More Leagues Cup suspensions are likely on way

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Welcome back to another episode of Nos Adiates on the Sounder at Heart podcast network. It's Friday. I'm Jeremiah Shan. As always, I am joined by Nico Moreno, my good buddy from Pulso Sports. lobbing scorchers soccer down here and of course sounder at heart welcome nico kind of crazy having this time off it really is i've been uh i probably should be way more productive with

this five days that Brian gave us off. But maybe I haven't, but it's been nice to just maybe do other things. I've been able to kind of... Wind down from, you know, all of the hecticness had my son down here for the weekend, which was nice. Obviously came to watch the game. So it's all kind of simmering down now and I'm trying to prepare myself for the.

last bit of MLS play and then playoffs, of course. Yeah. It's been, it's been kind of a nice respite in some ways that we have, I have been busy. I've been pumping out. content and getting stuff edited and whatnot, but not, it's just like, there's less pressure when you don't have to go to training every day and you don't have to, like, I actually am able to let driving. That's for sure.

uh and kind of nice because the kids started school this week and and then my wife got covid so my wife is uh i mean whatever it's it's the way it is the world now you know so she's So I was getting the kids out of the house solo today, but that's, that's sometimes just how it goes. Sometimes you gotta just next man up, right? Exactly. Next man up. Exactly. Exactly. That's exactly right. So.

We are recording on, like I said, Friday afternoon, literally minutes after the League's Cup issued suspensions for the incident, the post-game incident. Three Miami players get suspended. One Sounders staffer gets suspended. I'll run it down for you. Luis Suarez gets six games. Tommy Savalas gets three games. Sergio Busquets gets three or two games. And Steven Lenhart, who I think a lot of people are still learning that Steven Lenhart, we have talked about him.

At various times, maybe not extensively, but Stephen Lenhart. Yes, that Stephen Lenhart. Yeah, that Stephen Lenhart is. As far as I know, an employee of the Sounders, he's at training almost every day. He works with the teams. He's not technically the team psychiatrist because he is not a licensed psychiatrist, but he does work with the psychology aspect.

of the team and the players seem to love him. And you can kind of see partly why, because in the post game, he was not afraid. Like there's not a lot of team psychology psychiatrists who are team psychologists, maybe. That's me. That's right. Yeah. I've been, I've been heard of him referred to as the mental health coach. Don't know how, you know, but, but that's what I've been, that's what I've heard from.

players and stuff yeah that makes sense he has a background in in t in in sports psychology Like I said, I don't think he does not have a medical degree. So you have to be kind of careful with what you actually call him. But yes, mental health coach is a great title. I hope that's actually his coach because I like that. But not a lot of mental health coaches you would see getting in the middle of a...

of a full blown brawl and throwing people around and maybe even throwing a punch or two. But, uh, I think that's sort of part of why players love him. I think, cause he's not, he's still like, He's still like one of the guys in some ways. Yeah, 100%, especially when the situation finds you. You didn't find the situation. I mean, they were kind of placed there. And initially, I think he's trying to remove people, but.

Things escalated very quickly. And once you're involved in it, well, I guess you just got to respond. But yes, he's definitely a guy that is a, not just player, but. like an organization fave around the facility. Yeah. And so he gets the brunt of the suspension from the League's Cup. I don't, I mean, honestly, that's...

Effectively, there's a fine that I'm sure won't feel great, but suspending the mental health coach for five games from League's Cup is like... very much a optics kind of thing it doesn't really have a big impact on anything but what's the the shoe that has not yet dropped and this is what people really care about is

What's going to happen in league play? Because the reality is that there's a chance that Luis Suarez will never have a chance to serve the six game suspension that Sergio Busquets will never have a chance to serve his two game suspension. And what people want to know.

is, is there going to be sanctions in league play? Because this is stuff that that's where this is really going to, the rubber is going to really hit the road. If the league is going to take a position and I have, I think I'll let you say what you've been able to report out, but I have confirmed.

that the league office is not taking the position that they lack jurisdiction, meaning the league recognizes that they have the ability to... make punishments and that could be fines that could be suspensions that could be some other creative punishment but they They understand that the CBA, they're not hiding behind the idea that this is the league's cup and we don't, we, our hands are tied. We can't do anything. So I sort of reading between the lines to me, it looks like.

This was the first shoe. And now the players can appeal any league punishment. They have probably by a suspicion is they have already been informed of what's going to happen. They are going to appeal that. Maybe that gets changed. Maybe it doesn't. But I would be, I feel very safe in saying that I would be shocked, totally shocked if...

Suarez plays against the Sounders on September 16th, which would mean that he's going to get at least a two-game ban. I would think Busquets and Aviles will also get suspended. I don't know how much the book will be thrown at them. But Suarez is clearly the sort of alpha villain in this whole situation.

him spitting on Gene Ramirez is gotten the most attention. It is the most cowardly and despicable thing, frankly, that happened in all those. I can live with, honestly, I can live with Sergio Busquets throwing a sucker punch. That's that's. That's weak, but like, whatever, like these are grown men. And if they want to handle their, their problems, like children, I guess that's one thing. But what, to me, what Luis Suarez did is sort of like more beyond the pale.

of this is just disrespectful, human to human type stuff. The league cannot just condone that and they can't just look the other way. But what are you hearing? I've said enough. No, what I've, I reached out to. sources within the Leaks Cup organization. And I've talked to more than one person. I've talked to a couple of sources within MLS and from Leaks Cup. organization or the body of Leagues Cup, what I was told is that to their knowledge, there is nothing that restrains MLS from

bypassing or multi-league suspension. I forget the word that they use, but it's basically carried it over. between what happened in League's Cup to MLS. I've also was told by another source that this would be particularly true if Inter-Miami decides to... set an internal disciplinary action toward mainly Luis Suarez because of the vile and unsportsmanlike. action that he had against Jim Ramirez. Anytime that you set a statement saying this player's actions.

do not condone with our view of the sport or our view of our club. The same, honestly, copy and paste sort of statement that you hear from clubs. They mean nothing if there is no backing from a disciplinary action from that club. So that would be the easiest way for. something to uphold within MLS because once you discipline the player internally, MLS would obviously abide by it.

it would make it much more straightforward. But from the league, I've heard that there's still some investigating to do it. Now, this was a day ago or so. So, I mean, I'm a little bit behind in terms of who I talked to in the league, but. showing precedent that there have been other actions and moments where players have been suspended in multiple leagues, tournaments, and MLS.

I would be shocked if that wasn't the decision from MLS. I would be disappointed in inner Miami by not adding to that very vague. statement that they put out already by using some sort of, you know, disciplinary penalties upon, if not just Luis Suarez, I would also add Sergio Busquets in that simply because he's the one that engaged. Ovid Vargas, just plain and simple and uses a close fist.

and hits him in the chin. There was a lot of slapping around, which I'm not condoning either, obviously from Toto and Cello. But I think that the two real big ones for me are Sergio and Luis Suarez.

Right. Yeah. I was a little surprised though, that Maxi Falcone was not part of the. Oh, you're right. A part of these initial suspension. He was pretty involved in, you know, in a lot of this wine. Gant is another player who seemed to be pretty involved. I don't, you know, I don't want to get into a tit for tat here, I suppose on the sounder side.

if they really wanted to go after Sounders players to sort of even this out, for lack of a better term, they could potentially go after Jackson Reagan or Cody Baker and even John Bell. I tend to see... Like, I think any reasonable person sees what happens here and understands that the Sounders were...

retaliating like they were defend or even defending themselves. Oftentimes that this was not something that was initiated by the Sounders that this is almost entirely the, the Miami players being the aggressors and being the instigators. and the ones who seem to be really itching for a fight. Like I don't quite understand the thought process behind what the Miami players are hoping to accomplish by, okay, you want to, you want to.

smack talk and you want to talk your trash and you want to sort of bring the, these guys, these kids down or whatever you want to do. Okay, fine. But I don't, I really like watching it all. I don't understand how it. it raises to the level of punches being thrown and people spitting and all this kind of stuff that feels very just like unbecoming.

uh for lack of a better term these are old pros you know this is these are people who have been there and done that and it you know this has been discussed a fair amount but i i suppose the idea that This was beneath Miami in terms of this competition or this league. All that sort of goes out the window because clearly these guys are invested and they care. Yeah, what I would add to that, that maybe hasn't been said enough.

is that if you, if I was defending the Sounders, if let's say I was pleading a case, I would say that The actions by sounder players are that of any security guard or anyone that has been trained to remove or detain somebody from. escalating further action. So the Sounders weren't necessarily engaging in a fistfight. They were pulling. players off of others. They were, you know, I saw Stephen Fry, I was holding people down. There's a difference between.

retaliation physically in terms of punches back and forth and just trying to defend yourself, trying to defend somebody else, but by removing him from them, right? You saw Yeyemar Gomez Andrade going around with his big paws, trying to move people around. That is very different than them just going back and forth. I said this on on the lines show. If the sounder players had engaged into a fistfight, which by all.

you know, means would have been very easy to do because you could say you're befitting yourself. I've been a punch. I need to punch back. I think it would have escalated a lot more than it did. It would have been up to a potential of a malice at the palace sort of situation where if there's that sort of fist fighting and kicks and things of the nature.

maybe the fans get involved. Maybe people are jumping the stands. I mean, it could have escalated to proportions that I cannot imagine. So regardless of how it is portrayed, I... have been very vocal about giving the sounder players a lot of credit for being mature about how they approach that brawl rather than allowing.

your hood to come out or your manliness or all this. And you're fist fighting somebody because I guarantee you that it would have been a lot worse than it really was. I totally agree with you. And I think that that's one thing that maybe the Sounders haven't.

generally gotten enough credit for in this whole situation is their self-control and again you know this idea i think it's funny uh not to like bring it bring it here but it is sort of funny because one of the things that we've been talking about for the last few months is how is there a self-control problem with the sounders because of all these red cards and and whatnot

And I really think that this is an illustration of how that isn't what's going on here. Like this is not an issue where players can't control themselves. It's mostly a situation of weird circumstances that have led to, you know. a bunch of red cards that are sort of isolated incidents. And I think that if you had a team full of hotheads who are just looking to you know, who were ready to pop off at the first sign of, of, of distress that this would have been, you would have seen it.

Here, you know, you would have seen them losing their mind and you would have seen guys just going crazy. And that's not at all what happened. In fact, you saw a lot of, like you said, you saw a lot of self-control. You saw a lot of maturity. You saw a lot of players who were trying to deescalate the situation. And honestly, one of the things that's remarkable about this is how few both Miami players and coaches.

We're not doing almost anything to deescalate this situation. And it is sort of straight. It does look like a inmates running the asylum type of situation where, you know, Busquets and Messi and Suarez sort of.

play by their own rules and they kind of get to dictate how things go. And the coaches and staff are sort of just along for the ride. Maybe they implement some... control over some of the other guys although the way it looked like there were players who didn't even get into the game who wanted action on this so i don't it to me strikes me as a completely out of control situation that

maybe brings up some bigger issues about about entitlement and about allowing certain personalities to just sort of like run a team because right now that's sort of what this looks like.

And that's exactly why I really do think that if not MLS as the entity, you know, inner Miami in some sort of way. should uphold some of these sanctions, some of these infractions. I think that it's very easy for Inter-Miami or MLS to suspend Luis Suarez for the rest of the regular season. It's not like those knees couldn't take a break anyways. So, you know, I mean, it could be very simple for you to really make people believe that you are not condoning that sort of behavior because.

Luis Suarez has the rap sheet of a hoodlum from spitting on people, biting multiple people, which that alone should like really make you raise your eyebrows. Racial slurs. A lot of racial slurs, some that have been found out, some that have not. So he's been suspended by. Doesn't mean that he hasn't been involved in others. you and bulger actions to to fans so this is a guy who that's what that's who he is that that is luis suarez he's a disgusting human being he's a great player but

He is an awful human being. And we all know that as... A club that is signing a player, you know what he comes with. You know who he is, man. So if you really want to say we don't condone it, that is not who we are as an organization, then have the pants to. suspend the player and discipline and let him know, uh-uh, not in this house. No, you don't. But I'd be very disappointed.

If that's not the case, would I be surprised? Not necessarily, because you don't want to ruffle the feathers of one Lionel Messi. But it really is a thing of whether you mean what you say and say what you mean.

Yeah. And it's too, you know, it is funny that the Sounders sort of seem to have dodged a bullet a little when they, you know, it was pretty well reported that the Sounders at least. made some effort to sign Luis Suarez a couple of few years ago. And, and it's, you know, like luck, I honestly lucky that that's, that it didn't happen. And I don't know how much effort they really put into it. It may have been sort of a cursory effort.

Garth Logoway maybe makes a phone call and says, hey, Nico would really like you to play here. But it didn't happen. So thank God, really. But I don't know what to expect at this point. My inkling is to think that we won't hear anything until Monday, although I suppose it's possible that the league could issue something. tonight or even tomorrow. I don't know when like they, the, the players have 48 hours to respond in it, in an appeal.

to the league. If the league, my suspicion is the league has already informed Suarez and the, and Miami about what they're intending to do. And now they have to let the appeal process play out. And honestly, I don't blame that. I don't blame the league for not announcing anything before the appeals process is played out because you want the appeals process to have the air of legitimacy. And the only way it looks legitimate is if you haven't already sort of announced the.

punishment before the appeals process plays through. That's just a matter of legality, I think. So I don't at this point, I feel very, I feel a lot better about where things stand than I did yesterday.

where there did seem to be some question as to what might happen here, especially you hear enough people repeated enough times that, well, this happened in leagues cup. So MLS doesn't really have jurisdiction. You start to wonder and. Like I read the CBA, the CBA to me reads very clear that the commissioner, not the disciplinary committee. Let's be clear. This is the league office. This is outside of the disciplinary committee purview.

but it is not outside of the purview of, you know, this is something that is sort of considered extra beyond the normal run of play. Like the Danny Masofsky thing where he... Let's be real. He lightly bumps the referee. It's wrong. He deserves the suspension he gets, but he doesn't do something that's beyond the pale of what you expect to see in a soccer game. And I think what separates this is this is not.

normal soccer stuff. This is something else. This is something bigger. This is something that does frankly harm the the integrity of the league. It harms the image of the league. And the commissioner and the league office have an absolute duty to not make it look like that a player like Luis Suarez is sort of just... above it all and can do whatever he wants. And actually the fact that Luis Suarez has put...

a bigger light on the whole thing because he's such a global star. He's such a controversial star. And that's exactly why, you know, I love Brian's message. I love what he said, that he didn't want this to be the story. But in Spanish or Latin America, we always say that you cannot cover the sun with one hand. The story was so much brighter. It was so much bigger than anything that could have done that it's sad. It really is sad because I've seen more coverage in 2DN, ESPN Deportes, Fox, ESPN.

about the fact that Luis Suarez has this rap sheet of incidents as an awful human being and the fact that he's being allowed to... carry himself like that in the world of soccer. And, you know, the Sergio Busquez apparently has had other sort of incidents as well. So that's been the story. And it is sad that it kind of overshadows what really happened here. the Sounders, but I will feel better if all the coverage leads to Luis Suarez being hit both financially and with some suspensions. Yeah.

Yeah, I would agree with you there. So the other sort of controversy that has been simmering is what Leo Messi may have said to Sounders, we... Alan Gordon on the MLS Journeyman podcast basically broke the news that Messi told Pedro de la Vega, basically, you're never going to play for the... national team, as long as I'm there and whether or not, and I think the, to me, I don't really doubt that messy said that or comparably other really bad stuff.

I think the real question is, is this normal banter or is this something where he actually is doing what he said he's doing? I'm skeptical. that Messi cares enough about Pedro de la Vega to actually use his power to keep Pedro from getting onto the national team. So there's a couple of points here. Okay. First of all, I,

Obviously, there's some digging around. I haven't yet even posted it on X or any of my social media because I don't really know how much it really does. Right. I don't know how big it really is because I think it's normal that. me asking those close to Pedro de la Vega circle and, you know, doing some digging around that the reaction is no, Messi didn't say that. Right. Messi.

would never say that to me, that it's not here nor there. Pedro does not want to be involved in this. Pedro doesn't want to be involved in this. Understandably. But I'm going to take people out there word, right? So I'm going to say that. All the sourcing that I've done has led to not confirming that that has already been said, that that you mentioned. What I would say is that I could speculate that.

Pedro did say that there was a lot of things said with Messi, but those are things that stay on the field. He said that right after the game, right? Oh, that's just things that happen in the field and you say things that you don't mean, right? So... Was it said in a moment of heat and frustration by Messi? That's very possible. I mean, if I'm the GOAT and I know that I can say, Jeremiah, if you continue to challenge me on things that I say.

you will never, ever get on a podcast in your life again. I'm going to finish your career today. You know, you're going to be like, oh shit, maybe I got to just chill out, right? So it is something that someone could say to simmer someone down who's been a pain in my ass. ass the whole game, someone that was very influential throughout the game, just to get him off that game, get him off his mental state.

Right. So even afterwards, even after it's all done, right, you're still upset that you just lost, that you just got three zero and you're going to use your status to just put you down. Right. So. I haven't been able to confirm it. However, I would not be surprised if it did get said, even if it was just to say it. But what I would add there at the end to just conclude this.

The likelihood of Pedro La Vega playing for Argentina is very slim. I know he's a young player, but in Argentina, things are different. And if you're not playing for... Manchester United or Manchester City, it is very rare that a guy like Thiago Almada... gets called because he's in Atlanta United. So it's happened before, but Tiago Amara had this profile, this sort of

light about him being this prospect that was going to be huge. One that maybe Pedro doesn't have or that he doesn't have in terms of main Argentinian fan base and media. So the light, it was very, very small. And that's why it'd be kind of odd. For, you know, that to be a thing of importance, not to mention the fact that, as you said, how much does Messi really care about Pedro La Vega being part of not being part of the national team? I just I don't know how much weight that would have.

Yeah, and I guess the other thing, at least from me, correct me if I'm wrong, but at the very least, it sounds like Pedro de la Vega's camp is at the very least taking the position that they don't actually think. that Messi is actively trying to get him kept from the Argentinian national team. Like whatever he said on the field, whatever he said after the game, it's...

It's banter. It's what it is. And he, they don't think that there is a, a shadow network working against them to keep them from the national team. And if, and if, and presumably. If Pedro is not going to, is not on the verge of being called into the Argentina national team based off of what he's done the last couple of months. But if he plays the way that he's been playing the last couple of months, he's probably going to end up getting.

sold to a European team. And if he continues to play the way that he is, he's going to get back into the national team. Now, right. I suspect that's, he knows that he, these are things that like Pedro is a smart guy. He is a, he's not a child who. is easily hurt. So I guess what my take on this is messy, I guess maybe does his research. He knows about his opponents.

He uses that. He may use that in trash talk, but like, it's also trash talk. Like I asked, I also was trying to like, just dig around a little bit to ask some former players, like what's the worst thing anyone's ever said to you? And most of them were like, I don't.

really remember because it's not something that i think about that often like it's it's not a thing that stays with me that long and i I will say the one surprising thing from this is that Alan Gordon, a former player, was the person who broke this story because you would think he would have been like...

And I don't know how. I don't know how he, I tried when I first heard it, I tried to figure out how or who he knew, which I'm guessing it could have been something that someone heard Messi say, but I just didn't know how he fit in the equation.

I mean, I really don't know. I mean, I don't know how many ties he has to the Sounders. I don't know how many ties he has to Pedro. That sounds even more... far-fetched again i'm not saying that that it didn't happen i'm just saying that at first i thought i was like where where is he getting it from but you're right there is a code there's a code I mean, it's not just the players don't remember, but there's also codes of players not saying things that happened on the field, right?

I can tell you that, you know, there's been times where obviously away from the mics and in a completely different setting, players do talk about that sort of thing. And, you know, you'd be surprised what's said or what's done. You know, in South America, there's things like, you know, you grab someone's like generals and, you know, there's all kinds of stuff that you do within the game that you don't necessarily talk about later, unless it becomes a situation like.

I didn't see Don headbutting somebody in the chest because of what was said, then all of a sudden you kind of have to open that kind of worms. But if it's just like this, you're not going to see a player. take that seriously or bring it out. And if it does, it usually doesn't tend to fit well for the player exposed in that sort of conversation.

Yeah, no, I would agree with you there. And I think it makes sense to me if you're Pedro de la Vega, you don't want your name associated with this. You don't want to be involved in this. If people want to get on Messi... keep me out of it i don't want to be the person who is the snitch for lack of a better term yes yes i i so i i can definitely appreciate how

messy or how Pedro wants to distance himself from this whole story. To be entirely fair to the sourcing on this, I personally have no doubt that this probably happened. I just don't know if it's that big of a deal. And I don't know if, if page, like I can, I can appreciate how Pedro just doesn't, doesn't want to be involved because it's not, it's he, he probably is not worried about it. What he is worried about is looking like.

looking bad as a result of it, I think. And that is fair. And I, and I, I hope he does not, this is not end up being something that's attached to him because that would be unfair to him. Yeah, 100%. I mean, you don't want to be the guy that said that Messi told you that you were going to be blacklisted from the national team and victimize yourself. And I mean, that's just all that.

in all terms both there's no upside professional level no upside zero upside zero yeah absolutely so uh anyway moving into other stuff going on this week it's it is kind of a An interesting little respite here that we have. We have a bunch of guys that get called into the national league. Christian Roldan was a late addition to the U.S. national team. And I will say that might be one of the cooler...

developments to come out of leagues cup. Cause I think that was probably tied to this, that hit the way he helped shut messy down in that game, the way that he played throughout leagues cup and really going all the way back to the club world cup where he was very much. a key component of limiting PSG, Botafogo and Atletico Madrid. I'm really looking forward to seeing, hopefully seeing him get on the field for the national team and playing in a position where he is set up to succeed.

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I'm excited because despite all of the negative press and criticism that Pochettino has, established since he became a coach away from the results. It has been about calling more MLS players. And I think that. That is grossly overlooked a lot of times. Just playing in Europe doesn't necessarily mean that you are...

above the level of an MLS player, not because of the league, but just because of your form, just because of how much gameplay you're currently on, right? That's the whole reason why players... move around other leagues where maybe yes i'm not playing at ac milan anymore but now i'm getting more play time right and that is closely overlooked because we're in this like moment in time where

Yes, this is the golden generation. And that's the golden generation because these players are, you know, all of a sudden playing in the best leagues in the world. But playing is the... The big emphasis right there. Are they really playing? Right. So for me. And obviously, as someone who has some.

biased to him. I think that Christian Roldan has deserved a spot in the national team before. I don't think that there are true sixes that... blow your mind in this Ewan Smith national team, especially when a guy like Moussa is being used in other places and, you know, he's more of an eight or whoever it is that you think would go in that sixth position. that Christian Roldan as a

dual winner as a guy that can play defensively. And I know that he hasn't played that in the past because people got all over my comments. How many minutes has he gotten at the six?

for the us none right he's always played on the wing or he's played a little bit higher or whatever that might be but this is a whole new coach he's in a whole new other moment in his career i think that he sees the game even better than he did before He is a guy that physically can keep up and has shown you, proved to you that he can keep up with the best of the best at the highest level.

Keep throwing stats. I mean, he has never had any goals for the national team. That's not the role that he's not going to play. He's going to play as a six that has a job to cover X amount of space, to play simple, to maybe. get forward and help on the attack at times, but he is a player that can fit a role in a way that I don't know if anybody else can necessarily, specifically from this camp.

Right. Can you add more people? Is he going to have competition? Absolutely. But the fact that you were so upset that he's being called, that's what I have an issue with. Like, why are you so outraged of. arguably the best six in your domestic league to get a call-up. Come on. The responses on Twitter to the announcement were like perfect. They were just so perfect. And I think one of the things that I'm always amazed at how often this gets brought up that he's never scored a goal.

As if somehow that is a, as if somehow that's important, but this is, he has, so he has about 1500 minutes at the national team level. It is not that strange for a midfielder to go 1500 minutes without a goal for anywhere. And, you know, I guess he's played in some reasonably, you know, like.

some big, some like games where he was asked to be a little bit more offensive. He does have three assists. He, he in fact had assisted the gold cup, which was the last time he got called in. I just don't know what. I don't know. The whole fandom, the whole national team fandom is just such a strange thing to me because it's like they just, they are...

perpetually and almost exclusively looking for the next big thing. They're looking for the player to be sort of the American messy to be. And if they're not, if they don't have that potential, if they don't have potential to be an absolute superstar. They just don't have time for it. They don't have interest in sort of building a roster or building a culture or trying to create a cohesive team. They just want to find.

the next guy who's going to score a hundred goals for the U S and that's just not how this works. they're literally role players that make great teams, right? I mean, soccer is a team sport and there are times where you might be better off with a guy that maybe doesn't have the...

biggest ceiling and cannot do everything, but can do one or two or three things extremely well. And that's going to fit to a system. And when you connect it together with other talented players, then it's amazing. But I laugh at. all of these fans. I laugh at a lot of these influencers that talk about the importance of having these European players because I've been there, done that. In Colombia, we were always the stepchild of South America. Then our players started getting to Europe.

And it was all about bringing European players. And then when you realize that those European players weren't really working with the national team, then you're like, no, we got to get the guys that are playing domestically because they're still hungry. They're still there. Right. 39-year-old striker by the name of Dairo Moreno, who had his best years a long time ago. A long time ago.

Played here against the Sounders with Cholos a while back. That was his prime. But you called him a 39 because he's leading the league. He led the Sudamericana in goals for, you know. a Colombian team, right? But the media and the fans were just like, we need this guy because these guys in Europe are not cutting it. We need this MLS player now and he has to come in because that's just the way of the world, man. So for me, I laugh about it. I think that a lot of people should look and that's why.

Pochettino has gotten so much criticism because he talked about something. You just got to look at the player and not the league that he's playing on. But that's a fuck. It's a reality. It's a reality. Just look at the player. Look at the system. Look like he's going to work out and forget about where he's playing.

Yeah, I would totally agree with that. And I actually, it's funny because even for all the struggling results that Pochettino has gotten, I actually do appreciate. to be implementing. Like he's just not, we're not used to having a coach like this who just is not as, he does not have any loyalty to any faction within the U.S. national team structure.

He's here to do a job and his job is to create the best team possible at the world cup. His job is not to build a soccer program. It's not to, you know, to win a PR battle. He's just here. He's a short timer. Who's here to do a job and he's doing what he thinks is the right thing to do. And I find that just that his, his perspective is refreshing because he's not, you know,

He knows that he's going to get another job after this. The World Cup is going to end, and my suspicion is that the day after the World Cup ends, he will bid farewell to the U.S., and we will judge him exclusively on how successful he was at the World Cup.

And that's fine. That's, that's what I want. That's honestly what I want out of a national team coach to set your team up the best way, you know, how, and to try, like, I don't need you to build a product. Like Berhalter was here for when he was first signed in 20. 18, he had a very different directive. We need you to rebuild the program. You know, that is not what he is, what, what Poetsch is asking, being asked to do. He's being asked to get us ready for next summer.

And, you know, this is how he wants to do it. Let's see how it goes. You know, it's like, I love that people are mad. I'm mad. I don't understand some of the call-ups, but I do at least trust that it's coming from an honest place of... wanting to do, do the right thing and to be, uh, to, to, he has, he has, he has whatever his, his game plan is. I believe he has one. So.

I don't know. I'm curious to see how this goes. I'm really glad he called up Christian Roldan. And I have a feeling Christian Roldan is the kind of player that he'll like. Now he needs to go on Jackson Reagan, too. Hey, man, sure. Why not? I mean, you look at some of this. open holes that this national team has. If what you've been working with hasn't worked, why not look elsewhere? That's the crazy part. If this U.S. national team had been laid out in every position, I'd get it.

You have holes. And why not bring some of these guys that are playing in your domestic league? In a league that's growing, a league that has national team players all around the world. It's not like you're, you know, getting them from the... what a modern league I mean no disrespect or you know whatever you're getting guys from a league that is a legit league but let's stick to Christian Roldan I think that he has the versatility that a national team

coach would want. I think he has the experience. He has the heart, the commitment. He's a locker room guy. He's a team guy. But beyond that, look at his metrics. You know, in a time where we love stats, we love metrics. You have to be up there with. Just the best. I mean, the amount of space that he covers, the amount of duels that he wins, the amount of key passes that he puts together from that position, that doesn't necessarily ask a lot of that.

I just think that Christian Roldan is a guy that has been snubbed. in the past. I think he's been snubbed from a European dream. I think that he's been snubbed from times where he should have been more involved in a U.S. national team. And this is his time. If he's going to do it, he's going to be with a coach that has an open mind. seeing things in a freaking funnel just because he wants to hear people be happy about calling European players. So I'm just excited for Christian.

I'm excited for Christian. I think he deserves that. I think he's had a phenomenal year. And I think that if you give him a chance that he gets significant minutes, I think he's going to surprise more than one person. Yeah, I do too. I really, I'm, I just wanted him to get a shot because I do feel like this is, this is sort of how he got into Greg Berhalter's good graces too, where it's, it's like, once he got in.

It was very clear what he could do for the team and that he's a glue guy, that he's one of the people that people... want to have around. And he's a good player. He's a really good player. And I think that's sometimes what gets overlooked is he is an excellent player. He is for my money, one of the two or three best number sixes that the U S has in the whole.

player pool and he deserves this chance. It's as simple as that. All right. Anything else going on this week? We have a weekend off for the Sounders. Their next game is against the LA Galaxy. And then after that, enter Miami on a midweek game in Miami. That should be interesting, although I fully expect Miami to be a little shorthanded for that game. But looking at the Sounders' schedule...

there's still a lot to play for. And in the meantime, they actually got a result that really helped them because LAFC could have sort of had control of their destiny. And now the Sounders have control over the number four spot. Meaning that they, if the Sounders went out, they will finish no worse than fourth. Whereas early, you know, before my, or before LAFC dropped points in their last game.

or they lost actually, they lost their last game, that LAFC could have potentially passed them because of the games in hand. But the Sounders, I think, got a, like the only game on the schedule that looks... Really, really tough is that Miami game just because it's on the road. It's midweek. Miami is a good team. But other than that, I feel like the Sounders have it set up pretty well here going down the stretch.

Yeah, no, I think you're spot on. I think it'll be, you know, interesting how they harnessed everything that they've kind of lived through moving forward. It was interesting seeing Son not have, you know, his best game, you know, with LAFC. I think that a lot of times we just think that these players are just going to come and have...

perfect games all the time. And as much as that is a very good team, that's going to be one of the toughest teams that Seattle faces. And I think that the reasons why I have been very clear that look. This was a fantastic win for the Sounders. It was a championship that...

man, they're going to remember for the rest of their lives, but I wouldn't just put them as number one to win MLS is because there's still a lot of teams out there that I don't know if they match up as well as what Seattle has faced lately. I think Seattle still has some things that... are still to be determined you know the kryptonite for the sounder continues to be

teams that bunker down and play off of the counter. You know, how does that kind of work out? How do they match up against a team like San Diego that just like the Sounders have a very clear identity that they play? extremely quick soccer, very direct, that they do possess, but they can, off of a quick moment, just hit you on the counter, right? And that is a very good form. Vancouver, and the way that they play at times with their three-man back line, you know, there's a lot of...

things that Seattle is going to have to decipher. But what I do know is that the team is in a position where there's so much confidence. There's so much cohesiveness. that they can dare to dream. They can absolutely dare to dream. I think they're a heavy contender without a doubt. And as long as once certain pieces are coming back, because I do expect Albert to be fully on.

once this break is over. We'll see where Jordan Morris is at. We'll see, obviously, what happens with Ryan Kent, who we saw jog and do some very minor stuff, but it was... interesting to see him out on the field. So there's still some guys that are going to be able to come in. How do you deal with that? I think that's still to be determined. Obviously, Donnie Mussofsky has been on a heated streak.

How do you implement Jordan at some point? I mean, there's some questions out there, but they're all good questions for the Sounders. Check engine, ABS, or maintenance light on. Take the guesswork out of your warning lights with O'Reilly Veriscan. The service is free and provides a report with solutions verified by ASE-certified master technicians. And if you need help...

we could recommend to shop for you. Ask for O'Reilly Veriscan today. Oh, oh, oh, O'Reilly. Auto Parts. They are good questions. The sounders are...

Definitely in a situation right now where they have seemingly, they will soon have, or assuming they don't just have trade one injury for another. There is a very real possibility that they're going to end up with. more good players than they can even put on the game day roster and that's it it's a good problem to have i mean there is it is a problem on some level and it's it's funny because you can only like it's tempting to go well

You know, maybe, maybe they don't need Albert Rusnak, but then you, it's like, well, let's be real. Albert was on the field for some very good performances. He was on the field for the seven zero win. You know you can. You can say, oh, well, maybe they don't need Jordan Morris. But when Jordan Morris has played, he's been really, really good. People have kind of forgotten that because of how good De Rosario and Mosovsky has been.

Morris has done nothing to hurt himself other than get hurt. Like he has not been bad by any stretch of the imagination. And you can kind of go down the list of injured players and I think you can sort of argue that all these guys deserve to kind of get their spots back, but the guys who have been filling in have been so good in their spots. It's going to be fascinating to see how...

Brian manages all this. And one other thing, I think one other takeaway I wanted to touch on and that we maybe have not delved into so deeply in the post game. is Brian Schmetzer deserves a ton of credit for the way that he has managed this roster. He has always been pretty good about that aspect of it, even if you and I didn't always agree with the way he was doing it. But he does seem to have unlocked a different kind of player management.

where he is pushing all the right buttons when it comes to substitutions, when it comes to rotations. And that's really been satisfying to see. He's given you a hard time for giving him a hard time. But I think all of your criticisms, frankly, have been legit. And he has responded, whether conscientiously or not.

and fixed a lot of the things that we felt were sort of blind spots for him. But you bring up a great point because I have been very open and I never, ever, ever hold back. And by punches, I just mean my statements, what I say. I'm never going to say I didn't say that. There was a time, there was a moment last year where I was not sure. if Brian Metzer was the best guy for the job moving forward. I thought that his coaching had gone stale. I thought that he had won.

one too many problems in the locker room. I feel like he had handled certain personal situations, not in the best possible way. I thought that a lot of his tactics had kind of lost their spark. And I didn't know, this is the most important part, I had no, not even the most minimal sort of confidence that he could reinvent himself. And this year, he has done it. This year, as much as he'd love to say, and he...

Felt so offended by the fact that he was called a defensive coach. That's always been his calling card. That's always been Brian Smetzer ball. It's a team that was relentless, that, you know, had grit. Everything that he talks about, right, that we all know, that's Schmetzer Ball. It wasn't that they were Wilfred Nancy grade on the offensive spaces and that they were so fluid and things like that. But he's really...

focused, emphasized from Marbella here on making this team more offensive. And he put wrinkles and he wanted to do things differently. And he's done it. So I think he's collecting the fruit of the work that he's put together. And that's credit to him. And I'm not afraid to say it. I had no confidence that he could do what he's done this year, but he's done it from the way that he handles his substitutions. The amount of players in his rotation.

And maybe you can feel free to correct me, Jeremiah, but it feels like he's used so much more of his bench, of his depth, of his younger players than he ever has, than he's ever has this year. and it's all because he is absolutely pushing all the right buttons and he's created an offense that's fun to watch. Look, my dad, he is a casual watcher of the Sounders and he's like, oh man.

Dad, son, I didn't know we had all these good players. I said, Dad, this is the same players I was telling you about in May. And he's like, oh, really? Well, they just move so well. You know, the offense is so fun to watch. That's the thing that you've created now. And this is a guy that, again, he would not know.

Who are the new players? But he could definitely sit in front of a TV and tell you that in May, this team looked a lot different than he does today. And that's all credit to not just Brian, because Brian deserves a lot of it, but... Freddy Waters, Precky, who's a name that consistently comes up whenever you ask a young player, hey, who has done it for you? Who's really helped you? Precky always comes up.

Freddy Juarez is a guy that's watching the game upstairs, comes down, gives you notes. The guy that's working with the guys on the field. Andy Rose defensively with every single one of these players. Jamar, Reagan, all your defensive players, they have nothing but great things to say about Andy Rose. Tommy Dutra, that as we've talked before, he just has a basement full of goalkeepers. That is exactly what has this team.

where they are now. They have an identity, they know what they're playing for, and they feel like they can do it with any team. But that's credit to the coaching staff, but mainly, especially for me. bryant's matter has truly surprised me this year and i would say that after covering him since 2016 when he was an intermed coach, this is the best coaching job that I've seen him do because this is the one team that doesn't have the magic of Oladero, that doesn't have the goal scoring.

or three juggernauts of Jordan, Nico, and Raul, or didn't have the Clint Dempsey's. He's doing it with a very good, talented group, but a group that collectively... just, man, makes you want to sit down and watch the game. I've watched the final four times. Four times I've watched it. And I'm still just... Impressed of how they bracketed Messi and how every single person, Pedro, Christian, Obed, Reed.

would have this permanent look on Messi. Whenever Messi was open on top of the 18, it was Jackson and Yemar pushing forward. I mean, man. I've watched the game four times and every time I come just amazed of how good the tactics were and how well executed they were. So I'm not afraid to applaud. Brian Smetzer.

have him take his victory lap. If he wants to come at me and tell me, Oh, you didn't believe he could be, he could say it. Cause again, I'm a man that I always, I say what I feel, feel what I say. I walk the walk, talk the talk. And.

he surprised me, man. And that's credit to him. Yeah. I thought it was interesting. The way he sort of got around the, I'm a defensive coach thing was to say, I just asked that all my players defend first. And I guess there's part of it where he can go, and that's what I'm still asking them to do. And I guess that's true. But he does seem to have loosened the reins in terms of the, like he's willing to take a lot more risks this year.

He is, you know, he's someone that it takes something to win him over. He's not someone who is willing to just believe someone on faith on, he wants to see it. He wants to see players earning their spots in training. But, you know, and so I don't know, it's a little chicken and egg, I suppose, to say, well, this year he's doing it, but maybe it's because the players have just done a better job of.

of earning it. I don't know, but either way he deserves credit for building this roster for using it in an effective way. Even times this year, I have wondered whether or not he was doing, he was managing things, but. As we sit here right now, you know, two thirds, three quarters of the way through the season, I am with you. I think this is the best job that he's ever done. If the coach of the year vote were right now, I would vote him coach of the year without any.

sort of second thoughts. I think he's done an amazing job and he deserves all the credit that he's getting. And I hope he's enjoying it. And if he wants to keep viewing you and I as sort of... thorns in his side, that's fine. And we're willing to take it. I think that's part of what makes this, you know, that's what part of this is, right? Is we say stuff and we show up to training and we let the coaches.

come back at us, you know? And I, and I think that's, that's a key component of this whole ecosystem and don't let, don't let Brian convince you otherwise. I think deep down he respects and appreciates. the pressure that you especially put on him. And I would like to think he feels the same way about me. I think he feels the same way about Sounder at heart and sort of keeping the Sounders organization honest. And we are...

We're on their side, but we aren't following them blindly. We're not just taking everything they say as gospel. We are reporting. We are doing our due diligence. And we're trying to give as accurate of a picture as possible because we all want the same thing, which is for this organization to be successful. We want them to be popular. We want fans to come out. But we also don't believe that...

blowing smoke up of anyone's ass is going to help in that cause. Yeah. And I love that you said that because look, he makes me doubt it. A lot of times I feel like he wishes I had to stop my toe on a rock multiple times. But at the same time, and I've said it before, man, this is what I love about what we do is that I try to prepare myself and conduct my way in a manner that if you want to pull up a show from.

five months ago you could hear consistency in my statement and i don't know if you remember this but There was a point where in this show, I said, look, if I got to be Brian Spencer's Drago picture on the mirror, that he's just like. F this guy, I got to prove him wrong because he's preparing in front of the freaking mirror and he's got the picture of the doubter there. Then I'll be Drago in your mirror because I have no problem with it because I do want this team to do well. I never hide my...

biased way. I have an affiliation to the team. And obviously I do that in the most objective way when it comes to coverage, when it comes to content, when it comes to when I call the radio, you know, games, although, you know, we're. We do 1360, which a lot of times is okay to be the homer on it, but I still handle myself to the standard that I like to keep myself in. But that does not mean by any weight that people don't know. I mean, look at the flag behind me. I mean, I don't hide it.

You know what I mean? I do. affiliate with the Sounders. That is the team that I want to watch. Aside from my childhood, Team Nacional, who's also green, this is the other green that I follow. That's just the way it is. But I'm always going to hold them to the high standard, and I'm always going to be real. So I'm just excited for the time that we live in. I was just blessed to see Seattle give out that image from the...

The atmosphere of the 69,000 plus to the fact that I was able to go on radio in Colombia and Argentina and say that most of the players in that. game that participated had either played for Tacoma Defiance, been part of the academy, or were kids from Seattle. was great because not a lot of teams can say that. And that's what this team has kind of put together. Right. And that does not mean that I'm never going to want more and I'm never going to not criticize.

all of these things, but I can absolutely enjoy it. And I think that's something the fans should enjoy as well. I agree with you there. It was a great advertisement for.

the Sounders and, and I, and to just circle back to the thing where we started, I do think that it ends up being the fact that all the attention got paid to the fight does sort of in a broad sense. illustrate what's going on here as a positive thing overall, that there was so much energy. There was so such a big crowd that the tension was so high. I'm sure a lot of people thought the Sounders won the league. You know, that was the sort of.

This was all given and hopefully the sounders can ride some of that momentum. You know, I talked about this on no study at this yesterday, but. One of the things that was a bummer that happened in 2019 is they had this MLS cup and then COVID happened. So they didn't really get to carry a lot of that momentum in 2022. It was so early in the season that there was time for it to completely unravel.

And so by the time 2023 came around, people were more up in their feelings about missing the playoffs and they were excited about winning 2022 Champions League. That can obviously still happen. I don't think that's what's going to happen. The Sounders are going to make the playoffs. Hopefully they'll make a good run and there's going to be a lot of good feelings. Like this has the potential to have a lot of good feelings carrying into not just the off season, but into next season. And so.

Hopefully this is a turning point in the, in sort of, we, I feel like in the last few years, really since 20, since they won champions league, there's just been this sort of internal fight in terms of the way the Sounders want to be run and the way that. the way that the fans sort of view the team. You know, we've seen a lot of price increases since then. Right now, they just came out with season ticket prices. They're effectively stable. They aren't just, you know...

They're down. Yeah. They're not shooting them up. There's a few new, there's a few new perks that season ticket holders get. So this is, I think some real positive, it feels like a real positive time. And I hope that we're able to carry this momentum into 2026. And yeah, I guess that's kind of where I'll leave my bit. No, I think it's great. And just the general sense that... This team, you know, has built what they have. You know, it's credit to everybody, right? You kind of see it as.

When Brian Smetzer got really emotional about this is like an organizational win and, you know, he credited Adrian and everybody, you know, that's heartfelt. That's very true. And I think that both you and I have been critical of Craig, have also given him his flowers, been critical of Brian, now we're giving him his flowers. It is something that... happens because there's a standard. Look, I'll be real brief with this, but I did a show with Glenn.

Oh, my goodness. I just had him. Glenn Davis in Houston. He has an ESPN show in Houston. And he wanted me to come in and just talk about the Sounders culture because he's a guy that's down there. fighting by himself with...

the front office to figure out what it is that's wrong with Houston Dynamo, a team that apparently cannot get people going to the stadium, that they spend all this money in transfers, but they can't seem to win. There's no culture. There's no academy. There's no... And he's over there being extremely critical, going right at the front office, something that you and I both know well about.

He just talks so great about the Sounders. He's like, man, I wish that I was there. I wish that we had something even similar to that because the bar is so high, you know? So you guys are criticizing because the bar is up here and I'm criticizing. And when the bar is low. Right. And we can even meet that. We can even meet the bar that's low. So the sounders have said the bar.

at the highest level because they're a winning franchise. They're a franchise with the best fans in MLS and they have to uphold that, right? But I love to talk about just... having a little bit of insight into what other clubs are feeling because it does bring perspective to things and it makes you cherish even more what we have here in the Pacific Northwest.

Yeah, I would agree with that. I feel like one of the things that gets lost, and I think that this is what got illustrated most vividly in the Sounders Miami game, is that the Sounders haven't taken any shortcuts. This has been a long process. You can accuse them of a lot of things. You can accuse them of being cheap. You can accuse them of making some bad decisions, but they aren't looking for shortcuts. They aren't looking to how to circumvent.

the way that this all works because even back in 2009 part of why they were so successful coming out of the gates is because they had been building this has been part of a project that has been building since Literally since 1974, at the very least, you would say it started in 2001 when Adrian Hanauer took over ownership of the USL team or took over control of the USL team.

And the Sounders at each and every stop, it's been very incremental. It's been one step at a time. They are very good in the USL and then they get to MLS and they don't win right away. Not that they wouldn't have loved it. But I do think it's important in this whole thing that it wasn't until year seven that the Sounders won their first MLS Cup. And I think it was good for them to have to go through some struggles and to go through some...

some introspection and to wonder if they had gotten ahead of themselves before they get that first MLS cup. And it's been just progressive ever since then. And I, and I think that's what I love about following this team is that it feels sustainable. that it feels like there's a real core here, that there are real roots in the community. And I think...

Anyone who's being honest about what Miami is doing is they are trying to supercharge all of it. They're trying to fast track themselves into relevancy. They're trying to fast track themselves into being a super club.

into being the Real Madrid sort of of the United States. And it's tough to do it that way. And I think what they're seeing right now is that it comes with some, you cut corners and you end up with... things like this, where you have a Luis Suarez or a suger bus gets, or even a messy who I don't think entirely respect the organization because they think they are, they think they are.

above it. They think they're, it's like, they think they're calling the shots. And so, you know, I guess we'll see who knows. Maybe, maybe Miami goes and wins MLS cup and we're having a very different conversation here in a few months. It doesn't seem that that's likely. I say that they don't. I think there's a better chance that the Sounders go off and get to the MLS final than for Miami to get to the MLS final. I think that...

They have been found. They have been studied. And there is a blueprint on exactly how to attack that team. I've said it once. twice, a thousand times, Rodrigo DePaul doesn't mean that you're going to win it all. And as much as he does provide you with some upside, he does not cover all the holes, all the holes that that team has.

In the East, there's too many good teams. I just don't see them getting out of the East. I do not see them going out of the East. I would put money on the fact that they don't even make it to the final of the Eastern Conference.

Yeah. I mean, you might be right. You might be right. The East looks pretty tough. I would much rather be in the sounder shoes right now than Miami's. No question about that. Well, let's call it. Nico, thank you for hopping on here and doing a impromptu hour long show.

And I'm happy to do it, man. We started off, I don't know what we're going to talk about. And then the League's Cup stuff came and then it just started rolling. That's what I love about the way we move, man, Jeremiah. I've told you a dozen times, man. I think that if, you know, me and you just start just chopping it up, that's how we kind of started this whole thing. I think when I kept telling you, me and you will just sit there and talk by the car.

And at Starfire parking lot for like an hour. So I was like, why don't we just put it on tape? So I love it. I hope that the audience loves it. I do want to give a shout out to all the audience, all the positive. input that you guys have, even the bad feedback. I absolutely love it. Thank you to everybody for listening. This is why we do it, man. I love that you guys enjoy it. And we're going to continue to stay consistent with the times and the Friday.

and making sure that you guys have some sort of content at the end of the week. Absolutely. Absolutely. Well, with all that said, I want to sign off for Nico Moreno. You can find him on blue sky, El Rolo and W you can find him on YouTube at pool. So sports at soccer down here at lobbying scorchers. And of course, you can find them on Sounder at Heart. I am Jeremiah Oshan. This is Nos Audientes, part of the Sounder at Heart Podcast Network. And we will catch you next time. Let's go at Sounders.