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, O'Shaan! Let's go! Here comes Ruiz Diaz through the middle to crowd it for Seattle. And now they truly can start the celebrations. It's the Sounders MLS Cup. Nico Ledero leaves absolutely no doubt. The Saunders rule the region. Seattle, Saunders, it's good feeling. It's gone, there it's gone, finally.
This feels fucking awesome. This is a tiny dog. Nice work on your little yacht thing. You know, what was the thought process in terms of who you decided to use and who you didn't? I wrote a commentary that we didn't take over come 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.
Polpo was founded in 2009, is based in Seattle, and is owned and operated by longtime Sounders 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 Gnosis. It's Friday, so we are back with Nico Moreno doing what we learned this week. I'm Jeremiah O'Shan. We're here at Long Acres, back at the old spot. Nico, how are you doing? I'm doing all right, man.
Good, sunny week of training. Great week of weather for training. It's been fun. Even Brian's been in a good mood. Can't take that for granted these days. Can't take that for granted. He's not angry at me. It's been good. The players have looked good. So, you know, there's plenty to talk about there. But just the vibes in general, I feel like they're changing. Even those people that were hammering down on Craig Weibel and hammering down on Ferreira.
Now we're in some way or form changing what they said in definitiveness. There's not a lot to be really mad about right now. Yeah, exactly. We'll see. We'll see what happens. Things can always change if they quickly do. It was only about a month ago where things seemed to be going perfectly after the LAFC win, and then it was like a few weeks of frustration, but... Where we are right now things seem to be going pretty good. The transfer window just closed. on, when was that, Wednesday?
Thursday? Wednesday, I think. And the sounders didn't do anything at the end of the window, but it was a pretty productive window. And it was funny, you know, I went and read... There was a bunch of pieces on like MLS soccer and backheeled and other places that were sort of recapping the transfer window. And I had kind of forgotten how much the Sounders actually did. If you go, I mean, because essentially this was the offseason window.
The Sounders signed Jesus Ferreira and Paul Areola. They signed Ryan Kent. They signed Kim Kee-hee. Who else did they bring in? Kalani Kosarienzi, essentially. That's a lot. They've actually added some pieces who have mostly been pretty productive. It will be, you know, it remains to be seen what happens with Ryan Kent, but Ryan Kent, I thought, looked good in his debut. And maybe him by himself is some reason for optimism because all of a sudden...
They now have seemingly, now that they're returning to health, they've got a lot of talented players that are going to be needing minutes. Yeah, with Ryan Kent, what you did was... swing for a home run and hope that he gets there. And they did that by turning a bad situation into a good one. And because of that... I believe that everything that we've said about the team being talented and that... Per the circumstances, the front office did bring in a group together.
You could have questions about whether maybe we're light or not as deep at certain positions, but I feel like it's still to be determined because I think what we've seen with Ferreira. ultimately can work with him at the striking position. So at the end of the day, it feels like... A lot of the worries that were brought up because of lack of results are starting to be tamed by.
that talent starting to resurface and show everyone that it can be a collective unit and that it can work and that there's a ton of debt. And now the question is, How do we get all these guys on the field? Right. And it's very funny how it quickly goes from, man, we don't have anyone at these certain positions to we have too many people at those same positions. I mean.
Not to put too fine of a point on this, but the way that Mosovsky and Morris are playing right now, if they had a third number nine... that third number nine would not be looking like they're going to be getting any minutes anytime soon because the reality is both of them look pretty good. They're both fighting, frankly, for starting minutes. And then behind them, you have a group of players who are also all fighting for starting minutes between, you know, Ryan Kent's probably not ready.
But it's not after seeing his debut, it's not far off to see him competing to be a starter. You've got Pedro de la Vega, who just came back, looked really good in his last two games. Jesus Ferreira is looking like a much more comfortable player if he is surrounded by the right pieces and playing in positions that are comfortable. Albert Rusnett came off the bench last week. You can kind of keep going down the list.
Georgie Minungu didn't even make the roster in the game day roster on Saturday. Then he goes out for the defiance and he dominates Sporting Kansas City 2. He has a couple assists and is involved in all four goals. All of a sudden, they've got... Like you said, they've got more minute, they got more talented players than they have minutes to give them, which is really a good problem to have.
But it is a problem in that it's something that Brian Schmetter is going to have to figure out and figure out how to keep everyone happy and make this thing work. But this is a much better problem than... We don't know what we have here. Yeah. And again, it also goes back to players that were brought in. Mm-hmm. Starting to be effective. I think Mussofsky has really given a breather to both.
Brian Smetzer and the organization as a whole, because having a guy like him just performing, just being productive is great. Having a guy like Pedro, who you got a while back, but who you had not really been able. to showcase and be consistent. Now he's looking like the young DP, like that $7 million player. And that's going to be huge. So. It is kind of the dominoes slowly starting to fall in the right direction for the Sounders. But that's exactly the reason why.
A lot of times, and me and you have talked about this, everybody can have an opinion. I don't mind people being passionate and excited. But every time that you're too radical with your opinion, you ought to be very wrong. You might be very right. Things can change very quickly. I mean, it was only a couple of weeks ago where it looked like the season was spiraling out of control. Right. And now we're talking about them having more players than they know what to do with.
And it's just very funny. It's a fine line. You get a couple players back and all of a sudden you slide. Everyone goes back a spot on the depth chart and things look very different. And that's why I feel like you and I as, I don't know, communicators or guys that people like to listen to. it's good to have a little bit more of a calmness. And obviously our calmness comes from
a reliable idea and source of what we see. We know the group. We know the talent, right? So whenever you fans out there are thinking that we're going against what you guys are saying, we're not doing that. All we're doing is providing you a better...
idea of what's really happening. So when situations like this happen, we could all be happy because it is exciting. It's good times in Seattle. Yeah, I mean, I would hope that anyone that is a regular listener to this channel, to this show, to the Sandra Hart Podcast Network. can kind of, is not totally taken by surprise by this change of circumstances because the building blocks have been here for a long time. But that said, this week was a very interesting week in training, in part because...
You have a group of players who delivered back to back wins. At the same time that another group of players who would be under normal circumstances, your almost automatic starters, are getting back to health. And instead of immediately putting those guys back in...
Brian Schmetzer has decided to sort of play the hot hand and... I think there's something to be said about this is an interesting conversation point because on one hand, do you ride the hot hand and do you sort of like send a message to your players that, look, if you play well, you'll get minutes. Or do you go with the guys who have proven track records over a very long period of time and say, look, once they're healthy, they're our starters. That's how it is.
It seems to be that Brian is playing the hot hand and sort of... So even last year, I don't know if I would have expected him to do this, where it looks to me like Albert Rusnak is going to come off the bench two weeks in a row. Jordan Morris is probably going to come off the bench two weeks in a row. What's also funny is that...
All indications were two weeks ago, Morris was going to start against Dallas, but then Misofsky played well in Dallas, and then he backed it up with another solid performance against Nashville. And now Morris basically has to win his spot back. So for me, and this is where me and you kind of defer on the opinion, and look, I do agree that it could be a double-edged sword, in my opinion, if...
players are fully healthy. Yeah. Because right now, I have no issue with Brian Smetzer saying, Jordan Morris is at 80, is at 85, is at 90. No reason to rush them. The team is playing well. We're going to ride the wave. Albert Rusnak, he had an adductor. Maybe he is not 100% either. Let's let him sit, relax. In the meantime, we work out with this fantastic duo that has been Pedro and Ferreira.
We're going to allow that to cement itself and continue to be a good combination play for us. And we're going to let our guys get healthy. where I think you get into a situation that could be a double-edged sword, it's if, yes, you are definitely rewarding, rightfully so, players for their effort and their effectiveness on the field. But then when you are going to eventually need your top players, your most talented players, there's a chance of two things. One.
A guy like Jordan Morris, and it happens with most strikers, going cold. Sometimes the powder gets wet. And you don't got that bang. And you need that to be ready for when you need those moments. Jordan's a guy that needs a lot of confidence, that it's a rhythm guy that needs to be on the field. So that'd be my concern with him. And now with Albert...
He'd be a guy that is on the opposite end. I don't need no confidence, but hey, I'm the highest paid player on the team. I need to be in there. As he should, you know, have that mentality of... I'll call it ego. You know, it's all right. You know, players have egos of their capabilities and he's going to want to be on. So does that rub him the wrong way? That'd be my only concern if players.
were 100% healthy. I know that's not the case. But it's, like you said, champagne problems at the end of the day. It is something that I feel like most times Brian has handled. adequately has handled it correctly. So when I look at what we've seen all week, I see competitiveness. I see grind. I see a team that in every single drill you want to go out there and give all you can. And all those things are positive.
So as long as that remains, I have no issue with it. Yeah. I mean, it's going to be very interesting to see how this plays out. I think you're right that this week is another week where you can plausibly say. Look, maybe in a different world, we would have gone 60 minutes Morris, 60 minutes Roostack, and then taken him out in the second half.
And maybe they're reversing that right now. Maybe it's 60 minutes for Mussofsky and De La Vega or whoever, and then you reverse, and then they get 30 minutes. And then as we go on, the rubber's going to hit the road at some point. The other one that's really interesting right now... And maybe more intriguing is Kim Kihee over the last two weeks has just been very steady. He hasn't done anything spectacular, but he's done the exact... kind of work that you want from a center back which is to just
Stay with your man. Connect your passes. Clear the ball when you have to clear the ball. Be smart. And in a year where Jackson Reagan has not looked his sharpest, you do sort of have to wonder if Kim Kiki continues to play this way. And when Jackson Reagan comes back, I don't think he can just assume that he's going to be the starter.
And that is a little bit more of a tricky situation because with offensive players, you can manage that. You can say, look, you're getting your 30 minutes, you're getting your 60 minutes, whatever it is. If you don't play 90 minutes, no big deal. But center backs don't... I mean, part of the reason that... Yamar and Jackson had played so much up until now is because...
That's not how you manage center backs. You don't pull a center back out in the 80th minute just because you want to get someone else minutes. A hundred percent. And even when you do. it doesn't have the same effect. And it's very limited, right, to maybe I'm trying to close down a game, this or the other.
And look, we've had situations here where I got like Javier Arriaga, has lost his job to a guy like Jackson. But I don't know if it was necessarily injury related because I feel like at times Javi may be. He was too sure of himself at that position. Well, but that's sort of the situation that Jackson sometimes gets himself into. Jackson is a very, very effective passer. He, at times, can be a very good defender. But this year, we've seen him make a few kind of mental mistakes.
And you can see how when, you know, you can imagine that the coaches are getting frustrated. I'm sure, I don't know, I would hesitate to say that in the postgame on Saturday that... When Brian said something like, players should take notice of Kim Kihee, that...
I think the assumption was that he was talking about Jackson. He may as well have been talking about New Who, too, who he was also expressing some frustration with the way he started that game. So who knows? Or maybe even more of a generalized message. But there does seem to be a message coming out from the Sounders that's like no one's spot is guaranteed. And if you're not playing, if you're not mentally sharp, if you're not putting in the effort,
which I don't know if they're really accusing anyone of not putting in the effort, but I do think they're accusing people of maybe not being as mentally sharp as they want them. It's a different world right now, it seems like, especially with a fully fit team where you have... You have a solid roster of 20 to 25 guys who all think they should be on the game day roster, if not starting. Look, what I'm going to say is that right now, for me...
Jackson Reagan's still the guy. I agree. And he needs to obviously be mindful that there is a guy that's, you know, biting at his ankles a little bit. And if he doesn't show up. There's going to be some issues. I feel like under this three-man formation, you need more of a Jackson-Reagan because it demands so much more for that. center back in the middle of those three to be a playmaker of some sorts, to have the capability of breaking lines with or without the ball. And although Kim.
I thought it was fantastic in terms of just being so safe. He's not breaking lines. He's not breaking lines, right? So that's where you kind of lose it. But if you go into a four-man back line and it's Kim Ki-hee and Neymar, oh, man, I kind of like that because...
And I'm going to say this term. This is not a sexist term. I just want to make sure that I say that. It's just something that we say in Latin America. It goes to like an old man's strength. Like man's strength. I don't think that's a... Well, you know, whenever I say man, I don't want anybody to think, you know... Dad strength is another way of putting, that's the saying here most often. Let's say that. So when it comes to Kim, what I saw on that field is that, look.
Jackson's the bigger guy or taller guy, right? You look at him, you're like, man, that dude should be... just dominating. But there's times where he doesn't. And Kim is... When I saw Kim in there, he was like that dad strength where he came in and he was just so physical, so strong. He like took out Mukhtar and... He got a yellow, but I'm cool with that. I mean, his physicality, to me, was impressive. And that's something that maybe Jackson doesn't have.
or that Kimmy just does better. And I'll even say the way his hips turn and his ability to get... from one point to another horizontally was very impressive. And we saw it here and we mentioned it in this show. Or maybe not because you were gone. Maybe, well, maybe we didn't. But maybe we did. But it was when he dispossessed Georgie. on the open field, it was in open space. And Georgie is as hard to control as anybody. And he did it. And he did it a couple of times.
Man, there are some things that Kim does well, but I would like to think that with Jackson Reagan seeing... some of that competition, maybe he'll elevate his game a little bit. Well, and I do think that there's maybe been a... I can see with Jackson how there was some genuine disappointment about the whole national team thing in preseason. Yeah. And I think that maybe that was in his head a little bit.
This is sort of a, maybe this is just a reminder to him that it's like, nothing's guaranteed, man. Like, just because you wanted to be, just because you thought you kind of earned your spot in the national team and you didn't get it, that doesn't mean your spot with the Sounders is guaranteed. And I do agree with you. I think Jackson is potentially the best center back in the league. And I don't think Kim is in that conversation even at his best.
But that doesn't mean that Jackson's floor is above Kim Kihee's ceiling. You know what I'm saying? That's true. It's going to be a very interesting conversation if in three weeks from now the Sounders are... playing well and Kim's been in there every game, it's going to be hard to just take him out of the lineup and put Jackson back in. That doesn't mean that I don't think Jackson will eventually work his way back.
It's just that it's not guaranteed the way that it was maybe in previous areas. And frankly, it's not that different than the way it was. When Kim was here last time, and it was Arriaga, Kim, and Roman Torres were all fighting for those two spots. Right. And that's a similar, very similar situation to what we have right now, except the difference being that... Jackson Reagan and Yamar are better players than Arriaga and Torres were at that time, I would say. But that...
Kim is also more experienced. It's easy to forget that in between his two stints with the Sounders, Kim was playing very high-level play in South Korea with one of the best teams in all of Asia. And, you know, going to Champions League and doing all the, you know, winning league titles. And I mean, he was a starter with those games. He was a best 11 player in Korea just a year ago. So it's not like he came in.
like limping in here. So he's a very good player. Anyway, I think these are great problems to have. The other thing that's been really interesting in these last... couple of weeks, I think, has just been the way that Jesus Ferreira has settled into a role that seems much more comfortable. You know, he's still not, you know, we talked about this on, on the main, you know, so he had to show earlier this week.
He's not necessarily the player we thought he was going to be, but he can be an effective player. And he's looked really good playing as more of a 10 and more of a facilitator than as sort of the point of the spear. Yeah, and it all goes... with something that we've also talked off camera, which is... Now we're seeing him with specific players that in one way or another amplify his game. We don't need to repeat what he said about Pedro and the way he...
kind of vibes with him. But you're also talking about guys that can potentially, once Jordan Morris is available, I think things might change a little bit as well. So, specifically to Ferreira, I think that... His effort on and off the ball has been outstanding. I feel like his understanding of the team has gotten so much clearer, so much better. I mentioned this on Monday on Loving Scorchers kickoff. Pedro makes that unreal thread the needle pass to Ferreira.
inside the box. Ferrer immediately makes the turn and he's already looking at where Paul Rothrock has consistently been making those prime scoring position runs. in that back end. And once he sees it, he just puts it there. That is understanding. And he's already looking for it. There was another instance where he actually gets a ball down from Obed and then he makes a pass. all the way to the other side of Pedro.
And again, it seems like he's slowly sinking in. And just the idea that, like in this one, he played on the left pocket. He had been playing on the right pocket for the majority of the time that he played.
in the two-cam position. And I thought he played well on the left side. And then there were times that him and Pedro would switch, which creates this balance, which is awesome. So I just think that... his adaptation is starting to be more evident and that will slowly reflect on his play because he's a guy that, in my opinion, goes off of... Very instinctive play. He wants to...
He's a very smart player. He's a very smart player. And I think Christian Roldan mentioned it this week where I think people, he said, I think people don't realize what good of a passer he is. And I think he's right. And although... He was brought in as somebody that maybe should have been played a little bit higher. I still think that...
Under this formation, with this set of players, he's going to be an X factor in some games. And, you know, if he needs to be on the bench, if he needs to be a rotational player. I don't think it will go to that extent. But at the same time, I feel like he could hold that. And he's so mature. He looks like he is buying in to what this coach's time is feeding him. And to me, those are all good things.
of a player that I think is eventually going to shine. Yeah, I would agree with all that. I also point out that there was a good moment. late in that game where he made a run into the box that Ryan Kent spotted. Didn't quite connect, but it was the kind of little movement in and around the box that we haven't seen the Sounders making a whole lot.
And it was good to see a player recognizing the run that Ferreira was making there. And it was also a little peek into the creativity of Ryan Kent, who... You know, we only saw about 10 minutes, but I think we saw a lot of the same stuff that we saw from him in training. And it was good to see it translating out onto the field. It'll be interesting to see how that...
But we're going to take a break. We're going to talk a little bit about the Tacoma Defiance. There were some developments with the ticketing situation, we understand, for the Open Cup. And, yeah, we'll be right back. And you'll listen to Nota Saunietes.
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Welcome back to Nos Adiates. We're doing what we learned this week with Nico. And going into this week is going to be a big game for the Sounders, a big test, I think. Maybe the Sounders' biggest test.
of the year. I guess depends on how you look at it. But they're going to be playing the Rapids. A Rapids team who is... is looking good, who's been a little up and down, who look like they're maybe going through a formation change, but the Sounders are also catching a little bit of a break because Zach Steffen picked up two yellow cards.
Essentially after the game, in their previous game, he's going to be suspended for this one. And it looks like the goalkeeper in his place is a player, a pretty limited player with... Just MLS Next Pro experience, a guy named Nico Hansen. It's not 100% sure who's going to start, but it looks like it's between him and Adam Beaudry, who is a U.S. youth international. Neither one of them are very experienced.
I think Beaudry might be carrying some kind of knock, though. But yeah, this is a pretty good opportunity for the Sounders. If they can get a road point or a road win, ideally. That's a lot of that. Now we're really getting some momentum going. Yeah. And I think that should be. The mentality and I overheard and I don't know if it's the first time I've heard him say this, but it really popped out. But.
categorized this Colorado team as a beatable team. He was like, they're a beatable team. And that kind of popped out. And I hope I'm not misquoting him here, but I'm pretty sure he said that. And I mean, I guess it's an absolute opportunity to beat this Colorado team without Zach Steffen, with the team that can definitely challenge goalkeepers, because if we've seen anything from this.
Sounders team from Dallas to Nashville is their willingness to take mid-range shots, their ability to get to certain positions, to challenge defenders. This Colorado team... is very different than Nashville in terms of pressing, but in their buildup, their offensive attack, it's somewhat similar. We'll talk a little bit about, you know, their most talented players or the players to watch. But when it comes to the Sounders and this opportunity,
It has to be one that you take as we're going to go in here and we're going to go for three. If we get one, awesome. But we're going to go for three. We want to keep this momentum going. We just beat a very good Nashville team at home. We play well on the road. Let's see how it works out. So when it comes to Colorado, I look at three players. One.
is Rafa Navarro or Navajo, depending on how you say it, how you want to say it. But he is an athlete, and he's a clever runner, and he does not stop. He presses well. He's all over the field. He's going to come in and out. He's going to be hard to gauge something that the Sounders have issues in the past with.
So that has to be a point of emphasis for this Sounders back line. He is their most dangerous player, without a doubt. I think that his link-up play and his passing is a little bit underrated. But when he's in the 18, when he's in the bottom... that is where he's more dangerous because he's going to put the ball in the back of the net.
Not necessarily what we saw against Houston because I watched the whole night again this morning just to make sure I had a better idea on this team. And Colorado should have ended that half. 3-1. Okay. And they didn't because Navarro missed a couple of opportunities. Georgie missed one. Yappie has one where he gets greedy and he has Georgie in the box by himself. He does not pass the ball.
So this team can create a lot of problems, but it all starts with Navarro because of everything he does offensively. The other guy that I thought shined, and it's not because he's our old friend and old. You know, guy we used to see here, Josh Atencio was so good in the last two games for Colorado. In this one, he sets up. Navarro twice. One with a perfect ball in the 21st minute.
because he's one of their main outlets when it comes to their build-out. And he puts the ball on a dime behind the defensive line for Houston, and Navarro once again misses that shot. But what he does for them on the ball, in distribution, he's also that guy that consistently help out Vines because Vines is the guy that... consistently gets forward for Colorado. On the left side. On the left side, whether it's Georgie or Bassett, because they do switch out.
Whoever's on the left side is going to tuck in and Vines is going to push out. He's going to be the widest guy. And the guy that covers is Atencio. And he did it so well in the last two games. So he's another player to watch. And finally, usually I will leave this one for Zach Steffen. but we're going to do that third one for Mihaljevic. Obviously, the brains of the operation, as we heard from Brian today, he's the guy that is the creative player. Not just that, but he is killer on set pieces.
You do not want to give this guy a chance on top of the 18 with a soft foul. So something to be mindful of. But beyond that is just his connectivity. Him and Navarro are starting to get a report. And that's a connection that if I'm Brian Smetzer, I want to limit. I want to minimize. I want to destroy. I do not want to make sure that there's a rhythm between Jordi and Mihaljevic and Navarro. So those are the three guys that I think are the players to watch for this specific match.
Yeah. And I'll just add, this is a team that has recently changed formations slightly. They had been playing like a 4-3-3, 4-2-3-1. And now they've moved to sort of a 4-2-2-2, which is very similar to what Nashville is doing. But what it essentially does is it... Puts a second forward up top with Navajo, and then you have Bassett and Mihailovic. sitting beneath them and then you have a tensio and uh oh i forget his name why am i blanking he was very good he he uh
He is more of the disruptor. He does a lot of that, winning the ball back, doing the simple work of just... leaving it whether it's on one side to Bassett or maybe they're dropping it to the back line because they do go direct. They are not afraid to get the ball forward. in a moment's notice. And that's something that Seattle is going to have to be careful when they're selectively high on their press. I'm curious on how that's going to work for this specific game, because we know that.
Colorado's going to press. But Seattle at times, not all the time, they can be very selective with it. How do they play this game? will be interesting. Brian talked about how the ball lifts and how they do go direct. So he clearly knows that that's something that they're going to use against this team. So how does that work out is going to be interesting. But Colorado, a top team. What I like most about them is that...
Every single player on that field is quality. Defensively, not so much, but on the ball, there's so much talent. Reggie Cannon, Vines, I mean, you go with Bassett, everybody can move it well. What I do think is that Seattle is going to have... some moments to exploit. the space behind Vines, and at times the space behind Reggie. It felt like the biggest issues that they've had this season is controlling the flanks and the wide play. And that's where...
the Seattle Sounders have looked amazing. Right. So I feel like Seattle can really hurt this Colorado team as long as there's balance. as long as they're disciplined and as long as they don't start off this game slow. And this will be the last thing I'll say because I feel like I'm talking way too much. No. This Colorado team starts off like a cannonball. I mean, it's like a bullet off a gun. Like I said, they put Houston in a lot of issues.
They just couldn't put the ball in the back of the net. Houston actually ended up getting the lead first. But they start off the game with a lot of intensity. playing you right forward, trying to get you on your heels. So Seattle's going to have to be mindful of that. Yeah, it's going to be a very, this is a real challenging matchup, I think, for the Sounders. I mean, it's a good test.
This is not a team that's going to sit back and absorb, which I think the Sounders have actually looked better this year. The last couple years, really, when teams want to play, when teams want to press them a little bit. And the Sounders do have a history of success at Colorado. They're 10-5-2 all-time there. They've won their last two trips to Colorado.
It's a place where the Sounders should feel like they can get a result, especially with a backup goalkeeper. We asked Brian today about testing the goalkeeper early. He's like, sure, maybe you take a couple extra shots. Ultimately, you want to be getting into good shooting positions. Yeah, and tested them with like crossing the ball early.
That's more, I think that's probably a better test than just taking some longest shots. The biggest problem with the goalkeeper is how he handles his box and how he handles that range of, when am I going to come out? set pieces, hopefully for the Seattle Sounders' ability to get a result, they're going to have to be dangerous with those balls. And if we're thinking that...
Albert Rusnak's not in. I'm not really sure if there's a better guy for set pieces when it comes to Ferreira. Maybe Ferreira takes the set pieces. That's an interesting... I didn't really look into that too much. Who's been taking set pieces when...
when Rusnak is out, I guess it's probably Ferraro. I think Ferraro is one of them. But again, I would like to see them utilize that. A guy that I think could come off the bench and be killer on set pieces is Danny Leyva, who's got him some minutes this season. But it's going to be interesting. But we cannot not talk about Josh Atencio. I mean, it sounded like Christian Roldan knows and Stephen Fry also knows that he's going to go out here and want to play his heart out. Yeah.
I mean, based on everything we heard, he was taken by surprise when he found out he was being traded. It didn't sound like the Sounders had been actively trying to make it happen. The story as I understand it is that the crew had been particularly aggressive about trying to get... Josh Atencio, and it finally got to the point where the Sounders felt like
They needed to see what the market would bear. And so they kind of put word out as to what kind of offers they were going to get. And the Rapids ended up coming with a very strong offer. I think it ended up being about $1.3 million total in GAM. I think this is one of those situations, and I've said it before, that it ends up looking like a win-win-win where the Sounders got some real assets out of it.
The Rapids get a player who has some upside. And frankly, Atencio gets a very clear path to playing time, which did not exist here. No. I mean, the reality is that he had been moved to center back. I don't know that he would have been playing at all. like literally, if he had stayed at center back, which also suggests that he had kind of slipped down the defensive midfielder depth chart a little bit, or at least the centers felt comfortable with other players there.
In the last two years, they had essentially moved Christian Roldan back there. Xiao Paolo was coming back. They also have Danny Leyva. Snyder Brunel has also started to emerge as a player who might be getting some minutes there from the Defiance.
It made sense for everyone. That doesn't mean that, like, Josh Atencio might be perfectly happy with how this worked out. That doesn't mean he won't be very motivated to show the Sounders they made a mistake. Absolutely. And that's exactly it, because I totally agree. Watching Josh Atencio over the last couple of games with Colorado. I don't think that there's anything he's doing that...
would surprise us because we know his potential, but he's just doing it so consistently because he's getting the minutes. He's been a starter just about every game. It doesn't matter who's next to him because he's done well.
with Fernandez, who's now in Portland. Omir Fernandez. Omir Fernandez is now in Portland. He did well. I think the best of his work, obviously, with Laris next to him because he's more of the disruptor. But, man, I just... feel like his ceiling continues to get high because of the situation he's a very good player I mean that's the thing is that I don't think anyone really ever doubted his ability and it was really just
circumstance after circumstance kept kind of conspiring against him being able to get consistent minutes here. I don't know if he ever got... I mean, I think he started eight straight games now for the Rapids. I don't know if he ever started eight straight games for the Sounders. That'd be something to look at, but I can't think of eight in a row. Right. I don't think so. I feel like there was always a rotating door. There was always something that would...
A little injury here or another player would emerge there. But again, I think he's going to be very motivated for this. This is the team he grew up watching. This is the team he played with since he was like 13 years old. This is very similar to Jesus Ferreira going to Dallas. And I just really didn't ask Brian about it, but I guess his answer would have been very cliche anyways. Yeah. Yeah, you know, we know we understand the game. He got a better opportunity. I don't know if there's...
anything that he would have said differently. But it is interesting how it will play out. So we planned to have him in this show. We didn't, but maybe we should do it next week. Maybe we should talk to him after the game and figure out. You know, what that was like, his experience, maybe have a little deep conversation. They do have another game against the Sounders coming.
later in the year. So maybe that's another opportunity. Oh, okay. Should we save it or should we do it next week? What do you think? I don't know. We'll talk about that. Yeah, we'll talk about that off air. No, but that'd be interesting just because I really want to...
you know pick his brain on on how everything played out because like you said he got the best of both worlds if you will but you know there's got to be a little sense of like man what if i could have done it over there right exactly uh well on a totally different subject It looks like there's going to be some developments coming out soon with the Defiance game against the Timbers in the Open Cup, which isn't until next. It's still a week away from...
It's not this coming Tuesday, but the Tuesday after that. But that's a pretty enticing matchup. And from what I understand, the Sounders have been going kind of back and forth as to whether or not they would sell tickets for that game. Now, if you don't know, traditionally the way it works for Defiance games and the way it's worked in the first three Open Cup games.
is that if you're a Sounders Alliance member, meaning a season ticket holder or someone who just buys an Alliance membership, you would get free access to Defiance games. You just show your Alliance card or proof of membership or whatever, and you get in. For everyone else, you could get in just by giving a donation to the Rave Foundation.
And so there's not really a formal ticketing process for that. And from what I understood is that the Sounders originally thought that's just how they would do this game for the Timbers. And then there was some internal discussion. Maybe that's not the best idea. I don't think that would not have been a particularly good idea because you're going to have some number of Timbers fans coming up. You're going to have presumably a decent group of ECS folks.
And regardless of how many other people come, just the fact that there's going to be Portland folks and a decent ECS group, I think you're going to need some level of security. And not that it's going to go crazy, but you just want to have some controls in place. My understanding is that they are going to start selling tickets through Ticketmaster relatively soon. But I think my understanding is they've made that decision.
I hope this game gets treated like a big deal because it feels like it has potential to be a really fun matchup, especially for the Sounders, who... I would assume, are treating this like a house money game where if they lose to the Timbers, big deal. Their second team lost to the Timbers. But if they win...
Those are like permanent bragging rights. Absolutely. For the rest of their lives. And this is the Tacoma Defiance team that has the momentum, has some confidence. And I'll tell you right now that there is no more dangerous matchup. regardless of what it is, Arsenal, Manchester United, anytime that they play a smaller team, is that... They're going out with nothing to lose. A team that goes in there with nothing to lose is a dangerous team. The Rosario has been hot.
Georgie's been played with them last year. Peter Kingston seems to be like, he plays like a man. This is something that, hey. I'm curious what the Timbers will bring and how that will play out. But regardless of, I think your point is well taken. There's enough measures because you don't want to be reactive through the bad situation. You want to be proactive. It's better to be better prepared.
have more security than you need. And nothing happens. And nothing happens. That's no, nothing happens. It's all good and well. We wasted an extra couple of dollars. But if something happens and he's on you and you don't look like you were prepared or negligent, which is worse than man, that's just a bad look. So I you brought this up. I had honestly no idea. As always, you're so connected when it comes to this sort of situation. But as soon as you mentioned it, my mind went to that.
If things happen and there's negligence on the part of ultimately the sounders, because that's the organization. No, absolutely. It's the sounders. If something goes wrong, the sounders are going to have to own it. And to me, if for no other reason, even if you don't think that many fans are going to come. I just think it would be a big mistake not to be prepared just in case something did happen because
That's the world we live in. It's like you just never know what's going to happen. I don't think anyone expected the red card wedding to turn out the way that it did. And can you imagine if they didn't have all the security in place that they had in place? That could have been...
a real nightmare situation. And not that this has the potential to be the same thing, but there's always, anytime two rivals play, there's always potential for something to go off the rails. And I think, especially in a situation like this, It would just be silly to not be prepared. Or maybe even more, like you said, I mean, if let's say there is a lesser crowd that is...
here for Tacoma Defiance, and there's a huge crowd for the Timbers. Oh, that would be even worse in some ways. That could be even worse because it could honestly... motivate him even more to be more aggressive, to be more difficult. So again, none of us are saying that that's going to be something that's going to happen. But I really hope that...
As an organization, I'd prepare for it. Prepare for the worst, hope for the best. Absolutely, 110%. Well, I think that's probably a good place to call this a show. Nico, thanks again for doing this. I love doing these weekly check-ins with you. Where can people find your stuff? As always, Pulso Sports on YouTube, Pulso Sports on the social media in general. Thursdays with... Soccer down here on Thursdays with Nico, Thursdays 7.30 to 8.10, 8.15. Mondays, of course, on Lobby Scorchers.
Loving Scorchers kick off. We've had a lot of interaction. Great show for you guys to watch. And of course, every time here, I appreciate all the comments, everybody getting on. The only thing that I think I have on my notes that we might have missed is just Jackson Reagan has been doing some very light work, obviously still, you know, quite a few weeks away. Leo Burnley, hamstring.
I don't know why he's been so earned here so consistently. He has been dealing with one thing after another, it seems. Yeah, so he has a hamstring. He's been off. Not like he was going to be maybe a guy for the Sounders. But for Defiance. Defiance is definitely something to watch. And that's all I have. Yeah. All right. Well, that's good stuff. I am Jeremiah Chan signing off for Nos Adiates, which is part of the Center at Heart podcast network. We'll catch you next time.
I expect an LAFC who's 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. You guys like that? Awkward joke, dad joke right there.