Was that the greatest performance in Sounders history?

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Welcome back to another episode of Nos Adiates on the Sounder at Heart podcast network. It is Friday. It is what we learned this week with Nico. I am Jeremiah Shan and I'm here with Nico Moreno. And we got some fun soccer to talk about. I'll also just say later in the show, we have an interview with James Riley. He's the sporting director and head coach of Ballard FC, and they are playing in the USL2 national title game.

on Saturday against Vermont Green. That's going to be a pretty amazing match. We get a good preview there. But before that, Nico, what did we just witness yesterday? Unbelievable. I witnessed the best performance since I've been covering the team by the Seattle Sounders. I know that the stakes were not as high as probably the obvious final for CONCACAF Champions League, but in terms of just...

It being a perfect game, that's what I witnessed yesterday. So we'll get into it for sure, you and I. But that's what I kind of witnessed. It was just the most incredible. most well-rounded performance that I've seen from the Sounders since I've been covering the team. Yeah. I mean, and I think that goes for.

What made it so impressive was just, it was complete. It was, they were good. They were very good defensively. And I want to. I don't think this can be overstated enough. And it's been said, but it really can't be overstated enough. The team they beat was almost unquestionably the best team in CONCACAF over the last year.

At least the last calendar year, they have been the best team in CONCACAF. They are literally the reigning CONCACAF Champions Cup winners. They just won that a couple months ago. They destroyed the Whitecaps 5-0 in that game. And even when they played the Sounders earlier this year, it was a 0-0 tie at home at Lumen and then a 4-1 win down in Mexico City.

And they looked like a different class of team, especially in the second leg there. And this was effectively the same team. They spent $40 million in the transfer window, this last transfer window. Most of the starters in this game were starters in the CONCACAF. This is a team that had only lost once since mid-February. They were something like 14-1-9 in the time since that. My point is, this was a really good team. There was no asterisk attached to this. They took the best...

team that Cruz Azul could offer and they absolutely destroyed them. I would add And for all you stat lovers out there, you guys know Opta. Opta had an article that basically claimed that. Cruz Azul was the best non-European team because of the run they've had under Martin Anselmi. And then Vicente Sanchez, obviously, Vicente Chance is gone. But that's how good this team had been. And they come to see...

You know, they have all their weapons. They added a couple of players, a couple of midfielders, attacking midfielders in Paralela and Jeremy and both. Players in this one don't really make an impact. It was just a game that it doesn't matter which way you slice it and dice it. I had said prior to this game that this team...

The biggest difference between the one that Seattle faced a couple of months ago, or beyond that, obviously, early this year, was that this team was more aggressive. They were more offensive. They pushed their numbers forward. They pushed their fullbacks. And none of that reflected aside from the fact that Seattle had all this space to attack. And, you know, when you look at two clear chances on goal for Seattle, I mean.

Forget the goals just for a second. I mean, obviously that's, you know, what's going to. get all of us excited when we're going to talk about mainly. But defensively, Seattle just eliminated the midfield. Charlie was absolutely lost throughout the whole game. Ocampo was irrelevant. Rotondi came in. in the second half and made no impact at all. Dita, who's a Columbia national team center back and.

who's the Columbia national team goalkeeper, both were without any thing to do or say, did I have the worst game I've seen him have since professional. And so all of that just goes to. how dominant Seattle was from start to finish. Yeah. You know, this guy, Jose Paradella was a, a midfielder, an Argentinian midfielder that.

that Cruz Azul paid like $12 million for to transfer into the team this year. He had been on fire for them. He did almost nothing at all in this game. Basically, they had a shot off the post that came... on a sort of a scramble following a counterattack. And then they had one or two other sort of half chances. Jackson Reagan made a good clearance on another kind of breakout opportunity.

But they were just absolutely contained. And it was interesting. We talked about this in the press box. They had this sort of hybrid press where they would send numbers forward. And then if that first line was broken, they would suddenly drop back really. beyond the midfield stripe. And so they were sort of doing this kind of thing where they would have one line of pressing. But what ended up happening was Obed Vargas especially kept finding lots and lots of space in the midfield. And he was...

I honestly think this may have been Obed Vargas' best game. He is involved in three or four of the goals. He only ends up with... the one goal he, but if they were giving out secondary assists, I think he would have probably had two secondary assists, but a lot of the goals were created by his dribbling by his sort of just slicing through defenders. You know, it was, it was, and it was funny because in the first half, especially.

It looked like he just could not buy a foul call. And I guess the Cruz Azul players were sort of trash talking him and telling him that he was going down too easy. And he seemed to say like, look, I took it a little. A little personally, and he knows a lot of these players from playing on the national team. He has relationships with these guys. And it was almost like he specifically had something he wanted to prove to these guys.

Yeah, the way he broke lines with the ball from midfield was incredibly important for what Seattle wanted to do. His vision was on point the entirety of the game. His motor and ability to just cover space with him and Christian Roldan, I think, was a huge part of why they owned that midfield on a very good, very transfer market valued.

team. And it's because a guy like, and Brian said it, I mean, I don't know how somebody doesn't pay 10, 12 million for this kid, a performance like that. And that's what it was. I would have to say that. In line with what you're kind of talking about, I thought Ferreira, this could have been his best game for me as well. He had two goals sent back that had nothing to do with him. They were offside calls on other players, but he was there at the right time.

right moment. He finished in front of goal. He was clinical in front of goal. He was aggressive on his runs and the way he crashed the box. He was great. connectivity and link-up play. But beyond that, I saw a fiery... Ferreira in the right way with all the chirping and jumping that was going on. There's a time where he just kind of like chest the guy from the back after a goal. I mean, he was just all over. So. It's pretty amazing. And of course, we'll get to the...

The main entrance, which was La Vegas goals. But these are two players that have been scrutinized that a lot of people had given up on that. Now I'm sure that there's going to be a lot of people backpedaling on saying, why is that? they got DP. He should never be a DP. And this, you know, the Jesus Ferreira, you know, how could that be a thing? Right. And so I was just very happy that. The potential and a lot of what we see in training with every single one of these guys.

reflected on the field for once. And that kind of gives you the ceiling of how good this team could be. Now, I'm not saying this is something that you're going to replicate game after game, but it certainly is something that is a momentum builder. And that to me. really put Seattle on the front foot to have a very good leagues cup tournament overall. Yeah. So what are the things that I talked to?

just a few people about yesterday, we sort of got into it a little bit with some of the players in the mix zone was the idea that the club world cup did really set the foundation for. Not just the way they've been playing since then, but especially on a night like tonight. Because one of the lessons they talked about all the time at the Club World Cup is that the way the players, how they choose to foul, how they...

They use their, their physicality that it's not that there's like a, a plan to it all. And it felt like in this game, this was the kind of game, especially in the first half where league at Mechie's teams have historically. taken MLS teams out of the game because there were a lot of little chippy fouls. You go back and you watch how many times you see a Cruisesville player just sort of tugging on a Sounders jersey. Not necessarily in an overt...

like this is a clear foul kind of way, although they did pick up a couple of fouls like that, but they were just very little, little, like making sure they know we're there type stuff. And so many times over the years, MLS teams will react in a way that take them out of the game. And in this game, the Sounders reacted exactly how you hope they would react, which is they just upped their game. Now, there was the moment where Dita and Masovsky got into a shoving match a little bit where...

It looked like basically Dita was mad that Mussofsky went down, I guess. And it could have potentially been a penalty. And Mussofsky just was like not taking it. He just got face to face with him. He got in his face and that's what you want to see. And then maybe the best moment, you sort of alluded to this. I think it was after Pedro de la Vega's goal.

that Jesus Ferreira basically turns to the first player he can find and is just like, this is how it is. And it was just, there was a swagger. There was a confidence. There was a belief that... Look, we don't just think we can hang with you. We think we're better than you. We just played PSG. We just played Atletico Madrid. We just played Botafogo. And those teams are better than you are. And we were able to stay on the field with them.

And so we think we can raise our level above that. It was just, oh, it was so satisfying to see. And it kind of shows the importance, I think, of playing in big tournaments because it has legs into things like this.

And I think that the best credits in, in. I think that the best possible way to frame how good Seattle was is that they, we already talked defensively, but offensively, they scored in every single way. possible set piece goals, transition goals, possession goals. There were mid range goals, switch, switching of the field goals. I mean, uh,

Osase gets a goal. Ryan King gets an assist. Ferreira's on the scoreline. Pedro comes in off the bench and is an absolute spark plug and just kills the game completely. Just everything just was working for Seattle. It was to the point that New got on the scoreboard and got a goal after a very good Danny Leyva free kick. And obviously New just kind of gets there with no goalkeeper and puts it away. But that's how good Seattle was in this particular game. And look, contrary to popular belief, I...

I'm not a grump and I'm not always going to be criticizing things. I think that this is a moment to be rejoiced and to give credit where credit is due to this team. Pedro De La Vega said it best after the game. There was a unity. That was very clear in this particular game. And that sort of relationship cementing.

that goes a lot farther than people think. I mean, call me a hopeless romantic when it comes to soccer, but those relationships, that sort of chemistry and camaraderie, those are the things that had this team, the Seattle Sounders. team have the best decade, one of the best decades in MLS with Nico and Raul and that group, that core group. If this team continues to have that unity, man, I mean, you could see it every goal. Come on, let's celebrate together. I mean, it would.

there was something different about this team yesterday and it wasn't just in the effectiveness and execution of the game plan but it was that the unity

Yeah, and I think Pedro De La Vega, in some way, I almost wonder if his struggles up until this year, and I will say, I think that he's been better this year as a whole. than he has tended to get credit for. I've been someone who has been backing him really for a long time. I have been a big believer in his talent. And part of that is because I see him at training, but I have also seen...

He came so close to having breakthrough moments last year that it was an offside call here. It was an amazing save there. But you could see the kernels of it. And he wasn't doing it enough. admittedly, but you could see the talent was there. And then this year we saw a little bit more of it early in the year. And then in the last couple of weeks, he has just caught fire and taken off. But, and, and these are.

One of the best two-week runs I think that we've seen from a sounder in a long time. I mean, he is absolutely on fire. And the fact that he came into this game relatively late, well, I guess it wasn't that late. He came in the 72nd minute. The game was... essentially chalked. It was 4-0 at that point, but there was no sense that they were taking their foot off the pedal. Both of his goals are wonderfully taken goals. Neither one of those goals are gimme's.

by any stretch of the... I mean, the last one we'll talk about. But even the first goal that he had, Ferreira... doesn't make a lot of good contact on setting that ball up for him, and he still just slams it into the side netting. One of the things about him that I love is that it seems like every goal he scores is just so aesthetically pleasing, and he kicks the ball so hard. Like, he is just...

on an absolute heater right now. And what I love about it is that there is a sense that this is all within his ability. It's not like he's just playing out of his mind. This is the player we thought he could be. This is the player that he is. And that's one of the things that you and I have kind of basically... died on that hill, that he is a guy that you just had to unlock. I use that word probably way too many times this year. And I thought that part of unlocking him was just.

forcing him to start and moving him around, whether it was from the right side to the left side, where that's where we always wanted to see him. In a very natural way, it may be a little bit later than we wanted it. It finally got done. He finally put on the left side and it all just unlocked. And now we get to see that talent level and the potential of. What I will say is the one and only game breaker that this team would have. What I mean by game breaker is a guy that is just going to.

destroy a scheme regardless of what's happening. He's going to be able to take over a game at any moment in time that he's going to be able to take on two, three people and put the ball in the back of the net in a way that's just going to... ignite a fire in the entire group. That's what he's been doing lately. And that's something that this team has needed.

And that's not a knock on anybody else. I think the Ferrer has been amazing, cerebral. That's another guy that I've been very focused on and saying, look, just give him time because there is a lot to his connectivity, his link of play. They're going to find a spot for him.

And I still think that he could play both the nine or the wide position. I just think that he has found that adaptation. He's found that confidence and mainly that read on the group. Now he understands where guys are going to put. the ball, where he needs to put the ball, what he needs to do in certain occasions. And a lot of people sometimes overlook that and it just...

kind of focus on the fact that a player just needs to come in and perform immediately. But there's a learning curve every single time that you move from one thing to another, some shorter than others. But at the end of the day, when you're a talented player, when you have a high... IAQ like Ferreira, it's going to show, man. And I think that's what we've seen from Ferreira. So I just think that.

Going back to Pedro de la Vega, that guy that's going to be able to manufacture things on his own, that's going to collapse defenses to that side, that's going to take defenders 1v1, is something that Seattle hasn't had for a long time. And it does give Seattle... A whole other level of eliteness that maybe we weren't really counting on when Pedro wasn't. performing to this level, regardless of why or why not. Now that he's there, man, I am just, I find myself.

Very positive that this team could do and get to places that I didn't think was possible two months ago.

Well, exactly. And I think one of the things that people have been sort of complaining about, even if they haven't put it quite this way, is they've been effectively saying, we want our Evander. Evander is one of the players in the league who can just change a game through... pure will he has the ability to make something out of nothing and

There are times when he disappears as well. Like I think we saw that if you watch the Timbers a lot last year, you would see that there are times when he just is a non-factor. But then there were other times where he suddenly comes out of nowhere and he hits a banger and it totally changes the game.

And I'm not saying that Pedro is as good as Evander has been doing it now for three years. He is an MVP candidate. I'm not saying that's what Pedro is, but if you're looking for a player who has the potential. to do that type of stuff, that's what Pedro's doing right now. He is showing that he's capable of performing at that level. Now, can he do it for a whole season? Can he do it for a month? Can he do it for...

Can he carry this all the way through the end of the season? It remains to be seen. But what's so encouraging is that we're seeing it over multiple games. We're seeing it when... And I think it was important. We've been saying for a while, well, maybe he just needs to start and he needs that full run out.

Man, he didn't waste any time getting involved in this game. And I think, again, it shows how he can do this. Let's talk about this last goal, too, because I don't want to get lost in everything else. This last goal is so unbelievable in its execution. It is the degree of difficulty on this goal.

is about as difficult of a goal as you're going to see that is not just a total fluke. You'll see flukish goals where it's like, the player doesn't even know how he did it, right? Well, this is something that comes right off of the training ground where players... Practice this type of stuff all the time. It doesn't come off that often, but to have it go off on a game is pretty amazing. So Alex Roldan sends in a first-time cross switch. It's really a switch.

40 yards across the field. The ball is traveling. It probably reaches, I would guess, an apex of something like 30 or 40 feet off the ground. So that means that it's coming down at a pretty rapid pace. And De La Vega just sort of times his run. I guess maybe you can blame the defenders for not really being tight to him, but it's 6-0. Towards the end of the game, they don't really want to get in on this. But he just lets it fall.

And he hits it absolutely perfectly from the... And I've had a hard time describing this in print to accurately depict it. But he's essentially at the corner of the penalty box. He's not... You know, you'll see guys sometimes hit that from the top of the penalty box. It changes the angle a little bit. But what's so amazing about this is that he's at almost the corner of the penalty box. He hits it and it pings off the crossbar and then goes down and hits off the...

sort of the base of the goal. And then it hits the crossbar again. It never touches the net. The ball never touches the net. I mean, just an unbelievable strike. And I just think it was very funny that... The game, that was right at the 90th minute, essentially. And the referee was like, no Moss.

The game's over. It doesn't matter that they had had three minutes of stop. They needed three minutes to review one of the offside goals. It didn't matter that there had been six goals scored. It didn't matter that there had been 10 subs. Nope. No stoppage time today. The game's over. I think that the referee said the image of Apollo Creed's corner saying, throw the guy out of town, Rocky. And he just called it, man, because, I mean, it was an obliteration of.

A magnitude that's never been done for the Seattle Sounders is the biggest win that this team has had in all competitions, especially in an international global stage. But going back to that goal. Look, we talked about it yesterday. When I saw that strike, the first goal that comes to mind that has been even close to a good... First touch is the Jimmy Medranda of a corner kick where he puts it away from the top of the box. But that's straightforward. That's top of the box.

This goal is coming from an angle behind him. There is, yes, there's a sense of maybe the game is done and over with, but the way he kind of... moves his body, waits for it, the way he hits it with the inside of his foot to make sure that if he hits it too flat on, too straight on, that thing's going to sky. So he kind of hits it with the perfect technique just to get it to have... Speed.

the pace, the delivery, and the location where he kind of wants it. I'm not saying he had it all figured out in his head, but he's doing everything he can with his body with the way he hits that ball to put it where he put it against, oh, by the way, arguably the best goalkeeper in Liga MX today. Man, it is just an unbelievable goal. The best goal, in my opinion.

In franchise history, and, you know, I've seen them all. I love them all. The Raul, the Obergle. I mean, there's a ton. Jimmy Traore. But to me, Jimmy Traore, absolutely. But to me... The level of competition that was in front of you, the manner in which it happened, the difficulty of the shot, and the goalkeeper that had in front of you, to me, just make it a masterpiece. That is the way that I put it on X. That is the way that I'm going to continue. think of this goal. I'm never.

ever going to forget what I was doing, what I felt, the goosebumps that came across my body when I saw him put that goal away, completely forgot that I was at a press box and yelled at him if I was in a bar. I mean, it was just... An unbelievable goal. Credit to Pedro. Credit to Alex for the ball he puts in as well. Alex was very good all game long. From that wide side, being a guy that had the overlaps, being a guy that put in a lot of dangerous crosses in.

So that's a credit to Alex. Yeah, I mean, you can give credit. I mean, it was Alex deserves some credit on that one, too, because it was a really. It was a nice cross. It was a nice switch, whatever you want to call it. And it was funny. The press box melted down. I've never seen the press box like that.

It was very unprofessional. I was involved as well. And it was slightly... It would have been more embarrassing if there were opposing media there at the time, but because it was so late in the game, I think... It was just basically the local media, but we were all sort of gobs. It was just like, what did we just see? Yeah, they were already downstairs. I saw them leave. I think about the five zero. They were already walking downstairs.

All right, good. Well, I also what other player I wanted to talk about because there was a lot. We were talking about this a lot during the first half, especially and. The guy who got the start over Pedro de la Vega, Ryan Kent, I thought had a pretty solid game. And I actually think the way that he handled, like he seemed to be the target of a lot of the.

Cruz Azul aggression in the first half. He drew six fouls in this game, and he could have had probably two or three more, and he just never really backed down. was he, he, every single time he, he got back up and he, he did his thing and it wasn't a perfect game. Like, but he did have a couple of good dribbles. And of course he had the, a really great pass to Asos de Rosario to set up that goal.

which is maybe the goal that essentially, that really put the game to bed. That was goal number four. And not that, I don't know how... open the game was at 3-0, but we've seen the Sounders make some interesting games at 3-0. So to see them get the fourth goal was sort of like, okay, this is really, now we're playing for fun. But I thought Kent was good. Now, is he... Is he good enough to get a start over Pedro de la Vega when they're both fully available? No, not like that, but it was still.

You want to see that from Ryan Kent. And I thought this was a good game for his mentality. Something that we've talked about a lot where he just has not seemed himself. He hasn't seemed as, you know, he just hasn't felt. the same swagger that he sort of brought early on. And so I thought it was a important game for him.

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I'm going to be with Brian Smetzer, and I don't think that there's anything that I'm going to completely be negative about when it comes to talking about this game. But I thought he started very ineffective. I don't think he was doing what he wanted. alluded a little bit to the fact that he wasn't being vertical enough on that side. I thought that he wasn't keeping his line and being the widest guy out on the left side. But in the second half, he makes some adjustments. He is able to

get farther up but i still have just concerns about how easy he gets dispossessed at times i honestly would try to see how he would do on the right side he seems like for everything we had heard about ryan kent and all of the uh research that I did when we broke the news.

There was a lot of him being a very downhill type of winger. But when I see him, he wants to come inside. He wants to slow it down. He wants to be on his feet a little bit. So maybe if you flip him to the Ferreira side, maybe he'd have some... more success. I mean, you did it with Pedro where you were putting him at the wrong side. I mean, why not try it out? I don't know. It's just a thought, but it was definitely, and I would have completely honored.

I percent agree with you that this is a performance that he needed to feel like he was part of something, that he contributed with a very good pass. He had another pass before to Obed that got caught on offside position, but he was still. you know, trying to put those through balls. And again, those were both from the inside channels, except for obviously the last assist. But I really do think that this is something that he needed. One player that I also want to recognize is one that...

Had gotten a lot of heat, had been crucified. Brian did not want to talk about it necessarily, but in a very jokingly way, of course, was Nuhu. I think Nuhu had a very good game. I think that he had some of the most dangerous players on that side that he was kind of lost. I mean, that's another good contribution for him. I thought that he was putting some pretty interesting balls. And when...

Ryan Kent wasn't getting forward I thought that he just took it upon himself to get ahead probably not what Brian wanted but I thought that he created some overloads that were necessary to create some very Decent half chances in that first half. So I thought that New Who, coming from all of the controversy, coming from the disciplinary actions, I think that he... basically locked down his job once again. And that's credit to Nu. Yeah. One of the adjustments that...

Brian said they made at halftime was they basically asked New Who to hang back a little bit more and allow Kent to get to sort of occupy that more forward space, that more vertical space. And that worked pretty well.

The other thing is, I don't even know if we mentioned, all seven goals came in the second half. Just to put that into context, no MLS team. has ever scored, best I can tell, no MLS team has ever scored seven goals in a half of any competitive match, let alone against a Liga Ameki's team. MLS team had ever beaten a Liga MX East team by seven goals. I'm pretty sure LAFC beat FC Juarez in 2023 7-1, but Juarez at the time was an absolute...

That was a gross mismatch. And I think other than that one, I don't know that you would find any other... There's not a lot of examples of MLS teams beating... Liga Ameki's teams, even by multiple goals, let alone 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, obviously, is getting crazy. But this is... It's just hard to almost contextualize exactly how big of a win this was, how much of a statement it was, but it also bears repeating. And this is something that the players said. This is something that Brian said.

is that as great as this was, and I do think that there is something to be taken from it in terms of like, it shows the potential of what the Sounders can be. There is a reality that... it's just one game. It doesn't really, it's, it's really just right now. It's just a trivia piece of trivia. It's like, When did this happen? Right. It doesn't mean anything unless they go out and they beat Santos Laguna and they beat Tijuana and they get to.

the knockout stage of this tournament, and they potentially go on to win the tournament. Now, if they go on to win the tournament, you go, oh, this is clearly, this was a statement of what the Sounders want to be for the rest of the season. But if they go out and they lay an egg against Santos Laguna or later on, it isn't that important. So it's just very imperative that the Sounders harness this momentum and carry it on.

I totally agree. And, you know, I think Brian has some really difficult choices. know that he wants to rotate. He sounds like Schneider is going to start this game. He kind of mentioned that he put him in for 10 minutes. It was his debut because he wants to play him next game. I think he'll start. But from then on, I think that you want to keep... a lot of those core guys uh yay mark seemed to be uh he got off earlier um

than usual, probably taking care of him. He's a guy that, you know, he's had some muscular injuries. So do you let Kim maybe... start down one with Jackson next to him. That's a possibility. So you do want to kind of pick and choose, but leave some of those guys. Like I think Reagan's a guy that's very important to the build out to, you know, everything that, that the shadow dog.

coming out of the back. I think that, you know, if Pedro, you just play him 10 minutes, you probably want to get that heater back on and start him up. So there's a lot of choices that Brian can do. I am 110% with you in that he needs to take this game very seriously. Santos Laguna is a poor team, to be honest. We just lost our goalkeeper. They lost Acevedo because he lost his head. And it's kind of funny because I look at the Dita. I thought he headbutted.

It felt like there was contact there. And if you look at that Acevedo red card, he gets his hands in the face, but it's not like he slaps him. It wasn't as violent as Tita. Yeah, I agree. I agree. more egregious on the anger and the intent by Dita than it is by Acevedo to just kind of push a guy back. But yes, they lose Acevedo, who's... arguably one of their most important pieces. I thought that he kept them alive against Colorado that was...

immensely better than Santos. They should have had five, six goals in this one as well. There's a couple of shots on the post by Navarro who had... all kinds of rooms to run behind the defensive line. I thought that they were wide open in the, in the wide channels, in the flanks. I mean, it was not a very good showing from Santos that has. had a bad start of the season. They lost to a Puebla team that had not won in 11 games. And I thought I saw a stat that said that Santos Laguna has won.

in 22 of their last 28 games or something like that. So they're a team that has had some inconsistencies. Other than Christian Dahomey, former Vancouver Whitecap. I don't really see a lot of danger on that attack either. So I think that Seattle will rotate and hopefully they can get a good performance against a poor team. But I'm with you that they cannot go out there and not be.

and get a result in certain ways. Yeah, this is, I do think it's important that the Sounders rotate. I just think they got to keep the mentality of whatever mentality had going into this game. And I thought it was also, like I said,

It was encouraging that their reserves were able to maintain that. I don't know that we're going to get an Osesle De Rosario start, although I will say one of the things that struck me about De Rosario is that he does not talk like a 24-year-old who has like a handful of... first team appearances. He talks like someone who is sort of ready for this to be his moment. And he has...

He's got plenty of confidence. There's no question about that. And it will be interesting if he gets a longer run. I'm trying to think if there's anything else from this game, really, that we... Oh, I should also add this. As good as knew who was, there was one moment where it looked like he maybe swung at a cruise. He got a high forearm up, which in an MLS game, I would not have been surprised to see carded, if not even red carded.

I think that's just a reminder that the challenge with Nuhu is not so much the play. He is a good defender. He is maybe, when he is at his best, he is a great defender. He can be a useful player going forward when he understands his role. But the challenge with him is always, can he keep his head? And that has not always been...

Even yesterday, in the first half, when the game was very much in the balance, there were moments where it looked like he might lose his head. I think that's going to be something that the Sounders have to watch. I think that's probably why Brian was not... ready to sort of just heap praise on Nuhu because they need to keep him grounded. That's the reality is that they need to sort of keep him under control and make sure that he's pushing in the right direction.

Other than that, sorry, just to your point, you know, who's a guy who can help that out? And who I thought yesterday, although he wasn't lights out. on the field, there were moments where he kind of cooled things down was Albert. Albert Rusnak was a guy that yesterday I saw grabbing guys in a very cool Albert-like way where, you know, he has this swag to him. grabbing you. Yeah, man. So he was a guy that kept things cool out there. So maybe he could help out.

Yeah, and I think it was also encouraging that they were this good without Albert having to have a monster game. He did a lot of the little stuff. He had the assist on Yamar's goal. He would have gotten a secondary assist on Jesus' goal if...

if they were counting those things. So it wasn't like he wasn't a part of the team, but he just didn't have to have, he didn't have to take over. And it was sort of like, again, it's like, he's a very important piece to this, but he is not necessarily the guy who's going to. Send you into the next level. And that's what we're talking about. Why Pedro is so important. Why this game is so important. Because Pedro is. Potentially be that guy. And using that sort of. That guy terms. But.

I think that's what we have here. Anything you want to say about Santos, the game is going to come is Sunday. So there's not a lot of time to sort of rest on this one. Like you said, Santos has been struggling. They've been one of the worst teams in League Imequis over the last couple years. What I would say is that they're a very young team.

which could probably benefit for Seattle, specifically on the attack. I mean, Carillo might be 23. Dahomey's one of the older guys. But this is a team that it's a little bit on the young side when it comes to a lot of plays. I think that Acevedo is a guy that doesn't just give them soliditude.

because he's a great shot stopper, but he's also a great leader for the defensive line that struggles so much. Look, Kevin Belanta is a guy that, you know, we followed for a long time that has a lot of ups and downs in his career, but he's a guy that tends to be...

A little bit like Javi, where he just gambles a little bit too much with his position and can get caught up off sides. Quite simple. I feel like both of their fullbacks are better going forward than defending. So I think Seattle's going to have a lot of... openings to attack. Diego Medina, who yesterday was the wingback on the right because they do play with a three-man back line. He's a young guy.

younger he's 24 but he got caught up more than one time just way too high way too comfortable whether he got dispossessed himself or whether he wasn't making that run early enough there's a lot of lack of um understanding of when you need to get there early, kind of that read of the game by both of their wingbacks. And that lack of ability to kind of see ahead of the game, I feel like that's cost them a lot of games. So I think that...

Aside from, like I said, a couple of set pieces against Colorado, they were a very anemic team offensively and a very open and gappy defensive team. So I don't want to make this a catch game. Right. I don't want to make it seem like this is a dog water type of team that you're just going to be able to just.

and you don't have to worry about it and you're going to come in way too, you know, underestimating the opponent. But I do think that this is a very accessible game for Seattle to get a good result in.

I think it's imperative that they get a good result in this one. They've given themselves a little bit of wiggle room, but one of the things I've been saying all along is if they could just get a result in this first game, the last two games set up really nicely. for them. I do think it maybe changes the equation a little bit for Tijuana where they have to, I think they're going to want to probably

Feel like they have to win that game because there's no off. There's no off switch. If you want to advance, you don't get to take games off in this tournament, which is one of the challenges. But, you know, hopefully. I suppose maybe it's a good sign that LA Galaxy won their first game. They also beat Tijuana 5-2, so they may have to want to play their starters in that third game too. They, of course, play the Galaxy in the...

their first league game back, which is why it's, it's relevant there. So, you know, these are, but these are good problems to have. It was a very encouraging performance. It was. A performance really that'll go in the record books, if nothing else. And it does, I think, accurately show the upside potential of this team. They are...

Just to kind of put this out there, I'll contrast this a little bit with some of the other blowouts that MLS teams have had. The Timbers blew out San Luis, who is a pretty decent team, 4-0. They took four shots. All four of their shots were goals. Like this is not that where there's a little bit of, I don't want to say luck involved, but there's an unrepeatability to that. Whereas what the Sounders did yesterday was a lot of repeatable actions that came off well.

It doesn't mean they're going to score seven goals in every game, but it does show that they have patterns of play that they can rely on, that they can go back to, and they can say, like, no, they probably aren't going to hit another volley like Pedro hit. but they might score a bunch more goals like Osaze had. They might score a bunch more goals like Jesus had, like Yamar had. Those are goals that they should be able to score with some regularity. So it's great to see.

The team is in a great offensive form right now, and it was great to see them get a shutout. That's kind of what I learned, what this upside, what the team's upside is. Do you want to add anything to that, Nico? Nope. What I would add is for those that tend to... be conspiracy theorists and maybe some sort of way think that, you know, now that this huge scoreline is out there, it does not mean that the Seattle Sanders are not going to, they're not trying to make the team better.

I feel like they are definitely going to go out there and bring someone in. I think that the know-how thing is still trending on the right direction, but we still don't know what's going to happen. But, you know, there's other options. But, you know, if for some reason it's not to happen, it's not because of the scoreline or because they think that they have it locked in.

But it is because they just weren't able to do so. That said, I feel like we got to give credit where credit is due. And this roster has this team. Top of the West that with a couple of better results and not dropping points in at least three games that I can think of, they're possibly first in the Western Conference.

All in all, just to say that I feel like this group is good. I think that this group with this newfound confidence and... A secret weapon that maybe you didn't know you had in Pedro de la Vega could get very far, but they're still trying to make an acquisition to make a splash of some sort in this transfer window.

And so with that, we're going to go to the interview with James Riley after the break. And before we do that, I just wanted to share something really quick. Last night, Sounder Heart ended up... crashing for basically the entire game and it was crashed. It remained down until 6 a.m. this morning. I was working with our service providers to try to get that all back and active. So I want to apologize to...

readers who were hoping to celebrate this on Sounder Art, it would have been, trust me, I am feeling that pain just as much as you. And so I just wanted to sort of issue that apology to come forward. play it straight with you all and, and say, we're, you know, hopefully this is the last time that happens. Hopefully we've fixed the problems that, that caused that. Of course, everything is working great now and you can go on there.

You can also, you know, if you are already a member of the Discord community, you didn't really probably mind as much. Of course, Lobbing Scorchers still did their YouTube show. So that was good. So we had other outlets for people to sort of celebrate the fun of it. But I do feel bad that Senator Art wasn't able to do our normal thing yesterday. So I just wanted to put that out there. Yeah, that's it.

I love it. So hopefully they can listen to this and hear you and then read you later. Now that everything's good and going. So let's go ahead and push this, this show to. Get the deserved recognition that it should have. Everybody should be rejoicing, loving, and getting their comments out there. So let us know, again, what you think of the show, your thoughts on the 7-0 goal ad, and, of course, subscribe to...

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Welcome back to Nos Adiates. So Nico and I are here with James Riley, the sporting director and head coach of Ballard FC. They're getting ready to take on Vermont Green in the USL2 National Championship game. It is the second time in three years that Ballard FC will be playing for the national title. It is also the second time. They've only existed for four years.

James has been the head coach now for two of those years, right, James? Yep. First off, congratulations. And what you guys are already in Vermont. Explain to us how you like your, your journey sounds like it was quite a. quite an adventure to get to get to vermont yeah it certainly was it was plane by plane train and automobile um literally just a long flight direct from seattle to boston but prior to that i say train because we had to jump on a train at cpac but it works

but yeah and then automobile then we landed in boston at rush hour in the pouring rain and our charter was there waiting for us and then we bused bus to burlington which is about a four four and a half hour bus ride we stopped to get dinner for the boys um But yeah, no complaints by the team. Just guys knew that was a task at hand and everyone handled it admirably. You know what I mean? So it's been good. So you had a pretty lengthy MLS career, but I would imagine...

that that was probably a throwback for you a little bit, at least like flying coach, just getting in middle seats, all that stuff. It was, it was, it was. great to kind of go back and relive that. But certainly early days, MLS, when I was playing, it was that coach and middle seats. Sometimes you get a window or an aisle. Sometimes you get seated with a teammate, sometimes not.

you just went with it so yeah no complaints those early days were great and i even know even before i started playing it was much the same and maybe even worse but part of the journey part of the

the creation of the game in this country. And now it's obviously where it is now, which is at an all time high, without a doubt. So obviously being a. a player that knows what it takes to you know flight coach long time and now you're doing it with your team how do you get the team you know mentally ready for that that travel and then physically ready to to play a game where by all the big narrative. You guys are kind of the underdogs to a certain extent is what the narrative is out there.

Great question. No, you know, kudos to our director of ops. I mean, just giving those types of flights and we actually had to be split on two flights. So it was two flights that kind of went out at the same time. No, three flights. Sorry, three are kind of administrative group.

Left on the first flight, 5 a.m. that morning. And then the player groups that were led by myself and my associate head coach, Matunda, you know, we were in charge of the other two flights on different airlines that were essentially. landing at the same time in Boston. So logistically, you know, we were able to get the flight sorted and then the charter bus was great.

and and we were able to get you know into burlington safely so you know certainly thankful for that um as we prepared for the flight wait great question when we had training on wednesday was our last walkthrough in seattle was that prep so nutrition hydration was massive that was kind of the mantra since sunday night monday We had snacks and breakfast and everything, liquids for the group.

after training on Wednesday to take with them for the early flight. And then on Thursday, we met them at the security checkpoint and had everyone kind of load up on snacks, hydration. vitamins, things of that sort. And then we kind of planned out their day for them, planned out how do you get your three meals in. So eating breakfast at the airport, if you like.

to pack your own food please pack breakfast and lunch and then so it's eating breakfast at the airport and then purchasing something additional to take with you on the flight to eat on the long flight and then when we got down again it was go refill your hot your water bottles

grab any snacks that you need right now and then we'll get on the bus and then we'll we'll go straight to dinner and then when we got to the hotel after that four and a half hour drive fortunately you know our team our administrative staffs were already here so they were able to get you know, all of our hotel rooms, our hotel room keys, they were able to do the Costco run and get, you know, what I.

requested on our costco order list and have it ready for the boys so they walked into you know gatorades waters additional snacks food so you're right it's logistics it really is logistics to help prepare the team for that long travel mentally but then What can we control to then make sure that they're physically ready to compete at their best on Saturday? We even when we touched in, we did our regen at 1130 p.m., which is essentially.

a stretch, a foam roll stretch. And then we go through this meditative breath work, affirmation work, and then gave them more snacks and then kind of prep them on what the day looked like and what time breakfast was. And that was it. But you're right. It's very we're very structured and organized with how we run things here. And certainly a testament of how the boys prefer or perform. But I know that they appreciate that type of professionalism as well.

So, you know, I hear all this and I can't help but think this all seems very professional. Like this seems like not so different than what I would expect an MLS team to go through. And I can't imagine 15 years ago. 20 years ago when you were first getting started out in MLS that this stuff was as prevalent. Yeah, different. And even the nutrition. education was much different right it's waters and Gatorades but it wasn't snacks it was essentially you get your per diem and you

go do what you want for dinner. You know, sometimes obviously if you're getting in around dinner time, we always had the catered meals at the, at the hotel, which was great. But other than that, you were on your own. This is us as, since we are pre-professional semi-pro, it's helping the players learn professional habits.

Right. Those high performance habits that can really aid them in their success short term and long term. But you're right. We pride ourselves on being as professional as we can with the budgets that we have. And certainly the boys, you know, appreciate that. Yeah. And look, with that, without any fear of sounding maybe slightly ignorant or not, how hard is it to get tape on?

on the opponent at, you know, the USL 2 level and, you know, team like Vermont, although they're very known to a certain sense, but at the same time, it could be hard to get. you know, film and tape on. Yeah, great question. Fortunately for us, the league USL had a league wide deal that they signed with Speedio. And so and sports engine. So we all the games are filmed and uploaded into a central location so that you can get that film. But without a doubt, video analysis has been a crucial part.

of our success this year it's something that we tried to implement last year and just didn't get it done to our standard. And so when we had our end of the season reviews, you know, that was something that I said, we really need to get better at this and I'll put my hand up and really take ownership of it. But fortunately for us, all the games are.

recorded now. So getting film on, on Vermont has been no problem. And, you know, dissecting that film or also using it, utilizing another professional software called B-Pro. I was able to meet with the founder and CEO. We flew in to meet with the sounders. The sounders also use a collection of analysis tools. So he was there to meet with the sounders and then him and I had coffee, but he's been very helpful. He's gotten, you know,

multiple games downloaded and analyzed by his team of Vermont. And then he's also uploaded and analyzed our last two games. So that we kind of get eyes on what we can do better and then get eyes on how we can build the best game plan possible against going Vermont or for Vermont FC. But you're right. I mean, back in the day, the clips and videos were difficult, but now it's.

It's literally what I was doing before our discussion and into what I'll do afterwards, just to make sure that we can paint the pictures the boys need to see and just prepare them without overloading them cognitively is something that's very important.

And so we really are going to get done what we need today before we go to training. And then we come back team meal. We want friends and family at the hotel for a kind of team potluck. We want it to be a very family friendly environment. And then tomorrow.

It's nothing from us. That cognitive load is minimal. It's just get ready, prepare for the game. We'll have our structured team meals, team walk, things of that sort and go from there. But all of the video analysis will be done tonight. We did a little bit on Wednesday.

But you're right. We're very fortunate to have the video access that we do. That's important in developing our game plans. So one of the things that Vermont Green has become sort of... known for is this atmosphere that they've created and it's a town of just 44,000 people. Burlington, Vermont is not... I guess it's a little bit more of a famous town just because of the coat factory. Yeah. But... Great place. Great store.

Exactly. But it's not a big town, but they draw very good crowds. What has the environment been like that you've seen around town now that you've been there for a little while? Yeah, we haven't experienced it too much. The staff went downtown now, but I'd like to just stay at the hotel and just get some work done and prep for tomorrow. But I'm sure they'll come back with some stories because they're all in their Ballard gear.

which will be interesting. So they went on a stroll downtown. We'll get a little bit of it because we trained this evening at 530. But I heard it's insane, like phenomenal. So I heard that they had 4,400, about 4,400 at their last game. which is exceptional. 10% of the town size. Exactly. Yeah. Right. Which is crazy, but you'll love this, but the activity on their website indicated that they could have easily facilitated. The interest was 15,000.

Plus, we're interested in attending that game, similar for the final. So, I mean, it's awesome. I mean, it's just such a cool opportunity for both clubs that do it the right way, both fan bases that do it the right way. We can't wait, honestly. It's a storybook blockbuster final, honestly. We would have loved to have hosted it in Seattle, don't get me wrong, but this would kind of be the next best place that you could.

participate in a final for sure yeah this game supposedly sold out in one minute is what the what the story was and which is i mean it's hard to imagine usl2 doing this and And, you know, Ballard does get a lot of the credit for being one of these brand, like it's been a very successful brand in that you've done a good job of. reaching, sort of carving out your own place in a crowded market. Seattle has seven major league teams in it, not to mention all the other...

sort of minor league teams that are around the area. Whereas it's a very different challenge that Vermont is facing where they are really the only show in town, but it's a...

tiny market. I mean, there are probably five cities within a 10-minute drive of the Seattle... within seattle that are bigger than burlington would just give you like a sense of of sort of the what what we're talking about here uh and it's just i i do think it's it's a really i can't i have to imagine the usl front offices are just drooling over this matchup because it is just two perfect examples of what USL2 can be.

Yeah, no, I think you hit the nail on the head and what you said and USL describes as micro community. So it's building something. In these micro communities, building the game of soccer in these micro communities that you know you could get good backing from, that you know it's a family-oriented environment that people love to support and just to put on a good product, a good product.

first and foremost starts with the players, right? It's a testament to the players that we've been able to attract locally. By the way, 90 to 95% just local players, UW, Seattle U, SPU, right? And then you go outside of that, that includes locally that.

you know, players that have grown up in Seattle and played club soccer there at Seattle. And then you have players that are from Seattle that may go to school outside of Seattle, but that come back for the summer and want a very competitive summer program. And so, you know, we've been very fortunate with that. So for me, first and foremost, you know, the credit goes to the men, the young men that are in the arena day in and day out. And that's the players, right? You can have great branding.

Great logos, great taglines. But if you don't put a good product on the field, eventually, you know, it's going to fizzle. So that's that. And then the leadership of Ballard FC, I mean, Lamar Nagel just texted me. before we got on just how excited he is and what a season it's been and how he's nervous as if he's going to go play the game, right? It's like that type of reach, which is awesome.

You know, our leadership and Sam being, you know, just boots on the ground daily, not only like every training, every game, every team meeting. in addition to doing everything else that he has to do. So, you know, him, you know, Camden Francis, Tiffany Malik, huge, huge part of our success is kind of our leadership and administrative team without a doubt.

How surprised have you been of that sense that, you know, as someone who was so connected to the Sounders and obviously has so many connections there, that there's still this support, you know, from the Seattle Sounders, the support from the soccer community? still be able to get out there and fill out, you know, Simon Bay Stadium and all of these fantastic things that are going on with Baller FC. Huge. Honestly, it's like...

Couldn't be more excited. Right, right. We couldn't be more excited because. I noticed that the Sounders tweeted us good luck for the playoffs, which doesn't happen. The Sounders don't usually do that on their own social account. So we all know how important that is. Massive. That is just tremendous, the fact that they support us.

Locally, you know, we've usually gotten to go there. They've given us a tour of their facility before. Last year, they've given us a tour of the facility. We usually try to scrimmage the Tacoma Defiance once a year, and we just weren't able to fit it in this year with our congested schedule and theirs. They've been phenomenal, right? They'll comp our guys' tickets. We usually do our team events at a Sounders game, right? So they're able to comp some tickets for our guys and just get us there.

The support of the Sounders has been tremendous. I mean, it's a club that won, had tremendous success last year or last night. I mean, guys are watching as we're doing our regen. Guys have their phone out right when the region's done. Guys are running upstairs to watch the game, putting it in our group chat. So everyone on our team has grown up.

with the Sounders in some shape or fashion. So it's awesome to see that connection. And then obviously to get the support visibly from the Sounders as far as, you know, a social post for us is. And not only the Sounders, other teams as well, but specifically the Sounders because it's, you know, it relates to this, the question it's, it's means so much, honestly, so much. Well, it's, it's fascinating because it's. We hear these stories of teams being sort of very guarded about working with

you know, USL teams in really any capacity. And yet here you guys, obviously you played for the Sounders. Lamar played for the Sounders. Sam has deep connections to the soccer community. Ben Dragovine. Our assistant, our director of goalkeeping. Yeah, Ben Dragovine. Right. You have all these connections, but then you also have Leo Bernie, who signed with the Sounders, who played for you guys. You have Lars Hellerin plays for Tacoma Defiance. You have Danny Robles played for...

for you guys and now played for the clients. There are Peter Kingston. I know I'm Charlie Gaffney. I think there's one more that, oh yeah, Alvarez is another player. Damian Alvarez. So you have six players that are in the Sounders organization now that used to play for Ballard. There are, I'm sure, a whole bunch of players currently on Ballard who came through the Sounders Academy or...

or one way or the other have touched the Sounders. But what's also funny is Vermont Green has some ties to the Sounders as well. Alex Hall is a former Sounders player. Gabe Fernandez is a former Southern Academy player. And then Owen O'Malley used to play for, played for last year. It's just sort of amazing. The, the ties that these.

that the Sounders sort of have in these organizations that go back and forth. It's fascinating to watch. It is. It's a small world. And speaking on Gabe Fernandez and Alex Hall. specifically those guys are guys that we've already identified right those are guys that we want or had wanted to play and want to play for Ballad FC. With the USL2, there's a strict mandate that you're only allowed to have five players from each university. So that was the reason why we couldn't.

you know, house those players. Right. And so, you know, they've gone on to do some tremendous stuff. at at vermont so we couldn't you know i'm sure they couldn't have dreamed of anything better to to be in you know the environment that they're in but that that was the reason why they had to go so far and then

Jamie Clark, the head coach at UW, had ties to Vermont, and that's why he was able to set that up. But phenomenal there. And then O'Malley, it's funny, I didn't see it when I went and I shadowed the Tacoma Defiance last year to prep for my first USL2 season for a week. And they are great hosts. They're awesome. But he was a player that I had.

got to meet and introduce and speak to. So when I saw him celebrating a game-winning goal during one of the highlights, I was like, oh man, I totally, you know, I remembered him. Great quality player, happy for his success as well. But you're right, the game, the community is very, very small. Right. So our community is small. The Sounders has a far reach. It's a global brand. And, you know, it's awesome to see the connections on both teams.

Now, getting to the soccer component here, what are you expecting from Vermont Green at home? Are you expecting him to just be on the front foot to put you under a lot of pressure? What is it that you've kind of seen preparing for this game? Great question. I think going back to your initial kind of thoughts on us being the underdog going into this game, we would agree. I mean, being away from home and it's just crazy to think about. And one of the things I...

told the players and something that we really, really believe in is we fear no team. We have zero fear playing against any team, but at the same time, we have full and the utmost respect for each team that we play. Vermont included. They're undefeated. They're playing at home with a fantastic crowd, right? They're on a great run, playoff run. They have great quality players. They seem to be able to come back and turn it on in big game.

That's the mantra for our group, right? Zero fear of any opponent, but 100% for each opponent that we play. So if we're the underdog, so be it, right? We don't necessarily see it that way, but we understand it. And as far as the game, without a doubt, we expect it to be a very fast, high-paced game. We expect to have to battle for the right to play. They're a momentum-based team.

meaning they really turn it on with the crowd. The crowd is like a massive home field advantage, and you can see it in the games that they've played in the playoffs. I mean, they were down 2-0 at one point in an early playoff game. and scored three goals in five minutes all off the crowd. They get the first one, put the ball down, go and hunt. They get the second, put the ball down. I mean, it's just, you know what I mean? So they are a momentum-based team with the crowd.

is a huge lift in addition to that they have quality all over the field um so we're looking excited we're very excited it's a team that wants to come out and play we want to come out and play um Just a great occasion. Honestly, a blockbuster. Two teams going at it head to head. You know, may the best team win tomorrow night.

Well, I think that's the big stuff we really wanted to get with you on. James, this is a pretty exciting time. I'm sure you've got other things to be doing in terms of crap. I really appreciate you taking the time out and doing this. Of course. but best of luck and people can, this game is, is, uh, streaming worldwide basically. Right. Or at least in the United States. Yep. Yep. Yep. It will be. It will be. So you can go to our ID about FC.

um on the ig and then you could find the streaming um directions there where it's leading to i don't know off the top of my head but certainly it's it's everyone can tune in and watch the game tomorrow night 7 p.m eastern

And then, of course, you guys will be back in 2020. There's no more home games this year, but you're going to be back in 2026. I would imagine there's a very good chance you will also be playing in the Open Cup again, which I believe this will be the third straight year you guys have played in the Open Cup.

Yeah. You guys should actually, you want to, did you win it? No, no, you did. You did. Did you win a game this year? You fell short to Spokane velocity. We did two years in a row. That's right. It would have been, you would have been playing the Takuma Defiance. I know. I know. That's right. Oh man. I'm sorry. That's all good. I guess before we get out of here, I should, I feel like I should ask, are there.

Can people already do deposits? Like what's the, if they want to go to games next year, what's the, yeah, I believe so. Yeah. If you go to our website, right, go baller.com without a doubt, you can, you can go baller.fc.com. You can. Take a look at tickets and scheduling and things of that sort. If it isn't up, I'm sure you can sign up for the wait lists and get on it that way. But certainly an epic, an epic ticket to have in a Seattle.

I mean, you have local college products that are there just putting it on the line day in and day out have made for some exciting, you know, exciting games at Interbin. We hope to continue that tomorrow. um away here in vermont but also next year um at home back at inner bay stadium and of course best of luck oh yeah i really was gonna i was gonna i was gonna have that question but honestly

Just talking to you, you seem like a guy that is a master of his craft. You can tell that you enjoy the game. The fact that you talk about the team, the preparation that you've put into this, I am more than confident that you're going to get out there and get the result that you want. best of luck, continue to be as connected and involved and committed to what you do. And I'm sure that, you know, you're going to have a big future in soccer without a doubt. I appreciate that. Thank you so much.

And I'll add one more thing also. If you want to get Ballard FC gear, which is always very attractive, I think you guys do a great job of your branding, of your visual identity. You can also get that at your website. Honestly, it's a really fun brand. It's a really great story. You guys play entertaining, compelling soccer. I still have not actually gotten out to a game myself. Every year, I kick myself for not doing it.

And then this, I'll just share this little anecdote. This year I was dropping my kid off at Munger pool, which is like the pool over in Madison or sorry, Magnolia. And I was coming back. And the game, the semifinal was getting out right then. And it was just so cool to see this sea of people coming into the street. And you can't even see the stadium from, you know.

from inner bay the neighborhood and it's just sort of hidden in there you got to be looking for it and it's just this very cool vibe a very cool energy uh people riding bikes walk you know lots of people walking there's it's it's like a real neighborhood feel. And I think it's an awesome thing that you guys are doing and we'll be rooting for you and best of luck tomorrow.

No, I appreciate all the kind words. We certainly get you both out and your families next year on us. We'll take care of you guys. There we go. There we go. That's certainly something to see. We got to go together, man. I really do. We got to get out there.

I was just looking at the page and unfortunately, uh, the jerseys are sold out, man, but I'm in, I'm in next year. I'm going to be going and I'll get a Jersey the whole, the whole, the whole nine yards, man. Appreciate it. Appreciate it. Thanks guys. Thanks so much.

All right. Well, that's James Riley of Ballard FC. They are playing tomorrow against Vermont Green in the USL2 national title game. It's streaming. Look for it. It'll be a lot of fun. Thank you again, James. And we'll catch you next time. Thank you. Appreciate you both. I expect the LAFC who's 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 brew in the party. I feel a lot better than Bob.

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