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 Arietes. We're doing another installment of this, what we learned this week with Nico and I'm...
Jeremiah Oshian, joined today by Nico Moreno. As always, we're here at Lumen Field. I think the first time we've recorded at Lumen Field. This is the first time we are at Lumen Field, and that is something to highlight. We have the beautiful Lumen Field right in front of us. We're just tomorrow. Nicolás Odero will be walking through that hallway where he did so many times in that field where he lifted an MLS Cup, where he lifted a championships, a CCL at the time, Cup.
And now he's going to do it on an orange. I hate orange, by the way. But an orange jersey. And I have to do it with Houston, by the way. I just don't like orange. But he'll be doing that. It might seem weird. It might seem odd. I am looking forward to the, it seems almost certain ovation by the fans. Oh, you'll get a good welcome, I think. All the preliminaries for a Sounders legend.
Yeah, so the Sounders are doing a pregame ceremony. I guess that's probably – I'm trying to remember what they did for Ozzy Alonso, but I would say Ozzy Alonso's return is the closest comparison that we can make where – Ozzy ended up playing a few years after that, but it was a big deal when he came back. And, you know, Nico is coming back probably for the last time, I suppose. But what have you heard from him? What's his mindset? Have you talked to him? Is he excited about?
this opportunity and what's his, I don't know, how is he feeling? Yeah, unfortunately we haven't talked and we plan to talk after the game. But in the past and well before this game, you know, he's always wondered what that... would feel like. And this goes all the way back to when he was in Orlando. And we've had long discussions about how he would feel walking and being in front of the fans that he loves so much.
The main reason why he wanted to come back to the city was because he felt a specific connection to the community and the people. And as many soccer players, sometimes a lot of those achievements that you get, titles. you know, whatever you can think of when it comes to being a soccer player, you kind of relate that and you kind of gift that to the fans. And he always brought that up, that he just wanted to...
do it one more time for the fans. But he always wondered what it would look like on the opposite end. Because he's a competitor. And he always said, when I'm there, if I'm on an opposite jersey, I'm going to go out there for the win. So a lot of... you know Things are still up in the air. You know, what happens when he scores? If he scores, what happens? Brian was very confident he wouldn't celebrate. I was surprised how confident. Yeah, he's very confident. How confident are you?
what Nico will do if he scores. Hey, man, I think that it's 50-50 because it really goes into the emotions of the game. Sure. If there's something true about Nicolás Adaro is that he's a passionate guy. And sometimes passion goes along with a little impulsiveness. So I know one thing's certain. He'll probably shed some tears walking into this field when he gets that ovation because he's that guy. He'll probably shed some tears.
But when he comes to playing the game, if this is a tight 0-0 game, he puts a banner, there's a good chance he... just goes off and just really... Rips off his shirt. Rips off his shirt. I don't expect him to get in front of the bench and celebrate in front of the opposite bench. But maybe, you know, he celebrates.
That said, he is a class act. He's probably thinking more about the respect to the fans. Yeah. So there is when maybe he might just give you a little, like, hands together or, you know, hands up in the air. But those are all exciting things that... this game come with and that's why it's a must see and that's what you gotta be no it's it'll be and ironically i won't be here which i feel very bad about but uh i am i i have other uh responsibilities that I have to take care of. That said,
It's a huge game for the Sounders from specifically the perspective that they just need a win and they really need a win at home. It's not, I'm not going to say this is a must win game, but it's a game that they, I mean, they should, they should and they should. I feel like they need to win. Look, I was watching the last Houston game, and...
They might not be as dynamic and dangerous as they were before, but they could have very well tied that game against RSL. There is a goal that gets called off because of an obstacle. of an offside, which I hate that rule because it's so, like, subjective. Didn't really think that that bossy goal should get taken back, but he did. That would have, you know, made all the difference because they ended up losing 2-1. Nico played well. Nico...
still able to get into that final third. There's a run that he makes. It's a secondary run into the 18. He gets the ball on the end line and puts a gorgeous cross over the top for Ponce. Ponzi misses it by a couple of inches. So this is a team that maybe the biggest flaw that I've seen since I've been watching them this season is defensively. They get scored on 44 seconds or 50 seconds into this game. in a quick moment, exposing the flanks. So how do they battle with...
Seattle, I think, is going to be the biggest question because Ben Olsen's always been someone that knows how to play Seattle. And it goes back all the way to last season. I mean, back-to-back game, zero goals. He made it difficult, hard for Seattle to get.
behind his defenders was a little bit more conservative with his fullbacks that tend to do overload, tends to put Dorsey on one side, tends to put Escobar on the other side. So he's a little bit more conservative when it comes to Seattle. So I'm just curious. about it. I honestly think that Houston has the tools still, despite not having those X factors that they did last season, to make it hard for Seattle to be at least on the front end or at least
we'll make it hard for center to break them down. Yeah. I mean, this is a team that the Sounders had to go to penalties to beat in both games that they played in the playoffs last year. Houston's never won here, but they also are competitive here. I mean, for a team for the record as, as.
As one-sided as the record is between these two teams, especially here, a lot of competitive games, a lot of close games. It's not like the Sounders have just run over them. And I would expect this to be a tough... game they do have some trouble in the back right now you know they transferred out michelle at the start of the season he was a very good player for them last year he they've been feeling that and then i think they're down to their what third goalkeeper now
And he struggles, Maurer. And he doesn't vote a lot of confidence. A couple of shots against RSL, either there were gimmies, and he just... punched him out out of just being a little bit nervous. I think in set pieces, he also struggled to be decisive, and that's somewhere where Seattle could definitely pounce on and try to take advantage of.
One interesting thing that I saw out of Houston this week is that they actually had a friendly against El Salvador. They did, yeah. Midweek, and that was interesting. I guess it's the same thing as an inner squad, but I don't know. There's the physicality component that I'm wondering if it benefits. I don't know. Why would they play a midweek friendly this early in the season against...
El Salvador, which when I saw that, I was like, what is happening here? Why? And so it was because there's a lot of confusion. It was on the same day that the Open Cup was being played. And some people on our Discord were like, why?
Oh, it looks like they're starting their first choice group basically against in the Open Cup. And I'm like, they're not in the Open Cup. What's happening? Nope. Nope. It's friendly against El Salvador. So, yeah, who knows? I don't know how much of an impact or any of that will have. That's an interesting little footnote to all of this. And you talk about goalkeepers. One of my biggest frustrations coming out of the St. Louis game, and I don't want to get too much into the St. Louis game, but.
one of the things that was frustrating is that they were facing a backup goalkeeper, and they only put one shot on frame, and it wasn't a particularly dangerous shot. And the thing that was killing me is that the St. Louis keeper did not look very confident with the ball at his feet.
He never really got tested on his shot stopping. And so they need to test Maurer at the very least. They need to make him make some stages. Let me make a correction. He's actually Tarbell. I apologize. I thought Tarbell got hurt.
Oh, that's the guy that came in was Maurer. Yeah, exactly. I thought I was double-checking because I remember seeing Maurer. No, Maurer's going to be the star. That's where my thing was. So he's supposed to be the star. He's supposed to come in. And you're right. That was one of the things that...
We're not going to talk about St. Louis, but if there was something that we took out of that game is that defensively, Seattle did their job, but offensively, they just didn't. They created half chances, but because of the disconnect with Ferreira. That's where kind of things...
didn't work out. And again, this was not an indictment against Ferreira, and I said this on Monday on Lovin Scorchers. I'm not worried about Ferreira the player. I'm worried about Ferreira the player for this system and how quickly he can adapt. Because if anything we got out of...
of this week of what we learned was that he's definitely gotten barely any minutes at the nine. He's been on a minute restriction per Brian Smetzer. And, you know, today I asked them, what did they do to kind of get him more? familiar with everything they got more chances on goal they got more of a workout but it's all about in-game chemistry and people don't realize how key and important that can be especially for that specific position
I got to know where you're going to be if I'm checking in. You got to know where I'm going to be when we're possessing and I want a long ball. And you saw a little bit of that. I loved your video, by the way, where, you know, Georgie Manungu. He could have easily given Ferrer a shot at a very good look in front of the 18, and he didn't. I thought him and Albert, there were times that Ferrer would make a run. Now we're just a little late to release them. Exactly. So all those things.
need to be in sync, need to be sharpened in order to have a good game against Houston. Yeah, I would agree with all that. And you'll probably get it. I will say one thing that was maybe encouraging, if you could. look at it that way when Brian talked to us earlier this week is he made it pretty clear that Jesus is their number one choice right now at the number nine like he's gonna get chances to play there and Musovsky
We'll get some minutes, but it's going to most likely be off the bench. So this is still Ferreira's job to sort of lose at this point, at least until Jordan and Pedro are back in the mix, which is... which is, you know, I think the way that we would hope it would be, right? Like, this is part of why you bring him in, is so that you can weather the storm when Morris goes out or is gone or whatever. But we needed to know that. I mean, we just got that this week. I know.
If liar, liar taught me anything, is that the truth will set you free, baby? He will set you free. Early 2000s, Jim Carrey. That's right. If anything is that, you know, that's what it is. That's all I wanted to know is there was always a reason why he wasn't. It was very strange. It was strange that he was. being so cagey about why he wasn't playing more it was and i mean i think
You could draw inferences, and I suspected that was part of why, but it was weird that he wouldn't just come out and say, well, he's on a minute restriction. What do you want me to do? And I guess he did start three times last week, which...
is another reason that it made sense why he came out relatively early in the St. Louis game. And, and, and he mentioned that maybe we were a little gun shy about not wanting to push him because, you know, we just had had all these injuries and these are all, these are. These make sense. These are totally sensible accommodations to make. But sometimes you just need to say them. Don't make me guess what you're doing. Like just.
Tell us like there's not there's no advantage to be gained by being cagey about minute restrictions. That said, I will say I we're seeing encouraging signs from both Pedro and Jordan in there. I would say that neither one of those are very – like super serious injuries. They have both been out jogging. They both look like they're moving fine. I'm not saying they're coming back in the next week or even two, but I wouldn't be surprised if both of them are on the –
shorter end of the window that Brian gave us, which was four to six weeks for each of them, which would mean Pedro is probably out two more weeks and Jordan might be out three weeks more. And... That's not the end of the world. I mean, this should not be a huge problem. And I think that's encouraging that.
It's okay. Like, this is the time of year to be cautious with these things. Yeah, no. And, you know, I, you know, off the mics, I got to hear a little bit. It sounds like Pedro's in good spirits. It sounds like he was joking around with Jose. media members and he just seems to be in a good mood and that tells you enough about if a player is not trying to talk to you he's completely away he just seems down that's something to worry about I also always correlate how much
on the ball training you're getting. If you're doing a lot of like resistant training and jogging and all of these things, but no ball work, I'm concerned. But they did a lot of work. I even saw Pedro shooting the ball. If you're really concerned about it. Yeah, they don't let them shoot at all when they're – Because that's where they can hurt themselves sort of accidentally because that is just a different kind of movement and they're always worried about –
Especially shooting. I mean, passing is little, but shooting is definitely where they can sometimes, I feel like that's the last thing to let them do before they're letting them. run out and play. So those are good signs. And Brian seems confident. I gotta say that. Brian seems confident in the team, seems confident in the tactics. And, you know, sometimes I'll look for him to... Be that face of just...
calmness, and he sounds like, it feels like he's really okay with what he has going on with the rotational players. Despite him saying that he'd laugh if I got a ball to the head, I do wish him the best, and we're happy to see him back from his ilk. And therefore, I will say that...
What he has going for himself right now is that there's a lot of confidence in this group, in the unity and both the talent that essentially will be on field. It does seem I will say that one of the things that the Sounders have done over the last few years is that they I think there is something to be. said about
The collective being stronger than the individual parts. And there is a sense of togetherness and there's a sense of like, that doesn't mean they're always getting along, but I do think that they all believe in each other's motives and they sort of are able to. get themselves pushing in the same direction in a way that a team that has fewer, has less like existing relationships will, will do. And so I don't know though. It'll be interesting to see how they get through this next stretch.
I think there's reason to feel okay about it. I know last week's result was pretty – got people in the dumps a bit, which I can appreciate. It was not the most exciting game, but we'll see. And there were things that, you know, you just are not – expecting from Seattle. And it was a hard team. And I don't think people realize how good defensively San Luis is. And I think right now they have the fourth longest shutout streak to start a season in MLS history.
which is, I mean, that's something, right? Like, this is not a pushover team. 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 and ideas. 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. Hacks and Ferments is a proud sponsor of the Sounder at Heart podcast network.
Those excuses won't be here against Houston, of course. Like, they need to win this game. They do. They do. Like, this is a game they should win. And just two more things. Kim Ki-hee and Reid both. Both look very close. They look close. Yeah. And those are good things. And earlier this week, we didn't ask him today, but earlier this week, Brian said that he didn't think they would be available for Houston, but he expected them to both be available for San Jose, which is next week.
Although they were full in. I mean, they were full in training. That's what he looked like. Yeah, it looked like. So I wouldn't be totally shocked if one or both of them were on the bench this week. I'm not necessarily expecting it. I don't know that I would expect either one of them to play, even if they're on the bench, but they might be enough. there to in an emergency you know break glass in case of emergency because they are a little short uh stew hawkins and travion suso both
played for Defiance last night in the Open Cup. In case you didn't know, Defiance beat Washington Athletic.
club in the first round and now they're going to be playing at spokane or they're going to be hosting spokane velocity in the next round on april 2nd just to get that all out of the way but both travion and stew were limited to only 45 minutes In part because the bench is so short, they can't afford to sort of take a chance and let them, you know, risk with even the guys who are sort of who haven't played at all for the first team to.
They can't risk them. And that's where kind of the situation is right now. Yeah. And then Obed is out with the U20 for Mexico. He knew who was with Cameroon. And he played on Wednesday 90 Minutes. He did. Yes. You know, I am kind of curious if he has any issues getting.
back. I hope he doesn't, but it's always an adventure. It tends to trick you from over there, yeah. Yeah, and it's, Manuhu doesn't make it any easier. Yeah, sometimes, you know, things, you know, miss a flight or something. So, yeah, hopefully he gets back on time. However, I would say that, you know, you know, Jaymar's back too. Jaymar's back. And that's an important one. He seems to be in good spirits as well. I have to deal with a family emergency in Colombia. He's back. He looked good today.
And, you know, Brian mentioned today that he and Jackson Reagan were in his office talking about, you know, how can we minimize the mistakes and, you know, being more ready and prepared. And I think. Those are good things because if anything is true, regardless of how bumpy the first quarter of the Sounders 2025 campaign has been, you could really, if you're...
half full type of person say, look, if you take a mistake here and error there, Seattle's probably got two more wins under belt and they just don't. I mean, I think you can very easily argue that they. on the merits of their play should have three more points. They should have two more points from Charlotte. They should have at least a point from St. Louis. And really the only game they look bad in.
in the MLS was the RSL game. And even then that was one, you know, that was an offside call. They had two offside calls go against them. That could have been a very different game. So I don't know that they've been, I think their record is maybe a little worse than their quality of play up to this point. But again, they need to show that against Houston and they need it. Right. That's what makes this game so important. Exactly. And it's what you just said. In addition to a three game road trip.
At San Jose, at San Diego, and one that I'm forgetting, but it is going to be a tough stretch at FC Dallas. The Ferrero return. Oh, yeah. That'll be interesting. That'll definitely be interesting. Three games that, you know, it's on the road. Santiago's a good team. San Jose looks like a dangerous team. I mean, those are three teams who look a lot more dangerous than I think anyone would have expected a month ago. Thanks.
Dallas is a little bit of a mess, but they have some real offensive firepower. San Jose has been... Pretty good. And San Diego has been really good. I mean, I think those are all games where they can reasonably expect to be competitive and maybe even win. But none of those are easy games. No, no. They're not nearly as easy as they looked, I guess, a month ago. But looking a little farther ahead, the transfer window remains open.
We have not officially heard that they're going to be putting Paul Areola on the season-ending injury list. All indications are that is probably what will happen. Are you hearing anything about how they might fill that? fill that space. Yes. So I know for certain that the team is out there looking for players that are experienced. that are clearly not going to have any sort of like transfer fees. So I'm looking within MLS and or.
a free agent right uh there has been some you know rumors out there about joaquin torres or something that doesn't seem to have any legs um maybe they've looked at it but i don't think that that's feasible uh we have been looking at at players that might be interesting that i'm not willing to give any clues on just yet because uh we like to have that outside your heart when you guys to be uh you know expecting that however you know i
take it upon myself to just look at things, right? Because if Seattle was able to get a player that maybe has an upcoming and in contract yeah and you're able to in some capacity make an exchange and I'm going to go ahead and dare to say this, but I don't think that it will happen. It's maybe even a cash buyout or cash transfer for a specific player. I would say they're much more likely to make that type of move in the league.
I wouldn't be totally shocked if they spent a transfer fee to get a U22 from within the league. It seems like a very current Sounders move to take more of a sure thing bet from within the league than to shoot. for the moon and go with someone that has some, you know, like we were talking about this Nassimiento guy who the Galaxy signed, who the Sounders actually had the Discovery rights on. And he's a...
A very high ceiling, 19-year-old forward out of Brazil. He has not played a single minute yet for Galaxy, even though they signed him like a month ago. And that's sort of the risk that you take when you're bringing in an international player is that.
There's paperwork, there's betting in, there's just the whole process, especially with a young player. So even if they were out to go and sign a foreign U-22, which we're getting zero indication that they are targeting that for a short term, in the short term. it's just that player is not going to be contributing certainly not during the current injury crisis but maybe not even before the club world cup but could they do that move from within mls
There's certainly some intriguing players out there who could be interesting targets. It seems like Miami and Columbus both have a roster that is ripe for a move. one way or the other you know you look at a player like a julian gressel yes who is on a big number uh who is not playing at all for miami who has a
proven track record in this league. Then in Columbus, you have a player like DeJuan Jones, again, on a relatively big number. I had forgotten that the crew gave up a pretty fair amount of allocation money to pick him up last year from New England. But he's a...
He's a naturally left or he played mostly on the left as a as a. a wingback or a fullback but he's another player you can see fitting both either one of those players you can see fitting in yeah relatively easy no 100 and those are both two good examples i think julian might be the the the one that'd be easier to get because
Joel Jones is someone that constantly produces for Columbus. Julian on the other side, he has a lot of that Paul Arriola versatility and experience. I don't know if he'll be... As good of a fit as, you know, Arreola had been. But the two guys I was looking at, and again, this is just completely speculation, but Shalowy, you know, 28. Oh, Daniel Shalowy, yeah, from Kansas City. He's got really good moments. He could play out.
He might be benefiting from just a change of scenery in a team that can potentially maybe use a spot to go and get somebody else. So that's a player that I found interesting. Another player that I thought was maybe in the cost was in Miami and was Taylor. Oh, Robert Taylor. Yeah. And we know the Sounders have talked to Miami. constantly about Taylor. Like this has been a player they have been talking like when I know that they talked to Chris Henderson about him the last two years.
So, yeah, that's another player who I can see the Sounders being intrigued in, and he doesn't seem to be playing much. now right no no no he hasn't and not not with this roster right and you know he has a history of injuries which i know won't vote well with our audience they're immediately gonna pull the plug in before it even happens uh but but that's another play that i thought just
looking at salaries, looking at the possibilities. And there's one that really caught my attention. Salary's too high. Might be difficult to get him out of there. But I thought Christian Espinosa would be fun, a fun fit for this team. Oh, the San Jose, uh... Yeah, he would be a fun fit here. He would be a fun fit here. He would be a very fun fit here. He's not a designated player, is he? He's not a designated player. Oh, okay. Oh, no, no, I made a mistake. That is, he's at two point.
Okay, so he's maybe a little too high. He's maybe a little too high. But that would be a fun player. Yeah, I've seen things happen. I mean, I don't know how much could be done. But at the same time, you know, we got Ferreira out of a DP. So, you know, whatever could happen. There's just options. But what I'm here to say is this. The U22 might be a little bit more...
difficult to get in this transfer window because I'm guessing they want to do a little bit more research. In the summer, there might be more options. The in-league thing makes sense. But if you're able to get somebody now, It would honestly make me feel like the team is going out there to correct the path that they're in necessarily.
Not as if this club and this roster is not sufficient. I'm just saying that by losing an important contributor, in my opinion... I think that, yeah, if they have the... We know they have the resources and the capacity to replace a Paul Areola. And I think it is sort of an important statement of purpose.
To go out and say, look, we know we lost a player who was effectively a starter for us. We are not going to just sit on our hands. We're going to go out and try to replace them the best that we can. And that's not just getting a body, but getting a player who we think.
Might be, maybe, I don't know if it's realistic for them to think, oh, we're going to get an improvement over this, but it's totally reasonable to think, why can't you go out and get a player who is capable of competing for starters minutes? 100%. That should be there. Yeah. And, you know, we talk about competition. We talk about depth. I mean, hopefully this whole thing works so that, in my opinion, you continue to I don't want to call it force, but but.
He's going to get a lot of minutes. Ferreira. He's going to get a lot of minutes. How about the nine? Yeah. And I'm hoping that that continues to be the objective. Let's keep him up there. Not that he can play back, but we already know that his game is designed for it. But I want to see him do a lot of stuff up there. So by bringing somebody else... He's too good of a player. I think it's almost...
It's impossible to argue that his ceiling is not the highest it can be playing as a nine, playing close to goal. He is a goal scorer. He is obviously very good at other things. He's got a nuanced game. But if you're talking about how can we get the most out of this player?
That's his game. I mean, he should be leading the line. I mean, at least at the very least until Jordan is here. And then I hope, I think the best case scenario is that he plays well enough where they sort of have to reconsider. what kind of how they're using it. And the other thing is that, look, nobody.
in the Western Conference is running away with this thing. So you and look, it's not like it's a necessity for the Sounders to panic and it's a must win, you know, right off the bat because this team has done it before where. They don't have a very good half of the season, and then they still make the playoffs. But I would like to see that urgency for them to just be better for this.
atmosphere that you've talked about for these fans that come out here. Let's get him excited. Exactly. Exactly. Let's get him excited to show up. Right. And I think that's something that has sometimes been lost is that this sort of trust the process mentality. has led to good results, but it has also led to a frustrating pattern of it'll all work itself out in the end. And that's just not that exciting.
Sometimes it does work itself out in the end, but that's not, that isn't how you capture hearts and minds. No, no, it really isn't. And look, sometimes, again, it's not just about...
The standings or wins or losses is just about having a team that you feel like, and this team can't compete, but if you add another piece, you are... upping that potential you're up in that ceiling that expectation and it's something that me and you have drilled on is what's the expectation of this team and i know i know it's not just
coasting and barely hanging on at the beginning of the season. I'm going to use an analogy that I think you'll appreciate because you are someone who enjoys good food is that you can serve someone a great meal and it can taste great and you can appreciate what it was but if it when it comes out and it doesn't look special that diminishes the experience it doesn't make it a worse meal it doesn't make it doesn't make it taste bad it doesn't mean that it wasn't
Well put together. But the presentation matters. The presentation. We eat with our eyes as much as our as our. mouths and i think that sometimes we lose sight of that when like the the way this team is constructed sometimes it's like look don't we aren't eating with our like they've almost decided like we don't need to eat with our eyes Is it taste good or does it not taste good? Is it getting you full? Is it getting you full? Is it nourishing you?
Yes, the Sounders have been putting together a very nourishing product. Yeah, I love that analogy, by the way. First of all, I love analogies and good food. And as somebody who's paid $35 for an old-fashioned because it comes in a little crystal thing. smoke coming out of it it didn't taste that much better but the experience was better and i think sometimes that we could do a little bit better job of presentation and part of presentation is getting people excited with
Roster moves and rumors and all kinds of this stuff that is not necessarily X's and O's and game models and all these kind of things. It's... it's good it's just the energy the hype and i think that i would love that this is an opportunity for the sounders to do that i guess is what i'm saying and i hope that they you know that doesn't mean they have to go and spend a million dollars no
in transfer fees or $10 million in transfer fees. But if they can just get a player that you go, Oh, I can see him raising the ceiling of this team. Yeah. Why not? And I will say that I am certain. To 100%, I'll bet anything, that this team will secure a player before the end of his transfer window. That's absolutely certain in my opinion. With everything...
an estimated guest, an educated guest of mine, looking at the surroundings, looking at what I know, with the M.O. of the team, I think that there is a certainty that they will go out there and get a player. Who that is and how fans respond, that is... We are getting good signs from the team that they understand that this is an opportunity. They're out there actively working the phones and trying to make something happen.
Good place to probably leave this, Nico, ElRoloNW on socials. You can listen to him on Lobbing Scorchers on Mondays, right? Pulso Sports. Anywhere else? Are you going to be on TV? Oh, yes. I'm going to be on TV tonight. I don't know if this will come up before then. 7.30, Washington Sports Wrap. I will be talking Fox 13 news. I'm going to actually be with Michelle Lutka. Big time. Look at this guy. Come on. I'm over there just looking for Sandra Hart.
Yeah, and maybe that's a good point for me to just, I always have like a little bit of a closing thing with these and I tend to get in a groove when it comes to that. The closing statement or just moment for me here. This Nichols Luther thing is a huge deal, and I know fans are going to want to know. You asked me about it, and I talked about how much he does feel like.
This is his city and he's going to be so emotional and he's going to be happy to be back. But I also know that there is a part of Nico that will come out here with a big chip on his shoulder. because there was so much that he tried to do to get back here that I'm curious what he'll say in our post-game interview that we have scheduled to see if those emotions, you know. change or that moment that he has changes anything out of that human sensation of
whether Brian did ponder upon, and I'm sure he did because he told us, he pondered upon the X's and O's and the possibilities and the pros and cons of bringing Nico back. Ultimately, the decision was no. You're not coming. We don't need you, even without us having to pay a penny of your salary. So it's a human emotion to feel rejected. It's a human emotion to feel...
that the team that I kind of played for, that I kind of played for, that I almost put on the map with my sweat and tears, did not want me back. So I want to know what... where that contrast lies at the end of the game. And that's something that I'm going to be very focused on, that I'm going to talk to, that I'm hopefully going to be able to rely upon on Sounder Hart as well. And depending on, you know, how much he gives me, he could just be a mute. He could just be like, man.
I don't even know how to break this down. I don't know how to articulate it, but it is something that I'll be looking for. Oh, was this the Seattle? Is this it? Oh, yeah. I didn't remember this place. I had a couple of runnings here. Yeah, okay, yeah. That's all I said. That was the way I finished it. Thank you for all the comments, the following. Thank you, of course, Jeremiah, for continuing to keep this...
Project is show going. I'm very excited about it. So thanks, man. Well, thank you, Nico. With that, we'll get out of here. I am Jeremiah Shan signing off for Nico. This is Nos Audietes, part of the Sounder at Heart podcast network, and we will catch you next time. expect a LAFC who is motivated to prove themselves at home, to prove to their fans that they're capable of winning in this league. And it's up to us to really ruin the party.
Yeah, you guys like that? Awkward joke, dad joke right there, huh?