This episode of Nos Audietis is sponsored by Fulpool Wines, a Seattle-based wine retailer in proud sponsor of Nos Audietis since 2011. Fulpool 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, the special focus on their home, the 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. This is a tiny f***ing dog. Welcome back to Nos Audietis sponsored by Fulpool Wines. I am Jeremiah Oshan. Joining me today is Taylor Twellman. You know him very well. Obviously, Sounders fans, huge fans, Taylor. Yeah, big fans, big fans. Yeah, big fans. How are you guys?
Well, I'm great and I'm always happy to have you on. I don't know. This is probably the I don't know, fourth or fifth time probably at this point that we've had you on, but I love having you on. And I think, I think Sounders fans just give you a hard time because they're so familiar with you. If you like it's a brother kind of a sibling kind of thing. First off, I love the fact that they give it back to me. I think one, it keeps me honest
and two. It shows the level of fandom. They're an educated fan base. I'm not saying others aren't, but there's a different level of education to be. Not as much. That's good point. That's good point. Never mind. I take, I take back everything I just said, no, honestly, I do. I love it. I love everything about it. I especially loved this year when I did Portland beating Seattle because Seattle fans took a little offense to a couple of my thoughts. I don't, geez, I don't remember that happening,
but I'll take your word for it. You aren't, but you're not calling this week's game, I guess, or neck. This, not going to be the next game. We were pro. I mean, Jake and I Apple, I think MLS was hoping that there was real jeopardy on the line for Portland, Seattle. And I think that's why they scheduled it. I think that's why they looked into it. And the truth of the matter is the West kind of settled itself other than the host of the
playing game. It's kind of played itself out. And then obviously messy Miami can set the record. So you know where I'll be. Yeah. The West is much more settled now. I mean,
it's been, it's much more settled now than I think anyway. Like the sounders can finish theoretically anywhere from second to fourth, but that's not, that's not a, I mean, second to fourth is like the smallest variance in terms of what you're, what it means for you between it's really because that I think teams five through seven are also pretty equally. There's not a big gap between the fifth best team and seven.
I put out an interrupt you, whatever side avoids L.A. FC. Maybe the best side for you guys. Well, yes, there's been a, so that's been a common theme. We might as well start there. So that's going to common theme in sounders circles is would you rather finish as high in the table as possible or would you rather avoid being on the same side of the bracket as L.A. FC. And if you are, obviously if you're the sounders, you don't, you don't bother
worrying about that, right? Like you as the team, you just want to win the games in front of you. But as a analyst, what do you think is more, is it, is it better to have homefield advantage for as long as you can get it and theoretically have the better path or is it just whatever you can do to avoid L.A. FC is the better path. It's interesting the way you phrased it because I would say both, but the, you always kind
of remember, you don't want to look back on decision day. And then the galaxy slip up before that and you could have been the second seed, right? So you don't want to lose homefield advantage. However, L.A. FC have two games. Seattle only has one. L.A. FC if they beat Vancouver during the international break, that kind of makes the decision for you. L.A. FC could ultimately be the one seed. You don't know how that plays out. So I think Seattle's just
got to look at it and say we finished as high as we can. And at some point, you got to beat them, Jeremiah. So I agree. The next player, my thought is, you know what, if we got to play him sooner rather than later, whatever, if we're going to go to MLS Cup, we're going to have to beat the galaxy or L.A. FC. So we might as well do it now.
Yeah. And my, my thinking is that whether you're doing it in the, like whether you meet L.A. FC in the conference finals or the conference semi finals, it doesn't really feel any better to lose in either one of those rounds because at the end of the day, the, the, the bar you're measuring yourself by at this point, if you're the sounders is, did you, can you hang with L.A. FC? And it's almost really that simple, right? Is it a team that you
can stand toe to toe with? And I don't know, you can maybe argue that they stood toe to toe with them. Maybe not really, but no, I don't think that that's the problem, right? These last, this, the last two, three games that they've played each other, it's been a tough matchup. Yep. It's been one where you've seen quality at a different level in the critical moments. Then someone on Seattle has done. Now listen, I go back and I, I still
hold Seattle to this. And I know Conkick F. Champions League final may come into play here, but 2019, that Western conference final, good tell, IFC still in my opinions, the best game I've ever seen the sounders play. And when you think about it, it was your two best players showed up and played the game of their lives. Ladaro and Ruidia's were brilliant on the day. Everyone else contributed. Don't give me wrong. I'm not saying they didn't
play well. But when you play L.A. FC, I feel like Seattle fans will agree with me. It's often just, well, Bologna has been better. Right. They got Bologna. He's been better. We, they don't give up a ton of chances. But the quality in the final third, Bologna's just better than anything that we've done. So that's the longwooded way of saying their qualities risen to the top a little bit more. So, but I'm going to go to the next question
that you have. I still think they can beat him. I still think Seattle has one run left in them. And I think it's one run. I think it's with this group. I don't know what it looks like. I think part of it is shootouts winning in penalties. You know, I'm trying to figure out the best way to describe that. But I don't think it's impossible for Seattle to not make MLS Cup. I still think there's a run in them. I just don't think it's going to be
the same run that we saw in 19 that we saw in 1617, whatever it may be. I think it's going to be a little different. Yeah. And they were pretty, you know, they kind of made solid. Yeah, those were, those were impressive. Like they were not in doubt. Any of the results really like they agreed. They, you know, they were, they look good even on the road against Colorado. I was in the building called that game. They were definitively the better team
that day. Yeah. So they, they have this game against the timbers, which I guess sort of puts the previous discussion a little bit to the side. They need to win this game for a host of reasons, not the least of which is that they haven't beaten the timbers at home since 2017, which is unbelievable when I read that the other day. I almost have a check that that's insane. Now part of that, Severace, the way he set up those teams,
it almost worked to be in on the road. I don't think Phil Neville's timbers are built for that, especially on this game. And that's why Jeremiah, that's why I, I am, I'm with you. What if they win three one? You know, what if Seattle has this outpouring of goals, definitive win against arrivals? That can very easily teach an old dog some tricks that all the sudden gets going. I actually think the way they play and the result against Portland may have
a lot to say of how Seattle does in the playoffs. I really do. I do too. And they've, you know, it's funny because they've good if they've been since, you know, you go back to June 15th or 12, 2 and 2 and league play since then that is setting up as one of the all time great second half of of MLS history. And yet there hasn't been this air of invincibility around them at all. And that's a big part because of their stumbles against LFC and also one
of those, there are two losses in that time or LFC and Portland. Yeah. And I think that's, those are almost nooming larger than the 12 wins that they have in that time, which is,
you know, it speaks a lot to the confidence of a group. And you, you look at, it's really only this last week that I started to feel in the fan base a real genuine confidence where they go and they win three games against playoff caliber opponents, two of them on the road, all of them where they were reasonably, you know, they were pretty much in control in all three of those games even though they won two of them one zero. Yes. I like the way you put that because, and I was
talking about this over the weekend. Since July 1st, the two best teams in MLS are not in or Miami, not Columbus, not LAFC, not the Galaxy. It's actually Orlando City and the Seattle Sounders. Right. And I found that interesting because then you got to dive into the weeds or land O city can hold their hat on. We've scored the most goals we've ever scored in a regular season. So they've hit some barometers they've never hit before. That's why they're on a run.
When I look at the Seattle Sounders in the run that you just said, if you think about the wins that they've had, Dallas, Chicago, New England, at Austin, St. Louis City, at Minnesota, at Columbus, good win. Okay. Their freshable circumstances, but yeah. Absolutely. Sporting Kansas City. It wasn't until the last two at Vancouver at Colorado that all of the Sun, I was like, okay, hang on a minute. Yeah. And that's what I said during the lost against
Portland. I was like, wait a minute. I, first off, you play the team in front of you. Absolutely. But I can't hold my hat on the Seattle Sounders of old and say, this is the same one. When I look at this run that they've been on, I don't know, man, they lost LAFC, they lost to Portland. They tied San Jose and you sit there and go, no, at Colorado, at Vancouver, the two best victories in my opinion of that run. And that's all that matter.
So those are the two most recent. So it doesn't matter what did against Dallas and June and in July against Chicago, New England. It doesn't really matter Jeremiah. You beat Colorado on the road. That's always a hard one. You beat Vancouver on the road. Now you got Portland at home. You win that two, no three, one, a convincing win against the second highest scoring team of the West. Now all of a sudden, you may be cooking with gas and I think Brian Schmetzr knows that.
Yeah. You mentioned Brian Schmetzr there and I may as well use this as a jumping off point. I, you know, I, when the award ballots are either just came out or they're about to come out, I'm sure by the time this come, this releases, they will be out. But Brian Schmetzr to me has probably done his best coaching job of his career. I don't necessarily know that I know he's not going to be among the favorites to win
Coach of the year because it's really a narrative. It's a narrative driven award. I think that's not controversial to say. It's usually about the team that overachieves the most or just has this record breaking season and Totten Martino is probably the, the odds on favorite, right? To win the award. Yeah, I mean, if they've set the record, you have to give it to him. Right. Right. If they don't, I think this becomes a conversation.
Right. Okay. So let's just say hypothetically, they don't set the record. Where is Brian Schmetzr in that conversation in your mind? Top five for me. Maybe top six. I, I think you and I could probably with Sounder's fans debate. I thought 16 was brilliant. I mean, I just remember interviewing, you know, I just remember interviewing him. I think it was on Sports Center right when he took the job. If I'm not mistaken, we were actually, it was on a way game at the galaxy. And I remember
going, well, how do you get the playoffs? And he goes eight, two and four and literally see, I don't went eight, two and four. And I was like, what is going on right now? And listen, they won. I'm a scuff. I don't care about that. What he did to change the narrative of that team, give that group belief. But this year's been good. I, I, I'm with you. I don't know if it's the best job he's done, but my God, it's top two or three. This year, this year's been good.
And I'll tell you, he hasn't been typical Brian Schmetzer when you talk to him off camera, off mic, off the record. You know, there's been moments where he's like, I, you know, he's, he's frustrated. He's not in a good place. He's trying to find answers, especially this L.A.F.C. when they lost the open cup game, he's ready to lose his mind. And then they lose the Portland. He's like, how is this possible? And yet, they could be the second seed, which is remarkable.
And I think that we're getting the same vibe. You know, what we talked to him on a pre-regular basis at training. And it's the same vibe. It's very, you know, it's up and down. When it's up, it's, it's sort of guarded. And it's, he's not quite ready to pump his chest out and, and be excited. And I think part of it is because this season has been different kinds of challenges. You know, he's had personnel challenges. He's had, you know, there's been,
obviously the results early on in the season were really, really rough. And then they didn't really hit their stride until the midpoint of the season. I mean, that first half of the season, even when the results started getting better, it was a grind. He's out of, he's out of contract. Correct. He is. Yeah, he is. Which is amazing. So like, you, you think about that often can be a detriment. That can be difficult. That could be a distracting factor. It has not been for him.
100%. Yeah. It's interesting. Jeremiah, I didn't know. 2021, he was a finalist for Coach of the year with Bruce Arena. And we're on the pressure that year. And I think that's interesting because I'm not sure. I even would have had that in my. No, I'm not sure about it. Guess that year. No, I wouldn't have either. And I guess it was, that was the year where they started off, you know, 13 on beaten or whatever it was. And I guess there was a little bit more attention around the team.
But then they had that, you know, they kind of slipped up at the, they didn't win five winlists at the end of the season. Yes. And, uh, and sort of had a chance to get the top spot in the west on the last day of the season. And they tied Vancouver. Uh, but it was, that was, I wouldn't have guessed that one either. You're right. If you had to tell me, he was number one. Correct. He's never one. I think that was the, I think 2021 may have been the only year he was even a finalist.
Which is remarkable. Cause I'll tell you right now, then 16, they should have been like, what, right? Who won in six, I don't even know who won in 16. I'm like, Oscar Pereira. Oh, cause they won supporter shield. And they were, and they had been bad before, right? And I, I have a tendency to lean on, I'm okay with the supporter shield winner. I am a, I mean, it's hard to go with that one. Vincin. Right. If it's not a convincing supporter
shield that goes down the last day, I think it opens up a can of words. Bruce arena 2021, you set the record. If taught some Artino does so, you have to, I get that. But it's interesting. Cause I, I ruffled some people's feathers. Jim Curtin won it in 2022, right? Uh-huh. I thought, well, for Nancy should have won it that year. Of any year that you told me, he was unbelievable Montreal. That was, that was an absurd season. And yet, Jim Curtin won in 2020.
So I'm with you. There is a narrative part to that award that is interesting. Because it doesn't always follow the supporter shield. And I'm wondering why that does not. Yeah. I mean, it, it seems to me it either goes to, like I said, it either goes to the, the supporter shield winner or the coach who led the team on what was perceived to be the biggest, the most over performance or whatever that may, right. Which is this year you would probably say Dean Smith
at Charlotte, Chris Armistice Colorado, Chris Armistice code. He's, he's been getting a lot. Yeah. Are there any sounders that you think have a decent shot like an end of season award to me? I think Yamor has a pretty good shout for defender of the year. Yeah. I think he's going to be in consideration for it. Absolutely. I'd be shocked if he's not. It's funny. It's kind of like
stuff and fry. Stuff and front shmuts are really haven't gotten into this. Right. It's, I think they're both hurt by consistency that it's sort of the, if you take their performances for granted a little bit, you know, Stefan fry right now. He's leading the league or he's one behind Hugo Luis for shutouts, but he has a higher shutout percentage. He's the only goalkeeper under one goal per game. But he, the advanced analytics are not as kind to him this year. But it's, it's been
an easily overlooked year for Stefan fry. I don't think I've heard anyone really talking about how good he's been. And yet you look at the end of season stats. And here he is, you know, near the top of everywhere. Yeah. The only thing I would say is having watched the last four Charlotte games. Colleen has been unbelievable. Yeah. I mean, free. The community are their odds on favorites. Yeah. To the point where Jeremiah, it's kind of like Burkey. We're like, all right,
fine. You know, it was, it was, it's not about Seattle, but you'll appreciate this in some of those fans. Well, the new cover of the year, it is head and shoulders Luis Suarez or Gabrielle Pack versus anyone else. Yeah. For sure. Right. And I think any other year, I just find, I find like we say this a lot with stuff and fry any other year. I feel like we say that a lot.
Right. Except for 18 where it was his award to win. And I still to this day lose my mind every time I look at that, Zach Stefan's performance that year and try to wrap my head around how he won Goldkeeper of the year over Stefan. I don't think a lot of people that voted on that award don't understand that on and yet somehow turned out that. Yeah. Yeah. Goldkeeper. The Yeah. Goalkeeper. The year is the futiles me more than any other award. I don't think that Albert Rusnack
is a contender for MVP. But this has been a, I think a very impressive season for him. Yes. Is he. Do you think he's someone that maybe gets into the best 11 conversation? No. Yeah. It's a lot. I don't even know if a van der I, I, I, I'll be shocked if Peck makes it. So anyways, yeah, you stocks had a great year
for him contract year. If I'm not mistaken, it is a contractor for him. Yeah. Um, but I don't think he makes best 11 and I just think it's a, it's a product of where the league is and the strength and the kind of seasons we've had with goal contributions. But you can make an argument. He's the team MVP on equivocally. Yeah. I think you can
make that argument. You know, the thing that's been bandied about lately within the Sounders community is the idea of, Neeko, you know, you put Neeko Lidero's best statistical season up against this Albert Rusnex season. And Rusnex been better. Like it's like, he's got more goals than, than Lidero ever had. He's one short on a siss of tying the franchise record for a siss. But I think he has more primary assists than Lidero ever had. And
he is playing a role, a more defined role. He's not allowed to just go freelance and get the ball wherever he wants. Now, I think you can argue that Lidero came through in the biggest games and delivered the biggest hardware. And he was a more of a traditional MVP of, if you pick an all time Sounders MVP, I think you give that to Lidero. But on a statistical basis, I think it's been a little overlooked, even within Sounders fan base, just how good Albert Rusnex is his season has been this year.
Thank you for listening to the Sounder Heart Podcast Network, which now includes no sonyetes, lobbing scorchers, and the cooler yield. 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. Membership 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 with the smartest, funniest, and most engaged commenters share their thoughts and ideas. To find out more, just visit senderheart.com and click the subscribe button in the top right corner. Thanks for listening. I agree. I agree. Now here's where my rebuttal comes into play and because I was, I called
a lot of those Lidero games. They were bigger moments. I agree. So I think this year has been, there have been some bad teams and you could take advantage of it, right? And so, especially the less if you think about San Jose, San Luis, Sporting kids, the city were not great. Not great teams. East have a few more mediocre teams, but the top three
are better, whatever. You can look at it differently. I think Roustak and I think Jordan Morris have taken advantage of some of those moments, but in the biggest moments, Rui Diaz and Lidero always delivered. They did. They did. You know what I mean? However, the primary assisting is the one thing that I think Rusnax should all this had on more
than any of them. Because that's literally coming from him. Yeah. No, he's, and I think is especially on set piece delivery, he's been, I think better than, then you can, I think you could just go set piece or set piece. And I think Lidero has been a better set piece taker than, than, or Rusnax was a better, has been a better set, set piece taker than Lidero really. I agree. I agree. I wasn't really as strong as you.
Rusnax, I love Albert. I think he's an unbelievable player. I think if you are the top echelon of MLS, I think he's your number one non-desinated player. Well, that's a good, so that brings us to the big, the big question this off season, I think is going to be, should the sounders reassign him as a D, like everyone's going to say, well, if you can bring it back as not a, not a DP, that's what you should do.
That's the easy answer, right? If you can do it, but if you're the sounders, are you, do you, if it's a matter of bringing them back or not bringing them back, do you give them the DP contract? I do because I can, it has to be a contract that I can manipulate in June or July. And that's when you should ask the, I think sounders fans need to look at that. Listen, you keep Rusnax on the team absolutely. Does it mean giving them a DP
deal now? Okay, six months from now, Albert, I got to have the ability to, to, to buy that down. And if I can't, great. Do you, I don't know how well you know, Albert, but do you get the sense that he, is he the type of player who, if you say to him, look, we promise if we give ourselves this flexibility that we're actually going to use it, does that make a difference to him? Does he go, oh, I think it does. I only want to win. I
think it does. First off, if he gets his money in whatever shape or fact, it doesn't matter, you know, during my most players, most, not going to say all the, listen, okay, fine, whatever you got to do to do the sour cap, sure. As long as you use it, which is what you just hit the nail on the head, are you going to use it? Are you going to bring in 3D piece and we're going to rock this thing? I'm in all in. And I think he is the perfect
player for that. I just do. But Seattle's got a lot of decisions to make. And they've got a lot of decisions, mate. It's off season. They've got some big ones, Jeremiah. It's going to be the most interesting off season, I think in a long time. It's fun for my perspective, because I'm intrigued to see where ownership goes. I'm intrigued to see Schmesser and I would assume he comes back, but he's a free agent. Who knows? Someone may will moth
his feet. Yeah. I just don't need Seattle. All the signs we're seeing, at least from him, seem like it's funny, because a few weeks ago, he was sort of, I don't want to talk about this. And he's still, I don't want to talk about it, but it's more of a, you'll get figured out kind of like there's a confidence as if he's gotten some assurances that things will work themselves out. I mean, he would have to turn in all of those footy pajamas that
he has. Look, Seattle Sounders. He's a lot of coach anywhere else. No, no, I think he, I think he and Adrian very much see eye to eye on on how this is going to go. But you know, the biggest outside of Schmesser, maybe the biggest off season decision is they will have an open DP spot. I don't think it's breaking any news to say that role-reduced is not going to come back as certainly as a DP. I don't think he'll be back in any, in any way.
But the big decision then is going to become what position do you sign this DP at? The Sounders have given every indication that they intend to at least try to sign a DP this winter. And I don't know. I look at the way that, you know, I know a few months ago, they were internally pretty much laser focused on finding a nine. And they were, you know, there was even some discussion of trying to figure out a way to bring in a nine this
last summer. And in the intervening time since then, Jordan Morris has really, I think, come into his own as a, as a number nine. You know, we were, I think you and I were talking about this recently. And you, you mentioned this on the, on the Timbers broadcast about for all the numbers that he's putting up, he doesn't to use or at the time, he didn't
necessarily feel like a number nine to you. And at least what I've seen, especially in this last stretch of games where, you know, you know, he had the two goals against the earthquakes or not his, those were more of a kind of like number nine type of goals
where they are a gruever in the box type of plays. And then he hasn't scored in the last three games, but he's contributed in very positive ways to scoring in each of the last three games, either through, you know, like he makes the goal against the rapids, even though
he doesn't finish that chance. And he definitely should have finished the chance that Rothrock set him up for, but he, he creates the chance that they do score on, you know, he, he was a contributor on the two goal, two of the goals they had against Vancouver. And then he, he helped out with the goal. He had the, the assist on the goal in the, in the Houston game. It's he's showing you that he can be a number nine. Are you still
feel like if you're the sounders? Look, do your thing on the, we love you, but you can need to be a winger. There's two, the, first off, it's a great conversation. And good on Jordan for making it a conversation. I'm a, before I answer that, I'm going to remind your listeners of what I said in the first four weeks of the year when I did a couple of the games. If I'm not mistaken. And what I said was I think it was the galaxy game
at the end of March. But either way, that's not the point. The point is I said, this is a big chance at the end. Oh, yes. Yep. And I said, this year's important for Jordan Morris not to be streaky. And the best way that I, and I, and I've listened to my, my idol growing up was Alan Sheer, uh, Rude Van Nistro Roy. Players that I tried to watch and emulate in any shaper way that fashion that I could try to play that way. It was ridiculous
for me to watch here and read because I can never play that way. Point being is that I've also gotten to know post playing and I've gotten to talk to Alan Sheer, Rude Van Nistro Roy, Michael Bollock, these people. I'm not name dropping, but I'm doing it for a purpose. And I said, how do you guys judge a nine? They said two things in in Jeremiah. It's amazing. They said, not how many goals you score. It's how many games you score in. I think that's
an amazing way to look at it. And their thought was Rude, especially, well, if I score in 25 games, that may be 25 goals that are game deciders. Mm hmm. But if the manager, my team know I'm going to score in 25 of my 35 appearances, it's different. And I was like, you know, what? That's interesting. Never even thought of it that way. I just thought at the end of the year, did I score 15 goals? And then Alan Sheer would say, well, yeah, he scored 15
goals. But what if you get three hat trucks? That means three of the games were so anyways. I hear it. I said, oh, Jordan Morris. And in you guys know this for Sounders fans, he can go on streaks with. There's no goal. He doesn't score. Then all of a sudden, he gets hot. And it's streaky. So he's very streaky both ways. If he wants to be a designated player, nine for a team that wants to win MLS Cup, he's got what if I'm not mistaken, 13
goals on the year. Correct. In MLS. Yeah. And MLS play. Right. So in the way I've always looked at it now playing 34 games, that's got to be 18 games. He's got to score an at the minimum. Yeah. And that's a designated player, nine. That wants to win. Yeah. So we're only
talking six teams here, seven teams. Right. Yeah. No, I hear you. I guess the counter, the counter argument that I would offer is that if you look at is, if you zoom out and you look at all the games that they've played, he has 17 goals across all competitions, which is a jump. And I think that it counts that he's been healthy this year. You know, he's going to play in, he's going to play in over 3000 minutes. He'll have over 3000 minutes
across all comps. He'll set a career high for minutes played this year. He's been healthy. He'll play all the regular season games. He played in two of the open cup games. He played in all the league's cup games. So I think availability counts for something is that fact that he's been able to play a lot of, he started a lot of three game weeks, which I think is,
is huge for him. And he's been more consistent this year, especially as a nine. You know, he, those first nine games of the season, he wasn't necessarily playing as a nine too much. And then it really wasn't until that June 15th, where they took Rudy is out of the lineup and they put Rothrock in, they essentially put Rothrock in that game. And that Morris has
been able to start as a nine consistently for the last half of the season. And he's had his most consistent run of, of scoring in a lot of games, not necessarily piling up goal of the goal. I agree with you. Now if you ask Seattle, they'll tell you something different. Oh, I know there's doubts in the team in the video, but I'm saying those first
10 games that a lot of fans were like, Taylor, he didn't play the nine. I listen, if you're not playing as a nine, you're playing as a nine and a half or you're playing as a four four, two, you're playing as a nine, guys. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No, I hear you. I never give you my second point. What's Jal Pallogo? Like that's, that's where this conversation turns into, right? So, yeah. Jordan Morris. And a new six. That's younger. You know,
and I'm saying, Jeremiah, that's where this gets interesting. If it's only one DP that they can bring in at the moment, then yeah, you may say, well, listen, let's give Jordan another run, but let's get a little bit younger and fresher at that position, which listen, I am the biggest Jal Pallo fan of the world. He's father's time. Sternam in the face. Oh, yeah. Not seeing the same Jal Pallo that I saw pre injury. And he had a little bit
of a last year this year. No. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. He's got it. He's got, I think he's got a chronic hip issue that is not that's that's continuing to cause problems for him. I think Christian Roldon has looked really good in that role. He's obviously a very different. He's a different player. Yeah. And we haven't seen him as a pure as really a number six. Like he's played in a double pivot, but he's never really been asked to be the more defensive
of the of the two double pivots. But he's looked, you know, the last, he's always been the one that has to run. He's always been the fill in the gaps, run five and a half miles. Do this, do that. Do everything to cover Lidero and everyone else. I think it's interesting. I still think. And I'll hold it to it. If Jordan Morris is my winger, they were really fricking good, man. When Ruri Diaz was firing and Jordan's coming off that
with his pace, he thinks like a center forward. So it's almost playing a second forward in a wide area, almost like a target. Winger. Sometimes you hear people describe it that way. I don't know. It's very interesting to me. I think it depends on who the nine is and who the six is. I think they got to get young and dynamic, but, but Vargas, like I just look at the depth there. Atencio. Yeah. Like I look at it and say, you know what? Give me the, let's roll the dice
with it with a DP nine. Let's do it. And so what do you, how do you think Paul Rothrock figures into all this? I mean, he's been, I've, I've rooted, I've rooted for him from the beginning because when I asked Brian Schmetzard, tell me something about him. He looked to me right in the eyes that he's your kind of player and I go, oh, what is that mean? Because he's a gamer. He just wants to win every single time he's on the field, whatever
the competition is, he just wants to win. And there's something for that. Jackson Reagan's got a little bit of that too, don't he? So it's just, and I find it, I don't find it ironic. Those two grew up friends, they're doing everything. I think Paul's played himself into one of contracts, which is great. But two, more importantly, a prominent role that Brian Schmetzard now looks at it. He looks down the bench or he says, nah, I got to start
him. He's got to play. Well, I think at the very least he's put himself in position where even if they bring in another player, it's very easy to turn to Paul and say, you're my first guy off the bench or what you need, Deft Jeremiah, the best teams in this league have Deft and the ones that figure out depth the best Columbus being one of those in our Miami. Yeah, absolutely. Paul coming off the bench, pushing the guy ahead of him. Yep.
Good on Paul. Good on Paul, because I'm not sure he was given a full opportunity in tonalities run with it. You know, it is, it's been pointed out a few times that it's not completely unprecedented for a player of his age to sort of have an emergence, not to draw too many broad comparisons. But Chris Wondolowski had a similar trajectory and turned out okay. I mean, Wondo didn't score goal really until his like seventh year. Right. Yeah, it's
it. Anything can happen. Absolutely. It's been it's been it's been it's been interesting the same for the record though. No, no, no, no, no, I'm not I'm not not putting you there. No, but if it is, even better, it's great. Do we make enough of the narrative that the degree to which the sounders still have so much Seattle DNA? You know, you look at Roth Rock, you look at Reagan who aren't even technically homegrown players, but they did grow up
in Seattle. They did play in the academy. But you look at this team and you know, we talk about Dallas, we talk about Philly and they've sold players on and I guess that's sort of what adds to that aura. You took my answers. Have so much more have like so much more of their team comes from within, you know, Max and and Dunnie have talked about this a fair amount on the broadcast. But is that can we is that something that needs to be we need to do
a better job of promoting that story? Yes. Yep. Just because that wasn't always the case. You and I both know that. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, there was never the case. So it's been a great progression. You know, how often would Garth talk about it publicly being like we've got to get younger. We've got to use the academy. We've got to do that. They're now doing that. Schmezzers using the players in moments for those players to succeed. So yes, absolutely.
I don't think it has the same narrative of Dallas and Philly just because they've been doing it longer. But I don't use players for more money. Yeah. But even Philly, even Philly, if it not for Ayronson and now Sullivan, Jim Curtin be the first person going like we have a great academy. But at some point, we got to move these players on. Right. Right. The Red Bulls have kind of died down, right? Other than Tyler Adams and Josie Altonore years ago, they really haven't sold
and that was an academy that everybody talked about. I think Seattle deserves the narrative. I think it should be talked about more. I do. Well, before I let you go, I did want to pick your brain a little bit about some of the national stuff that's going on. The biggest, I think the biggest news right now is Greg Berholtter over at Chicago. Just got hired. He's going to be the GM and the coach. I know there's a popular idea that, you know, it's kind of going to the success of
this will depend on who he hires to be sort of the player personnel person. But isn't that an inherent flaw in the system that that person will report to him and then it's the report to him. He hired him. He's paying him and then they report to him. So listen, and I've said this to Greg, so it's not like it's anything. I just don't think it's possible. And I get the, I just think nowadays, it's so this leak has grown in so many different ways. The complexity of being the sporting director,
along with the coach is not what it was. And everyone will say Bruce arena 2021, well, where are they after that? That roster is a disaster. And now it's got to be fixed because they had to rehire Caleb Porter and Caleb wants a completely different roster. Now you got Kurt and awful Christianity saying, well, this is this is that that's what Bruce did. Now this is what we want to do.
You see what I'm saying? Peter Vermease is another example. The other aspect that nobody talks about is the guy that's negotiating your contract is also the guy that's coaching you during the 90 minutes. That's what I says to you. You don't get a raise. You now want me to run through the wall for you the next day. No. And it just doesn't work that way. Jeremiah, it's not going to work that
way. And I don't think Greg, I know Greg knows that. But I don't know if Greg fully understands where the league is and how much money these players are now starting to make versus five years ago. Well, it's a, it's a, I wonder if he underestimates how much the league has really changed internally. Like not just a talent level, but it's, it's a very different league than it was in 2018, 2017. The other way to do this, Steve Trondaloff, he wants to do that. I have. He says, no,
as Pat Dunin, no chance as Jim Curtin, no, thank you. As Schmetzer, he'd be like, no. Right. Right. Like it is the sporting director job now is way more complex than it was when Greg Burraltor left Emma Las. Yeah. Yeah. On the other hand, we're talking about Chicago. So
in and of itself, it's a positive hire. Yeah. I guess the thing that I find funny about the Chicago hire is that everyone says that Joe Monsuego is doing the right things in terms of he's turning his, he's putting the faith in the guys that he hired to do the job, but the, the, the, the flaw seems to be consistently, he puts too much faith in the wrong people. Yeah. And this is
the same kind of process, right? He's putting too much faith in one guy. To your point, he's gone away from the first model that he had and moving on from the, the other guys, but now he's going to an older model. Right. Where you're like, well, wait a minute, hang on a minute. On the other hand, Joe, if he was on this podcast, who'd say it was the only way for me to get Greg Burraltor. Right. So then you're like, okay, I get it. Listen, he is spending money. He is doing everything
he can to get Chicago back on the map. He will get them on the map. I think from the national analyst's mind that I have right now, we have to have Chicago on the map. I, I, this league was so good and strong when Chicago was who they were. They need to get back on the map. And so I hope Joe's rewarded for his ambition and spending money. I just think Greg's going to find it a little bit more difficult than he thinks in the moment. Well, Taylor, I've kept you for long enough. I
really appreciate you giving us the time. What you're, so you said you're, you're on a, Emily season pass obviously, but you're calling, are you working? You're not calling either the games as weekend, are you? No, no, I got the weekend off. So I'll be coaching the second grade girls here in Massachusetts. Okay. Good luck to them. Good luck to the parents. They have no idea what they're getting with me this weekend. Is it weird if I bring a cooler beer for the 9 a.m. kickoff?
No, I think that's, that's terrible. I think if I'm arrested this weekend, you know what happened. Right. Do the coach, the other parents know who you are? Do you get a lot of, do you know what you're doing? I am, I am my daughter's dad. That's all I, yeah, that's all it is. And then if I yell, what are we doing? Everyone's head goes. Oh my gosh, yeah, I just gave it away. Good seeing you, dude. Good seeing you. Obviously, thank you for coming on, Taylor.
I am Joe Maizhan, signing off for no study at this and we will catch you next time. We love you. Let's win another one.