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Welcome to another edition of Nos Adientes, brought to you by our good friends at Full Pull Wines and BodySpec, and of course, our wonderful subscribers. This is being recorded on April 15th, and Jeremiah is currently down Mexico way, so I'm your host for this week, Aaron Campo. And my co-host for the day, making his second consecutive appearance on the show, is my dear friend Mark Kastner. Mark, how are you this evening?
Good. I think you can call me like the sounder at heart version of Danny Muzofsky or something like that. Well, I think that shortchanges you, although, and we'll get into it. Maybe not. Maybe not anymore. I think you said it quite well in your story the day after the game. This was a very ordinary win, which is exactly what the Sounders needed. I thought the Sounders were pretty clearly the better team in this one, which you would expect given the talent differential.
But it was a fairly boring 1-0 road win in April. And I think it's exactly the kind of result that can prevent a tailspin like we saw at the start of last season. And we've seen at times in the past where... you know the sounders were maybe not playing nearly as poorly as the results would indicate but
That sort of snowballs into bad vibes, bad performances, and then it does become a problem. I think this was exactly the kind of performance that you would want to see to arrest that sort of thing. Danny Maslowski scored the lone goal. It was a real poacher's putback. off of Pedro de la Vega screamer off the post. I actually thought a really nice goal from, from Musovsky because that thing was moving pretty fast as it came back into play.
Uh, and then he almost, uh, had a, had a second, uh, with a golden ruled off side in the 59th minute. But I think after the first goal, the Sounders still looked the more likely team to score. FC Dallas just was not getting anything going through that midfield that we're having to go direct. And I think the Sounders are always going to be pretty comfortable in a situation like that.
After the offside goal was called back, it seemed like the Sounders were pretty content to just kind of sit back and see out the game. And I think for the first time, maybe this season. they did so quite comfortably. There just weren't a lot of minutes that I was super concerned. It didn't really ever seem to me like FC Dallas was. much of a threaded goal. The Sounders weren't much of a threaded goal after the hour mark either, but...
You don't have to be if you've got the lead and you're not worried about the opposition scoring. So very businesslike results. The kind that the Sounders, I think, kind of made a trademark for a lot of last season. And they've certainly had more entertaining performances this year, but it's really tough to argue with three points on the road. Yeah, I think that you know, like
It's the kind of wind you want to see when your team isn't playing well. Sure, it would be nice if all of a sudden, especially after the San Diego game, if they just kind of turned it on and played as well as they did against LAFC. The rest is history. But in a weird way, I feel more encouraged by a performance that...
Just like wasn't very good. Like it's nothing to write home about. Hopefully it's forgettable, you know, like, you know, hopefully we're at a point in the season in November and December this year where. We don't even remember that they beat Dallas on the road. It was just kind of like it happened. And I think that if you're trying to... start fresh, which the Sounders basically are because they crashed out of CONCACAF and league play has been pretty miserable so far.
It's kind of a perfect place to start. Just go get the job done. The game didn't go, I think. the way that anybody had planned kind of with kind of how choppy it was and stuff like that. And, you know, they were comfortably the better team and that's why they just weren't playing very well, which is great. Yeah, I think that you're going to have a lot of games like this in MLS on the road, especially this time of year, right? Where it's just not coming together. You're not...
But good teams win those games. I think that there's this misconception that a lot of people have about other good teams in MLS that they don't watch week in and week out. that, well, those teams always look great. They're always putting together really good performances. And it's just straight up not true. This is a tough league to play in. It's a tough league to play in on the road, especially.
Thank God, you know, if you can get Dallas away in April, I think that's a much better scenario than getting them in, you know, August for sure. But just we've seen, you know, many, many times the Sounders playing a team that's not super great on the road and putting in a subpar performance and getting a point when they should have gotten three or coming away with nothing.
And so I do think it speaks to... the professionalism of the team to be able to see out a game like this because they have looked shaky at times this year when under pressure defensively. And they just didn't they didn't have that to me. You know, it's like you said, it wasn't anything to write home about. They weren't playing anybody off the pitch, but they also did exactly what they needed to do. And I think, you know, at this point, I'll take that.
Yeah, it is funny. We keep saying it was nothing to write home about and I had to write about it. Right. Yeah. I'll go ahead. All right. One last point I want to make. It was a performance that kind of like this team finally looked like a Brian Spencer team. And I think like most of this year we were being kind of like.
Some changes have happened, maybe not enough roster turnover, yada, yada, yada, yada. But it just never really looked like it was brought... a smetzer team that we've we've come to know and like that dallas performance was like how many times have we seen that exact same thing over the last like decade basically
Yeah, I definitely think you've got to walk before you can run. And I know that the Sounders were, I think, really intent on being more entertaining this year and switching some things up tactically. And I don't think there's any reason to think that stuff can't still be in the cards. I mean, they looked fantastic against LAFC when they were at full strength, right?
There's no reason to think that this kind of game has to be the norm and that the Sounders just can't be good unless they're playing this kind of game. But I think they have to be able to play this kind of game successfully. And they haven't really been able to do that this year against, you know, MLS level competition. I think if you want to contrast this game with the Charlotte game at home, right, the season opener.
I think the Sounders were much more entertaining. They were much more threatening going forward. They just look completely disorganized in a way that's really... not what you would expect to see from a Brian Schmetzer's coach Sounders team. And it cost them, you know, a game that they definitely should have won. It cost them two points. I think that getting back to basics until you can get some stability in the side is a pretty good approach.
Yeah, especially because they just haven't looked good on the road this year, which- outside of, let's say, the second half against San Jose. But when you look at the game state of... that situation they were chasing the game and it took a really long time to equalize even though they were like basically beating the brakes off of them um you know that the salt lake game they might as well have not even shown up like that that was that bad um
The St. Louis City game comes after crashing out Mexico. So that's kind of a compound situation. And then obviously the San Diego FC game, which was just like... awful you know like completely shooting yourself in their own foot all that kind of thing and dallas you know i think a lot of kind of people in the center at heart discord and stuff like that, making the point that Dallas is just not very good.
And I agree. They might be the worst team we've played. Maybe, you know, like, I don't know where you really put that stuff in April, but. It's still a game you have to play, and Dallas made it super frustrating. They're a really physical team. There was 36,000 in this game, which was just... ridiculous amount of fouls. I'm not even going to have the conversation about the referee. It just was a physical game.
And that's just, it seems like how Dallas wants to play. I'm not really sure, but yeah, I just think like you, you play the, you play the 90 minutes that are in front of you. And I thought the Sounders did. extraordinarily well to see out that 90 minutes and not really be threatened. It's not like Dallas had three or four chances that they should have scored. They didn't have any, I don't think.
Yeah, I think, and this is a good point to segue into one of the things I did want to talk about. One of the bullet points I had to talk about for this game was, I did think the defense looked very solid in the sense that if Dallas was going to score, they were going to have to do something.
It wasn't a game where the Sounders were making the kind of defensive mistakes they've made earlier this year that have cost them. And Dallas just wasn't capable of doing anything against this Sounders defense that was really well organized.
And you could tell that they were probing and looking for those mistakes and trying to play pretty direct and trying to force guys into making mistakes, and they just didn't come. And I think that that's a really encouraging sign because if this defense can play up to... 90% even of the level that we've come to expect from them, I think the Sounders can win a lot of games like this, even if the offense isn't clicking.
So I thought that was really encouraging to see, especially because the Sounders have had some struggles with physical teams in the past. They have been straight up bullied at times in the past. I think the Cruz Azul away leg was a great example of the Sounders just not being up for a fight.
And they got played off the pitch. And so I think them being able to stand up to a team that wanted to play really physically and, you know, and hold their own in a situation like that and just not make those kind of uncharacteristic. I mean, I guess they haven't been uncharacteristic this season, right? That's been the problem. But historically uncharacteristic defensive mistakes, I thought was really, really encouraging.
Yeah, I agree. I think one of the things that I've been kind of skeptical about as the Sounders have... It's not really a new formation. It's not that much different to how they played last year, but there are, I would say, significant tweaks, especially in buildup and in their final third and whatnot. And one thing that I've felt that's been lacking all season, despite both players playing pretty well most of the year.
between Christian Roldan and Obed Vargas is the midfield has just been left chasing. And I thought that... Obed and Christian were phenomenal in this game. That's just like a partnership. And you can kind of really see how important that is for the defense to perform well, especially when Jackson Reagan goes off injured and Kim Kihee.
plays his first Sounders game in six years. So I think between Obed and Christian, they won 15 duels, which I don't know how it compares to the rest of the season, but it felt noticeably like... they were the ones bowling the midfield. Yeah, absolutely. In previous games, San Diego, Cruz Azul, St. Louis, it felt like they were getting bullied. That kind of, I think, gave them the platform for, A, the defense to perform really well, but then you win the ball.
in better positions when the team is trying to attack and you can kind of move the ball quicker that's easier for your attack to get going so um i think like the like if you want to call it the back seven of the team because stephan fry didn't really have to do anything um i think that they played really well uh and a couple of and a couple of players had to come into interesting positions you know kim kihi is
theoretically reliable we don't really know what we're getting from like a 35 year old kim kihi but in this match he came in and he was just so calm and dealt with everything i thought it was new who's best game of the season and i think You kind of saw like Paul Rothrock had to go play like eight different positions or something in this game. Right. And yeah, I just thought it was like a really, really solid, like, and if you're kind of, if you want to isolate, let's say that like.
central back five, the two midfielders and the three central defenders, I thought they performed really, really well as a unit. Yeah, I agree. I thought I was I wouldn't say I was nervous about Kim Kihee, but it's like you said, you don't you don't really know what to expect. I mean, he's been recently playing at a high level, so. I was optimistic, but to see him come in and not only play well, play really calmly, but just immediately jump into kind of taking a leadership role on the back line.
was super encouraging. And it's one of those things where the Sounders have a reputation for... making Seattle a place guys want to be. And so it's really nice to be able to call out a favor like that and just say, Hey, you had a good time. We could use another center back. If you don't mind being more of a rotational guy, we'd love to have you.
And I think this game is a great example of when that kind of thing really comes in handy. And I guess we do need to talk about the injuries. Danny Mussofsky had to come out. Looks like most likely a cramps situation, I think, is the consensus. Reed, Baker, Whiting, I think, same deal.
The one I think that's obviously the bigger concern is Jackson Reagan coming to come out at halftime. You know, Jackson has not been... quite as good as he was last year but i think he's still been very good i think he's still you know a clear starter on the team, one of the better defenders in the Western Conference. And so if he's out for any length of time, that's going to be a problem. And I haven't really heard any updates on his condition.
Hopefully it's not very long, but having a guy like Kim Kihee that can step in is a pretty good position to be in. I heard that Jonathan Bell was training off to the side today. So another, you know, another injury on the back line is certainly not good. But one of the nice things, I guess. if you want to take a glass half full look at it, about getting knocked out of the Champions League as the Sounders only have one game a week for the foreseeable future until League's Cup, right?
Hopefully those guys get a chance to get healthy and this doesn't turn into a full-blown injury crisis. Even though it's April playing in Dallas, you're still going to get guys cramping up. So hopefully nothing serious there. But I don't know if you've heard anything else or anything additional about injuries. I have not. And the Jackson Reagan thing really bothers me or worries me, I should say, if he's out long term.
He is so important to how the Sounders build up in possession from the back that if he, I think the handful of times he's been rotated or subbed out earlier this season. couldn't get the ball from the back to the front of the field. I think you saw in the second half against Dallas, the Sounders didn't have Reagan on the field, Albert Rusnak, or Pedro De La Vega, or Jordan Morris. And those are like, I would say probably the four most important players the Sounders need on the field to like.
move the ball in any like meaningful way and second half against Dallas I thought I thought they they did okay they did an okay job especially through Danny Leiva who I You know, we've been recording for 15, 16 minutes and we haven't mentioned his name yet, who I thought played really, really well.
But if Reagan has to miss any significant time, I'm really nervous. He could probably play better defensively this year. And I know there's been kind of like, let's say, two mistakes that have led to goals that were... like he was at the scene of the crime so to speak right um And he could probably admit that himself.
I just would be really, really nervous if he had to miss any sort of time because there's nobody else on the roster that has that sort of deep vision with the ball that he does. Not just in terms of picking out long passes, but like... If I get the ball here, he's going to get the ball there, and then we're kind of through the press and stuff like that. So I'm worried, to say the least. Jackson Regan has the ability to break lines. that MLS center backs just typically don't have, especially...
if they're as good at defending as he is. And Kim Kihee, I always thought, was a good passer that had pretty good vision, but he's not Jackson Reagan. He doesn't have that sort of ability to see the game a few steps ahead that Jackson has. I think that's clearly the biggest concern because I feel like you can put Kim Hee Hee in there. You can put even John Bell in there.
and feel pretty good about how things are going to go in your own end. It is how you're going to progress the ball, how you're going to build up that I think is the bigger miss. And, you know, I think if this is a hamstring injury similar to Jordan Morris's hamstring injury. It's not great. Obviously, you'd rather it just be a precautionary thing and he's out a game or two at most. But if he misses a month even, I think you can weather that storm.
I just really hope that's as severe as it is because I think any more severe than that, it can become a pretty big problem. Yeah, it should also be said that Stuart Hawkins has... It has been told to me the ability to play that way. I'm going to be completely honest. I know this probably makes terrible listening for a podcast. I've never really seen him play meaningful minutes. Um, cause I just, I don't really pay attention to the.
I would be in favor based on everything we've seen this season. We've seen John Bell play there. I never want to see John Bell and New Who on the same field, on the same team ever again. Just because I think you just are kind of like really hamstringing yourself in terms of like that deep buildup with those two players. Yeah. We're finally seeing the way that this is supposed to play, the tweaks and stuff to the formation.
It's starting to work a little bit. And so I would like to, I would like to see like, okay, can we get 70% of Jackson Reagan in Stuart Hawkins? Sure, he's a young kid, but you can kind of put some protections and stuff around him. I would so much rather have that than... Just a different play style. And I'm not sure. Maybe Kim Kihee can do 70% of Jackson Reagan. Yeah. But I'm not sure. I would be in favor of seeing somebody like Stuart Hawkins.
Or he's got to go somewhere else for the rest of the year, I think. And it's a tough situation to put a kid like that in to be like, all right, well, our guy who was arguably our most important player last year is hurt. So go out there and do that. Do that thing he does that pretty much nobody else in MLS is capable of doing. It's a big ask, but, you know, sometimes you got to sink or swim, I guess.
I do want to talk about a couple more positive things, move on from the injury stuff, because there's not much we can do about it. Let's talk about Pedro de la Vega. I thought he looked really good. I thought the Sounders looked much more dynamic with him. You could tell this is another thing you kind of touched on in your recap.
This is just his way of seeing the game and his way of pressing the issue was something the Sounders have been missing, I think, since he's been out. So it was really good to see him back. I thought Danny Leyva did do a great job in the second half playing a similar role. I would love to see more Danny Leyva always. But I think PDLV being if he can be at that level.
for the rest of the year. He's going to start looking like actually a pretty good signing after all. I think there's been a lot of skepticism, which I think some of which is valid, some of which is quite premature and unfair.
But if that's the player the Sounders have, I think he's going to prove to be a really critical player. So I think that was really good to see. And I'm glad that they were able to get him off at 45 and they can kind of work him back more slowly. But I'm curious what you thought. Yeah, I thought he was...
He was the reason why anything positive happened in an attacking sense in the first half. He was in the right pockets. He was making the right movements. Even when he wasn't getting the ball, he was... In a similar way that not, and I'm not saying in the same way or at the same level yet, but just drawing a similarity in the same way that Nico Ladero used to play.
let's say in like 2017, 2018, in that kind of just like free roll that he used to have. Like even if he wasn't getting the ball, the defense was gravity. Gravitating towards where his position was, and that was opening things up for other players. In particular, I thought that right triangle of Roldan, Kalani Renzi, and De La Vega.
was just so effective. I thought those three players have very complementary play styles. And in particular, on the play where... the goal ends up happening comes from winning a duel kind of deep, transitioning the ball forward pretty quickly up the left side of the field, coming across Pedro de la Vega, picking up a good pocket, and then... kind of creating his own shot, it's a low percentage shot. But the fact that... he can try something like that means...
You kind of shuffle the deck and reset everything after a shot like that, as we saw, because it goes off the post right to Danny's feet and he scores. So the Sounders have been really lacking a player that could do something like that. um, all season because he's been hurt. But, um, yeah, I thought that was great. I was really kind of pleased with his first half performance. I was really pleased that he came off and the sound is kind of solid out. I was exceptionally pleased with.
how Danny Lavo played. And then also like to kind of use the golf analogy, like. And Spencer was able to keep some clubs in his bag. Jordan Morris was expected to start this game, and he didn't. He didn't play at all. And I think that that just like one solidifies the confidence that the players that did play can do the job that the Sounders need them to do this season, but also too, it protected the health of. two or three players that didn't have to come on.
Yeah. Yeah. And that's, I mean, that's, I think everybody in the back of everybody's mind, everybody understands mind. except if this guy gets hurt or this guy gets hurt or this guy gets hurt, it all kind of falls apart. So I think as, as careful as they can be getting these guys back into game shape and also figuring out, okay, how do we. get by when this guy isn't around. The more time you have with PD-LV off the field...
You obviously don't want that ideally, but if you can get Danny Leiva some more minutes, you know, playing that sort of creative role and you have a better sense of who you are and what your identity is when... Pedro needs a day off or he has another setback or something like that. I think that's definitely a positive.
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So Danny Masovsky put the ball in the net twice. His first goal I thought was a great, great goal. Great poachers goal. Second goal that was rolled offside. I think it was the correct call, but I think he was very narrowly offside. And I think just another really nice finish. And all of a sudden, you look at his...
His year overall, he only has one goal in the league, obviously, but his per night, I mean, that puts him at like a per 90 rate of like 0.5 goals per 90. He had the goal against Cruz Azul. I think it's time people kind of lighten up on the guy a little bit. I don't know. I mean, I've been a Danny Mazovsky defender for a while, so I'm sure that there are people saying, well, of course you're going to say that.
But I think he's just I think he looked really good against Dallas. I think when he's played striker, even when he wasn't putting the ball in the net, he was generally doing all the other stuff pretty well. He's a pretty solid physical presence. His holdup play is pretty good. His movement is pretty good. I mean, one of the frustrations I've had with the Sounders this season, and you mentioned it with Pedro de la Vega.
and I've noticed it with Danny Mazovsky, is that when the attack isn't flowing the way they want it to, the off-ball movement is just non-existent. And so I really like that Danny can provide some of that. And obviously, I want Jordan Morris back and healthy and playing 90 minutes every week.
more than anything in the world. But I do think this idea that Danny Mazovsky is an irredeemable black hole that has got to be, you know, can't play anymore. We should just bring up De Rosario so he can play because these minutes are just going to waste. I really think we can kind of put that idea to bed at this point. Yeah, I really agree. I think one thing Jeremiah and I talked about last week was like
The experiment to play Ferreira at the nine just didn't really work. And it causes the attack to have to rethink and retool how it plays. What playing Danny does is it gets you towards that idea of like, we have like, we have like store brand Jordan Morris. He's not as good as Jordan Morris, but he can do a lot of the similar things so that the other 10 people on the field can do the same things that they've been practicing all preseason and in training and all that.
And I think it's great. I think that he played really well. I agree that kind of the criticisms of him. have been harsh or at the very least misplaced. I think he at least provides that, like I said, store brand version of Jordan Morris, 60% Jordan Morris. And you can get the same ideas that you want on the field and he will find himself in the same place. He's not as fast. He's not as strong. He's not.
He's maybe not as good of a finisher. However, he can do a lot of the similar things. And I think it gives you that same thing that we just talked about with De La Vega where... If he can find a rhythm as a substitute or a spot starter and stuff this year, you can choose to rest Jordan Morris in spots that you don't need him to play 90 minutes every game. And yeah, I thought like...
We're like three, four inches away from a brace. It's funny for me to say because I hate analyzing offside goals because they just don't count. However, that's one of those situations. And in MLS, they don't have semi-automated offside lines. So we're just left to kind of wonder. Not left to wonder, but you know what I mean.
Yeah. We're like, we're, we're just, we're just a split second away and that's a goal. So, um, yeah, I thought he played great. And I, and I think that that's just like a. really important thing that like he knows he can do that because there's going to be points in the rest of the season where he needs to be called upon something that like never came for a bear was like
He just was missing and missing and missing and missing. And the stats nerds, the deeply asthmatic stats nerds like myself were like, no, he's actually good because look at all the positions he's getting into. But he was never putting them in the net. Danny is, or he's scored twice this year already. So there's at least like, okay, this is something we can work with. Now, if he doesn't score for the rest of the year... That's something else. But I think where we're at now, it's really nice.
I think the biggest thing for me is that I definitely think that signing another striker for this team is a priority. something I would really like them to do in the secondary window. But I think if you think we have to get an upgrade on Danny Mazovsky... We just have to get more out of that backup forward spot, which I think is a totally valid thing to think, right?
you almost have to use that. You have to sign somebody who is like a veteran that you feel pretty confident you're going to get some contributions out of. I think if you feel okay with what you're getting from Danny Mazovsky as the primary backup striker, you can maybe take a bigger swing and a bigger risk on a U22 type player, right? Because the track record of those players, as I think we've talked about...
on every episode of the show so far this season is spotty, right? Sometimes those guys come in and set the world on fire much, much, much, much more often. They do absolutely nothing their first year. But those are the guys that are exciting. They have the potential. And so I would love to sign a U22 striker. I think that would be a great use of the mechanism, a great use of the resources. a really good way to maximize your potential future transfer return, all that good stuff.
use that signing on a player that you feel like you have to get an immediate contribution from. And so I think if you can get to a spot where you feel more comfortable with Danny Masavsky getting the lion's share of backup minutes at Stryker, that gives you a lot more options with what you can do in the summer. Yeah, I agree. I think, or in the next week, because we have until next Wednesday. That's true. I don't recommend anybody holding their breath. Yeah. I, yeah, I think that like.
Craig Weibel alluded to this when he did his media availability after the Ryan Kent signing. Hey, it is like extremely difficult to sign an under 22. from, let's say, South America that has... large upside because those players a don't grow on trees and b are usually going in like the double like like tens of millions of dollars so It's going to be, I think, tough to find that player. But I think if...
If these two strikers can work out until the summer, it gives them that opportunity to find a guy that they can be like... hey, here's the right price point. He's at the right point in his career and he's got the upside that we're looking for that maybe in two or three seasons can take over for Jordan Morris. Yeah, I do want to see them swing for the fences. I think the annoying thing about the Leo Chu signing was it was kind of a safe U-22 signing, and that just kind of sucked.
uh, all around. And I don't want to do enough. I don't want to do the Leo Chu striker electric bugalo thing. You know, I want to. I want to find a guy that is exciting. Maybe he sucks, you know, but that's okay. I think what you hope for with signing the U22 striker is you hope to sign John Duran, right? You hope to sign that kind of player who has promise but is too raw to really have a lot of buzz at top leagues.
And then you strike gold and you sell them for a huge payday. And then you get another huge payday with a sell-on fee. That's, I think, a great outcome. That's what you want because you want that mechanism to make you money. You also want to get a contribution from the guy. But ultimately, I think this is a... income generating mechanism. But you have to take a big risk to do that. And if you feel like we need this guy to contribute, you can't take that big risk.
I'm totally with you there. Well, I think that's a good place to call it. We are going to be back with some power rankings. You're listening to No Saw to Get This. Welcome back to Nos Audietes. Mark, let's do some power rankings. I think our topic for the week is...
why we think this thing is going to turn around. It's a nice little counterpoint to last week. Why are things going so bad? Now we've got a win under our belts. So let's talk about some reasons we're optimistic. And the first one, I think, is...
a pretty obvious one, but, um, uh, we've seen it work a lot before a good defense gets you really far in MLS. Yeah. And I think like, We've talked a lot about how the Sounders have made some really stupid mistakes this season, but at their core, they are a good defense. There's still maybe some question marks about potentially some players have kind of fallen off a cliff, but we don't know that yet. It's April. And I think that like last season.
everybody was kind of waiting for the sounders to kind of like break sort of like to use like kind of a horse racing analogy like come around the final turn and then just kind of like take off towards the finish line They never really did that, but they did get to the Western Conference Final at the same time. So it's kind of like, well... If they can be just a little bit better offensively this year and build on that really elite defense that they have...
hey, let's see where this thing goes. And yeah, things haven't really clicked in terms of the attack outside of like, let's say one game this year. But the defense has made some stupid mistakes, but if they eliminate those... They'll be a really good defense. A good defense takes you really far in MLS. That's how the Red Bulls got to the final.
They were a really good defensive team. They had a couple of lucky breaks here and there. I think with the Sounders, we're now five or six years into having one of the league's best defenses. I don't see that changing anytime soon. Yeah, I'm with you, man. I think that it can be kind of frustrating And it frustrates me as well. But the Sounders definitely have an approach of giving themselves the highest floor possible.
And a big part of that is making sure your defensive house is in order. And I think, you know, it's not maybe the most exciting approach in the world all the time. But I think it's hard to argue with the consistency and the results the Sounders have had over the years. And I do think, too, that if you know that that part of your game is going to be under control consistently year to year.
It gives you a lot more flexibility to experiment with things in the attack and maybe take some bigger swings on players from time to time. So yeah, I'm with you. I think that's a good reason for optimism. Next one up, the Western Conference is really shitty. It's hard to watch a lot of MOS now because of how...
Apple TV has kind of changed the schedule because when the Sounders are on, that's when pretty much the rest of the Western Conference is on. And I don't expect fans to be like, oh, I'm going to go rewatch five or six games from over the weekend. Look at the kind of standings of the Western Conference. Vancouver is in first and Minnesota United is in second. Personally.
And I said this last week, I think Vancouver might be the best team in the world. So they're really good. That's something to kind of like wrap your head around. Like the little brother is finally like taller than you type of thing. But like Minnesota United is not good. They are efficient at getting results, but that's not good. And then an expansion team is in third.
All of your kind of like heavy hitters in the Western Conference, LAFC, us, Seattle, the Galaxy, even kind of let's say the rung below that with like... Salt Lake and maybe you can throw FC Dallas into that category too. We're all having bad starts. And I am of the opinion that some of the bigger heavy hitters like. LAFC have deeper and more obvious flaws than the Sounders. LAFC do, I think, have two open DP spots for the summer, so that's something to keep in mind. Yeah.
They choked again in CONCACAF this past week. They are like... one crazy gareth bale goal away from just being that's the type of franchise they are so yeah yeah i i just don't and and they choked against us in the playoffs last year so I'm not entirely worried about the Western Conference that if the Sounders can kind of get their own house in order, they can put a run of games together and kind of by the end of the season, find themselves not only in kind of that home playoff.
hosting position but potentially like higher i i don't know i don't really know how the supporter shield stuff is like going to shake out this season. It's just really weird. Plus the Sounders do unfortunately have to deal with the Club World Cup. Those are literally games they have to play that other teams don't. I don't know. They're 10 points back right now in the Supporter Shield standing, so that's not an incredible amount of points in MLS. It's probably too much.
And they're just, Jeremiah and I kind of talked about this last week. They're not really the type of club to want or try to win the Supporter Shield. But I think they could find themselves in a situation where like... through league play, they find themselves qualified for CONCACAF again. That's for sure. I mean, I think Vancouver is for real. I think there's a lot of skepticism about that.
But I talk sports with a decent number of Whitecaps supporters who have been Whitecaps supporters for as long as the team has been in MLS. And they've had these hot starts before, and they have all to a person said, this is a different team. This is fundamentally different soccer that they're playing.
they have a legit shot at winning the shield, which you know what? I'm happy for him, man. They've put up with a lot of shit over the years. So Godspeed to the caps. And I don't think we're catching them, but I don't, I don't think a top three finishes anywhere near out of the question. I think this team is good. You know, they do this at the beginning of the season. I wish they didn't do it, but they, you know, they do. And it's just kind of our lot in life.
So, yeah, I do think I do think LFC has some real problems. The Galaxy are dead and not coming back anytime soon. RSL is, I think, you know, it's funny to say this about teams that are ahead of the sounders in the table, but I just like... I can explain why the Sounders have struggled in ways that, and we're doing it right now, right, that give me optimism that they'll be able to turn it around in ways that I can't really do that for LAFC or something.
Next one up, Pedro De La Vega seems like the one.
Yeah, I mean, I think we spent the last segment talking about... how well he played in a game that in general the sounders didn't play very well in but i think he's quietly putting together like an early season resume of being like an extremely good signing and yeah the the question obviously is the injuries and you just have to see what time does with that because you don't just like figure that out right away but you can really you see his quality like he struggled last season for sure um
Not just with injuries, but I think in terms of play. This season, completely different. I think if the Sounders signed him in January and this is a new player we got, and I'm not going to do a new signing thing. But he is he is an extremely good soccer player and he is. He is the thing that this whole thing was missing last season. And there are some better players around him in addition to that. So I think that...
There are blessings in kind of getting knocked out of CONCACAF. There are blessings in not having the Open Cup later in the season. I don't know what this Leagues Cup thing is, but I'm just going to pretend it doesn't. exist because that's what I've done with Weeks Cup the entire time.
It's the right call, I think. And then you kind of set aside Club World Cup and you're in this kind of cadence where the Sounders are playing once a week, once a week, once a week, maybe a few midweek games here and there where they need to rotate. And I think... He can find a rhythm and he can kind of be a... like let's say 15 to 20 little competition type player for the rest of the season. In addition to Russ Neck already being that and Jordan Morris already being that. Yeah.
I think when I think of what the, you know, what the best version of Pedro de la Vega looks like, and you kind of alluded to this in the last segment, it is Nico Ladero. without the stuff that made Nico Deladero kind of a pain in the ass sometimes, right? Especially towards the end of Nico's run where they do a lot of things similarly.
They're very high energy players. They move off the ball. They thrive in kind of a freer role. But Nico demanded the ball in a way that Pedro doesn't seem to demand the ball. And when Nico was... feeling it that wasn't really a huge problem but when he wasn't or when the sounders didn't have him it was a big problem because the entire thing just kind of became we'll just give the ball to Nico and let him figure it out. And I just don't get the sense that Pedro is that kind of player.
But he has that same level of energy. He likes to run. He likes to move off the ball. And he just likes to cause problems. And I don't think they're necessarily similar players. like Pedro is more of a dribbler than Nico was. Um, he's less faster too. He's faster. I think he's less of a, Nico was really, I think, more of a creator than Pedro than Pedro was.
I think Pedro wants to create chances for himself, which is not a criticism. I love a guy that will take somebody on and try to make something happen. So I'm not saying that they are identical types of players, but I think in terms of the impact they can have, that's kind of what I look at as the best potential outcome for Pedro. Best plausible potential outcome.
Two more. The next one, for me, I think is the one that gives me the most optimism, although maybe it's not the most important. Brian Schmetzer tends to figure it out. Yeah, I think he just does this kind of thing. And I don't know. It's certainly not by design. I think he's not an insane person. He's not giving the rest of the league a head start type of thing. I like until he doesn't do this and.
That probably comes when he finally retires, whenever that is. This is just, I think, going to kind of be how things go. Totally okay with it. I've made my piece a long time ago. I've accepted that like a game in April, an MLS game in April or March. like fundamentally doesn't matter in the same way as it does in September or. Yeah, September, let's say. So I'm kind of okay if he's taking risks to kind of figure out what he needs to do with the roster so that when the games do actually matter.
They matter, you know, and they're on the winning side of that because that's typically what tends to happen. That is not a criticism of the Sounders. That is not a criticism of the coaching staff. The league has done this on purpose. Like MLS has decided they are. a league that crowns its champion via playoffs. And when you do that, you inherently devalue early season games. It's just how it works. And until that changes, which it never will.
This is what's going to happen. And especially when they start putting funny business in the middle of the season, like the thing that I just said I'm going to ignore in Weeks Cup. Yeah. Games until September don't really matter. Sure. Like I would love for the Sounders to win another supporter shield. But that's more luck of the draw and just being around for it to matter.
I'm sure being a Columbus Crew supporter right now in the last few years has been fun and interesting. Same with FC Cincinnati. Those are teams built to win the supporter shield, and they come up short. in the playoffs. Right. And maybe Miami is going to be different because, well, they won the Supporter Shield last year and lost in the playoffs. And they have quite literally the best player to ever play the game ever. So until that changes, I'm fine with.
Spencer's taking the first two months of the season, feeling out his roster, feeling out his best selection, getting some bad beats here and there. Just being fine at the end of the season. Find the good. Right. And I'm definitely sympathetic to the position that. I pay for season tickets or I pay for... Apple TV Plus or whatever it is. I guess you don't have to pay for Apple TV Plus, but I pay for the MLS package.
And it sucks to feel like half the season is a waste. And so I think that's a fair criticism, right? I think I am tired of feeling like the season doesn't start until half of the games I've paid for have already come and gone. But I do think there's a distinction between that and the team has to prioritize the supporter shield. And I know a lot of people say...
well, you know, the most fun season in Sounders history is 2014. I don't personally agree with that, but it's a personal subjective thing. So I think that's totally valid. I don't think it was winning the shield necessarily that made that such a fun season. Obafemi Martin's on the same team.
And winning a double and also winning the first league trophy the team had ever won. And you just can't recreate that. That season also happened to be the most heartbreaking because of the Galaxy knocking the Sounders out of the playoffs. one of the most insane goals you'll see in MLS. Yeah.
It's six of one, you know? Yeah, it is. It is. Yeah. Last one. And I think that even though the Brian Schmetzer figuring it out thing is I think the one that makes me most optimistic that the Sounders will ultimately be fine. I think this is the most important, and it's getting healthier. Yeah, I think the Sounders just had a really gritty win against FC Dallas in a match that Pedro De La Vega only played one half of. And Albert Rusnak and...
Jordan Morris didn't play at all for different reasons. It's just that kind of thing where if the Sounders can have a healthier roster than not, they're going to perform really well because the way that this particular roster is constructed is to, like you said... have that very high floor. That's not the sexiest thing in the world. I understand the criticisms and the annoyance that comes with that.
The players already on the roster are getting healthier. Ryan Kent is an addition to this team as kind of a wild card. And I just think that like it. I'm going to say something that kind of contradicts something I said last week, and I will wear my contradictions on my sleeve. But this is the benefit of having... keeping the band together for another season where it's like, these guys are going to get healthier. They're going to be able to like gel quicker.
be able to do the thing hopefully um that that's the reason why you do this kind of roster construction instead of blowing it up and signing seven new players so um it's it's one win i understand that i'm I get the kind of like, literally one week ago, Jeremiah and I were kind of... doomsdayers a little bit but it like that's how quickly things in mls can change it really it really is like vancouver could lose their next two games and
That could just be it. You know what I mean? So that's how quickly things can change. Yeah, I mean, the Sounders win their next two, Vancouver loses their next two, and the Sounders are four points behind them. You know, it can change that quickly. And yeah, I definitely think that... You got to knock on wood whenever you're talking about health, right? Apparently Jordan was training off to the side again today.
Doesn't sound like too much of a cause for concern, but it's always a fragile balance with any of this stuff. But eventually guys are going to get healthy and back to full strength. And, you know, I think that the next the next. Let's call it six weeks of games are going to be... Pretty critical, I think, to determining what kind of season this is going to be, you know, really through the Portland game.
There's some winnable games here, and the Sounders just have to go out and win them. They've got Nashville at home this Saturday. That's a game I think that they... should feel like it's not a must win, but they should feel like they've got to win that game, if that makes sense, if you understand the distinction.
Yeah, what's the major league streak? If you win two, that's a start. And then you win three, that's a winning streak. It'd be nice to go on a little bit of a streak here. So let's hope they can do that. Yeah, and I think that way. You don't need a lot of points in MLS. The record amount of points is whatever Miami did last year, and that was low 70s.
apply that to any of the major European leagues, that's a team that's qualifying for Europa League in most leagues. For instance, the Premier League, which is a very silly comparison. It's just not a lot of points. So you find yourself in this situation as a fan where it's like... The Sounders got to win their next six games. They just got to do it. And that's just not true. It wasn't true last season and they almost got to the final. So it's like...
Maybe it's not necessarily true, but it's definitely true for the vibes. And I'm somebody that thinks the vibes are incredibly important. That's what sports are for. This is supposed to be fun. And if it's not fun, go do something. Yep. And so the Sounders are in a situation where they have three extremely winnable games in their next three. Yep. Winning two of them is good.
Like even if the third one is a loss and then you get into a stretch of three games where it's kind of a nightmare because they're all on the road and you just kind of see what you get out of those. One is on the road to Portland, though, so that's a guarantee. That's true. To underscore your point, Miami last season had 74 points from 34 games, the standard for MLS. This season in Ligue 1, PSG has 74 points from 20.
And they're like one of the best teams in the world. Like they're really, really good. Yes. Unfortunately they are markets. I think we both know all too well. I think that's a good place to call it. Mark, thank you so much. It's always a pleasure when you're able to join us.
Thanks for listening. Thanks for subscribing if you are a subscriber. Thanks for listening, even if you're not a subscriber. And of course, thank you to Fulpa Wines, our dear friends, Fulpa Wines, and our newest sponsor, BodySpec. This has been Nos Audietes. Jeremiah should be back next week, so you won't have to put up with as much as me, but thanks for listening. I am Aaron Campo, and we'll talk to you later. 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.