Hi, I'm Will Bruin, and I was just recognized as a Seattle Sounders legend. Now I get to do voice reads for the Sounder at Heart Podcast Network. Here we go. Come on. Hey, oh, shit. Let's go. Let's go. And now they truly can start the celebrations! It's the Sounders MLS Cup! Nicola now leaves absolutely no doubt. The Sounders rule the region. Ah, this feels fucking awesome. This is a tiny... Nice work on your little yacht you know, what was the thought process?
in terms of who you decided to use. Ever since Sounder and Har wrote a commentary that we didn't take them seriously. This episode of Nos Arietes is sponsored by Full Pull Wines, a Seattle-based wine retailer and proud sponsor of Nos Arietes since 2011. Full Bull was founded in 2009, is based in Seattle, and is owned and operated by longtime Sounder supporters. They offer the best boutique wines of the world to members of their mailing list, with special focus on their home, Pacific Northwest.
Welcome back to another episode of Nos Adietes on the Sounder Art Podcast Network. It is Friday. We are at... No, it is not Friday. It's Thursday. It is Thursday. It's Thursday. This might come out a little later, but this is active in all... To be completely fair, it's Thursday. And I'm Jeremiah Oshan. As always, though, I am joined by Nico Moreno. This is what we learned this week. How are you doing, Nico? It's Thursday, but it feels like it should be Saturday.
uh quite honestly because we've been doing so much work it's been a busy week both you know on the sounder level and for me as a parent at the father level with my daughter going through tryouts and moving things around having to get home so it's nice to be in my comfort zone here in my sanctuary of this beautiful
Providence in Swedish. PCC, as I like to call it these days. That's right, that's right. But yeah, just excited to be on here. This is too long. So PCC sounds kind of cool. Yeah, I got it. I think there's another company using that. So I might get a little confusing. Oh, dang it. You're right. I didn't think about that. Well,
clubhouse and performance center, whatever. But I'm just excited to be on because I do kind of feel like it's been a little convoluted, a little bit hectic. It's been a little hectic week. Of course, Defiance played on Tuesday in the Open Cup against the Timbers, but it felt... in a lot of ways. I had to catch myself saying sounders constantly when i was talking about that game but it was the defiance uh
It was interesting. We had a lot to talk about this week. We had the Defiance game. Osaze de Rosario signing got announced today. You and I talked to Craig Weibel yesterday. He talked again today. Brian Spencer gave some injury updates. So there's plenty of stuff to talk about. What do you want to start with? Why don't we go with you? I'm going to let you drive this bus. Oh, okay. All right. Well, just to go... from where we started the week and in sense of the wonderful
name of our show i think we could talk about what we learned from the tacoma defiance game yeah i think that's a good that's a good one and i think this was a real We've been talking about this game as a learning opportunity for a bunch of young players, and we already saw, I don't know, You know, I think they presented it sort of like this could be a make or break game for Osase de Rosario. I don't think, I think the decision was made before he played in this game. But.
it was good to see he played well and I think we learned a lot about a lot of young guys. That was one of the things that you and I talked most extensively with Craig Weibel about yesterday, where we just talked about what, you know, they had two 18-year-old center backs that held their own against a you know 10 million dollar striker for the port and timbers you know they had They had five guys in the starting lineup who are 20 or younger in this game. Nobody other than...
than Andrew Thomas was older than 23. This was a young team going against a very veteran, maybe not their first choice group, definitely not their first choice group, but a very veteran Portland Timbers team and a bunch of guys who have been starters relatively recently. Zach McGraw and Dario Zapierich were the starting center backs for most of last year. Ayala was a starter for a lot of last year. Paredes was a starter for a fair amount of last year. Kelsey is not a starter, but he is
playing a lot of minutes for the first team. He was pretty good for FC Cincinnati last year. He was a $7 million transfer this offseason. He's been valued at over $10 million at various times. So this was a pretty good... Timbers team, what were your big takeaways in terms of what we learned from that Defiance game? I would add on that this Timbers team did have two full-on starters in Bravo and
Joao Ortiz, both have been consistent starters this season. Both were supposed to give this team that experienced leadership. And I thought that Tacoma did great, man. a guy like Lasseter who's an MLS talent and he's a pacey guy and I thought he was contained for the most part of it so I was impressed with the character of Tacoma, the fact that because they were the more cohesive unit and you could tell that they knew what they were trying to accomplish on the field.
They were almost the better team, regardless of the way the score moved at times. There were moments where they were the better team, that they created opportunities. I thought large portions of that game they were the better team. Maxine Crapo is another player who... this is a guy who was starting or not starting, but he was playing in the, in the world cup. Yeah. He was a starter for much of the last two seasons. He was,
He was the guy who robbed the Sounders of going to MLS Cup in 2023. He's an MLS champ. Exactly. So there was a lot of talent, a lot of veteran savvy. The Defiance more than held their own for much of that game. I don't know that one of the things I was saying, I don't know if at the price tag, I would take anyone from that Timbers team over players that were on the defiance. Especially when you took
talking about projection and potential, you know, bringing in a guy that's going to be fundamental for your team. I would agree. I mean, Kelsey is maybe the exception there, but at $7 million. Yes, that's the price, actually. I would definitely take Kelsey without him now. Yeah, exactly. You can just give me him.
At the $7 million transfer, I don't know if I'm super excited about that. And I think that, you know, we can get into this later, but I do think that that sort of underscores some of else what we talked to Craig Weibel about, about the bar that they need to clear to bring in a U-20, but we will get into that.
One of the other players who I was, I would say the player who I was most surprised to see in the Defiant starting lineup was Kalani Kosarienzi, who to me has established himself as a first-team player at this point. And no one else in that team was really an established first-team player other than maybe Andrew Thomas, who clearly is just, he needs minutes, right? And he was seemingly very excited to be playing in this game.
But Cosa Rienzi is someone who, you know, a couple weeks ago, he started two weeks ago. He started against the Rapids. He started against Nashville. He started against Dallas. He's getting minutes. But there was an interesting twist to why he started in this game. Do you want to talk about that a little bit? Yeah, and it's... The fact that he had been playing mainly, if not only, as a wingback, and by the decision of the team to change formations, they're going to be using more of a fullback.
function and I think that they wanted to see him play as a fullback Rather than a winning back. Against an MLS quality opponent. Against an MLS quality opponent. Because you don't learn much. If you let him play. If you're just going to throw him down to the defiance and play MLS next pro games. You aren't going to get. the data you need. No, you will not. And that's exactly why I think that decision was made. Also, Alex Roldan, I think, made it easy to get his job back.
because he had a phenomenal game against San Luis City. He was one of my highest-rated guys when I ended up re-watching the game this week. And it was just a little bit of everything, that savvy, that ability to... Changed the point of attack consistently. He had two or three fantastic through balls. He was doing the underlaps very smoothly. I thought that he was working well with the winners in Pedro de la Vega in this one. So for me, Alex Rodin, Thank you.
solidified himself at that position and gave Brian the opportunity to say, hey, let's see how Kalani plays against this Portland team at that position. And I think he did okay. I think he got put on an island there at the end of the game because I feel like Georgie... was gassed by like the 70th minute.
And there were times where he was having to, you know, cover two guys. And he had a difficult time getting forward and trying to track back. But that heavy motor that Kalani has, that grind, it showed. It showed. But I would say that his... skill set definitely diminishes under the 4-2-2 I would agree with that he is at his best when he is sort of allowed to just fly up and down the wing he's not going to be able to do that with quite the reckless abandon that he has been doing that he's a
But he was a little, I will say he was, I thought, a more limited influence on the game Tuesday than we're used to seeing him when he's usually playing as a wingback. The play that... most stands out I think to a lot of people is the equalizing goal where he is essentially left to guard to mark two people because he's got Ian Smith which I think this is just a little aside interestingly the Timbers sort of started their comeback
back when they started bringing in their deeper reserves. Their younger guys. Their younger guys. That was like T2 guys. And Ian Smith, I guess, I think he's a fringe first-teamer, but he hasn't played much. And then Gage Guerra, who scored the goal, is also a very fringy first-team player. But anyway, what happens is Ian Smith gets out on the wing, and Kalani is there. He's not.
closing him out as aggressively as you might want. But the problem is there's another player hanging out right inside the penalty area that Kalani is having to track because if he just bails out, all of a sudden they're giving him a slip ball. And what he needs is Manungu to be marking Smith more aggressively. He's very late to get there. He doesn't get there until basically the moment that Smith delivers the cross. Now, full credit, it's a great cross.
It is. But it's also between two center backs. Maybe you'd like to see those center backs close down the attacker. be able to deny that ball a little bit. But let's give credit where it's due. That's a great cross. but he's able to get it off because Minungu is late to get his mark. Yeah, and Kalani is, like you said, very...
Having to do two things at once, and I think he takes the preventive or more conservative decision and try to play at his speed level, and he just can't get there either way. He basically makes Smith deliver. He puts it on. The guy who's 30 yards away from goal to make a perfect pass. Yep.
He makes it, but that is sort of the decision you want him to force there. You don't want him to be able to just make a little slip pass, and all of a sudden you've got a guy running free in the penalty area. And look, we're not sitting here... over criticizing Manungu because I feel like
His legs were gone. He was just tired. He'd been doing so much running around. He's the one that sets up both of the assists. He was a guy that to me was probably the biggest influence influential player in the attacking end, and he was just done. Obviously, H is a guy that's trying to get a win. Maybe he is a little late on making that substitution. If there's one thing that you can second-guess in this game, I think it's...
It's getting Manungu off around the 70th minute and bringing in Jackson Corey or someone like that who is going to do a lot of the same stuff but maybe not be as effective as an attacker but as legs. And I think we also saw... unfortunately on the penalty that ends up deciding the game where Georgie just grabs the attacker
really out of lazy, like, I don't, I don't want calling him lazy, but I think those are the tired of exhaustion. He doesn't want to chase this guy and I get it, but you can't, you can't do that on the whole. I think Manungu showed that he is developing the parts of his game that you really want him to develop. He's not a 90-minute player right now. There's two takeaways from the Georgie Manungu experiment. One, he's becoming a very effective attacker.
He destroyed, is it Ayala or is it? No, it's Bravo. Bravo. He destroys him on that first goal. Just absolutely wrecked. And that's what you want to see. That's the main thing. The reason you have George Mnugo on the field is to do that type of stuff. So that's good. But we also learned that he's probably not a 90-minute player. The moment to me that really said, okay, he's maybe too gassed, he got out on a breakaway. And instead of... going at goal. he lays it off to you, Tsukunome, who...
Another player we can talk about who ends up not having a great look and ends up getting kind of a weak shot off. But to me, if Minungu has his legs, he's going at goal there. Yeah, no, 100%. And that was maybe around the 70th minute or so, if I remember. No, and that is... sort of something that he's been working on and look we all know that and this had a big effect on the game it was the way that
Starfires played, and I feel like at times, maybe when Nungu was a little bit rushed, he was a little bit trying to make too much happen, and I think that killed his legs. I think he put... understandably, a lot of that game was on his shoulders. Yes. And I think that was sort of the game plan. It was funny because he had a hard time getting into it in the first half. But in the first 20 minutes of the second half, he was as electric, as good as you.
that we've ever seen him. I mean, he looked like a man possessed who was ready to just tear open. And both goals come mainly from his industriousness, his skill, his ability. So I don't want to diminish what he did there. I just think that... we also need to be real about where the goals can be. And I think we have to be very mindful and... People at times...
Once again, it's the right to be, but they're just too radical. And he is a guy that is a great talent. He continues to develop. He's going to be a contributor for the first team, but he clearly played way above the Tacoma Defiance level.
He's shown that time and time again. He's not a defiance player. So we got to give him the credit that he deserves, the respect that he deserves. And he's going to continue to develop and get better. He's going to get to be right next to a guy like Ryan Kent and Pedro Lamega. and learn every day. He's going to be a talent that will continue.
to play for the first team. Another guy that I thought was interesting, and I'll try to be brief here, is Bernal. I thought he had a very solid game. Solid. Yeah, solid. He has another 18-year-old. starting in the defensive midfield against a veteran team, and he held his own.
he had a moment in the first half that you'd like to see him be a little bit more composed in the box where he ends up shooting high and he yes uh but other than that i thought he did everything you would want him to do and frankly that's not totally his game
anyway so I don't want to put too much on him but he held his own and you can kind of go through the roster I don't know that anyone looked like they were overwhelmed I thought Reed was good Reed probably should have had the game had a potentially had a game winning assist puts in a beautiful left-footed ball to Stuart Hawkins at the back post Hawkins unfortunately he has Osaze de Rosario making a run that is wide open if he taps it across the goal and he shoots it instead and it's saved. But...
But going back to De Rosario, he was putting himself in dangerous positions. I thought he looked great. I'm excited about what he can bring to the first team. I'll give you my last take on him before I ask you about just one specific player that... Was interesting that I was I had not really been watching closely, but there's a real ability to know how to attack the box, when to attack the box. He's a physical player. He had two very big framed experienced center backs and he looked the part.
He has a wonderful header That he goes and gets And he has to have an off-ball movement to get to that ball. And he's kind of fighting off a defender while he's hitting it. He's fighting off a defender, so for me, the physicality... And he's solid. The thing I like, he just looks so solid going up for it. there's a guy bodying him and he's not like that he may not have gotten quite as much on it as he would have otherwise but the fact that he gets a good strong header off
while he's got a defender literally against him is great. So I thought he was just very good at his positioning, and that's huge for what... that Sanders will need. We'll see what he does later on when it comes to defense and triggers and you know some of his link up play But at least I feel like he is a guy that is not just a good depth piece, but that has a ton of potential to develop into an even better player. The player I wanted to ask you was about you. And I thought he came in.
and was very good. As soon as he came in, he was impactful. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I would totally agree with that. So Yusuke Nome is, I was a little surprised that he didn't start. I think in hindsight, it was very, or once you saw the game playing out, it was very clear to me what the game plan was, which was to move Antino Lopez, who is normally a center back into the defensive midfield, not to play as a third center back.
but to play as sort of a ball-winning player in the middle. And so I think it was a very smart move, I think, by Diese to say, look, we don't need a third center back. patrolling the backfield, but what we need is someone, a physical presence in the midfield, and he provided that. I thought it worked.
And, you know, they were a little unlucky to be down 1-0 at halftime. And I think to the same degree, Diese deserves credit for making the change at halftime to bring in Yusuke Nome. And essentially, so what he did is he brought Yusuke Nome into play as a 10, essentially. And then they dropped. Peter Kingston back to patrol the midfield with Senator Brunel and Tsukurome literally as soon as he gets on the field is making an impact he helps set up the first goal
He has a, and then he scores the second goal. And then he also had this amazing ball, this blind pass that he just loops over to Travion Sousa, that Sousa trapped. plays into the box, and I thought he deserved a penalty. I thought he did too. I think you're going to see that call the penalty a lot of the time. It doesn't get called, and then three minutes later, Portland equalized. That would have essentially sealed the game if they had gotten that call.
But yeah, Tsukunome is a player who, you know, coming into this year, if you had asked me who are the top... five guys on the defiance who are mls prospects he would not have made my list i think he is
getting pretty close to the point where the Sounders almost have to sign him. I think he's got nine goals and two assists in nine competitive games this year. He is and he just does he just has finds the game he's not necessarily a conventional player he's a little older he's 24 years old he's got an interesting backstory too he did not play professionally in japan he actually played in the college system in Japan, which is not a normal path.
He gets out of college, he comes to the United States, plays in the NPSL for some team, I think, in South Dakota. No way. Yeah, he's like the leading scorer in the NPSL, which is basically an amateur league. Sure. and i don't know how the sounders even found him but they find this guy and he's just got this sort of innate ability to find the game you watch him and you don't see any obviously plus skills but yet He's always
in dangerous areas. He's always creating danger. You know, he's an interesting player. I talked to some guys of the first team after the game. And apparently they had Sin in play and they thought that he has a lot of interesting qualities. And he's one of those guys, just like the Rosario, just like at one point it was Kalani. And, you know, the first team players are always looking for...
Who are the guys that are coming up? And he is one of the... other players yeah other players yeah other players first team players I always try to get background on anybody who I talk to about certain players because they practice. And, you know, we talked to Durasara about that today that, you know, it's something that they do get to do and it does help. And he said, you know, they'll tell you what you need to do to be better.
And so that's why I ask. And it sounds like you is one of those guys that we're looking into. Yeah, I wouldn't be at all surprised if he ends up signing a first-team contract at some point this year. I don't know what position he really put in. I don't know how you...
I don't know how you get them on the field. Like, I don't know the exact scenario that ends up with Yusuke Nome playing he's probably a 10 he's kind of a withdrawn forward I guess you can play him out wide that's the challenge I think is like I don't know what role he plays but he's getting to a point now where if this guy scores 15, 16 goals, you almost have to sign him because that's sort of the system you've set up here.
If you perform at the second team level, the Sounders are going to sign you. And they've currently got six guys on their roster, first team roster right now, not counting homegrowns, who came directly through Defiance or S2. And that's sort of the pathway that they've created. And when, you know, Osazi de Rosario, I don't think was at the top of my list either at the start of this year. I sort of figured he was... sort of a flamed out prospect. He was, I thought, a little too old, but
he's been a much better player this year. He's doing a lot of the fundamentals that you want to see. He seems like he's understanding the game better. He is clinical. He gets himself into dangerous areas. You still can only another player who I think, again, wasn't on my list, but is someone who I think you have to watch now. So let's use this as a segue to talk about...
about what we learned from speaking of Craig, actually it was just you and I basically for the most part. Jose Moreno was there for a little bit as well. He did set it up he honestly sets up for success there and essentially we're going to talk to him about basically this and the reason why I'm gonna use it as a segway is because he did mention that It wasn't just the Rosario that had
And that Tacoma Defiance game kind of made you think about the way you were going to go. But then he also said that with that U22 spot and perhaps that 10-day window that comes with the Club World Cup. I want to just touch on this real fast. There has been some reporting out there by Tom Boger, a well-connected guy,
He said he reached out to MLS, he reached out to US Soccer, and no one from those organizations have actually confirmed that this window is open. Everyone we've talked to at the Sounders has said, we're under the impression that we can use that window. So I don't know where the disconnect is, but the sounders absolutely are operating under the assumption that they can use that window. Whether or not they actually can, I suppose, will be tested.
I just wanted to interject there. Please finish. No, no, that's great. No, and I just, I want to kind of throw the ball back at you because it has been my... conclusion and my opinion that the U22 spot needs to be used on a striker. Now, Moose, he's got four goals in four consecutive games. He scores his fifth against Houston. He's gonna join Oba and Raul as the only players to go five. And then apparently the only player to go beyond that is Raul that went six games consecutives.
And actually went eight games, I guess, because he didn't do playoff games too. Incredible, right? So that's where Moose is. Which is a crazy thing. And again, I'm not sitting here telling you guys that Danny is the... The guy, the truth. No, that's not what I'm saying. But I'm saying that it's kind of working and it's being productive. And now you got a guy like Osase that you're going to try to develop.
So I kind of get where he might be coming from in terms of maybe we can use us somewhere else to me And I'll let you provide your take on it. To me, you still got to go find that generational changing striker. Jordan Morris has been fantastic. But, you know, the injuries, he's not old by any means, but 30 sometimes at that position for an explosive player can be looked at a little bit closely. And I just said that Danny's been great. He's a contributor.
but he's just not the guy, and then we don't really know what to find from Osace De Rosario, although he looks to be a guy that can essentially be an excellent striker. But what are your thoughts on what... Craig said and where you think that this goes yeah I mean Craig kind of alluded to We have been told repeatedly for months at this point that their number one target is a U22 striker, that they've been almost exclusively focused on that. So in that sense...
I don't know that this has changed anything from a practical standpoint. The reality is that most of their scouting has already been done on this. He said he talked to 12 or 13 players already. I would imagine almost all of those players are strikers. But he sort of alluded to this idea that they might go best player available. And they don't have any glaring weaknesses where you can say...
Oh, now, okay, if they had an unlimited budget, if they had a full, even a senior, if they can go out and get a DP, you can identify any position on the field and say you can get better. Sure, sure. But that's not the situation there. They have money to go sign a U-22. which by its nature is a player who is not yet finished, who has still growth to be had.
And if you're saying that a player needs to come in here and contribute, which is essentially the bar that Craig has set, he has said it repeatedly. Very clear. He said that. weeks ago when we were talking about it. He said it yesterday. I think he repeated it again today when he talked again about this whole situation. He wants someone to come in and contribute. Now, is that him talking? Is that...
ownership saying, look, if we're going to spend this money, we want that money on the field. I don't know. I'm not going to get into the politics of it. But he has made it very clear. That's his expectation. And so in that sense,
is there a clear path to playing time at forward? No, not right now. Nope. But you're right. If you're looking at where you're going to get the most bang for your money, bang for your buck, Over the course of the long window, even two years out, number nine is where it is because Jordan has been great when he's healthy.
He's 30 years old. Danny Masofsky is in a great run of form. He is also going to be 30 years old. Osazi de Rosario is in a great run of form. He is really unproven. Like the reality is that he is not. proven at this level. Nope. He's 23 even though. Yep. So you don't really have and the academy does not have a bunch of nines ready to pop either. So this is
to me, where you can get the most bang for your buck. Yes, number nines are the most expensive players to buy, but I think that's, it makes sense to me. I still think that when the rubber hits the road, that's where you want to spend your money. You know just lastly here. I mean that thing the only to me although I think you're right that there's not any glaring and
needs. I feel like the only other place that I would go other than nine was going to be at center midfield, just in case Obed goes or whenever Obed goes. It's funny, we're on No Sadia. If you're listening to this, you probably listened to No Sadia test too. but nine and eight were the two spots that we ranked as sort of the top two we thought they would go after and I agree with you that if it was up to me I might I think getting a Obed replacement because the reality is that
Right. And the only reason why I've always leaned more towards the nine is because... the developmental progress of this organization through the academy and through Tacoma has shown us is that they can farm out. Center midfielders. And you just talked about you. You talked about Bernal. Are they guys that can potentially do it?
Maybe. So there are options there, but the nine has not been that. No, and I think that's going to be the hardest position to identify, to bring through the academy. And anyway, we'll see. We will definitely see. But the other thing that I think we also learned this week but also was reinforced in the Defiance game.
You know, the Sounders used a 4-2-3-1 I think really for the first time this year against St. Louis. After the game, we asked Brian about it. He said, I think we're going to see that a lot more, especially at home. But maybe we see it sooner than that. I think that we're seeing a transition into that. Maybe not a full-time, maybe it's not going to be the full-time formation, but I think...
It's the easiest way to get Ryan Kent on the field. It's the easiest way to get Ryan Kent on the field without necessarily... It gives you different kinds of flexibility. especially when Jackson Reagan's not available. You don't have three center backs. So you just need to get on the field together. Yeah. Uh, And if Nuhu is going to play like he did against St. Louis, you feel a little better about him playing as a left back as opposed to a left wing back.
But we talked about this last week. Why don't you walk us through again what you see as the big differences between a three... three, four, two, one, and a four, two, three, one. And I want to just take the moment to just say that although Brian basically said a lot of the things that we've been saying on this show, I mean...
If there's anybody that's been talking about this 4231 needing to be the change, it's a charismatic Colombian that does this stuff quite consistently on podcasts and shows in the area. So... Going back to the 4231 there's there's a couple of things so the build-out And Brian talked about... Maybe let's start there. Brian, in his own words, said something that I have
mentioned here before, is that it makes decisions simpler. It makes things easier to manage. Your main decisions are quicker because there's less space in between. players and it simplifies a lot of things one is the build-out when you have a three-man back line you have to push your wing back so far up to pin up the opposition that your build-out is usually a five-man build-out. Your three center back, of which, for the Sounders, especially right now,
has two guys that are not necessarily good on the ball. Now three because Jackson not being there. Because Kim's qualities with are not with the ball distribution. Are not with the ball distribution. If there are yay marks and there's no who's. So now you have three guys that are, that's not their best attributes and they're having to handle the ball a lot more. You're kind of exposing them, making them happy to get on the ball. And to the degree that they're building out.
or breaking lines, it's going to be with the ball at their feet, not with passing. Exactly. It changes a lot. And even if you're passing, like I said, this five is your three center backs and he's your two pivots and they come back. When you have a 4-2-3-1, You're already doing the pinning with your winger. So it allows your two fullbacks to be part of it. And then you bring in your pivots. That's sick.
Six players that are consistently building out of the back. And you've seen Christian Rodin be that guy that's coming in and kind of getting in between the center backs at times. He's the one that's being the first guy with the ball. to distribute. I've talked about how that also fits JP better. So it just makes things a lot simpler. On the attacking end, you are having guys higher up the field and if Anything was evident against St. Louis is that in transition
regardless of who it was playing the left winger, they were cooking St. Louis. And they had numbers in the box. And they had numbers in the box because everybody's higher up the field already. When you're talking about a guy like Paul Rothrock, that his engine is, and his engine block, and his ability to go back and forth is his biggest attribute, now he's doing it just forward.
And although I will say that he wasn't as sharp as he could have been, and he maybe had a couple of moments that decision-making wasn't quick enough, he was an issue all game long on the left side. I was surprised how many people were really frustrated with Paul, and I guess because he had a couple... misses. Yeah. I mean, I don't know. I just don't...
If you get too wrapped up in, like, it wasn't like there were great chances. He just didn't make great shots. And that's why I like to call sharpness. He wasn't at his sharpest. That's okay, right? But I don't know if I'd be frustrated. I thought he was influential that entire first round. I totally agree. And he drew the penalty. You drew the penalty. And the penalty is one of those moments where could he have taken a better touch and maybe...
put himself in a position to maybe get a chance, sure. But what he does is that... he takes the bad touch, and he's like, man, I gotta make something happen. And Rothrock making havoc is something that is consistently there. And in that havoc, He goes right at the defense and forces a PK. So those are the things that sometimes people are very highly critical. And I think that if you kind of go over the reality of like the productivity.
It's there. So anyways, going back to the 4-2-3-1, it sets up better your wingers. And now when you've got two fullbacks that can be more selective getting forward, now all your whiffs. doesn't come from the wingbacks. In the three-man lineup, that's where all your width is coming from. Now you got that ability to win their selective, and those underlaps and overlaps are very good.
Another misconception about Ryan Kent, and I'll try not to be too long-winded on it, is that everybody, and even I said that he's a guy that is gonna stretch out defenses and he's got positional awareness that's fine but you saw how many times he cut inside and was in those inside channels because he's that good and he has that ability to do so. A lot of people have this concept that he's only going to be tied down to the line and that's more of...
Paul's Rothrocks kind of type of game. And I thought that... Kent and Nuhu had a very good reporter and if Nuhu can be a good and effective going forward. Like you said, man, this is the best setup for this team. But again, like I will say, this is not something that I'm saying today and I didn't say it at the St. Louis game. I've been saying it from the very beginning that the roster is built. for a 4-2-3-1 and the only way to get your most talented players in the current roster is Droga 4231
That may very well be, and I think we're going to see a lot more 4-2-3-1 going forward. But that's a good place to take a break. We'll come back. We'll talk about the Houston Dynamo game, which is Saturday. We'll talk a little bit about what we think about the potential lineup in that game. You're listening to Nos Audientes on the Sandra at Heart Podcast Network.
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Find out more, just visit Center at Heart.com and click the subscribe button in the top right corner. Thanks for listening. Welcome back to News Adiates. So... We got a game against the Houston Dynamo. The Sounders have actually had a fair amount of success playing in Houston. This will be the second time they've played Houston this year. They tied 0-0 the first game.
in a lot of ways marked maybe not the bottom of the mood around the sounders, but certainly was a different, it was not a good, that was a frustrating result. I think we can all agree. But the Dynamo have not really moved up since the two teams have been going in very different directions since that game. Dynamo has struggled a bit.
Do you want to get into your scouting report or do you want to give a little bit more of an injury update on the Sounders going on? We'll start with the injuries and kind of maybe what we're thinking about the lineup and then we'll go into Houston. Okay, so... Today, Brian said that Albert Rusnak and Jesus Ferreira will travel and will play. We don't know exactly how much they'll play because they were both somewhat modified in training this week, in and out of training.
So that's a good sign in a sense that they're traveling. But they may have to do some funky stuff with the lineup. It also sounds like maybe Pedro de la Vega isn't going to start this game, from what we can tell. Yeah, maybe not. I mean, there were options rotated there between him and Paul being those wingers. Brian has said a couple of times, one, This week that, you know, he's, you know, I've seen Paul on the right side and he's worked the right side.
And looks like Ryan Campbell star which is that's the reason why we're not even touching the left side is because if anything is almost certain and I mean hopefully Brian doesn't come here and like swing at us, but I mean there's a good chance Yeah, I think the signs have been all there. But that's kind of an exciting development. I don't know how fit he is. I was a little surprised when Brian earlier this week said, no, he can start.
I mean, he said it. So I honestly thought we were maybe a couple more weeks until Kent was able to start, but I guess he's made a lot. I mean, this is a player who, it's funny. We... We were originally pumping the brakes on what kind of fitness that we expected to come in. He way exceeded our expectations there. We were saying, oh, well, he looks good in training. We'll see. And he's exceeded the expectations there. Every game he's played, he's looked better.
I mean, this isn't exciting, but I don't want to get too... too crazy about it, but he's an exciting, I'm excited about the possibility of him starting. Anything else about the starting lineup? Jackson Wright in this, at best, it sounds like Portland. So he's not in the mix. Anything else starting lineup-wise you think is... is notable. Well, Albert Rosnack, do we say that already? I mean, Albert...
Yeah, he'll be modified. So it'll be interesting what happens there. Because I'm not really sure what happens there. But in terms of Ryan Kent, though, this is another checkpoint. And that's kind of what you'll see, right? We've all been excited about everything that's done so far. But I've kind of pumped the brakes as well because we don't know what 90 minutes looks like for him. We don't know what is starting.
game looks like because it's very different to come in late in a game. And credit to him for being as humble as he was after the game. I was kind of won over. I don't... I don't gravitate towards the English players that much. I'm just not that into the English game. He kind of won me over. Yeah, man. He's just so humble. He understands the game to the point where I was coming in later. I came here at this point.
Now we're going to see it 90 minutes fit. And we'll talk about how he can influence that against this specific Houston team. But all in all, I think those are the biggest takes. Another one is Alex Roldan just obviously getting his spot back. He's a guy that's going to be interesting going into this game.
And then what happens with Danny Mussovsky? And, you know, can he keep it going? Can he stay red hot? I mean, that's very interesting for me. And then what's going to happen with the Pivots? I don't expect any changes there. but I would like to see if the scores allow it for either JP or Danny Leyva to be introduced into this one. But all in all, it sounds like the... Sounders?
are looking at this game as a, we need to get a win. That's what I feel like I've learned this week. They're going at this Houston game understanding that if there's a three game, I think this is our best chance to win. Best chance. in the next five. Now I should say, I thought these two teams were going in different directions.
No. The Dynamo have actually been pretty good. They have been. They've gotten three wins across all comps. They've only lost. They've lost twice. They're basically in MLS play. They're 2-2-2. against, yeah, 2-2-2. So they've actually been, they tied the Rapids, they beat Austin, they tied LA, they beat LAFC, and then they lost to the Timbers.
So this is a team that actually has been pretty good, to be totally fair. They've just won on the road against Phoenix Rising. They've won 4-1 on the road against Phoenix Rising. in the open cup so maybe this is maybe i'm maybe i'm underselling them they they've actually been pretty good lately uh what do you what what do they do well Yeah, so all in all, what happens with the shooting is that they were unbeaten four games before their last game. Before their last game. And that...
The biggest difference, I think, and we'll get into this a little bit more, I feel like is that they've gotten a new winger that has provided them another... chance creator, a guy that can Almost be another player that is gonna work with Ponce who just looked like a guy on an island so many times He is supposed to be their ninth or striker, but he was forced to come back so far Bazzi has done what he can with what he has and he's been a player that's very interesting but
Andre Linger. Andre Linger, yeah. He's the guy that for me is going to be a difference maker, but they are just starting to click in the midfield. This was one of the top midfields last season. And all of a sudden, all your key guys are gone. And they have just started to kind of build that up. And now, with a little bit of momentum, I feel like this. Benny Ball type of team has been very interesting. Another guy that has solidified them very well. Let's just go ahead and put it out
The three guys to watch for me are Anderlinger, because of everything he's done. He's actually gotten a couple of goals before his last game. A wonderful volley off of the top of the box that went in perfectly. A good header to win a game. To tie a game and just he's been very good the other guy that the Sounders did not see last time they were here, was Jonathan Bond. And he has been such a fantastic player for this team, the goalkeeper. Against LAFC, he had seven.
saves by the time it was halftime seven saves the guy just has been absolutely unreal and He gives him not just a guy that's good on... the aspects of being a goalkeeper, saving all the things, but he's very good on the ball. He's helping out their build-out. They've been able to bolster their lineup a bit because they were also really thin center back, if I remember correctly, the last time they were here. Yes. and Sviachenko has basically been able to come back in.
They picked up Jack McGlynn, I believe, maybe even since that game. No, I think McGlynn, he might have been playing already. He's solidified his place on the team. Yes. the winger we just mentioned, winger. So this is a different team. I would say this is their best chance to win on these next three. That doesn't mean it's going to be an easy game. No, not at all. Absolutely not.
To your point, Burlow is another guy that had been injured, that had not been able to play as a center back. He played in the Open Cup game, 90 minutes. And so those are things that are working well for him. But LAFC ended up beating him. Rather easy. I'll be quite frank. Their biggest issue continues to be in midfield.
Arthur is a guy that although to me is one of the most experienced better guys as a Disruptor as a guy that's gonna get the ball back play easy You're starting to kind of tell that he's got a lot of miles on his on his wheels and and it has not look as sharp so uh for me that's where seattle can have the
advantage. The last guy that I wanted to put up as the third guy to look for for houston is mcglynn and mcglynn you just kind of mentioned that it's not just what he does on the field but in set pieces his set pieces are fantastic he has a phenomenal left foot uh whether it's straight angle or corner kicks or setting up guys he's a guy to watch so those are the three guys for me that you gotta watch
Now, going into this game, Franco Escobar lost his head against LAFC, gets a silly second yellow. He will not be part of this game. They've had issues. With that specific position, maybe it could be Starris that plays their left back, North Sea is the right back. And so that's somewhere where I feel like Seattle is going to be able to... attack on both flanks Dorsey on the other side although he's got
Wheels and in a huge engine block and can do a whole lot. He gets forward very easily. He gets hung up sometimes Yes, so that's what we were talking about Ryan Kent Ryan Kent's gonna have a lot of space potentially Dealing with a guy like Dorsey. Now, Dorsey's going to be physical and he's going to be getting on him. It's going to be very interesting how that matches up. That matchup, I'm going to be all over. Because Dorsey's also a guy that plays with that.
Chip on his shoulder the size of Texas and so getting a guy that's had all of this you know, reflectors and trajectory, I can see where he's going to be all over them. So, great matchup, but I do think that Seattle can get the better of Houston by using those flank spaces that consistently get open for this Houston team. And what's happened to Nico Ladero since we last? his
Being more of a role player, I mean, he was just a placeholder until they got more attacking players. Those attacking players are here now. And so he played in the Open Cup. He had a solid performance. And he's just that guy that's just more of a rotational guy. I will say the locker room, including a guy like Ponce,
I have more respect for Lodero. They listen. He's one of the guys that has one of the loudest voices on the field, on the locker room. So he's been a guy that has, without a doubt, been a positive influence for Benny's team. Benny's actually, it was kind of funny because it was his birthday on the last game, ends up losing that game. But this team does kind of rock.
to Benny's style. They're emotional, they get forward, they're grindy. So like Brian said, it's not going to be an easy game. Houston, it could be hot these days, I'm not really sure, but the humidity and all of those components there. We asked Brian what was going to be the key for the Sounders, and he talked about
Continuing to do the concepts that they've been doing so far, I think that's very accurate. The quick passing is going to be important in this one. The last thing I'll say when it comes to the scouting report of this Houston team is that they've had some big difficulties getting out of the bat.
And it's not just in the loss against LAFC. Even when they've been able to win games, they've struggled getting out of the back. It's been a bit of a rotational door there at center back, like I mentioned. To me, When you're looking at a guy as young as Obafemi, At center back, he came from MLS Pro. This is his first year in the league. He's had 11 games, 11 starts, so he's done it, but he struggles at times, compromising balls.
And that's why I think Seattle, if they press correctly on this new formation, maybe they can, you know, put a good goal initially. For me, I am very optimistic that Seattle, with the current form and the current players, and going against a... Houston team that I think has a lot of holes I think they can get this win. And it'll be a huge win on the road. Because if you win this first game, you can manage the other two. You can rotate against LAFC.
You can then maybe play full against Portland. You give yourself so much more options. And the reality is that the Sounders are sort of due on the road. They haven't been bad, but they only have two goals on the road so far this year. They have 14 at home. That's quite a big discrepancy, even though they've played more road games than home games. So it would probably be good to start scoring a few goals on the road, so maybe we can do that this week.
I think that's all I have. Nico, anything else on your checklist you wanted to get to? No, no, not specifically. I think that, let me just look at my notes real quick. But yeah, no, I think that we just hit about everything. It's been... Like I said, a very busy week overall. But yeah, I think we hit all of the pointers that we looked at all over the week that was.
Yeah, no, I have nothing else left. I think we've touched on everything. Good job, Jeremiah. It's like you've done it before. Yeah, exactly. Thank you. Thank you for that, Nico. Of course, where can people find you other than here? Oh, you were also on Loving Scorchers with me. That's right. Yeah, that was fun. Soccer down here. Also sports. Anything else you need to plug? And just the Loving Scorchers kickoff.
uh you know from time to time uh monday mornings yeah monday mornings from 8 a.m to about 9 15 9 20 depending how long we go with ari that's been really good uh we'll potentially I gotta find something to gift because we did say that if we get a hundred likes on that specific video I was going to raffle something. So I'll get something. Don't worry about it. So go ahead and check that out. And then I will be doing a couple more things here in June before the Club World Cup with Fox 13.
on TV. So that's always kind of cool because we promo the heck out of Sandra Hart. And yeah, man, that's about it. Awesome. Well, with all that said, I'm Jeremiah Chan signing off for Nico Moreno. the Center of Heart Podcast Network. you I expect LAFC who is motivated. To prove themselves at home to prove to their fans that they're capable of winning in this league and it's up to us to Really ruin the party. Yeah, you guys like that awkward joke dad joke right there