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 Sounder supporters. They offer the best boutique wines of the world to members of their mailing list, with special focus on their home, Pacific Northwest. 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 what we learned this week with Nico. My co-host Nico Moreno. I am Jeremiah O'Shan. We are here at Long Acres. We just got finished with... The first of two preseason games the Senators played today, they won the first one 4-0 over Louisville City. That closes out a preseason, essentially, where they played...
About 500 minutes, they scored 16 goals. That's close to three goals per 90 minutes. Pretty solid. In this one, Pedro de la Vega had two goals and an assist. The other goals were scored by Christian Roldan and Yemar Gomez-Andrade. Pretty solid way to finish this season, wouldn't you say? Or this preseason, wouldn't you say, Nico? Hey, man. First of all...
Big hello to everybody listening to, of course, this new segment of Nos Arietes. Man, it is literally the perfect segue into... the 2025 campaign, which will be at Antigua, because if there was something that this...
team had to do going into this season was making sure that offensively they were more aggressive, that they were more sharp, and that they were just simply clinical in front of goal. And it seems like This year, there's going to be a lot more of a combined effort, more of a goal by committee than... You know, it has been over the last couple of years. I talked to a couple of, you know, staff members today, and I was telling them that I have this feeling.
inside my butt. No, I really do. I got this feeling and it's telling me that this team is going to be very good in 2025. Yeah, they look sharp. It wasn't the best start to this game. But once they got rolling, it was sort of like really sort of a downhill situation. De La Vega, I feel like was the most impressive player out there.
He looked sharp. He looked engaged. I thought one of my favorite parts of the game was when they blew the whistle at the end. He was like, oh, man. There was his 90 minutes. Still hungry, baby. He was still hungry. He still wanted to get out there. Neither goal was itself super impressive. He basically was finishing off back post runs where he was in the right place at the right time a little bit. But the fact that he made the run was good.
His assist was very nice, but he was really just the way he controlled the ball. He was holding off defenders. He was coming back and defending a lot. Just, like, sharp, high energy. And, you know, one of the things... I think was really important this preseason. Maybe the most important thing was getting Pedro De La Vega off to a good start. And I hope it really continues because...
I do think there's some trust that he needs to gain with the coaching staff. You know, the scouts have seen him play. They have watched lots and lots of tape of him. They knew or they believed, they really believed in his talent. But once he got here... He was hurt so much, and he hasn't performed at his best, but if he can put together a few solid performances, all of a sudden he's starting fresh, and I think it's going to be very hard to put him on the bench if he gets going.
And look, maybe his finish or the goal per se wasn't great. I mean, it wasn't amazing. But the buildup to the fourth goal was so... put together, so fluid, so smooth, off of a transition moment, you can tell where this team is really building a rapport with each other. anticipating where players are going to be, right? So Jordan Morris beats out pressure. He's on a physical battle with another midfielder.
Basically toe pokes it right into Polariola. Polariola just goes right into space. Beats the guy off the dribble. Gets to the end line. Crosses a perfect ball to the far post. And that's where Pedro's at. It's all about concepts, right? Crash in the box, a lot of numbers forward, making sure that we're being quick with the ball. Having teams collapse on us, and by us I mean the Sounders, and their offensive qualities and concepts, man, it all seemed to be there.
Call it what you will. St. Louis is a USL team. They're going to be able to say, oh, my God, I keep messing that up on X and everywhere. Louisville City is a USL team. And I saw people online talking about, well, it's USL. season form. Call it what you will. That's all right. That's all fair. However, when it comes to your concepts, it's more about just getting in tuned and you don't need to be in front of Club America or...
you know, any team that you want to put out here, Belez, Boca, it's all about just getting your concepts put together. And I saw that in every single goal today. Yeah, you can't get too far ahead of yourself, but you can only judge this team on what they're showing us. And what we saw this preseason was a team that had offensive ideas that created a lot of opportunities.
that was reasonably clinical with the opportunities they got. I mean, you know, like earlier in this game, Jesus Ferreira played in Morris with a really nice ball, and the opposing goalkeeper made a nice play. Came way off his line. To me, it looked like he was a handball outside the box. The referee ruled that it came off his shoulder. Fair enough. Either way, but you like the ideas that are there.
I thought that Ferreira and Morris were showing a good understanding of one another. I like that trio of Morris, De La Vega, and Ferreira. They seem like they all play together really nicely. And it will be interesting once Albert Rustin gets sort of incorporated, but I don't think it's the worst thing in the world that he's going to probably miss the first game. Heck, he may, I don't know if he'll be back for the second game or not.
But I don't think it's the end of the world that he's going to miss some time because we know what we have in Albert Rostak. We don't necessarily know what we have in Ferreira and De La Vega. And if they can start building up some momentum and some rapport, that's good stuff. Look, I got to talk to Jesus Ferreira after the game, obviously off of the main mics because it was just in Spanish. And he was just talking about how he feels like...
He has all of this freedom to get to places, to bring the ball out, that Brian and his coaching staff are really putting him in a position to really squeeze. what he could provide on the field, and that is reflective on what we saw today. There is that part of his game where...
I think he's a great finisher. I think he's a guy that can definitely play higher up the field. But when he needs to drop and he needs to be another creative player, man, he does it so well. And I don't want to... knock Halbert out of the picture, but if Pedro continues to play as good as he is, it's going to be complicated.
It is. Moving them away, right? It's going to be an interesting problem to have. Yeah. We've been talking about this a lot with various media who ask, like, they're trying to put together their depth charts or whatever, and they're like, okay, so this is a fourth... 2-3-1 and it's like they they have been playing a 3-4-2-1 they played it again today they say this is what they want to do and in some ways the concepts are not that different
whether you're playing four in the back or three in the back for the Sounders. But I think one of the key things is that they want all, they see Rusnak, De La Vega, Ferreira, and Morris all sort of in that central space.
And so I don't think they see any of them as wingers and they've all looked good in things. And so that's where it's going to be. It's going to be a little complicated how you get all four of them on the field together. And I don't know that we are going to see them on the field together early in the season. I think that's something that's going to have to.
work itself out over time. You know, you were talking about this on Lobbing Scorchers the other day, about how you fit them all together. And it's... It's not the worst problem in the world to have to... They're going to be playing so many games, potentially. I kind of feel like it's just going to work itself out. It is. And Brian was...
very transparent about being cautious with Albert. There's no reason to force him to play at Antigua or even back at home, depending on what that result plays out. Especially when you see a Pedro La Vega that's gaining confidence, that looks good, that looks dangerous. Because today he was a menace. I mean, he was all over. He was dominant. He was dominant. He was one of those players that...
just you couldn't take your eyes off. And it wasn't just where he was getting to in the end line, in those half spaces, but when he needed to get on the ball, dribble through pressure, there was a point where there should have been two yellow cards to two different players. because they're just trying to grab him from his shirt, from his collar, because he was just that good today. And he is...
Probably the only player in this roster, with maybe the exception of Georgie, that can do that for you. That can truly be a headache on the ball and can take on defenders one-on-one every single time. Yeah, he had one play today where the ball was sort of going to the sideline and he was sort of fighting off a defender. And it was...
You know, you see players hit Rabonas, and you don't always know what's the point. Like, we saw Dempsey made some Rabona crosses. A lot of times, they do it as crosses, and it's always more of like... Look at this thing I can do. Like a cheeky play? Yeah, it's not necessarily a helpful play. But in this case, it was very useful because he was fighting off the defender and he wraps his right foot around it.
and he hits this just wonderful little ball down the sideline that plays Uriel in it. It didn't come to anything, but it does show the level of skill and aptitude that he has for understanding. the situation, the space. Essentially, there was no downside to that. Sometimes coaches get frustrated when players do things like that because they're just showing off. This was not about showing off. This was about...
making the most of a nothing situation. No, the difference is when you do it when it's not necessary. And in Spanish, we call it a recurso, a resource. So whenever you need that resource to do that Rabona, because it's the best way to get the ball where you want it.
That's the best technical part that you can do that play in. So I missed that one. I might have been on my way around and I missed that specific play. But I'd love to hear that because that is something that it is part of his... tools that maybe wasn't as...
visual last season because of the injuries, because of the pressure, because you're going to do so many things. He wasn't playing confident last year. Not confident, not to his instincts. It feels like this year that's not the case. And you could see it in Spain. in Marbella, you can see it here today, and if anything, it's providing you a player that could boost your ceiling, which is probably the only...
question mark this season because the floor is as high as it's ever been. The floor of this team is as high as it's been since I started covering this team in 2010. it's never been this high. So a guy like Ferreira having a great season, a guy like De La Vega having a great season, and even Morris, who, you know, he got into some dangerous positions today. Maybe he wasn't able to... score, but he is doing some of that dirty work in terms of...
making teams commit to him and pulling that markers off of spaces where that's where Pedro gets there. That's where other players get to. Even Alex Rodin, when he's playing out on that wingback position, and we talked about it today, when he... tucks inside so deep where he's just another midfielder crashing the box. That's why he got that goal in Marbella. So all of those things do happen because of work that the nine is doing. So I like to just say that...
If this continues to be the norm and they can basically build off of this inertia, the ceiling immediately just goes up higher. Well, I think De La Vega is definitely one of those players who can... raise the ceiling if he can if he can come in and be a spec because he has that special talent whether or not he realizes it remains to be seen but he has the potential to sort of push that the team to another level and
One of the things I do like about Morris that we don't always get to talk about so much because so much of the energy around Jordan is, is he scoring goals or is he not? And that's fair. That's what a number nine's main job is to do. But what I'm seeing this preseason especially is that he's surrounded by players where...
If he's willing to do the dirty work, if he's willing to make runs that sometimes go unrewarded, if he's willing to fight off defenders and come back into the midfield and spray balls out, do all these kind of things that aren't really sexy. that's going to open up a lot of space. And that's one of the things that he has in his toolbox. And sometimes it gets lost when they need him to be a 20-goal scorer. All these little things don't matter as much because...
that's his main job with the team set up the way it was last year. But with the way it is this year, if you've got De La Vega, if you've got Rusnak, if you've got Ferreira... all scoring goals and giving assists, Morris can just sort of fit in and be a... you know, being a sort of like force amplifier to take a Garth Lagoway term. And that's when he's been at his best, in my opinion.
Jordan is never at his best when he's gotta be the guy to score every single goal, every single time, every single miss is amplified because you're losing a 1-0 game or you're drawing a 0-0 game. This year, and I'll repeat the emphasis on that committee.
where everybody's going to be getting some goals. And I feel like Brian kind of told us this early in the season. I mean, Yamar got a goal today, right? Right. I think there were at least 10 different goal scorers during preseason, maybe 11 different goal scorers.
That's a good sign. That's great. The worst thing in the world is if you put up these numbers and it's just one guy. I mean, De La Vega had four goals. That's great. Ferreira had a couple goals. Morris may have had a couple goals. But it's just that the spread is... is wide and vast and
everybody's getting in on it. You know, Danny, you said you've got to watch a little bit of the second game today. You said Danny Leyva scored, right? Danny Leyva put in a ball into Stu. Stuart Hawkins scored. Oh, Stuart Hawkins scored. Yeah, and it was a crossing from Danny Leyva, who looked great.
looked very good in the second half game. Georgie, I didn't get to watch the whole game, but I watched the first half. Georgie had a shot where he takes on two players, shoots it maybe five yards away from the 18. and it goes three inches lower, and it's a goal. But it just went that much higher, and it did not hit the post. It just went over. So...
All those things put together, man, just get you excited because you can get so much contributing players throughout the season where you need those players to contribute. And we have beat this dead horse. it makes Seattle unpredictable. It gives you this gambit of players where you can do and plan and attack games differently. And look, for all the heat that I've given Brian Schmetzer over the last couple of years...
This is as exciting as I've seen the approach into a season be since 2022. Since we were in CCL and you had certain players. This year, as... strategy and as a way of play, as a soccer module, this looks very good. As much as he... continuously tells me that I am wrong, that this team is the exact same thing, and they build out the exact same way, and they press the exact same way. There's differences in the nuance. There are nuances. He said it himself. He just contradicts himself.
There are nuances. There's nuances I'm excited about. And it's given me, again, a sense of excitement and, you know... urgency to see the season because I am excited about it. And that's props to him and Freddy Juarez and Precky and, you know, this whole coaching staff. Thank you for listening to the Sounder at Heart Podcast Network, which now includes Nos Anietes, 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. Memberships start as low as $25 a year, which not only helps make podcasts like this one happen, but also gets you access to everything we produce.
If you're able to support us at higher levels, starting at $75 a year, you gain access to a host of other perks, most notably entry into our members only discord where the smartest, funniest, and most engaged commenters share their thoughts. To find out more, just visit sounderatheart.com and click the subscribe button in the top right corner. Thanks for listening.
It's getting to be that time of year when you need to figure out how to watch Sounders games. If you're an Alliance member, you are getting a free subscription to MLS Season Pass and you're covered. Similarly, if you're a T-Mobile subscriber, you're also covered. But if you're going to have to pay for one, you may as well give us some of that money by using the link sounderatheart.com slash MLS Season Pass.
You'll help support independent media while also getting access to every Sounders game, every other MLS game, MLS 360, and all sorts of other content. Just to make things extra easy, we'll put a link in the show notes too. Thanks. Nos Adietes admittedly is not exactly known for our spicy takes, but that doesn't mean we want our food to be mild. Spice up your life with hacks and ferments. Handcrafted in Georgetown and made with the best local ingredients from across the Pacific Northwest.
They specialize in unique small batch fermented hot sauces and vinegars. Haxan Ferments brings bold flavors and natural fermentation together for something truly special. Whether you're a heat seeker or just looking to elevate your cooking, you'll find something you love at haxanferments.com. That's H-A-X-A-N-F-E-R-M-E-N-T-S dot com.
And right now, if you use the code sounder at heart, that's all one word at checkout, you will get a free hot sauce with your order. Again, go to hacks and ferments.com. Use the code Sounder at Heart at checkout for a free hot sauce with your order. Accent Ferments is a proud sponsor of the Sounder at Heart podcast network.
Yeah, it's been exciting. It does look like they're going to play this 3-4-2-1. And I said earlier in the show that from a personnel standpoint, it doesn't really look that different from a 4-2-3-1, which is what they normally play. The nuances, I think, are really about what you're asking the...
De La Vega and Ferreira in this game, or it could be Rusnak in another game, what you're asking them to do. And they're not asking them to be wide. They're asking them to stay in those half spaces in the middle of the field. And that's really one of the key differences. And whether it's Areola, whether you call him a wingback or you call him a winger, the idea is to get the width from both De La Vega and Roldan. Or not De La Vega. Areola and Roldan on either side.
And so you are going to see Nuhu basically playing the same. You're going to see Regan. You're going to see Yamar. The back five basically plays the same. Where you see the differences really in those. and those wing play, and it also allows Obed Vargas a little bit more freedom to join the attack, which is another interesting nuance that, you know, we talked to him yesterday. You had some really good stuff with him in Spanish.
about his sort of understanding of his place in where he is in his career right now. I mean, he did repeat the idea that he needs to step up in terms of goal contributions. I like that he was talking about improving his soccer IQ. That was good stuff. But the really interesting stuff, I thought, was what you were talking to him about in Spanish in terms of his future. Why don't you talk about that a little bit? Yeah, I mean...
Ovid Vargas has been very clear with his idea of not settling. And I like that word, settling to just the next. And the next step in his career is not going to be a lateral. It's not going to be something that is going to be a little bit better than MLS.
He knows that he has the potential to play in Europe, and he wants that to be the step. He wants a challenge. He wants the pedigree. He wants to develop, because that's what he said. I want the next move to be a place where I can develop. And if that place is right...
Then I'm going to go. But right now, I'm not worried about how much they're offering for me. I'm not worried about who's asking for me. These are just rumors. I don't even know about half of them. But that's the way he's approaching the game. And to me, it talks about... who he is as a player and how he's approaching the season. He could be a player where he's just content with what he did last year, breakout season.
Mexican national team cap, whatever you want to call it. It was a great season. So he could just be on... And I asked him exactly this in Spanish. Like, is it about just writing the inertia? And he's like, no, it's about just, it's getting better. It's me doing more than I did last. I still don't think like I did enough. And that to me, man, that's the right mentality.
That's what you want out of a young player. And today, talking about those pivots, the way him and Christian are working together is fantastic. Christian is on this path of just... doing whatever it takes to get this team going. He's going to sacrifice. He's going to cut. He's going to pressure. He's going to be physical. He's going to cover space. And it's going to allow Obed to be Obed. And let that man cook. Let him shine.
And that's not every player, man. Not every player has that unselfishness. Yeah. I think the superpower that Obed has to me is... He has this amazing calmness, and he doesn't seem to get overwhelmed by the moment. He doesn't seem to get overwhelmed by the attention. He seems to just... know that if he stays true to himself it's gonna work out and you know there was a time you know it's funny to think back now
You know, this is a guy who broke into the scene at 15. I mean, he made his debut at 15. He breaks into the regular, you know, he's a regular player at 16. He plays in a CONCACAF Champions League final. And then he suffers this setback where he suffers a broken back, essentially. He misses a bunch of time.
And then he spent the whole of 2023 basically just coming back from that. And when we started 2023, I remember talking to him and he was sort of, he was frustrated. He was frustrated that he wasn't playing, but he wasn't mad. He wasn't mad at anybody. He was just, I want to be better. And in all, he just kind of put his head down, and he just gets right. He ends up playing 3,300 minutes last year. He has two goals, nine assists across all competitions.
Great season. Makes his debut for the Mexican national team. He's the same Obed. Same Obed. Absolutely no change in his mentality. He still laughs. He still... easygoing he's still talking smack about his dad yeah he's still critical of his own play he's only critical of his own play i mean he's he is such an easy player to root for and there's not a lot of players who you you can sense when they are
becoming in their own head and when they start to they're reading all the stuff going about him and somehow he it's like he seems to know what people are saying He just doesn't care. No, no, absolutely. And, you know, that's something that can go to your head very easily. But it's the opposite for me. It's about just... getting rid of the noise and if there's something that he said that I thought should scare teams is that he feels like the game continues to slow down for him.
continues to slow down. I felt like he was playing a step ahead last season. Now it's even slower. Now it's even... quicker on the ball, even quicker on his turns, even more aggressive when he's breaking pressure with the ball. So, man, there's so many good things to talk about when it comes to that pivot. In terms of depth, I feel like this team, because Paul Arriola we haven't talked a lot about, every game that I watch Paul, the more confident I am that...
He should be that guy on that left side. He just, he holds it down very well. Holds it down. He runs up and down the line so well. He is, you know, he's not going to be the, he's not going to be a clinical finisher.
But he's going to get his goals. He's going to get the assist he had today was... really nice like he cut it he was beautiful i mean it was like a like i don't know 30 yard ball that he put through traffic basically and it just was he and dale and dale it was an easy finish for de la vega but it was an easy finished because it was such a good ball. That's a great point, because in my mind...
In Spanish, when I used to play soccer, there was a thing that was instilled in me that I didn't have that I wish I did because I just held the ball too long, and it's called decisiveness. And he seems like he knows where he wants to go, and he gets there immediately with the ball. defense today, he's not the biggest guy. I'm all about short power here, but he's also like a smaller frame. But defensively today,
He put his whole might into it. He was lowering his body a little bit more, and he was getting guys almost at the thigh, but he was doing his job defensively. And to me, that's what I want to see from him, because I have no doubts. from his offensive play. It makes me a little bit more nervous on defense, but between his experience, his field awareness, and his ability or...
desire or freedom to sacrifice his body, put it on the line, he's going to every ball with all his might. So he's going to be able to just push you out of the ball. Can he do it? And this is where maybe things... We'll still need to wait and see. If this team goes back to the 4-2-3-1, I don't know if he's the guy. But at this point, I feel like, why not? Why not just put him there? I mean, I get that Nuhu would end up sliding to that side. But, hey, if there's...
a moment where you've got to be a little bit more offensive and maybe you bring in Nuhu late to lock it down. Why not? But he's a guy that in terms of depth, in terms of everything that we've talked about today, I think it's quality. Another guy that I do not want to not highlight is Kalani. In the second game. In the second game. Just 45, but I've been high on him the whole preseason. But today he just looks like the...
best guy on that side of the field. Comparing him to the USL guys that were on the field. And it didn't seem like maybe they... I think Louisville probably played a mixed group too. Because some of the players who started in the Open Cup were being held for the second game. And I guess what makes sense for Louisville's perspective is we don't want to...
throw it all on one. We want to keep it as balanced as we can because we don't want to get embarrassed either. Which speaks to Kalani's play. I've been very impressed with him throughout preseason. I love his athleticism, but he's technically, I think, underrated too. Like his technical ability has gotten better, you know, over time. And I'm at the point now where I...
I thought he was going to be a long shot to make the roster out of preseason. I now would not be as surprised. I kind of feel like him and Snyder Burnell, good chance that both are going to get signed. if not before the season, very close to the beginning. Especially because, and we failed at this, and I blame myself that we didn't ask more about the timeline on Reid, but he was just sitting there today with a hoodie. He's not close.
might be maybe two months out. I don't know. They're not going to rush. I mean, there's no reason to rush him back, but I think the impression I get is that he is nowhere close to... being back. So bringing a guy like Kalani to just add on and, you know, you're going to have to take Alex off or whatever. I think he's a guy that is definitely making a name for himself in a case to be part of this roster. But talking to just... And I thought to Craig, and...
He is as proud as he should be of the overall roster and what the team could potentially do. And for all the heat that he got, Jeremiah, man, I have to agree, man. I'm... I find myself looking at this squad, and maybe it's not the most talented group in MLS, but it's definitely one that... I feel like when I look at the Western Conference, I know what they're going to do. I feel very confident that they're going to be a top three team in the Western Conference.
I hope people believe that coming from me that's a big deal because I'm not a homer. I'm always the guy that's the pessimist or whatever. But this year, coming in, I feel pretty good about them being a top-three team because... Aside from LA Galaxy and them, there isn't a team that I'm like, man, I could see them just doing that well. Well, I think, I mean, the Galaxy had to have lost some guys. LAFC is definitely, you know...
Don't get me wrong. LAFC is probably going to end up being there at the end of the season because they always are. It was just last year where they, I think they only had 20 guys under contract in the season opener. They obviously won the season opener against the Sounders. They're going to be there. but they've lost a lot of players. And I don't know. I just don't think, I think the Sounders are positioned at the very least to start strong. We'll see how that holds up over a long season.
But I like the job they've done this offseason. I think they've done a good job of giving themselves some room to add. It sounds like they're going to eventually sign a U22. I haven't heard much about what direction they're going with that. They technically could sign two U22s. I don't think they have the salary cap space without borrowing money.
So I don't think they're going to make too many big moves. But hopefully they have the ability to make something happen in the summer if they need to. Exciting times. It is. What I will say is that... I don't know if it was in this show or in Lopez Cortes, but they were asking about that second U22 spot. So I do want to address that. It looks like the plan is still to just bring in one U22 and the other U22 spot will be used in the likes of Ovid, Josh.
or anybody that fits under that category. Yeah, I mean, Obed probably deserves... I mean, they're probably going to have to give Obed... That's what I'm thinking. ...some money. He's been playing on, like, $90,000 or something. Yeah. And even if... Even if it's just to sort of set the bar for whatever the next team is to sign his contract, I would think his family rightfully feels like it's time to get paid a little bit. You don't want to borrow against the potential.
for too long and he deserves to get paid and he should get paid so hopefully that's that works out um just out of curiosity you know last time on this show we mentioned the possibility of nico ladero coming in here. Have you heard any updates as far as that situation is going?
Yeah, I mean, it's just a possibility, so there's nothing... We don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves. Yeah, we don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves. Like, it's something that was in the works or anything like that. It was just something that I thought would be interesting. We got a lot of good comments. Roughster...
You know, he was on for it, bringing him back 10 minutes. Go for it guy was also on board. So just letting you guys know that we do read all of the comments that you guys provide. Seahawk Ford said he didn't want. uh nico i mean i think there's some there is some balancing like let's just we don't know i mean as of now nico is still playing for orlando city so there's not like he's not a free player the centers can just go out and get and and
The conversation we had was sort of under some assumptions that if the sounders were going to sign him, it was going to be because he got bought out. Sure. Or something like that where he's essentially a free. None of this has happened yet, so we don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves.
But it is probably fair to point out that there is some... Those assumptions are not givens. We can assume them. That doesn't mean they're actually going to happen. I think one of them is we don't know if he's going to get what Orlando's going to do. Yep. But I think another one is we don't know Nico's mindset. Is Nico looking to come here? If Nico leaves, does he want to compete for minutes? Does he want to just be...
Or does he just want to be a locker room guy? Because those are two very different things. If he wants to come compete for minutes, he probably needs to go. I don't know that Seattle's the right place for him. If he's coming here to be a locker room guy, maybe it makes more sense. But we don't know. I mean, I don't know what his mindset is.
So, I don't know. It might or may not happen, I guess. When it comes to Nico, I like to think of him as a hopeless romantic when it comes to soccer, right? He wants to be in a place where if it's the end of his career, and I feel like it is he...
He sacrificed his body a whole lot last season, right? I bet. And he's a guy who takes care of himself better than anybody who I know. Brings in guys to take care of him. Pays out of his own pocket to get national team guys to do all kinds of work on his body. Health-wise.
he's never a guy that's out drinking a beer, having a scotch. Believe me, I would tell you if that was the reason. And he's not. So he has his body in a whole other shape, but still I feel like he knows that the end is coming in terms of his... career, and he would love to stay in the United States because of his family. And the only other place where he can have that romantic goodbye is in Nacional of Uruguay.
He just doesn't want to do it to his family. So that's why I thought it was an interesting idea. And going back to the whole U22, only one that you're bringing in in the summer. If Obed is leaving and your U22 is a striker with me and you believe that's what it should be, because to be honest, I feel like you would be a wasted U22 at midfield or at a six where in those positions...
You've created a pipeline with Ovid, with Danny, with all these players that you've built out to be available players in that position. You can go out, in my opinion... in the college rankings and pick a guy out of the draft and mold him to be a disruptive six or be a center midfielder. it is a lot harder to find that sort of player up top. You don't get...
Ajimang, Ajimang, the striker four. Yeah, yeah, yeah. They don't grow on trees at a college. They don't grow on trees. You know, the Daryl Dickays, the Duncan Maguires, those guys don't grow on trees. And you can find them, sure, but it's a lot harder to do. There's like one per draft. There's one per draft, exactly, 100%. So if you can go out there and get a guy like Nico to just fill in a spot and maybe give Danny more time, because Nico would be willing to come in to just play...
You know, nothing in particular, because again, I feel like he's more of a hopeless romantic when it comes to that. So that's why I brought it up. Nothing that we were... thinking it was set in stone. I think that was being worked out. It was just more of a hypothetical situation. Yeah, okay. And one that me and you all feel like we can do, because...
We like not to toot our horn, but I feel like we have a good insight on what the team might need, what the team looks like. So that's why we bring this up. And because I'm sure that in the discourse and for people, man, that's what you want to do, man. I mean, you want to go into the office. on Monday. I know it's not the NFL, but if you see a fellow MLSer and you want to talk some stuff, that might be a topic of conversation. I feel like it was a good idea. I still don't...
dismiss it. I think that maybe if the sounders were in a bind and something was to come about, maybe we'll see where that comes. to fruition or not. But again, that was just some fun conversation that we had. Okay. Well, that's a good place to probably end this. Nico, once again, thank you for doing this. We're going to try to do this every week.
We are going to, you know, we'll have more coming on Nos Arietes. We'll be hearing a lot more from you on Lobbing Scorchers. You're doing this kickoff show on Monday mornings, 8 a.m. on Monday mornings. That is quite a commitment. Yeah, nice and early, man. My mornings usually start just like that. seven o'clock well i should get up like at six and just get going real quick and uh we had a really good response on the first episode so man i'm excited to continue uh doing that and doing probably
Maureen sees in a breakdown of the game that just was and, you know, where we're going. So I see a lot of potential there. So I'm excited about it for sure. Awesome. Awesome. Well, that's a good place to call this. This was what we learned this week with Nico. on Nos Arrietas, part of the Sounder at Heart podcast network. I am Jeremiah O'Shan, and we'll catch you next time.