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 Adientes and what we learned this week with Nico. I am here. I'm Jeremiah Chan. I am here at Long Acres with Nico Moreno, my favorite co-host. I don't know, one of my favorite co-hosts. Let's go. We're moving up in the world. I don't want to disappoint anybody.
No, I don't want to get your boy Lickett. Lickett and Aaron. Aaron. And Matt Doyle. Hey, I see the Matt Doyle thing. I dig it. I dig it. Right? Uh-huh. So we got to start, you know. We got to keep it real. Hey, man, I love it. Breaking it out, getting some MLS stuff, some Western Conference stuff. We're doing it right. You're doing it right. Right? It's the one-stop shop.
on the sounder at heart podcast network got lobbing scorchers doing live youtube shows and got so much content people coming up to me all the time it's so funny we can put out as much written content as we want and people are just like oh that's great you start putting out a bunch of podcasts you're like oh
It's exciting. Yeah, and I don't know how they do it. I think you talked about it. It might be just because they have a little bit more liberty with their day-to-day, but under the lights and they got the other one, man, they're just putting it out there. People are loving it. If you are a Sounder at Heart subscriber on the private RSS feed, you are getting a fire hose of audio content into your face, into your ears. But here we are.
It's a beautiful day. Could not possibly be more beautiful out here at Long Acres. And the Sounders are right now getting ready to go to RSL.
for their second league game of the year. It's funny to say that it's only the second league game because it feels like we have played a lot of games already this year. But they are going to be going to RSL where they have... really struggled it is almost comical how much the sounders have struggled we are gonna i would say we're getting ahead of ourselves but we're gonna talk about now we're committed to talking about rsl first but we are going to talk about the antiga game
We're going to talk about the Cruz Azul game later next week, but I want to do a little bit of preview of RSL. They are coming up on Saturday. The Sounders have really struggled at Rio Tinto Stadium. You got to go all the way back to 2012 to find the last time they won a game there. I guess you could say 2016 they won an Open Cup game, but I don't know if we really count that. It wasn't a shootout. But 2012, last time they won on scoreline.
2011 was the last time they won a regular season game in RSL. The only time they've won a regular season game was 13 years ago. 14 years ago. That's crazy. It's insane, and it's something that I think, and I've heard from some fans, that this used to be a rivalry at some point, and it used to kind of be something that fans really wanted to win out, and then it just kind of lost its magic, and then it was more of other teams.
So it'd be interesting because if the Sounders are going to win, it's now or never. I actually put my stamp of approval, if you are thinking about putting... some wager in it. There's some really good odds. for Sounders being away, and I really do feel like this is it. When we talk about RSL, I'll go into it, but it's easy to say that RSL has struggled, to say the least, in 2025. Yeah, so let's do...
RSL first since we're on the subject. So they are coming into this game winless in three competitive matches. They open their season with a 0-0 tie at Erdiano. They're leading the top team in Costa Rica right now. Then they turned around and got blown out at home or on the road to San Jose Earthquakes 4-0. And then they turned around midweek and they took a 1-0 lead against Erdiano. It looked like, OK, maybe they're cruising. They got a little bit of a break.
when Erdiano scored their first goal and it got waved off for a foul. And then Erdiano still came back at RSL and scored two goals. RSL did not put up much of an offensive attack. Their striker, who... Does not have a lot of experience. Did get on the scoreboard, but Pablo Mastrani did not exactly have high praise for him. You were talking about something that he said in the postgame about... Yeah. I mean, look, a Jagu is a player that is clearly new to the league, new to the team, needs to...
He's a young guy, and I think he catches himself, Pablo did, because one of the media members is like, oh, you know... Diago finally got on the scoreboard, is that, well, yeah, from the first game to now, we've had a ton of chances. And oh, by the way, in this specific game, according to Pablo, first of all, there were 28 shots. Just shots by RSL. According to Pablo, 18 were inside the 18. Oh, my God. In that one game? In that one game. And only five were on goal. Only five out of those 18.
Definitely a team that... Needs some clinical finishing. And it's been the issue from the first game against Elidiano to the Bruce Arena game where even Bruce threw them a bone and was like, hey, well, you know, the score doesn't really tell the whole story. And then...
getting eliminated against a good Eddie Deano team, but he's not a great Eddie Deano team. He's not one of those teams that you're thinking, man, that's one that might be a dark horse. This is not your dark horse, man. This is a team that literally struggled in this one. get some offense going and it's interesting because not to spend too much time on it but
Arsenal almost implodes. They make a substitution. They bring in Ojeda in the 69, and all of a sudden... Oh, and I think it was Diego Luna. And... A minute later, or 30 seconds later, that's when the equalizer falls for Erediano, and then it's over after that. So this team, looking at the games, because I've been able to watch 90 minutes of...
three of the games of them this season, so every game, they're just very slow in transition. It seems like to gate the ball from their end, from their build-out, all the way to the... Whether it's prime scoring positions or prime assistant positions, it takes them a very long time. They tend to depend a lot of certain players that I don't know if they're... Up to the challenge, man. I mean, a guy like Diago is someone that, you know, he came in, praised, but I just have not seen enough from him.
For him to be the guy. And Pablo talked about him. He's got to be the guy for us to be successful, yada, yada, yada. I just don't see this team offensively challenging anybody in MLS right now. And they went from... having this prolific offense with Gomez on the left, with, obviously, Chichuarango. I mean, they had some players.
I understood Julio was a guy that either came off the bench or started for them. That's a lot of goals that you got rid of, and now they're struggling. Yeah, you brought up that sub situation. So, yeah. Basically, they made a triple sub. Triple sub. Triple sub at the 70th minute, brought in starters Pablo Ruiz. I guess, I don't know, Taylor Wealth might not be a regular starter, but in Brian Ojeda.
And then immediately, almost immediately, they gave up the equalizer. And it was a boo-boo. I mean, I think it's Diego that passes the... compromising ball to Palacios. Palacios, I don't know how he falls on the ball of some sort, and then he creates a transition moment, and there's the goal. So they definitely have some difficulties.
It's systematic. Every single game that I've seen, they tend to really focus on trying to get the ball out wild to Marisouk, and they're prolifically to that side. They're trying to get early... is in because they're having a hard time getting bodies committed up front. So it's just, it's very predictable. And in the first game against Erediano, there was nothing going on offensively against San Jose.
Christian Espinosa played as a wingback. Christian Espinosa. And you were unable to capitalize on that side? I mean, it was outrageous. Yeah. Yeah, this is a, you know, it's funny because they rotated the lineup pretty heavily for Erdogan. which, I don't know, maybe came back to bite them. But then when they got their starters on, I mean, Diego Luna came in on the 59th minute. They, you know, so they...
They had starters on the field when the game got out of control. But they should be reasonably well-rested for this one. But I don't know if they even really have a set starting lineup, really. And they really only have one striker. I don't know. This is an opportunity, I think, for the Sounders to end this streak of futility. I was talking to somebody.
The Sounders have only scored like four goals in like their last 13 games at RSL. It's, it is really a stark, it's hard to explain because the Sounders have been a pretty good road team during most of that time. you know brian talked about that today how oh we're a good road team we don't think we should be struggling this much there but i don't know what it is but something that does happen and it's odd
The scheduling, it seems to be every single time. They're always on short rest or something. Every single time, that seems to be the case. Yeah, the first time they were, or the last time they were there. It was a lineup that had like Georgie Manungu's first start. It had Soda Kitahara in the lineup. Danny Leyva was in the starting lineup.
uh it was a it was a pretty heavily rotated squad that they used the last time they were there and that seems to happen a lot i don't know the good thing is that even rotating the lineup This is a pretty deep squad. We saw that on Wednesday against Antigua, where even though they made seven changes from the weekend...
There was really not a big drop-off, and they could probably make seven changes again, and I wouldn't expect there to be a big drop-off. So from a Sounders perspective, what did you – how are you – I don't know, what did you see on Wednesday and how do you think that's maybe going to translate into this game? Yeah, I thought that it was encouraging that the team, regardless of the rotation...
held true to their identity and their concepts and the number of players that were able to commit. I thought that the pivots... did a fantastic job, the holding midfield. Seattle played through the midfield. They did. And that was just clear to me.
within, I don't know, I think it was 80 minutes when I started typing the tweet. And I was like, man, they've been so good, so quick on the ball. JP touched every ball. He was coming back. He was so involved, so engaged. And Danny, he's through balls, his ability. Honestly, the spacing was very good. Seattle just seems to have a very good idea of what they want to do offensively and how to execute it. It wasn't a perfect game. There's basically no perfect games.
I thought they were good in the first half, and they were very good in the second half. I mean, there was clearly a moment in time, and Mauricio Tapia talked a little bit about him. making a formational change and kind of pushing a little bit higher, knowing that he was going to leave some gaps. And that's where she had to capitalize. But that's not something every team does. Sometimes a team can...
play risky, get numbers forward, and their space is behind, or there's certain pockets that open up, and teams don't capitalize on that. That can be said true about 2024 Sounders. This year... I have to give them credit because they were able to do it. Sure, they could have scored more goals. There's no doubt about that, right? I mean, there's one. Masowski has a couple, right? I think De La Vega has one that he should have scored. Jordan.
Orton had one. Obed, I believe, had one. There was a whole bunch of... times where the volume of play was there. The volume of chances continuously showed itself. And I'll always be more concerned when a team is not generating chances than when they aren't. being clinical what they're finishing. But the Sounders have eight goals through games and they have not been clinical. I think that's sort of notable that they, you know...
I thought they were better against Charlotte in that way, but they have generated plenty of chances. They have been out in transition a lot. They have been willing to commit more. numbers forward more often. You know, I wanted to go back to something you said about Joe Paolo touching. He had 96 touches in that game. He had 84 passes. He was 80 for 84 passing. That is a monster game for him. Danny Leyva also I thought was very good.
He was 83 of 96. He had 113 touches. These are the backup center mids. And I do like what Brian is doing with that, where he seems to have. picked two pairs. He got sets. He got sets of holding mitts. Exactly. And I think that it's, you know, I think it allows them to create a little bit more fluidity between them. Sure. And I hope that he continues to use it this way, assuming he can afford to do that, where if you need to rotate, you bring them both in.
I'll be interesting to see what they, I'm sure they'll go back to Obed and Christian for this weekend. But I was really encouraged by Danny and JP because if you can have a solid backup center mid pairing like that, it allows everything else. to flow out smoothly from it. We saw Pedro was constantly getting the ball in dangerous spots. Jesus Ferreira was getting the ball in dangerous spots.
Ferreira has really impressed me in his playmaking ability. We saw it again. He picked up another assist to Paul Areola in this one. I really love that whole sequence there where Areola plays him in. Ferreira ends up taking his runner outside, and Areola makes this really clever sort of run where he holds it up and then pulls back, and it was a good finish.
I've been very impressed by both those players so far. The scary part about that, Jeremiah, is that I still don't think Ferreira is at 100%. No. I see a Ferreira running about 80% just compared to... other seasons where he's been completely healthy.
And that's just scary. Because, I mean, this is a guy that's not even at his full potential. I agree. And he's still being a difference maker. And you can see the IQ. You can see the field awareness. You can see the chemistry with Paul Arriola. And Paul, Paul. has been the equivalent of in the definition of stability and just consistency. And, you know, I asked him a little bit about that after the game and, you know, he was just like.
I feel like I've taken, I asked him, what is it about this system that has made you, not just hit the floor running, but made you so consistent? And he said, yeah, look, I've gotten tactically better over the last three years. Greg Bellhalter was someone who's helped me. with that, my time with him, and you could see it. He just understands the game at a different level. And short pride, I mean, he's like literally my height. He might be, he might be.
either smaller or just as framed as Victor Rodriguez. But he plays a position that demands more of your physicality and your pressing and your retrieving. I mean, all these things that I just have been...
And now I get why so many people had nothing but fantastic things to say about Paul coming in here. It is a funny thing because he was definitely, of the two players, the one who was... more like oh well he's more of an add-on we'll see if it works out but right now it's hard that he makes the way the sounders want to play he makes it so much easier and
He didn't start against Charlotte, but I think it's pretty clear that he's the number one choice as the left wing back. I suspect he'll continue to rotate in and out. But he... I just think the system works so well for him. He seems to understand it. He seems to be buying in. You know, I don't know. He seems to be having a good time.
I am really thrilled with that acquisition. That, to me right now, is the biggest acquisition that Saunders made in the offseason. And that's not to take anything away from Ferreira's performances. I think he's been good. He just... That's how good Uriola has been. He's just been that much of a difference maker. I liked a lot what I saw. And honestly, even more than the polish, which...
It's the third. They played three games. You don't expect total polish. It was just fun. They seen the players were running up and down the field, creating chances. It was an exciting game. It was a fun game. Pedro de la Vega brought some flair. We can get into that a little bit. We should. You know, he had two goals, which I think is huge for his confidence.
For a player like him who has struggled, in his own words, with confidence last year, who you can see, though, when he's playing, when he feels like he has the trust of his teammates, when he has the trust of the coaches, it just... Allows him to play more free. Both goals were very well taken. And, you know, he had a lot of little moments of flair and cleverness. But one of those moments stood out particularly because it was right before.
the Sounders conceded. And if you missed it, what he did is he rainbowed one defender, and then he rainbowed a second defender before, and he didn't lose possession. He passed it to Areola, who then was able to pass it to JP. a turnover happens, whatever, the goal, right? And after the game, I asked Brian, what did you make of De La Vega's performance? You know, kind of just ting it up, softball question.
Talk about this great player's great game. And he said, well, I'll get to that. But first, I want to pump the brakes a little bit. And he, you know, he went on a little bit of a thing about how he didn't really like the way that the Sounders conceded. And he, you know. It was funny because today he sort of walked it back. But if you read the quote, I mean, he put it on, you know, he said, we got to knock that stuff off. Yeah. About the little play there.
I think he said, we got to stop. Those things got to stop. And he was very firm, right? So I'm very happy. And credit to Jada Evans for bringing up those questions today. It's something that I had in my back pocket. I was trying to say that for the end. I love the fact that she asked it. And that's because, look, I know, and this is very true, that Brian constantly... wants to keep expectations low on young players. He's done it with Paul.
Rothrock, he's done it with Georgie Monungu, done it with Jackson Reagan, with Ovid Vargas. He's doing it right now with Stuart Hawkins. With Stuart Hawkins, right? So he does that. I feel like this one, maybe he was a little too detailed and a little bit too harsh, in my opinion. Because when you're coming up at a specific place and you're bringing out an example of exactly what needs to stop. When he didn't turn it over. When he didn't turn it over. Those are the things that...
Especially for a player that has struggled so much and that has finally gotten his dream start. at home, maybe you let him have a little bit of flowers. Maybe you give him a little bit of praise. Maybe you butter him up just a tiny bit. So there's a balancing act there. I'm not going to fault Brian completely on it.
But I do understand why the narrative and it wasn't just us. I mean, it was out there. Oh, yeah. That was weird. A lot of people noticed it. A lot of people noticed it. So it's not just us. I want to make that very clear here that it's not just us that had that opinion. And I thought that, yeah. To me, Brian at times can be a little bit, he should be a little bit more.
We should praise these players a little bit more in specific moments. I get not wanting to let a guy's ego get high or whatever, but at times, building confidence through your... coach is important and i will say in in brian's defense i think like in going back and watching the play there was a sort of simpler play that he could have made that potentially actually could have set up a decent counter-attacking opportunity like if
He's able to control the ball, and if he just kind of pushes it back to JP, there's runners that potentially are getting down the field. And he did sort of allude to that today when we were talking to him about there's a certain way we want to play. And I think...
Some of that one-two passing is part of it. And that's not necessarily, like Pedro wants to be on the ball. And I think that's good. And the Sounders need, in my opinion, a player like that who can change the game. And that's going to come with trade-offs. Sometimes they're going to take an extra touch. Sometimes they're going to do something that is a little bit more unexpected. But it's that X factor that is, I think, going to unlock.
more potential down the road. So I would hope that he doesn't come in too hard. You know, this is sort of the same, you know, the Clint Dempsey, I need someone who will just try shit kind of school of thought. But I do think the Sounders kind of need some of that. And I hope... You know, Pedro, to his credit, did not seem... He did not. And I do think that speaks to Pedro's sort of like inner confidence and his ability to sort of receive feedback without making it super personal.
Yeah, and I think that's important. That's a very good point. It's a very good point because We talk about a younger player. We talk about a player that maybe in our eyes should be feeling a lot of pressure. And I thought he took that criticism as a good thing, as constructive criticism. And he told us...
I like that he says that because there is always room to grow. And I think that players who don't think there's room to grow. Right. The players who think they've arrived. Right. And, you know, I'm kind of paraphrasing here. And I need to put that on Pulse of Sports because the Spanish. interview had some interesting things about Cruz Azul and all of this stuff when the Sounders cameras pulled off so I gotta post that up there but I thought that it was very poised and mature of the way he took
Those comments. Yeah, I do too. And I really like Pedro. I think that he is a player. We're seeing it. We're seeing it. You know, every game he is doing. new things that just show a different type of confidence. And I will say that Brian today did sort of like walk back some of his criticisms. He did. And he said, you know, maybe I could have been just more...
more overtly praising a player who had kind of a breakout performance. So I don't necessarily think there's any problems here. I just found it notable.
I think a lot of people found it notable. Absolutely. And it's something that just sort of needed to be talked about. But this is, I think they're in a good place. And it's going to be interesting to see how this... I really hope they can keep moving on in CONCACAF Champions Cup because I do think it's good for the team that they're going to be forced to play a lot of players, a lot of minutes.
I'm very interested to see what kind of rotation we see for both games. But looking ahead a little bit to Cruz Azul, this is a very, very talented team. They've gone up and down in terms of they're always willing to spend money. I feel like all the Ameki's teams, it's constantly cyclical about how well it's going. Right now, they have a lot of talent. Thank you for listening to the Sound at Heart Podcast Network, which now includes Nos Anietes, Lobbing Scorchers, and the Cooler Guild.
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They look like they're going to be a pretty tough opponent. What can you tell us about Cruz Azul? Yeah, so Cruz Azul is a very interesting team right now. And I'll tell you why. I've been talking about the talent and the challenge that the talent on the field.
presents to a team like Seattle. But this is also a team with some turmoil in the back end that people might not know of. And it's something that I wanted to focus on because I feel like people like to know that context, right? We do. So, number one. This team basically has no stadium. They have no home. They have kind of been a vagabond team, right? Even though they are a huge team, they've not been able to stay one place for a long time, right?
And the funny part is that the fans have been there, right? So I was reading and talking to a friend of mine that's in Ciudad de Mexico and covers the team, and he was saying, look, these guys have 20,000 to 30,000 season ticket holders.
Tickets are sold. So people are following you no matter where you go. You know, you could put it out on a parking lot and that parking lot will be packed, right? And you'll see it here at Lumen. I'm excited about, you know, the fan base is very strong. But they were playing at Estadio Ciudad de los Deportes.
or City of Sports Stadium. I guess that would be the translation. But it's like the third stadium in De Fe, right? It's the third stadium in De Fe. It's nearly 80 years old. 80 years old. So there's been a whole... bunch of issues between Cruz Azul and the owner group of this stadium because of maintenance. It's clearly well dated. There's also a...
approximately a 43% of revenue that goes from Cruz Azul to this group. On top of what you got to pay to play there, there's a 43% part that goes of... Sales of tickets, sales of beverages and food taken. I mean, they're making a load of money. So between that issue and the fact that sometimes it happens to the Sounders where there's other events where Cruz Azul potentially could have not played at home, let's say if the final wouldn't have been...
America Cruz Azul, and they would have to play it somewhere else. They would have to play it in Puebla, perhaps. Because... There was an event going on, and the municipality of that area basically has dibs on the stadium as well, and therefore it would have been an issue. So because of all of that...
Cruz Azul said, we're done. We're not playing there. So we're going to play at Estadio Olimpico. Me and you have been there. We know it well. Which is where Pumas normally play. Yep, that's the Pumas in Ciudad Universitaria. Great. City, me and you got to walk in. It was amazing, fantastic. Cool little stadium. Dated as well. Dated, very dated. But, I mean, it's a fantastic cultural experience. So...
Ironically, Seattle's going to get to play Cruz Azul in the same place they went and basically set themselves up to win CCL because they tied that game 2-2 in a fantastic game. But if you think that's the only problem... you'd be wrong. In week two of Liga MX, the head coach decides that he had an offer from Porto in... Portugal, fantastic team, you know, of course you're going to take that. And he said deuces.
The coach is peaced out. The coach peaced out. No clause paid. Right now, there's literally a legal issue of Cruz Azul trying to obviously go to FIFA and say, hey, look, there's a breach of contact. There's a whole bunch of problems. Nothing was paid. We were going to...
try to figure it out, but nothing's been paid. The guy is gone. So Vicente Sanchez is the interim head coach right now that's been taking over, but this team was playing so well last season. They got to a semifinal. They got to a final. Now there's an entire head... new head coach that's came in and he hasn't been as sharp. They have the talent, so they've...
obviously been able to hold up. We said the Texas has won five games, drawn one, lost one, but there's definitely not a cemented group as it was. last year. And they are a very talented team. And they have a lot of familiar faces to MLS, if you're familiar with MLS. You know, they just picked up Mateus Boguch, good friend of ours from LAFC. Geomachus, the old striker from Atlanta. This is a team that spends money.
They are not shy about spending money. They have a lot of talent. And presumably it's going to be a big, big match for the Sounders. I feel like the Sounders probably need to get a, I mean, they need to score at home. I mean, to feel really good about this series, they probably need a 2-0 win or better to feel like you can go down to Mexico City and sort of survive. I mean, that's really...
The best that you can hope for in Mexico, even still today for MLS teams, is to kind of go there and survive. Not a lot of teams are going to Mexico and winning outright. So it's a... You know, it's going to be a challenge. It's going to be a big game, but it does sound like maybe this is an opening for the Sounders. Well, yeah, so that's kind of what I wanted to provide is a little context that gives you a little bit of hope because, look, Martin...
Anselmi's team, which is the previous coach, the one that ended up going to Porto, did play more possession-based. Was... a lot better on the ball. It seems like the criticism that I've heard, obviously because I don't follow this team consistently, but I love to get myself accorded with people who do. This team is a little bit more predictable. They like to get the ball out wide. They look a lot for Matias Bogus. They try to make...
take advantage of the strikers they have in terms of height, so they cross the ball in a lot. Obviously, they got Giacomakis. They got Sepulveda, who is basically the super sub. And he's the leading scorer, right? And he's the leading scorer, right? He's not a full-on starter. And then you got El Toro, which is the bull, that's the other striker.
has been okay, has been all right. I've seen the 1-0 win against Querétaro this weekend. He kind of misses one in front of goal, and people are wondering, does Vicente Sanchez really know what he's... best striker is and what the starting lineup is. So there are all of these question marks around the team that I wanted to bring up just because you see the talent and the talent is there. But there is a little bit of turmoil. Yeah, and it's...
One of the other things we talked about with the Sounders various players today is sort of managing this stretch of fixture congestion. Because it's one thing you open the season with three games in a week ahead. That's a... That's a heavy load. But the reality is that they're going to be, it's not letting up. As long as they're in CONCACAF Champions Cup, it's going to be like this. It's just going to be like this. And so they're going to have Crucisul on Wednesday.
And then they have LAFC on Saturday. And then they got to go to Mexico City. for the return leg on the following Tuesday, March 11th. So that's a lot of load. These are not games the Sounders can just afford to punt on in league play. I think they're going to do their best to sort of manage this and balance the various needs. From your perspective, how do you feel like they've managed the roster so far? The Sounders? The Sounders.
I think they've done a fantastic job at rotating, like we have already mentioned, and I think you had a great point on it, having groups, right, that play together, that come in together. I thought getting Jay Bell in there was important as well because Jay Bell. That is, I will say, center back right now, until Kim Kihi is fit, that's probably my biggest concern is how they...
manage the minutes of the center backs and getting John Bell, who looked, I thought, pretty good. Getting him some real minutes against Antigua was huge because they're going to need him in the next. And I couldn't agree more because it is about repetition. It is about getting out of the back. It is about certain things with playing in your position. Right now, the Sounders, when they get so many numbers forward.
And we talked about it, and I'm not going to sit here and bore you with tactics, but positional integrity is key whenever you're pushing so many numbers up. And your center backs have to be very... aware of where to be when to be when it clear where to pass where to go quickly and and so jay bell getting those minutes it's it's fundamental so i think that brian has done a really good job at just
bringing in guys that he knows he's going to need consistently. Because J-Bell's also a guy that he brings in to close out games. You know, if Newho gets into trouble with cards or something like that, I think that both of the holding mitts are going to be important because... I mean, hope nothing happens, but both Christian Rodin and...
Ovid Vargas, they get a lot of physical wear and tear because of their position and the way they play that position. So they're consistently getting hammered. It was good to see both of them not have to play at all. Not at all. was a point of emphasis for me. I literally said five, six times, I do not want to see Obed in that game. Maybe Christian, just because I feel like Christian, I don't know, his frame, his center of gravity is a little bit more. A history of being more durable. Exactly.
And that's the point, the history of being more durable. So it was great to see them both take a chance. So I think that Brian and his coaching staff have done a good job by rotating in the right places, in the right moments. And right now you look into a team that it doesn't really matter what pairing it is, you feel pretty confident that they're going to be, if not good, they're going to be very good.
He came into this game just obviously late, but as soon as he comes on, he's like a handful, right? He's a different player this year. I really think he's a different player this year. I would say of all the players that I've seen...
he might have made the biggest leap in terms of he just feels like he's so much more in control. You know, we asked him, you know, it's funny, I asked him if the game is slowing down for him. I don't think he understood the question because he was just like, no, I'm still...
as fast as ever. And I was like, no, it didn't mean like your physical speed. But I think the game is slowing down for him. I think he's seeing it more clearly. He sees the gaps. Absolutely. No, he sees the gaps. I feel like, again, he's... His crossing and his services are not just more deliberate, but they are better paced. They're better positioned. So this whole thing, when we've mentioned the depth of the team, it was serious.
The Sounders might not have the best DPs in the league, but whenever you have a core group that it all plays to the same rhythm, to the same beat, it's kind of the... perfect situation for when you're playing so many tournaments and you're playing so many league play because you have so many more players buying into everything you don't you shouldn't have a situation where you have players pining for minutes that look the minutes are there go if you're not playing
Look yourself in the mirror and ask why you aren't playing. That said, I was a little surprised. I asked about the center back situation, and Brian said he was thrilled with the depth. But... He also mentioned that Stuart Hawkins, it sounds like he's not going to Arsenal. I thought this might be a good chance for him to get a start. And it sounds like he's going to go play with Defiance. They have a preseason game against Vancouver FC, which is a Canadian Premier League team.
And I don't know, maybe they just want to ease him in. They want him to get some competitive minutes before they throw him in the fire. But I really hope there is a plan for Stu to get first team in this because I think he deserves it. Brian talked about, oh, I wanted to get him into the game against... But I didn't. But I didn't. And I...
I thought this would have been a good opportunity to get him on the field. So I'm a little bummed that he's not going to be there. And it's a little concerning to your point, right? Because if there is a grouping that you're... not so sure of is center backs. So if you don't get Stu right now to maybe just test it out and kind of like a moment to see, okay, let's see how he does from a start. Then Jay Bell is your only guy because...
Kim, he's got to be two weeks out. Yeah, exactly. Kim is not training. He's still building fitness. He's not doing any real drills with the team yet. Today, Brian said, oh, maybe another week. He's not a week away. No way. He's not training with the team yet. No way. And that's not a knock on Kim. That's just a reality. He hasn't played for two months. He's in preseason. It's going to take some time to get him ready. So I do think they need Stu Hall.
needs to to to get some minutes they are gonna you know and hopefully i think i'm really high on him i think he's a good player so hopefully there is there is that plan But aside from that, I've been really happy with the rotations. I've been really happy with the way that they are sharing minutes. You know, I would have thought that... This was a good opportunity to get Jesus a start up top maybe for RSL, against RSL, just because he has a great, he's got like five goals in his career at RSL.
And I don't think the Sounders have scored five goals in the last 10 years at RSL. So it would have been, I don't know, I'm sure it would get on the field, so I'm not too worried about that. Yeah, and look, I asked Brian, I mean... And it's a question that I thought he was going to give me a little bit more on, but he's been very closed with me lately for reasons I do not understand. But, you know, I asked him, you know, how he dealt with, obviously...
Having an opportunity at RSL to win when you haven't in a long time. And then dealing with one of the top teams in Mexico. And the reason why I ask that is because, and of course he's not going to give any lineups, but I thought he was going to give me a little bit more depth about... Oh, I'm just going to try the best team to win.
You know, it's okay. That's all right. He decided to answer it that way. That's okay. But the reality here is this one, that you're obviously going to put your best team. against Cruz Azul at home because it's the first leg of an elimination tournament that you need to make count. Because if you're going to Cruz Azul to...
a high altitude, high pollution, because in a city... It's going to be difficult in a full Estadio Olimpico with all of the Cruz Azul fans if you're trying to... get back into a game, which hopefully is not the way it goes, or if you're trying to score out there because you weren't unable to make your home.
Fortitude count, then that's going to be a problem. So you're absolutely going to play your best possible team against Wednesday. And I know that Brian is trying to make it seem like, oh, it's mysterious. Everybody knows. I am sure that Vicente Sanchez... coach with six games knows that your best team is going to go on Wednesday. So we'll see how that plays out. I will say this, that... A lot of talent offensively for...
Cruz Azul, absolutely. And we talked about it. I think Charlie Rodriguez is a fantastic midfielder as well. I don't think he's getting used as much with this new head coach because they play so far wide. Gratondi is a wingback on the left side that... is consistently getting into the 18. If there's a cross to the second post, three out of five times he's there, and he's pushing the ball. He's getting it there. He's an experienced wingback. He's a guy that's...
playing mental games we do the whole time, so mindful for sounder players to not let a guy like that get under your skin, get you a yellow. Romero's a good winger as well. He could play inside, he could play outside. But in the defensive end, look, Wilder Dita is a Columbia National Team cap type of defender, physical, quick, great on the ball. He's a guy not afraid to get forward.
Make teams collapse. If you give him space, he's going to take that space. And Kevin Muir, he's going to be fun to watch, guys. Goalkeepers are not usually fun. This is your typical South American. I might just dribble out of the box.
I might give you a little cut here, cut there. So if I'm Brian, I'm hoping that they've done enough tape, I'm sure they have, that if there's a pressing moment and Jordan is close on the goal, don't go with that first fake because it's very likely just going to be a cut inside.
And maybe that creates a goal for you because, to me, he's a little too confident. Look, I love him. He came from the best team in Colombia, which is Atlético Nacional, and known for having crazy goalkeepers like Rene Yita. So this guy is very good.
But he does tend to get too cocky, too confident with it. So I'm hoping that Seattle can maybe use that to their advantage. But this is a good quality team. Aside from everything that I just provided in context, in terms of talent, oh boy, that's a good squad. Yeah. And it's going to be an interesting...
journey if they get past this one they've got club america the winner club america and chivas uh waiting in the in the quarterfinals so it's it doesn't get much easier after this uh but as always champions cup champion cunkacaf competitions are always There are no easy paths, no matter what anyone tells you. Please do not listen to the people who try to...
Crap on your parade by providing you context that is a little bit misconstructed, to say the least. Man, I hated that article. But anyhow, this is probably as hard as it gets, though. say that. This is as hard as it gets. Because you play this crucial team right now, then getting the winner of the Chivas in America, that's a handful, man. I mean, that's two top quality teams, two top quality fan bases. I mean...
If Seattle can do it, man, it's going to be unreal. I mean, it really would be the biggest surprise of the tournament. It might be. It really might be because everybody is counting on a Mexican team getting... as far as they can. It really is what the narrative is right now. And I feel like for MLS, if you're not Inter-Miami or the LA teams, nobody's really giving you a lot of confidence.
Sounders are definitely one that I feel like people You know what was interesting on the Spanish Broadcast I watched on The CONCACAF broadcast on YouTube They were pretty high on the Sounders. You can see that they have, especially in the Spanish-speaking media, I think, the Sounders have opened some eyes about how seriously they take the tournament.
Obviously, winning it is a big part of that. But they seem really, you know, like to be giving a lot of praise to the Sounders, the way they approach this tournament and their competitiveness in it. You know, the Sounders have a, it's crazy, the Sounders, I think, have a 13-game unbeaten streak in CONCACAF.
up right now, which is pretty impressive. No, they've been good. And look, when it comes to MLS, like I understand that, you know, Cincinnati and LAFC for most people are going to be like the favorites, but I kind of like that. I like that because whether everybody's looking at those teams, including Inter-Miami,
Under the radar is good, man. And that's where Seattle can shine. And that's where Seattle shined in 2022. When nobody thought they were going to go to Stadio Olimpico and beat UNAM because they were going to come off with at least a goal to try to wing back from. And they did it, man. I really enjoyed that. I will say that this team will have to be mindful of fixing...
the mistakes that they've shown over the first three games. Yeah, they've had some defensive issues, and I guess that's something we didn't talk a lot about, and we don't necessarily need to get too into now. But that is a concern. They've given up some...
soft-ish goals, I would say. The goal that they gave up against Antigua was an example of sort of just losing marks. I mean, they had two runners at the back post with one player marking them. It was a good pass, and it was a nice finish, but it... kind of thing you don't really want to see happening. You know, similarly with the, you know, you write off the first goal against, or the second goal against Charlotte, but the first one, you know, another marker gets free, and he gets a free header.
Again, great service, but you got to be able to defend that stuff. Yeah. And then, of course, they kind of fell asleep on the goal that they gave to Antigua in the first leg. So there's definitely some defensive issues. They've been a little gappy. Gappy, that's the word. They've been looser than we're used to seeing them.
a lot more confidence of their ability to clean that up absolutely than if they were struggling to create chances and score goals which they have been doing a lot of uh and it's been a lot of fun to watch and i'm hoping that we get some entertainment the i will say the worst thing about the rsl games traditionally They're boring. They are slogs. The Sounders have not played a game.
Put aside the results, they don't score goals at RSL very often. So I would really like to just see them score a couple goals and to provide some entertainment value because that seems to be the worst part about playing down there is that they just always are playing these. sort of like dog games.
And I think the fun part and at least the confidence booster that that won't be the case is that you look at this team and even with the rotating squad, let's say it's Georgie up top or it's Ferreira. I mean, not up top, top, but like, you know, as one of the. just created midfielders or wide players, you have guys that have been lights out and they've been able to get out there. You know, Jordan Morris, he's a guy that's...
on a good streak. And that's what we want to continue to see from him. He seems to be... excelling in this formation, just as Pedro is excelling, I'm seeing a Jordan Morris that's a lot more confident, that consistently get to better positions, that even when it comes to... being the link-up player at moments and times, he's doing that even better. So the system is working. And RSL, look, another thing that I know that we're kind of getting close to the end here, but Pablo...
He seems to be worried about the age of the team, that they're very young. And he started the press conference by saying, if you don't want to feel like shit on Saturday... work harder on on Tuesday and he said you know it's kind of hard for me to tell a lot of the young guys to do this because you know I've done it you know people have done it but they're having a hard time so
When I see a head coach kind of be so straightforward about something like that, I'm like, man, he's definitely... Some stuff's going on behind the scenes. Yeah, and maybe he's trying to get that across to his team and he's using his platform to do so. So, Seattle might be coming into...
a team that has some issues on their own, whether it's confidence, whether it's just the ability to get, like I said, their tempo going. They're a young squad, man. You look at that midfield, you look at the players up top, they're a young player. Seattle has some experience.
on their side. They have continuity on their side. And they got momentum coming off of this game on Wednesday. So I'm excited to see them play. And again, I'm confident that maybe this is the time where Shadda can get out there and get a win at our... Nice. Well, that's a good note to end on. Nico Moreno, of course, you can find him on Blue Sky, El Rolo, and W. You are, of course, on Pulso Sports. Yes. Check out his YouTube channel.
You, of course, can hear him on our sister podcast. I think that's what we'll call him. Our Center at Heart Podcast Network fellow podcasters, Lobbing Scorchers, on their YouTube. They do a live. YouTube on Mondays that you've been doing with them.
So thank you for doing this. Of course, we'll keep doing this on Fridays. It's been great doing this with you, Nico. No, I appreciate it. And keep the great comments going. I saw a lot of them. There was one that I thought was particularly funny because he mentioned, you know, I hate to...
take Nico's dream away to go to the Azteca. I had definitely forgotten that America was not playing at the Azteca, of course. So whoever you are, because I don't remember your name, thank you for listening. Thank you for commenting on whether it's on Blue Sky. or X or in the Sandra page, Discord, everything. I'm excited that you guys are all chiming in.
The more comments, the better. You put out your comments, whether it's on, you also put it on YouTube, right? You put the podcast on YouTube. So whatever you want to put your comments, man, I'll try to read them. And if they're interesting, I'll try to remember your name. I forgot my notes.
Definitely something that I'm going to continue to do is just appreciating you guys' interaction with us. Awesome. Awesome. Well, with all that said, I am Jeremiah Shan. This is No Sarietes, part of the Sounder at Heart Podcast Network. We'll catch you next time.