like i think seattle people like
Should feel totally emboldened to flex that, man. People are going to like it, but that's the thing. You have a unique team. As someone who came here as an outsider, I can tell you guys, it's a unique team. Most teams don't do this every single year, don't deliver moments like this with this regularity. I just enjoy it, man. That's what I want to say. We're spoiled. As I always say, Sounders fans are spoiled. Think of how much angst and complaining that you and I...
I'll put us in that. Oh yeah, we were in there. We were whining about this offense all through the early season, justifiably so. And look where we are now. It's just crazy to think about. All right. What's your last agenda, Noah? My last agenda, the Georgie should start agenda. I know we've been pushing this, but I'm sorry. I'm going to say it. I'm going to put it out there. I know that this has been a happy, positive podcast, but this man needs to start over De La Vega. Don't care. Don't care.
especially against the Galaxy, who are dog shit against the counterattack. This man needs to start. Start Georgie. I don't feel as passionately about that as you do. I could see the argument for starting. either one and i do think uh like there's still an element of de la vega gives you a i don't know what he gives you I think he gives you like, he's, he's, he's a talented player. Okay. He's a talented player. And he gives you a more of a chance of reaching a higher ceiling than Georgie who.
you know has upside two but it's like but assisted you still don't game winner You still don't know what you're going to get moment to moment though. I'm just laying out the devil's advocate. Yeah, but I think attacking wise, especially if you're going to go and look at this next game, would you rather have pace or skill?
on a on a on a game where essentially like because maybe maybe i'm wrong here maybe you can correct me but like the galaxy are terrible at conceding in transition that's like the whole you know if you watch that minnesota game kelvin yeboa scores because
he's fast and he counter, they counter the galaxy. Let's save this for the galaxy preview, but like I'm getting ahead of us. I like where you're going and we're going to talk about that. Georgie agenda. Let's hit questions. What do we got? Let's do it. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your questions. Ladies and gentlemen, MBs, all of you, we love you. Colin asks, Steve Trundolo, fraud watch? Yeah, Colin, I think so. I mean, I think for LAFC...
They hate Dolo, man. They hate him. Oh, God. It's just like we had accepted that they were going to win. We didn't even care anymore. No. And now you go back and you watch our appearance on happy foot, sad foot. We're like, we got to tell ourselves something like, you know, like what? It just, you know, we'd been beaten down by 10 matches.
in a row i said on happy foot sad foot that a win here would erase all those sins i didn't i wasn't especially confident that that would actually happen though and especially in the manner that it did but as far like getting back to the question We'll see what they do with Steve C. I think that it's very undeniable that they've had a ton of success with him as the coach. I also think he's been there for a while now, and they've...
They've had way more games that they've choked like this than trophies that they've won. So I don't know. And LAFC is the kind of team that will get rid of a coach. They'll just be like, all right, let's do something new now and let's sign $100 million with the new players just for fun.
So I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I feel like he's definitely on fraud watch for sure. He's on watch. He's on watch. But what will they do with him? That actually is going to be a fun, interesting offseason. watch so he's definitely on unemployment watch so sign up on those papers steve c dave asks first question real talk who had the better uh who had the better semi semi semi final semi final
Fry or Guzan? That's a really good debate. Okay. How about I make the Guzan case? Yeah. He was doing it against... messy and inner Miami, like That is as legendary as Fry's game was. It wasn't against the literal goat. I don't know. Goat and friends. Like the Guzan game. I think the Guzan game was better. They were both amazing. And Fry's was.
one of the best games of his career, one of the best defensive goalkeeping performances in Sounders history, all that. We talked about that. The Guzan game was one of... the single greatest performances on a soccer field like I've ever seen. And it wasn't just one game. People are going to say I'm glazing that, but he was incredible. No, no. You're not glazing at all. And it wasn't just one game, by the way. It was three games.
I mean, he played out of his mind for three games. Oh, the whole playoffs, the whole playoffs, he was going crazy. They literally extended him.
yesterday at age 40 because of that and i'm like yeah like yeah dude why not he looked like the greatest goalkeeper i've ever seen playing again he literally he literally single-handedly like beat Messi and the Barca boys um yeah so it is a great question and they both have shouts and cases but like the I think it's the Guzan game Guzan legitimately made Tata Martino crash out and quit like think about that think about that that's i mean
You know, that's all I'm going to say. Matt asks, this might be controversial, but I actually enjoy watching a dominant defense shut down opposing attacks. I know that people want an electric attack. So do I. But our defense doesn't get enough credit for how fun they are.
to watch and you were making this case on happy foot sad foot so cook it up ari yeah no exactly so i did make this case on happy foot sad foot and i think this is a great point which is that when people see an elite defensive team the automatic instinct is to call it like boring bunker ball troll ball defense is the foundation of it all man i love watching like a good cb frustrate opposing attackers or like a like a good a feisty defender and how they game plan against uh
the great offensive players. That's part of why the game is fun. And I think like a aspect of this Sounders team, um, that you should appreciate and not.
shy away from is the fact that they are the best defensive team in the league right now and they ride that to to great effect and they're also like so much of soccer is about like tempo and game state you know right like i always talk about that and um this team is excellent at that and being a lead on defense um and just all around sound like that is part of that and i mean guys that is
the basis of why this team is able to do the stuff that they're able to do is that right there. So great point, Matt. Yeah, no, I mean, it's the perfect Seattle team, right? Like Seattle. When you think of Seattle sports, you think about defense. You think about Legion of Boom winning a Super Bowl in excruciatingly amazing fashion. Like, that is...
I don't know. For me, that's Seattle sports. Even Ken Griffey, some of the coolest shit he did wasn't the home runs. It was the home run robberies. Exactly. We are a defensive city. We're a defensive city. And that is why. The Seattle Sounders being a defensive team is fun to watch, but more than that, I agree. I actually, I really, really enjoyed watching this game because it frustrated the hell out of LAFC.
in like that to me they had the leading goal score in the history of the french national team out there doing nothing doing nothing he he was getting his cardio in uh he had a good little uh He had a good little jog workout, but that was about it. Dude, dude was getting pocketed by El Salvador captain Alex Roldan. You know what I'm saying? With a mustache. With a mustache. I mean, shout out to the boy. You know what I mean? So.
I loved it too, Matt. Great take there. Next up, Levi asks, Nathan was immense after coming on. Not really a question, but I'll post this. Do we re-sign Nathan?
for as a dp as a dp number nine um yeah i mean i don't i don't know about that he i mean he's on 500k and played about 25 minutes this year and him coming on in that game and playing as well as he did is a good But I included that comment from Levi, even though we already talked about it, because a lot of people were shouting him out after the game.
And I think he's such, when we look back on this, he's such a key character in it. Yeah. I mean, I think it is interesting. Do they come back and offer him a lower number knowing that he was injured and he's a year older? Do they offer him? He looks good. He was making plays. what i'm saying do they do they offer him do they offer him do they give him an offer him a contract i don't know what do you think
I don't know. I'll have to think about that. Okay. All right. We'll stew on that. Next up, PNW Lesbian asks, those of us impacted by the bomb cyclone needed this tonight. Watch the game on my phone at a Panda Express party. parking lot because of no power internet connection at home going back to a cold dark house with Day four and a half with no power doesn't feel as bad with a Sounders FC playoff win. Yeah, I had to include that one. That is amazing. I hope you got power back.
But I like that you brought up the point of everything that the city had been through over the past week or two. Sports can be such a fun way to... kind of get a respite from that stuff and so I'm glad that you got that the playoff dub without the power and like the visual of you on your phone at Panda Express watching the game watching Jordan's score just going crazy at Panda Express it's hilarious
Thank you for sharing. You're a sicko just like us. We love it. I think what's even better too is like, I mean, related to this, when it started to drizzle in LA towards the end of that game, Ari, I was like, oh, we're... this is an omen. We are winning this game. Like, I mean, I don't know about you. Yeah, absolutely. Well, thank you for your questions, everybody. We appreciate you for sliding them in. Ari, I do have to bring this up though.
You promised the people that you would jump on this blue sky application once we hit the correct subs. I'm calling you out live on the pod. We will be taking questions from this next game. I'm glad you brought it up. I've had a few people reach out to me about it as well because I know a lot of people are making the switch over to Blue Sky. I have an account. I haven't started using it yet.
We'll link it down below. I'm pretty bitter about the demise of Twitter and I'm making the powers that be pry it from my cold dead hands. But I will be... Firing up the blue sky. You're right. I did say six 80 subs on the YouTube and then blatantly didn't hold to that. So I'll do it. I just, I just have to like work up the wherewithal. It's okay. All right. I still dual posts. So, you know,
Do you post the exact same thing? I'll workshop on one, and then if one's a hit on one, then I'll go across. I kind of like that. Yeah, it's like, play your audience. Let's... preview this galaxy game uh we're gonna i think we're gonna try and maybe talk more about this game uh later on this week if we can but let's preview it right now just because um This is the Lobbing Scorchers matchup of all Lobbing Scorchers matches. And we're going. This is like the perfect.
So really, it's a boon for us. I did want to address one of the Lobbing Scorchers controversies because it's related to this topic. So I wanted to address one of the Lobbing Scorchers controversies real quick, which is that I've had more than one. person um talk about how they take legitimate offense to the uh war galaxy podcast bit that we do like people, you know, it's a Seattle show. Why do you praise the galaxy so much? So I'm just going to explain how I think of the coverage that we do.
one time. Um, and you know, as we get more listeners and more and more people have issues like this, I'm happy to reiterate it, but I'm going to put this out there, um, for our listeners right now. Like, um, we, so we are Seattle guys. It's a Seattle show. and we do cover the Sounders, I think, first and foremost, because that's the team that we follow the closest. But...
We also cover all of MLS. I work for the MLS website, so I cover the whole league every day. That's what I do every day. So I have takes on the whole league. And that's just part of the show is that we give our perspective and news. and takes on everything going around in the league, and it's not just Seattle-centric. So part of what comes with that is if I have a team that I think is playing well and I enjoy watching, I'm going to evaluate it.
like on the merits like i'm not gonna sit here and tell you that the galaxy suck just because seattle fans don't like them um and just in this individual case um I think both Noah and I, they've been our favorite team in the league to watch for most of the year. So, like, if you guys, if people think that we, like, go over the top with it, I mean.
to each their own but i just um it's just part of it's a byproduct of covering the whole league and not just one team so that's what i have to say about that we're sickos we're gonna cover the whole league like once you get in as deep as us it's impossible not to talk about this stuff because it's either here or it's in a group chat and i'm sorry we're making content out of it you know what i mean
Exactly. And by the same token, we have a great deal of fun making fun of the teams that aren't playing as well, including the Seattle Sounders. yeah well the sounders but like the entire city of columbus hates us like i don't think we could go there i don't think we were not that i was planning on it anyway but um yeah i mean like why would you but uh um
All right, but anyway, so I don't know. If anyone's still hot and bothered about that, you can pop off about it, but I'm not going to stop talking about that like Galaxy, especially because the Seattle Sounders play them in the Western Conference Final on Saturday. Always coming of Galaxy, baby. scorchers is going um but uh this is this is a tasty matchup this is a tasty matchup this is uh the
Scariest attack in MLS still left in the playoffs. Noah, this Galaxy team looks, I mean, we've been saying it all year. I feel validated because I've been telling people that this Galaxy team. that people were not putting up with Columbus and Inter-Miami and the elite teams in the league. I was saying early on that I felt like they were at that level. I think they played at that level offensively.
this year, and they have been absurd in the playoffs. They have 15 goals in three games. They scored nine goals across their round one series against the Colorado Rapids. 9-1. Combined score of those two games. And then they beat the shit out of Minnesota. They were bullying. They were bullying them. They hung six on Minnesota United. They scored six goals. Three different guys had a brace. Joey Paints was going off.
was a man possessed ricky pooh goes off every week so all of that is to say um this is this is a big bad beast that the seattle sounders have got to get through Can I say something super like maybe out of pocket? Yeah. I think this team is better than Inter-Miami. See, I think the galaxy are better than in Miami. I think I think that's my take. Well, okay.
I don't know about better in terms of like, if you actually had a way of quantifying skill level, I'm sure a team with Messi and the Barca boys would come out on top. But in terms of like... Like this gal, these galaxy guys are a lot younger and hungrier. You know what I mean? Like Ricky Pooge is only 23. Joe Lich is young. Joey paints is. uh late 20s gabrielle peck is more like mid 20s i think so this is not like it just has so much swag too and they have they have swag they have uh
Like we made this point a few weeks ago, but they are similar profiles of team of very, very high powered turbocharged electric offenses and just snowball rolling down a hill type counterattacks. But this brings me to. My point that I was going to make about the Galaxy and as we assess Seattle's chances of winning this game, which is that you mentioned it earlier, you can get to this team. You can get to this team. They concede goals.
They concede control of the game state. They are reckless. They charge forward with abandon at all points of the game and they score a ton of goals. But when you play like that. And we saw it with Inter-Miami too. When you play like that as often and as consistently as those teams do, you're going to have your chances the other way. And if you are a clinical, you can get into a shootout that you can hang with.
and you can win. We saw it was the demise of Inter-Miami season. The reason I wasn't, remember, when we were doing the brackets, I didn't pick a Galaxy because of that. That is Seattle's hope in this game, and that is why... The Galaxy are definitely the favorite. People are going to be talking all week, including us, as we have all season, about how high-powered this offense is and how tough it's going to be tough for Seattle to stop, especially without Yamar, probably.
But I'm telling you, man, once this game starts, my prediction is that you're going to see it be a lot more open and Seattle have more chances than you would think because. This Galaxy team, they give up those chances. Over under four goals in this match total. I mean, I got to smash the over there. I feel like this. I guess three and a half. I don't really know how that.
I don't do the gambling. This has shootout written all over it. Not penalty, not penalty kick, but like crazy. Like this could be a very, or, but you know, like, uh, A conference final can also be cagey and defensive. And for me, I look at it like, honestly, if you can... take the sting out of the game like you did against LAFC and turn it into a more kind of grinded out, low scoring type game, that suits Seattle much, much better than LA. They have to dictate tempo. They have to do.
If you end up in a 2017 MLS Cup at Toronto type situation where they're just overwhelming you and racking up chances and... Seattle can't keep the ball, and it's just dangerous sequence after dangerous sequence. You can't win games like this, like that. No. Seattle's got to do whatever they can, I think, to try. If it becomes a crazy shootout, Seattle could win a game like that, but that favors the Galaxy quite a lot. Yeah, I definitely think if you're looking at a crazy shootout...
And you look at what the two teams and their history this season, the Sounders just, they're just not that attacking threat, especially with, you know.
if you get deep into a game and it's, you know, you're back and forth, their legs just aren't there on the attack for the Sounders because you're going to have to sub in Raul who... hasn't really done anything uh you know and i just i don't know so i guess you know i'll toss it back to you do the sounders have a chance ari is it possible it's very much possible
They are the underdog. It'll be difficult. If you made me make a pick in this game, I'm probably going with the home team that scored 70 goals this year. This is a winnable game. I think this is just as winnable as the LAFC game. If not more, because LAFC was actually very good defensively this year. The Galaxy were better defensively than they've been the last couple of years when they were one of the worst defensive teams in MLS.
But I'm telling you, I'm telling you, there are going to be chances in this game. There are going to be chances in this game. It's just about if Seattle can finish. That's it. Yeah, no. And if they are able to, yes, they have a chance at winning this game. This can be done. Yeah, no, I'm right there with you. I agree with you. I think for me, do the Sounders have a chance?
Absolutely. I think if you were able to get that LAFC game done, I think that was the big test. And we both said, we said, if they are able to beat LAFC, I know it's still a big hill to climb, but they're in the driver's seat. everything is in their hands at that point, right? Like if you've done it in LA against LAFC, in both of our opinions, that was a way tougher matchup than the Galaxy, who are going to give you way more opportunities to score. And I thought that the Sounders did.
very well on the very few opportunities that they had against LAFC on attack you're gonna have way more chances against the Galaxy and I mean they they effectively neutralized LAFC I don't know. Like it's going to be a tough one. Seattle's also, I mean, they've just got both of these teams have got the vibes going right now. I mean, the galaxy are tearing through everyone scoring all these goals, but they're going like, they got to deal with Seattle. Now they got to deal.
you know, Seattle has got to deal with their front four for sure. They also have to deal with Seattle's defense, which may or may not have the IMR, but I mean, we'll see what happens, but yeah, it like, I would say, uh, difficult but doable is how i would describe it um i wanted to talk about just our favorite matchups in this game and i think i mean i think that was it right there which is that like it's it's this galaxy front four versus this
Seattle defensive midfield and back line. That's the matchup that will decide this game. And it's going to be so fun to watch guys, because like, I mean, all galaxy podcast jokes aside. The reason that I talk about them so much and that I've watched more of their games, I think, this year than any other non-Seattle team. I watched Inter-Miami a lot this year, obviously, but probably the Galaxy, the second most out of Seattle.
It's because not only are their offensive players really good, but they're really fun to watch. They play entertaining soccer. And they play extremely well together. And Ricky Puj is just... Unstoppable. Okay, all right. So here's the thing. I was going to say, before we started that, I was going to say, my matchup is...
Ricky Pooj and Obed and Christian together. Yeah. Okay. That, that is like, that is what I'm going to be watching this entire game. I mean, Ricky Pooj, like, uh, he he has like one of the most unique playing styles in MLS that guy is like uh he's like the energizer bunny first oh yeah like he kind of reminds me of Nico in that way like he's such a Barcelona player man he's like crazy he's like uh so is an insane facilitator like uh one of i think the best dime dropper in the league outside of
messy um but he uh he's also got like a lot of six in his skill set it's almost like uh you add like a dash of joe paulo in there like not like a lot but like a little bit uh and then like all the attributes of an elite number 10 with just a huge motor and uh the most accurate passing like that you're gonna see um but here's uh here's the thing about him though he's pretty loose with the ball and he is uh
confident to a fault sometimes so he gives it away a lot he tries crazy stuff so like that isn't always gonna work and it's really fun to watch but um you can get him off his game and not, not have him have the impact that he normally has if you play it right. But I mean, he is, he's, I think he's one of the toughest players in the league, if not the toughest player to league.
to uh to like match up in game plan for because he does so many things like at such a high level that you don't necessarily get from a player of his position which i don't even really like know his position yeah no i think he's like everything yeah well and that's that's what i was gonna point on too is like he will run
all over you will see him playing every position in a match he'll be at center back at one point you'll be like what the hell he'll drop so he'll drop so deep like back where the demons are to get the ball yeah and then he's so good at dribbling that he can either progress it himself or hit any pass. And then plays a dime to the wing, one of the fast wingers, and they're off and running. And you're like, how is this guy?
just in four different places all over the field in the last 10 seconds, you know? So like he's the, he's really the engine for their team that makes it all go. But then, I mean, their signings of Peck and Paintsill. To flank him were brilliant Like Will Koontz Their sporting director I think like Executive of the year for me Like he The work he did Finding complimentary players for Ricky Pooj.
with peck and pencil and uh and to be able to be signing by the way being able to sign ricky pooch at all in the first place yeah uh yeah and then even to resign him yeah and then uh flanking him with peck and pooch and uh they hit on jovelich as well So they're really, they're just in a supremely stacked offense, but a vulnerable and improved, but vulnerable defense. So that is, uh,
That's the situation with the Galaxy. But that's why I've given them their praise this year is because when they get rolling, it's very tough to stop, and you've seen that in the playoffs. Yeah, no, I completely agree with you. It's going to be, I mean, this was the dream matchup for me. I actually had this predicted in my original bracket, like on our MLS soccer predictions, like our bracket challenge. So this was the dream.
I'm going to be honest with you guys. I still think LAFC wins this. Galaxy. Sorry, yeah, Galaxy. God, look at me. Amateur podcaster. LAFC didn't win it famously. LAFC didn't win it famously, so...
That's not going to happen, but I am excited for this matchup. I will be very happy if the Sounders win, but I very much am expecting Galaxy to win this. What do you think of the... prospect of no yaimar because i've a lot i've heard people i've talked to people who say oh i don't think seattle has a chance in this game without yaimar i don't quite see it like that yeah i don't agree with that i think it hurts and it makes it more difficult but
With a CB going out, I think it's a little easier to paper that over than an attacking player. I don't know if that's a bad take, but in this situation, I think it... that is more manageable than it would be if you had to like put in like your fourth choice winger. Yeah. Well, and we saw it earlier in the season when, when game are went out and then Jackson Reagan was filling in. I don't think.
It looked that bad. I don't think it was unplayable. I think that Jackson Reagan is still an incredibly talented player. I think Yamar and Reagan play off incredibly with each other, so it makes it even stronger, but... I'm not, I'm not, I mean, yeah, I want him to play against the best offense in the West, but if he can't like, and the other thing about that is, um, even if Yanmar plays, man.
this Galaxy team's probably going to hang a couple on you in this game. I'm just telling you guys right now, if they score first, don't be shocked. If they score multiple goals in this game, that's what this team does. I will say, though, before we get to this bracket stuff, We do have to acknowledge that these teams have played this year, and in League's Cup, Seattle destroyed the Galaxy. They handled them easily. That was in Seattle, to be fair.
but uh i believe they did they win 1-0 in la this year or was that a one or did they they drew i believe i think they drew 1-1 so like they went to uh dignity health sports park to play this exact team and 1-1 did earlier this year and then beat the hell out of them in Leagues Cup. So they already know that they can play with this team. And if you remember that Leagues Cup game, the Galaxy...
didn't really start cooking until the second half. And they did get a patented, really nice Galaxy, Ricky Puglia, Gabriel Peckle late, but they couldn't stop. Remember, they couldn't stop Seattle on set pieces in that game. No, I don't remember that at all. Like, and Seattle was just. having a field day so uh that's just another thing that makes me think that Seattle's chances Yamaha or not might not be uh as long of odds as is being said in some circles um yeah no I'm
We'll see what happens. That's where I'm at. I can't wait. It's exciting that we're going to the city of Los Angeles. Oh, it wasn't 1-1. It was a nil-nil draw. See, that's even... At Seattle, and then before that, it was 1-0. galaxy galaxy but still i mean holding them so yeah exactly i think what you've seen from the times that they played this year is that seattle's defense now they had yaimar in those games um but the point is
They showed that they can't hang with this team. But that was also March Seattle. That was also March 30th. That was March Seattle. Rui Diaz starting at the nine Seattle. So that wasn't Jordan Morris, uh, extra time game winner, uh, team of destiny, Seattle, you know, that Seattle is three, one to the sounder.
so we'll see what happens all right so are we doing uh amended brackets yeah let's do amended brackets i like this because i like to be you know have some accountability on our takes here but i guess we could run back on what we picked before Talk about how we felt about our picks and then pick our MLS Cup winners and go from there. All right. So what game should we start with? Well, let's start with Red Bulls in Atlanta.
Red Bulls in Atlanta, we both were juiced on Atlanta. I think we were sipping on the sauce a little bit. Yeah, I think there's not much more to say on it than that. That was a vibes pick and it backfired. Yeah, no, they bombed out and have not. seeing the light of day. It was one, it was one zero.
So I don't know. And yeah, we're going to talk about Rob Valentino's future. But yeah, I think we felt like you said, we got lost in the sauce on that. Yeah. So advancing off of that is was Orlando. Orlando, which I think this could be a really interesting.
cup final if you get orlando in seattle nico ladero revenge match that could be insane at in seattle oh that's on the table it's on the table and the two hottest teams in the league down the stretch would be crazy would be crazy shows that this league can be a momentum that's also this is uh this is like not that relevant but uh orlando seattle when it's green on purple is one of my
favorite kit matchups in the league also uh seattle red bulls is one of my favorite kit matchups in the league so yeah that green and red yeah so red bulls new york city fc i had red bulls you had new york city fc Obviously, Red Bulls ended up taking that game. You were not very convinced about your pick to begin with, so I'll let you.
I liked NYCFC this year because I liked the commitment that they showed to their young players. And I think they really came together throughout the year. They started the year really bad, but once their young guys got their feet under them and started cooking. their team was fun to watch but like i think ultimately they were it's kind of like a developmental type season for them where
They're sort of finding their identity and bringing all these young guys up. And I think the inexperience kind of finally caught up to them. When you have a team that's that young, like this NYCFC team. like making a full playoff run is tough it's tough it is and uh i think that's sort of what happened to them and against a red bulls team that uh you know whenever emil forsberg has played this year they've been pretty damn good so
Yeah, no, I thought they... And we talked about that, how having him back in the playoffs is like... It kind of completely changes the narrative around that team in a way. They're not like a normal... Seventh seed or whatever. No, no, not at all. So who are we picking here? Orlando or the New York Red Bulls? To be your Eastern Conference.
bottom seed. I'm going to probably, I'm going to do the same thing I did with the Atlanta series and probably regret it. But like, and I think the Red Bulls have something going right now. That's what it feels like to me. And I know that, like I said, I know that we. I based the Atlanta pick on that and it backfired, but I think there's more substance and less purely vibes based to what like the rebels are doing. And I feel like.
I feel like I want to pick the underdog too. I dig it. I dig it. I am also feeling the Red Bulls. I feel like they have more attacking power. I don't think that Orlando is bad by any means. And honestly, like. Either way, it kind of feels like whoever comes out of the West is going to have a heavy upper hand, especially playing at home. But I'm going with the Red Bulls. I'm sticking with my pick from last week.
Red Bull's in the final. So let's jump over to the West. We had Seattle and LA. You picked LAFC. I picked Seattle. We were trying to do a little differing picks there. I didn't believe in my pick. I'll be honest. I didn't believe my pick was going to come true, but here we are. Seattle Sounders champions going to the Western Conference final. We laid it down already, but I don't know. Do you have anything else to add?
Well, don't I have to pick? Oh, well, again, I was just, yeah, you picked that one. I already picked the, so I picked LAFC, I picked El Trafico, Final, and then Galaxy to go through. Yeah. Yeah. My cup pick is intact. Yeah. Yeah. Your cup pick is intact, but I just meant to say answering for your Seattle non-belief against LAFC.
Oh, you want me to answer for that? I mean, I don't feel that bad for not believing in it because the 10 games prior. Because no one did. Yeah, well, no one did, but also, like, I go off past. precedent for these things i was with if you have a if you have a 10 game winless streak i'm not gonna pick you to like end that until you end it and to be fair they ended it like so i'm all whenever i have a take like that i would love to be proven wrong and they
they proved me wrong i couldn't be happier about it yeah yeah so i had then the other matchup was la galaxy versus minnesota neither of us believed minnesota was even going to touch the galaxy they got blown off the face of the earth i mean Goodbye. So now we have a Seattle versus LA Galaxy Western Conference matchup to send the winner to a home MLS Cup final. Who are we going with here? This is a tough one, Ari.
Bucket, I'm picking Seattle. Let's go. Let's go. I mean, these conference finals are total toss-ups, and everyone knows the regard that I hold this Galaxy attack in. But I'm telling you they can get got. I would be pretty surprised if... playing as kind of crazy and undisciplined as they do at times. If they're able to win MLS cup this year, they might beat Seattle, but like, like, like we saw it happen with inter Miami when you play like that. And that's why I feel like.
Looking back on it, I had this nagging thought in my mind that that would be Inter-Miami's undoing in the playoffs. And I went against it because all year when it seemed like that was going to bite them, it hadn't. But when you get to the playoffs, that stuff can catch up to you. And that was my worry with this Galaxy team, irrespective of if they played Seattle. So me picking against them at this juncture in the playoffs...
It's logic that I might have come to even if this was a different matchup for them. Yeah, I'm going with the LA Galaxy. I'm going to be the non-believer. okay i like it when we do different yeah yeah exactly you know sometimes it's just for the bit like i just i'd prefer to pick against you but like i i believe make the galaxy case here's the galaxy case this is the I mean, I argued it was the best team in the league above Inter-Miami, but definitely the best offense left in...
this playoff format. They are a buzzsaw, and I mean certified, not LAFC buzzsaw. This is a team that cannot be stopped with a 10 that is just incredible. Someone who will facilitate out... everywhere. He will play center back. He will play right. He'll play whatever position he needs to. He's going to magically steal that ball from you. He's going to work it up the field. They're going to hang six on you. Have they scored any less than four goals?
in any playoff game this this no no they've scored five plus in every single one including or no or it was four one it was four one yeah so four is the lowest number they've scored i'm sorry how are you going to argue against that production i don't care who they were playing And their defense has been playing well. That's what I'm saying. So I am LA Galaxy in the final.
I get to my point earlier, they did get bammed on by a boat twice in that game. It didn't matter because they scored six. I don't think they're going to score six on Seattle. I don't know. I think, I think they're going to get two. Four.
I think the Galaxy are going to score twice, and whether Seattle wins can come down to whether they can... outscore that or get the 2-2 to penalties that's yeah drawing yeah i could see i could see i'm drawing pks here and god knows what'll happen there but i would be surprised if seattle didn't score in this game Oh, I think they will as well. I think they will at least once. To our final. We have different finals here. Seattle Sounders at home against the Red Bulls.
Another MLS Cup at home, Ari. We will both be there if this happens. So I hope this happens, but who's winning that? I mean, yeah, this is such a homer pick, but I'm not going to pick against the home team in that scenario.
Pretty much if you ever ask me to pick MLS Cup, I'm just going to pick the home team. Yeah, I think that's a fair shout there. I picked LA against the Red Bulls. My continued pick for MLS Cup champion since the beginning of this series, since the beginning of the playoffs, have been... LA, my headphone fell out, but it doesn't matter. I'm picking the LA Galaxy to win this. They're lifting the 2024 Philip Anschutz US Open MLS shield.
All right. We have a few more news items to hit before the end of the show. We're going to do these fast because, Noah, I'm kind of paranoid that this is going to freeze. And if we lose all this, I'm going to jump out my window. Yes. So let's just do a couple quick minutes. A couple minute quick hitters at the end here on MLS news. Then we'll get out of here for episode 75. Wilfred Nancy coach of the year. That was last recorded.
Congratulations to him, but get bammed on, get a backup goalkeeper. Vanny Sartini out in Vancouver in a surprise move. That is a huge L for lobbing scorchers. Noah's really torn up about this. It's really... I was on Axel Schuster's Zoom. I'm like the Whitecaps beat guy for our website, I guess. I love that. I'm always on the Whitecaps stuff. It's because it's West Coast. That's why. Do you ask questions? I do sometimes. I didn't. Okay, so he knows you.
do you think we can get him on the pod it's always uh it's always on zoom when i like don't have my video on like he definitely would not recognize me type stuff but i like i am like like on white caps calls sometimes with my hand raised i'm like am i honorary might as well i do that with a lot of the teams but it's like more of the white cats than uh usual but anyway i was i was surprised uh that vanny got let go uh he's a lobbing scorchers icon uh because he has the
best press conferences in the league and i really want i need another team to hire him because of that uh and he just seems like a i i want to have a beer with him so bad dude well and like you know there's there's like pros and cons like the the press conferences are great for us some of the stuff he said at them uh there was moments like of his tenure where and i think honestly like some of the like
kind of craziness of his character might have been like like they want someone that's like that's like more serious like not to say that he's not serious but it's just like uh he almost became like a caricature at times and uh maybe that's like why they wanted to go in a different direction but either way we we don't support that we think vanny sartini should have been extended um but the whitecaps also turned out to not have that great a year this year so
They did Bam on Portland in the funniest game ever, though, so we will take that dub. Thank you, Vanny, for your service to this league. We love you. Someone in MLS, please hire this man. Please. Nick Cushing out in NYC, which... uh, that's like a little less surprising to me just cause, uh,
like for as good as they looked at times this year and as much as they improved, they were very inconsistent and like their team that like expects to be contending every year. And it didn't feel like they really were at any point this year. And Cushing's been there for a couple of years and they, they could get, they've gotten some of the most pedigreed coaches in the league. So I'll be interested to see who.
who they hire. I think they're a pretty well-run organization on like the scouting and development side. And like, I expect whatever hire they make to be like, it's New York city. They'll do something that pops. Yeah. I agree.
Especially with the new stadium on the way. Yeah, exactly. Rob Valentino has parted ways with Atlanta United, which we just talked about this a couple weeks ago. No one's taking the Lobbing Scorchers advice, Ari. I think it's dumb, man. Garth came out and... had a quote where he was like he was saying like implying that the team was much better than the results were showing on the field, kind of implying that the coaching should have been able to get more out of like this awesome roster.
I mean, I don't know. Garth, what are we talking about? Like we, you know, we love Garth. We do. Garth is, he is goaded around here. Like, I don't know what. I'd love to have him on the pod. I don't know. Oh, hell yeah. He's one of the best players. But I would love to ask him what Atlanta United roster he's looking at compared to the one that I'm looking at. Because Rob Valentino beating Messi with that roster, how are you going to say he underachieved? He way overachieved. And also...
I'm telling you that vibes matter and stuff like this. If you have a guy, and I'll always caveat, I don't know the inner workings of their locker room dynamics and his relationship with the players, but from the outside, it seemed like... It seemed like the vibes with him as the coach and just that what the players seem to think of him and how they played for him.
And how they ended up kind of putting it together in the playoffs after squeaking in and like beating Messi. And like, I think sometimes you just, you just ride that. You just ride that. Like, yeah. Garth knows this. He did that with Schmetz. He did it with Schmetz, yeah. It worked. And I thought he might be like, I should do this again. But I mean, I will acknowledge that their brass knows a lot more about it than we do.
to be able to make that decision. But as an outsider, my first thought was like, you guys should have just kept rolling with Valentino, man. You should. Yeah, I agree. The unexpected thing, everyone's expecting you to part ways with Valentino and hire some big name like Gabriel Heinze, who those guys haven't been working out. what could have cooked was going with the USL guy, the former Orlando city, like rugged up and coming.
coach that people don't know about who's doubted like that would have been more fun anyway i just went on a valentino rant when i said pro valentino podcast it's a bad call we'll see how it works for inlanta united maybe they get some crazy hire i think it's bad yeah um Inter-Miami does have a new coach and it's a former, it's literally, they've hired another Barca boy.
Dude, this one perplexes me. You lay it out, but I'll lob it. I mean, so it's Javier Mascherano, who played with Messi and all these guys at Barcelona for years, and he's Messi's former teammate from the... argentine national team and coach i believe right from the argentine national team so legendary player has i was almost right with this
I was almost right. Actually, that's a good point. You almost were. You had the wrong hobby. Wrong hobby. This is a legendary player, Argentine, international, former Messi.
Okay, so I mean, my thoughts on this are that it's very clearly like they're just hiring another Barca boy without much regard for like how... much of a coaching fit it really is it's more like this is Messi's boy and we like him and we're gonna hire him we're trying to keep Messi around which does yeah which doesn't seem like good process but my I guess my
point would be like i don't really think that matters that much with this team like i fully like like i i could coach this team to further than tata got them in the playoffs for sure this year yeah no i mean yeah you give me this roster i would have had inter miami is still playing right now oh yeah we would i say that
Facetiously, obviously. But give him a contract. But give him a contract. I guess my overall point there is it doesn't matter really who the coach of Inter-Miami is. They're probably going to win. or be up there with the shields leaders next year. Um, all right. I think that we can call it right there for a episode.
75 uh i did have one more thing i wanted to uh talk about with the controversy on the lobbying scorchers youtube but like i uh we're running short on time so the only thing i'll say is that um Everyone who is upset about the video we put on YouTube about me defecting to the Canadian national team, the clip from our last show. Everyone who's accused of engagement baiting.
Hey, we would never, we would never engagement bait like that. Don't accuse us of that. But in all seriousness, your comments and your views are fueling us and we love it. We love it. Go sub to the YouTube. Sub to the YouTube. Like, comment, subscribe. Write us a review. Five stars. Five stars. Share with Joseph Painsill. Vanny Sartini, for sure. Vanny Sartini. Until next time. Well, actually, wait, wait, wait. We'll see you in LA. We'll see you in LA. Until next time, we out. Peace.