This episode of Nos Arietes is sponsored by Full Pull Wines, a Seattle-based wine retailer and proud sponsor of Nos Arietes since 2011. Full Pull was founded in 2009, is based in Seattle, and is owned and operated by longtime Sounders supporters. They offer the best boutique wines of the world to members of their mailing list, with special focus on their home, Pacific Northwest. Hi, I'm Will Bruin, and I was just recognized as a Seattle Sounders legend.
Now I get to do voice reads for the Sounder at Heart podcast network. Welcome back to another episode of Nos Adietes. This is, I guess, kind of the second episode of this feature that we're trying to start up with on Fridays, where I get together with Nico Moreno and potentially other Sounder Heart contributors. And we sort of just talk about the news of the week, what we observed at training. We didn't have any training that we observed this week.
But Nico is with me, and we're going to talk about the game, the preseason game that the centers played on Wednesday, on Thursday? Thursday. And go from there. Nico, welcome back. Hey, what's going on, Jeremiah? Audience, excited to be on. I kind of feel like I had a week of training. I obsessed and watched way.
too many times the exact same 90 minutes broken down in 45 minutes two groups for the sounders so uh i guess that's what happens when i don't go to practice like i do every day i just obsess and try to figure out what i can add or bring out of you know a stream way over there in marbella spain although you know i suppose we got more out of this of watching this game on a stream
at least in terms of the performances than we would get from a week of training where we're having to kind of look from a distance. We didn't get to talk to anyone, obviously, but we did get to learn a few things about players. So let's just start by talking about that game. The Sounders played Pushkas Academia, which is a team, if you're like me, you probably hadn't heard of before this, but...
Turns out they're like the best team in Hungary right now. Maybe not, you know, they're a team that's competing for a Champions League spot. I'll say that. And I don't know exactly a whole lot about this team, but my understanding is they played a mixed group. The Sounders played a mixed group. There was a bunch of their starters that came in the second half. The Sounders had mostly most of their starters in the first half, but they were also missing a few guys.
So, Nico, the Sounders won the game 2-0. They got goals from Pedro de la Vega and Jordan Morris. Danny Wasofsky had a goal as well, but it was waved off for offside. What were your overall impressions from this game, Nico? I was encouraged by it, of course, regardless of how...
This team really is in Hungary, and it is. I did some research, tried to look at some of the players individually, obviously via Google, because I don't know many of the players, but it seems like it's a competitive team. So even if they were, let's say, the worst team, the things I want to look for is concepts of the game.
game module, series of passes, concepts on decision-making from certain players, the way the team builds out of the bag, the way they at times were direct and specifically to certain players, right? Sharpness, fitness, clinicalness in front of goal, decision-making. That's kind of what I'm looking for. So with that said,
I thought that this group looked better than when, and I watched the streams of most games of last season. So if I was to compare the execution of what I thought the game plan was, I saw this team a lot sharper. Everyone in that first team looked comfortable on the ball. There was a couple of standouts. I thought,
Pedro de la Vega was excellent. I thought he was not excellent. I thought he was very good. And I thought that he stood out. I have gotten certain people telling me that I am marketing this player and that I am marketing all. I mean, what I said is that he looked good because he did. I mean, he was a player that was good. What is there to say? Well, I don't even understand the counter argument to that.
I don't, man. And you guys heard me be critical and understand that the player was injured last season and yada, yada, yada. So I don't get to extend myself to anyone, but I thought in 45 minutes of the very first game of 2020, he looked good, right? I mean, that's what I'm going off, folks. I'm not saying that this proves that he's going to be a superstar or anything, but if you're looking at 45 minutes of his first.
preseason game against literally they could have been playing the sounders academy but they were playing an actual professional team who isn't you know they are in mid-season they've been off for uh about a month so it's not exactly uh you know it's not exactly their their mid-season form i wouldn't say but i don't know what else you can ask where the guy had a goal a nice goal he had an assist a really nice assist and he hit a ball off the crossbar i mean
I think he did everything you could have possibly asked for. That doesn't mean anything in terms of what he's going to do this year, but he looks fitter. He looks sharper. He looks like he knows where his teammates are going to go, and he had the final product as well. Again, this doesn't mean that Pedro de la Vega is going to be a 10-10 guy, but it certainly suggests that he's off to a good start.
Yeah, and I don't know, like you said, how you argue that, but you know what? It's all right. I give everybody the benefit of the doubt. That's exactly what I wanted to say, is that he looked good. I thought that the way he was bringing the ball down at midfield was excellent. The way this 3-5-2 or 3-4-1-1. I would say like a 3-4-2-1 is what I've been calling it.
Yeah, there you go. 3-4-2-1 sounds good as well. The formation, I felt like it's fitting to certain players, and I think Pedro was one of them. He got a lot of freedom. He was checking in. He was bringing the ball down. Whenever the team played direct, I thought that there's a very well-designed way of players laying the ball down, whether it was Pedro, whether it was Jordan. So I like the...
The game module, if you will, that I saw that Danny Leyva was very good as well. I thought he benefits from this sort of formation. I thought he was positive on the ball. And again, were there bad passes from both of these players? Yes. Pedro had a couple of moments where he could have done something differently, where he held the ball a little too long. Danny as well. But what I'm saying is that those are the players that stood out for me. Yeah. First piece of the game, I thought those guys stood out. JP, not just the assist.
But the movement, the distribution, there's one point where he makes this clinical, exact switch on the ball right where he wants it. You can tell that he's synced in. And that's what you can ask for in the very first game of 2025. So those were some of the standards for me. Yamar physically just dominating people. He had a couple of boo-boos, of course. He had one where he holds the ball a little too long. But he's so strong and fast that...
He gets taken from the ball, but then he just bullies whoever takes him from the ball, and then he tries to boot it out. So physically, Yamar looks good. So all in all, I was encouraged by the first 45 minutes, that very first group. I thought it was good. What were your thoughts, Jeremiah? I would agree with you. I don't think there was any real big red flags for me in the first half. Like, we can nitpick a little. Sebastian Gomez.
you know, here's a player who hasn't really had any first team minutes on any, you know, with the defiance or anyone, or I'm sorry, with the open cup or anything else, he looked like it may be a little out of place, but it was mainly because he just didn't touch the ball a lot. Similarly, Paul Areola didn't get on the ball a lot, but other than that, like no one, no one was making mistakes. No one looked out of their depth. No one looked like they were in trouble. I thought Stuart Hawkins was another player who.
You know, this is a pretty good opportunity for him to get some minutes with first team. He looked perfectly like he belonged. The same thing with Kalani Kosarienzi, who is not on a first team contract right now, probably facing an uphill battle to get one. But I think he showed once again that if you put him with first team players, he can he can do stuff. He can get up and down the line. You know, he is a player whose athleticism is sort of built for.
this formation where you are sending wingbacks high. And, you know, I think if there's a question that I came away from this and I will agree with you that I thought Pedro de la Vega was the probably the center's best player. But what's, what I think is notable about the performance is that it was really two tens playing in this game. And there are two tens who, you know,
probably aren't going to play together a lot. It was, you know, Gomez was playing on one side and De La Vega was playing on the other. They were both sort of playing in those half spaces. And I don't know where, I think if there's a caveat to De La Vega's performance, it's that I don't know how often he'll actually get to play there. Even if they play this formation, presumably those are positions where Jesus Ferreira and Albert Rusnak are going to mostly be playing.
And neither one of them were in neither one of them were fit enough to plan this game for what it's worth. My understanding is they're probably going to plan the next game. But so, yeah, it wasn't a perfect illustration, but there was a lot more to like than not like, I think, is my big takeaway. Yeah. And I thought Kalani stood out. And this was another player that people were like, oh, I heard.
The coaching staff screaming at him to get back. Yes, I realize that. I understand that he wasn't perfect in his trigger points and when to come back. Look, I get it. But I highlighted his name because I feel like he deserved to be highlighted. I thought that he was good defensively. He was very active. Offensively was his best attribute in this particular game. He gets a shot on goal that barely misses. He had an assist to a shot that gets blocked by the keeper, Pedro Delvega.
Shoots the ball. The referee ends up calling it a a goal kick, but I thought it was a corner. So he was very good. I thought he was in all the right spaces, specifically on offense. I thought he understood his role. And yes, there were moments that he.
maybe came back a little late, but Yammer's there for that. That's what Yammer does. He is your whiteout. He is your correction guy. He has the speed, the knowledge to when he comes to that sort of thing. But I like the fact that to what I believe Brian and these coaches that want to do, they want to be aggressive with this three, four.
to one, right? I mean, they really want to get numbers forward. They want to get the center backs involved. You can tell that the center backs want to get forward with the ball. And man, that's just all good things to me. All good things. I agree. The other really nice thing to see was Pedro de la Vega setting up Jordan Morris. It was sort of a blind ball that de la Vega played.
Morris into space with uh it was it was the second time he actually tried that play in the game this was really a perfect pass Morris times his run perfectly he and then he made a nice cutback and I it's possible that the shot deflected off a defender I I wasn't sure the replays were that clear the sound of it made it sound like it deflected off a defender but you know the sounders had a replay of it from like the field level and
You know, I just couldn't tell where the ball, either way, it was a nice move. It was a confident left-footed shot. I thought it was a really nice sequence all around. And it was just, again, good to see De La Vega trusting the run of Morris. Good to see Morris trusting that De La Vega was going to play that ball. It was, again, it was just a nice sequence.
I was really happy with what I saw in the game. It was fun. The second half, we can talk about the second half. Very different. It was sloppier. You have a lot more players who aren't used to playing together. I guess more of the first team players from Pushkash were in the game. But all that said, it was 0-0. It wasn't like the Sounders got played off the field. And the Sounders did have a goal that got...
called off it was a very tight uh offside call i you know we had someone in our discord who looked at it and did all the line drawing and all that kind of stuff and they said it looked like it was just barely barely off but you know it's one of those plays where if there's var and it's called onside in the game it probably doesn't get overturned and it's not going to get overturned the other the other way either but uh you know it was it was good to see musovsky hit the back of the net you know musovsky was
I guess he was offside a couple of times in this game, but you know, it was good to see him. It's just good to see him put, you know, anytime that Danny Masofsky can hit the back of the net, I think that's good for his confidence. And, you know, the Sounders are probably going to need some minutes from him. So it's, it's good to see, good to see that. I don't know if I had any other big takeaways from the second half other than, you know, Christian looked okay. Obed looked, you know, maybe not quite as sharp as you would like.
but you know, Josh was active. He wasn't necessarily clean as a, as a right center back. What were your, anything that you thought about the second half? Yeah. I want to touch very quickly on the Pedro La Vega pass to Jordan. That's the thing. I mean, not only did he try it this year, he tried it last year. He, that no look.
First touch pass is part of his repertoire, part of his tool shed. And he has put players in very good positions even last year with that first look pass. It's always very encouraged by that. I think that him and Jordan are working on fixing the kinks and adjusting their movements. But when that is right.
Man, look, and this is coming from a guy that was not loving Jordan at the nine last season. And obviously he did very well. And, you know, I grew into it, but I really do believe that if him and Delvinga can get in the same spot and the same page, he can put Jordan in a very good position. So I liked it. I thought that the pass was great. And I think that it's.
Definitely something they're working on, and they're going to continue to work through the season. In the second half, yeah, you're right. I mean, it wasn't just sloppy. It was slow. I thought that neither one of the fullbacks, including Alex Roldan, which worries me a little bit, did not give the team enough width from the wingback positions. Trey, you could tell he's just a little raw. But when it comes to Alex, maybe it was the players on the field or...
I'm not sure what it was but he just did not look sharp from his position if there was anyone that was doing their thing, if you will, was Georgie Menungu. And even Georgie wasn't sharp, right? He wasn't effective, wasn't productive, but he's always fun to watch, right? I mean, scissor here, pull back there. I'm going to get in front of you. I'm, you know, being dangerous. He got a couple of shots that were blocked. I thought Obed in that sequence where
He does a great move on top of the 18. He opens up space. He either shoots that or he passes it, and it's a way better situation. He doesn't do that. He holds the ball too long. He lays that off to Georgie. Georgie shoots it. It gets blocked. But I like Georgie in general. I mean, he's hard to not like.
Because even when he's not productive, he's just fun to watch, right? I mean, he just looks fast, confident. I mean, he's just there. So he's one of the guys that stood out for me. Jackson Reagan, very poised, very good on the ball. I don't put a lot of stock into the defensive part of it when a team that...
Didn't seem as informed as this Puskas team looked, but I thought that he did well in several locations. I thought Snyder Brunel had moments where I can see what the coaching staff see, where he understands the game. He gets into those half spaces. Exactly. He's a very smart player. And you could tell.
But whenever he gets on the ball, he might not be all the time, especially in this game. But when he does, I like what he does with the ball. So those are a couple of the very few. I don't know if you want to call them like long shots, but I thought those are the guys that may be on a loophole. And again, watching this game way more than I should have. Those are the guys that really come up to me. I think that's all fair. I think if anything, it gives us some insight into where the Sounders see their.
their sort of depth chart right now. And it, it tells me that Stuart Hawkins might be closer to first team minutes than I originally thought, which, you know, good for him. If he can, if he can be the primary backup to Jackson Reagan as at, at center back, that's great. Similarly, if, you know, I think one of the things that's makes this game tough is there's obviously missing pieces. Reed Baker Whiting wasn't available. Paul Rothrock wasn't available.
Jesus Ferreira wasn't available. Alvaro Rusnak was not available. Kim Kihi, who by the way, today announced on his Instagram that he's coming to Seattle. We'd already confirmed it from the sounder side, but it's always nice until they announce it. It's always good to have more confirmation, but you know, those are five players who are all going to be not necessarily starters, but are going to be, would have been in the mix for this group. So I don't want to get too out over our skis in terms of.
uh, projecting the depth chart. But I thought that, you know, it, it, to me says that maybe Kalani Costa Rienzi is a little closer to a first team contract than I might've assumed, uh, especially with Brodilio Rodriguez leaving the team and that opening up a spot on the supplemental roster. I think there's a little bit more of an opening there. And so, you know, these are all.
These are all data points, right? And that's all we can really do with preseason is collect data points and try to project out from that. And, you know, again, most of what we saw in this game were positives. I think it's, it's trending correctly. No one got hurt. You know, that's another, it's always positive. I think everyone, the players that played in the first half all got 45 minutes. The players that played in the second half all got 45 minutes. There are no subs.
And then we'll get more data points when the Sounders get back on the field on, what, Friday? Is that right? A week from today? Yep. I believe that's the case. Yeah. So, you know, it's all moving in that direction. Anything else from this game that stood out to you? Nope. No from the game.
To be honest, I think we touched on all the main components that were worth talking about. I do wish that Daddy Misowski was a little bit more influential and that he gave me a little bit more confidence at that position. I heard you on Lobbins.
and maybe the U-22 spot should be used on a nine. I was thinking more of a fullback or a wingback, but I look at those strikers, and it does make me nervous. It does give me jitters on where God hope not, but if something does happen to either Jordan or Ferreira,
You just don't really have any short answers there. Yeah. I mean, I think that's a fair concern. You know, what we're seeing, I think in Mussovsky is that he's not someone who's going to get a lot of touches. Like his value is really going to be extracted from what he does in the penalty box. And if he's getting onto the end of stuff, he'll look good. And if he's not, he won't look good. And that's sort of.
you know, hopefully he's able to get on the end of more stuff than he, than he did in this game. This wasn't maybe the best showcase for, for him, but that's why I say it's good for him to just see the ball hit the back of the net, even if it doesn't count. It was a well-taken shot. You know, I thought he did an okay job trying to time his run. It was a similar situation like where, you know, you talked about Obed.
waiting a little too long to set up Georgie. It was kind of a similar situation that where he looked like he waited a beat too long before playing it into Mussovsky. If he had played it a beat earlier, Mussovsky is probably on side and he probably still finishes it. But yeah, anyway, the Sounders next game is going to be on Friday. It's going to be against Alberg, I believe, right? They're the team from, yeah, the Danish team.
Uh, which, you know, that will be probably a little bit better of a test. Uh, Denmark is one of the better leagues in, or like once you get outside the top five, it's, it's one of the better leagues in Europe. So they will be a little bit more of a test. I would imagine we'll get a little bit more of a run out from the first team players. And then they'll play, uh, two games on February 5th, one against IFK.
Norcooping, which is a, I think a Swedish team. And then Hammerby, which is definitely a Swedish team. And then of course they'll come back to Seattle and play Louisville city at long acres on February 12th before CONCACAF champions cup. And then otherwise it was not the most active week. I mentioned Brodelio Rodriguez that I don't think that news had been.
Yeah, that hadn't come out yet when we recorded because we recorded on Friday. We found out on, I think you found out on, what, Sunday that he didn't travel? And then I was able to confirm that essentially the Sounders had waived him. The Sounders formally announced that, I believe, on Tuesday. So I don't know. Do you make much of the Brodelio Rodriguez situation, whether for him or for what it means for the roster? I do.
Just because it tells me that there is a certain level of. I don't want to call it complacency, but maybe. Confidence in their attacking players, because but really was a guy that was interesting and he never got out there. Me and you got to see a lot more of him than maybe most people did in between training and obviously to come with defiance. I wanted to see him out there. I really did. Yeah, but.
But I understand that with the formation change and with the players that you brought in, he was probably not going to get a lot of play time. So it made sense to just wave him, allow him the opportunity to get somewhere else. And then you also gave yourself an international spot, I believe. Yeah, the international roster spot, I think, is what really is this is about, is the Sounders essentially made a decision that they
whatever Brodelio's upside was, they couldn't really gamble what is now their only international roster spot on a player who I can only, I don't know. I don't know this for certain, but I can only imagine that, you know, this is a player who only made six appearances with the defiance last year. He struggled to stay healthy. He had a couple of different injuries, which is really awful luck for him. I feel bad for him.
And I can only assume that what happened is they figured they would bring him into camp this year, see how he looks. And if he didn't blow him away, they knew they could sort of cut him loose. And I just sort of have to assume that he didn't blow him away. He looked fine to me, but I didn't get a really good look at him. And I think it's probably better for everyone if they just give him a chance to go.
sign somewhere else i mean the reality is that he's 20 he's 25 and doesn't have any first team minutes at any like he hasn't played first division football in his career at all and that's a tough player to hold an international roster spot for no and i talked to a couple of sources and um i thought that he was someone that could maybe fill in that striker
Yeah, I think that's fair. But apparently, and this was news to me because, again, I thought that, I don't know, 15 goals that were Tacoma Defiance record, and I probably don't watch enough Tacoma Defiance as I should. I know you do. Maybe I thought that that was a lot more – I thought it had a little bit more weight.
And they did not seem to think, according to a couple of sources, that he could fill in that position at the nine, whether it was through their new formation or concepts, but they just did not think that he could do enough to just be a striker and not just a player that could do other things. So, hey, look, the best to him, hoping that he gets somewhere else and that.
what he did for Tacoma Defiance, and, you know, everything he did throughout his time here with the organization gets him somewhere else, but it definitely, I get why he was waved down. Yeah, I mean, I would say that he played some striker at Defiance, but that was not his primary position. I mean, he was really a midfielder. I think he could have started probably anywhere across the midfield band, but he...
So, you know, maybe in a pinch he could play striker, but he's not a guy who's stretching the lines. He was more of a player who was good with the ball at his feet. He does have really good technical skills. He can shoot for sure. But, you know, not really a prototypical striker. And he was worth, I think, with the Sounders, my understanding is that the Sounders sort of took a flyer on him when they brought him in.
to defiance and he played so well that they sort of had to sign him i don't think that he was necessarily ever a player who the talent evaluator talent evaluators were smitten over and sort of last i think the reality was last year was sort of his chance to see what he could do and you know it's a tough break but you know the guy got hurt and
And he didn't get on the field very much. And he got hurt multiple times. I think that was the other thing that made it tough. You know, he had one game with the defiance last year where he had a couple goals and an assist. And he looked really good in that game. He played like 20 odd minutes. He almost had a hat trick. And then he didn't do anything else the rest of the year. You know, he played, I think he played four or six more games after that. And he just struggled to even.
make an impact. So, you know, it's tough. I don't think, again, I think it was mostly a fitness issue, a health issue, but you know, it's, and it's too bad. It's, I would have liked him to work out. I think he, he was a great story as well, but moving on from him, I do, it does open up some room on the roster. My assumption is that the international spot will be used on a U22. Are you hearing anything as far as.
what direction they might go with that U22 spot? I have not. Not directly, right? I mean, what I've been able to find out is that they're looking either at a complete striker, third type of end of field sort of player and or a fullback. I mean, it's one of the two.
Both you and I have touched on both. You want to strike. They might be looking at defending midfielder too. I think they're looking everywhere. No, I mean, I mean, I mean, it is. I mean, Craig said that they were open for all three positions. Right. But I do believe that because Josh, yes, he's playing full. He's playing center back. You play him back there. And that's fine.
But you do have cover, exactly. You do have cover. I think that Bernal is a guy that they're looking at pretty seriously. I think that Sebastian Gomez, just the fact that he started in this first 45 today, set some precedent of what they believe the player could provide. So to me, striker, fullback, that's where the money's at right now.
I have heard that there are teams interested in Cody Baker, potentially for a loan. So we'll see where that goes. But if you do lose out on Cody, you got to replace that somehow. So, again, I think Stryker, we're very light at, meaning the Sounders by we. And then at fullback, you could always use the next one.
Right. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I think that's, that's, that's fair. I mean, it's, it'll be interesting. I think the most exciting idea is that they would go out and try to sign a striker. Thank you for listening to the sounder at heart podcast network, which now includes no sony at this lobbing scorchers and the cooler guild. We've been independent since August of 2023, but need your support to make sure it continues. Although this podcast is free, it's only made possible by your continued support.
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Thanks for listening. You know, you're seeing it's what I think is interesting and is sort of a good level setting is there's been a bunch of U22 signings around the league in the last week or two. Look at the resume of these players. Almost none of them have great resumes. You know, like some of them are interesting, but not a lot of players with a lot of first team minutes and.
Certainly not a lot with a lot of first-team goals. I think what I'm saying is most of the time you're going out and you're signing a project. You're not signing someone who's finished and ready to jump into the lineup right away. You're looking for upside. And as disappointing as Leo Chu was at times, the reality is that he was still...
one of the more successful U22s on a, you know, production basis to come into the league. I mean, that's just sort of the, that's just sort of the expectations you have to set. And I, you know, we all look, I think the problem is that you look at a Dejan Jovalich, who is like maybe a designated player with his next contract. And you go like, well, that's what you should be looking for on a U22. It's like, yeah, you should, but that's hard to find. No, it is. It really is. And look, people,
People ask me like, oh, you know what? Hey, you know, Austin is doing all these things and they're bringing in Nicholas Duborski. And, you know, he he's a guy that seems to be. Look, I get it. But he he's had one season with over eighteen hundred minutes and that's it. And not a lot of production and not a lot of production. This guy and he doesn't have almost any.
He doesn't, I mean, you look at his stats, it doesn't jump off the page. Like you said, he's got one. He even played 1,800 minutes. No, and look, I know him because I followed a league. I talked to, you know, scouts. I talked to agents. So I heard the name. I knew who he was. But did he, like, pop off the page where I'm like, oh, my God, they're getting this guy? No. No, that's not that guy. So that's where.
I feel like people, man, at times they feel like, you know, X team is doing so much. They're being so active. They're getting all these players. It doesn't usually just reflect in the numbers and in the wins. So let's just give the Sounders the benefit of the doubt.
I thought that they've been smart with their money, smart with their business. I think this is a better team that people give maybe, you know, the benefit of the doubt to. I feel like this is a decent team. And again, the fact that I feel better about this squad when I see them play than I did in 2024 for, I mean, if you take my word for anything, I should encourage you the way.
It encourages me. Yeah, I mean, and to that end, I published a survey that we ran on Sounder at Heart that we published it this week. And I was a little, I was kind of surprised. People, you know, we hear a lot of negative commentary, both in, you know, the comment section, on social media, wherever. But, you know, we...
had something like 1,400, almost 1,500 people respond to this survey. And generally speaking, people are kind of positive about the outlook. You know, they expect the Sounders to win a trophy. They expect them to at least equal last year's point total, maybe even compete for the top spot in the West. You know, people are not as, I would say they're mid on Craig Weibel's performance, but they're pretty positive, generally speaking, about the offseason.
uh like there's not as it's not nearly as gloom and doom as it might seem i guess is my point uh and i think that it's easy just to forget that there are a lot of people out there who are actually reasonable about their expectations and i think the key word is that they are sounding a hard audience and readers and right followers
Because there is a lot of shit and garbage content creators right now that are way off the board when it comes to the Sounders moves. And look, and I hope we talk about Kim Kihee here soon. Yeah. But I feel like the Sounders are putting together a pretty solid squad that will not let you down, that might not...
you know, be in all the highlights and it might not be in all the talk shows or whatever you want to call it, but I feel like this squad can win some games and the experience and the togetherness and the cohesiveness of the roster build of this Sounders team, I feel like can really...
surprise some people in 2025. Yeah, I would agree with that. And you mentioned Kim Kihee today went on Instagram and said, you know, basically the idea was it was a farewell to Ulsan fans basically saying thank you for your time there. Well, I don't need to read it. It's a pretty long statement, but we translated it.
on Blue Sky if you are really interested in seeing it. It's on the Sounder Heart Blue Sky account. But among the things he says is that he's going to, you know, I've decided to take a new challenge, recently received an offer from the Sounders and MLS and decided to return to America for a second life. Thank you very much to everyone at Ulsan, including the director and all the fans. So there you have it.
Kim Kihee has essentially announced that he's returning to the Sounders. Again, you and I have both reported that this was a done deal. But again, always good to get confirmation from the person himself. No, of course. And I'm glad that maybe whoever is skeptical about you or I's sources, now they can...
figure out that he is coming back. Right, exactly. We kind of know what we're talking about. Yeah, exactly. We might have some insight on things. So you know what? Cool. I like it. But in terms of what it does for the team, I heard a couple of people call this a shit move and you guys are complete.
Paid by the team if you think this is a good move. And you know what? I get it. You're upset. This is not someone who is playing in the Premier League or South America. That's all right. Look, I've been there. I have doubted some moves with the Sounders because of where they were playing. But now that I have been, I don't know, 14, 15 years in, watching and following this team consistently,
I understand where they're going, and I do believe that a guy that has been having consistent minutes for the top K-1 team, Korean League team, that has poise, experience, the physical attributes, the IQ, can provide a really good depth piece. I mean, you just heard us talk about Stu.
and Atensio, and Yamar, and all these players that are going to be playing a center back. I thought Jay Bell looked pretty decently, pretty good in today's, well, this week's preseason game. So when you add a player like Kim Kihie, you're just adding depth. You're adding experience. You're adding a player that if you need to rotate, you know what he's going to bring you.
Jeremiah and I are not sitting here telling you that we are bringing in the next big thing, but we are saying that is a depth piece that is going to give you some options in 2025 where there's going to be a lot of tournaments, a lot of moments. I think it's a good move. I do too. And I think one of the things to keep in mind is that the sounder, essentially he's taking Nathan's spot on the roster.
But he costs about a fifth as much as Nathan would have. Nathan was making about $500,000 last year. My understanding is Kim Kihee is going to be something closer to $100,000. So he's not taking up a big chunk of roster the way that Nathan was, relatively speaking. And so when you're talking about a player at that salary level, you usually don't get a player with the experience and the
And still, frankly, the ability of a Kim Kihee, you know, ideally he's only going to play a limited number of games. Like if he ends up playing 20 or 30 games, you've got big, you've got bigger problems than you were going to solve with that roster spot anyway. So although he could, I don't know, he could probably could play 20, 20 games without too much trouble. But point being, this is not a player who is coming in and.
you're not signing him instead of signing a DP, you know, you're not signing him instead of even a tan player. You're talking about a player who is making, you know, much closer to the homegrown players on the roster than anyone else. So when you're talking about that level, I think this is a coup. I think this is a really clever signing. And I think one of the consistent things we've seen this off season is that the Sounders were able to get a whole bunch of players to come here.
on lower than their market value. And I think it's because they want a chance to win. They want a chance to be able to compete for, you know, to play in a tournament like the Club World Cup. They want to, you know, be in a winning environment and they want to be around a group of guys who seem to enjoy each other's company. None of which can you just sort of take for granted as a given virtually anywhere in this league or anywhere in soccer, frankly.
No, absolutely. And that's something that, I don't know, as a fan, you should understand, is that the resources they're using to create a roster that can sustain a heavy and challenging 2025 season should be applauded. And if there are 15% of you that are wondering why this team is not getting ready to
win the Club World Cup unless Holland and Enzo Fernandez were willing to take pay cuts to come to the Sounders. There was never going to be a universe where the Sounders were going to be protagonists in the Club World Cup. So if you are giving Ryan Smetzer or this organization shit, and I'll say it because it's a podcast,
because they decided to tell you that they're building a roster to win MLS Cup and not Club World Cup is because they're being honest. They're not feeding you lies because that's what you need to do. Because if you wanted to win a Club World Cup, you would have to do the unthinkable. So you prepare your team to win the tournaments that you should win and you give yourself a...
chance to be good at a club broke up by creating a design of play a soccer module and getting your players right for that tournament but you need to do that within your own parameters and that's where you get this sort of player so all of that and all of my rant for all of you to just know that yes maybe
This team is not going to be what a lot of you thought, because maybe you thought there were going to be bigger players coming in this season. But I think that for what was available, man, I'm encouraged by this squad. Yeah. And speaking of the Club World Cup, it's been interesting to see. I guess the I thought the hospitality tickets for the Club World Cup went on sale, but I guess it was the the World Cup tickets went for sale.
And they're looking for $8,000. It is funny how quickly all these international games came in. I was excited as anyone about all these, both the Club World Cup and the World Cup coming to Seattle. And I mean, I'm still reasonably excited about it. But man, the cost of these tournaments for fans is outrageous. It is.
going to be so expensive uh we didn't really we haven't really talked about it much on this podcast but you know the tickets for the club the did you see the sounders group stage games you're you're talking at a hundred dollars minimum just to get in the door but oftentimes even more than that and to get deep like there's not even a lot of the good seats aren't even for sale yet and you know they're charging 200 300 for seats that are oftentimes not particularly good seats
I don't know. Are you hearing anything from people about reactions to costs of going to these games? I haven't. A lot of the people that in my circle are investing in.
the club world cup specifically um they understand what the prize is so i have a lot of river fans that are going to be going to the i think it's river inter milan uh here game uh they've played they paid a pretty penny and uh you know they're going to the river against the japanese team that's also going to play here so they don't mind but when i when i hear the numbers i mean it is a thousand plus it is
800 plus i mean it's it's outrageous yeah um i thought that the world cup tickets didn't go out until june so i haven't heard anything about the world cup tickets yeah uh i guess the the it was just the uh the hospitality tickets uh started going for sale and it's i don't know i think fifa came in here with the idea that this was gonna be a
Not just here, Seattle, but into the United States with the idea that this is going to be a chance to clean up in terms of prices. But it's been kind of depressing, frankly, to see how expensive it is to go to these games. But hopefully, you know, I don't know. They say these are dynamic prices, so maybe they start to come down when we get closer to the games. But I have a hard time telling anyone at this point, oh, yeah, just go. You'll be fine. You'll love it.
Uh, but yeah, it's, it's, it's dicey out there. Uh, all right. Well, I don't know. Do we have much else? There's, you know, there's all kinds of stuff going on and, and around the league and stuff, but I, with the Sounders, it's, this was other than the game. It was a relatively quiet week. I would say, um, anything you're looking forward to anything you're expecting to, to you're, you're looking forward to learning about in the next game.
I mean, yes. I do, obviously, like everyone who is hearing this podcast, is looking forward to seeing how Ferreira fits into everything that we just discussed today. And can he coexist with Pedro de la Vega, whether it is...
in this formation or in the very safe, very default 3-2-3-1. I like to see it. I want to see Herrera and Jordan Morris and De La Vega and Albert, you know, all together. So I am looking forward to at some point seeing what that looks like under what the coaching staff sees going forward.
Is Pedro La Vega going to be a wingback instead of Alex or instead of, you know, whoever you want to put on the left side? Obviously Reed is her right now, but whoever you want to put on the left side. So all of those things is what I'm looking forward and why I'm excited about the preseason because I do see the talent. I just don't know how it all fits and comes.
about together. I would like to see Georgie get more minutes, but I'm always, especially when it comes to MLS, I'm always going to lean to the side of put your most expensive with the highest potential players on the field. So can you fit him in there somehow as well?
All of that, it's interesting to me. So I am looking forward to a thousand things going on to the next game. Yeah, I am with you. I think the Jesus Ferreira bit is probably going to be the most intriguing because we haven't, we really don't know how he fits with this attack because is he, you know, is he going to play as a nine? I suspect that's not what he'll play in this game.
is he going to play underneath Jordan? I think that's a little bit more likely, but then how does that affect Albert Rusnak? And then how does that affect De La Vega? I wouldn't be at all surprised if we see a different formation in this game. I think we might see something more closer to what they did last year, where maybe Ferreira and De La Vega are ostensibly playing on the wing. But I think if there is a challenge, it's that I think all four of those players...
want to not necessarily occupy the same space, but the same parts of the field, relatively speaking. Like, they want to be in the central third of the field, meaning they aren't, none of them are chalk-on-their-boots wingers. They're all players who want to be somewhere near the middle of the park, I guess is what I'm saying. And, you know, it'll be interesting to see how that plays out.
I think it could be fluid. And then I think it's also important to keep in mind that the number of times where the Sounders actually put their best 11 on the field together might not be that high because that's just sort of the nature of how things work in a normal year, especially in a year where there are a bunch of games. I guess I will add one more piece of news that came in today. It looks like Phoenix Rising may have jumped the gun a little bit and announced that there's only going to be 16 teams.
MLS teams in the U S open cup. I asked around and I confirmed that the sounders are not going to be one of those 16 teams in the open cup. They are going to instead send the Tacoma defiance to the open cup. That is not a, that is not, as far as I understand it, that's not a decision that the sounders get to make. It's a decision that gets made between MLS and U S soccer. Do you have any reaction to the, the sounders not being in the open cup this year?
Those are big news, Jeremiah. And I'm glad you shared that. We talked about it prior to getting on this call. And, man, look, it's a little hard for me because I am not the guy that's going to tell you that I would rather be in the Open Cup than in League's Cup. Because my idea of the game is always going to be more global. And League's Cup gives you that international...
However, talking to as many fans as I've been able to talk to and privileged to understand and hear the importance of a tournament that gives U.S. soccer the, I don't know, credibility and...
understanding that we have in South America to where it's enrooted, embedded within you to say, hey, we grew up with this cup. We grew up with this tournament. This is what makes U.S. soccer. I've heard that from people, and that talks to me. That talks to me hearing you say that, and going back to the tournaments that I grew up in, whether it was Copa Libertadores, Sub-Americana, Intercontinental, whatever you want to call it,
I hear you, Sounder fan, and it does make me a little bit saddened that those people that have been with the team, with this club, as long as they have, now they have to, in one way or another, sacrifice this tournament because of a new era or of a new...
designed to MLS in general. So I do have mixed feelings. I'm saddened for those fans. I do wish there was a way that you could play all of those tournaments, especially when both you and I know that it's okay to bring up players from Tacoma Defiance and call it your founder team.
I didn't feel like that was a necessity to just say, hey, you know what? No Sounders. It's going to be Tacoma Defiant. So I feel for both sides. And I feel for the players because obviously they want to be part of this tournament. I've talked to quite a few of them that enjoy Open Cup, that enjoy those Starfire nights. So, man, it's just mixed feelings all around. I wish that there was a way that you could play all those tournaments in 2025.
Yeah, I mean, I suppose they could theoretically. It's just that the powers that be don't seem to want to let them. But yeah, I mean, there is technically room on the schedule. There's nothing inherently conflicting about it. The Open Cup begins after the... The important parts of the Open Cup happen sort of between the semifinals of the CONCACAF Champions Cup and...
or not the important parts, but the first few rounds of the Open Cup happened between the CONCACAF Champions Cup semifinals and the final. So I don't think there's any dates that actually conflict, but it's a lot of games. And even without that, the Sounders are probably going to be playing at least 42 games without advancing in any games and without getting to the playoffs. So I understand the trade-off there.
I'm bummed. I like the open cup that said, I'm glad that the defiance are going to be in the open cup. I think that, you know, at least for those first two rounds, I would imagine the sounders will probably loan down a few players. And frankly, those lineups, those lineups in the first couple of rounds will probably look very similar to how they would have looked anyway, which I suppose makes it a little silly that they aren't going to play, but you know, it's.
I do think it's a good opportunity for younger guys to get minutes. You know, it sounds like players who are on the supplemental roster will still be allowed to play in the Open Cup if the teams decide to loan them down. And, you know, hopefully people will still go out and watch Defiance play. This will be the first time since 2015 that a Sounders developmental team or a Sounders affiliate...
will be playing in this tournament, the Sounders 2. Wow. Yeah, as people may remember, in 2015, Sounders 2 played the Portland Timbers 2, I think? Yeah, yeah. I remember a couple of, I think Andy was in that one team. Yeah, Andy Craven and your boy.
Rossi. Yeah, Pablo Rossi. Pablo Rossi. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then I think they lost to RSL, if I remember correctly. And that was a game. I don't know if people remember this. This is getting into the weeds. But Pablo Rossi scored from like almost midfield in that game against RSL, if you remember that. And my guy still has a foot, man. He's out there coaching in Argentina. He just hit me up not too long ago that he wanted to come by.
and see what was going on here in Seattle, but he's still doing his thing, man. He still got a privileged foot. I'm telling you. Oh my God. The guy had one of the best foot feet. I mean, he, he could hit a ball. I tell you, man, that guy was fun to watch.
Yeah, he was amazing, man. He's honestly astonished at the growth of Tacoma Defiance, Sounders, MLS in general, man, you know. So that just tells you how far we've come. Exactly. Jeremiah, you know, us following this game as long as we have. Now those Pablo Rossis, you know, they're astonished by the growth of games. I bet. I bet. Well.
Nico, thanks again for joining me. Like I said, we're going to try to make this a staple of our coverage. We'll come up with a clever name to call this Friday show. But Nico, thank you. Again, where can people follow you other than, of course, Sounder at Heart? Where else can they follow you? Yep. Right now, just at LROLONW, at PusoSports on YouTube. We are hoping to...
gather a couple of new shows in English all around so you can find my coverage there. Obviously, anytime that I am able to provide content through Sounder Hard, you'll find me here. But just thankful, man. Thank you for giving me this platform. Happy to give the fans hopefully some insight and some fun things to hear about when it comes to the sound, especially when we're losing a lot of big...
names in the podcast industry. And, you know, I feel like this is something that the Pacific Northwest deserves and needs. So, man, I appreciate it very much. All right. Thank you for doing this, Nico. This is Nos Adietes, part of the Sounder at Heart podcast network. And I will give you one more pitch. If you like this type of coverage, if you are a fan of independent soccer media, I want to urge you to not just listen,
But to actually become a member of Sounder at Heart, you can go onto our site. Memberships start as low as $25 for the year. I'm sure we'll play ads for the show, for the memberships. But I do want to just remind everyone, the only way that this kind of coverage continues is if you support it. And supporting it does require a monetary element of that. So again, thank you for doing this, Nico. Thank you for listening. This is Nos Arietes. We'll catch you next time.