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Welcome back to another episode of Nos Adiates on the Sounder Art Podcast Network. It is Friday, so we are here with Nico Moreno for another week of what we learned this week. We're doing it a little different this time for full... And disclosure, we are recording this first part of the episode before practice because practice starts late and I have a train to catch later. So we're trying to bang this out as much as we can. But Nico, thank you for being here early. I appreciate it.
And as always, I'm going to modify my schedule to make sure that the audience gets this podcast pretty consistently. And when you have things going on, I got things going on. We're both fathers. We're both, you know, we've got other things going on. We're important people. and the team also they ended up pushing back their training sessions so that also went back and forth with why we decided to go this route on
Yeah, and we have enough to talk about this week where we don't usually get a midweek game, and that is something that we actually have to start. Yeah, you talk about what you learn, although, I don't know, I guess we can debate how much we really learn, but you learn something, you probably learn more.
one of their worst losses in a long time, really. But I think the scoreline was also a little deceiving. It was 1-0 at halftime. Sounders actually, I thought, the last 20 minutes of the first half were in the game. They were a little unlucky not to get
goal pedro de la vega hit a open header off the crossbar uh danny levo this was before the last 20 minutes but danny levo's free kick man i'll tell you when he stood over that thing i was excited because that was taken from the exact spot that he practices free kicks every single day and it came as close i mean it was wide by the smallest margin and i mean it took a deflection but man that would have been a sweet little way to get his feces that was been his first goal i know
It's kind of hard to even fathom that he's been a player this long, that is a creative player, is an attacking player with such a good foot, and so I think that's his first professional goal. But, no, I agree with everything you said. I thought that this game, this... The scoreline doesn't tell you the entirety of the story of the game. And regardless of, yes, it was a bad loss when it comes to the result. But the amount of just overreaction...
This specific result is just my modeling. I heard someone in the broadcast say this was a statement win for LAFC and I'm thinking statement win a midweek game against a Sounders team that was heavily rotated That's a statement win. I mean, it just seems ludicrous, right? And the same goes for the Sounder side, right? Oh, this is awful. This is terrible. The depth is abysmal. This is what Sounder, Harden, and everybody was saying this was the most talented team.
or the deepest team. So there's a lot of context that I hope we get to. But at the end of the day, what I want everybody to know is that this game, and let's put this into consideration. What other game... is more compelling for brian's metzer to one rest his players and maybe take a look at a group of players that either haven't gotten a lot of minutes or haven't had any minutes this was the perfect time if
were going to put it out there and try to see what certain players were going to provide you this was the game to do it did it work necessarily no maybe it went a little bit away it got away from you a little bit but the intent was to go out there and be competitive and you know you've got guys like jp that are experienced players a guy like you know the lineup in general seemed like they had some components there um obviously you got some guys like uh-huh
fresh start and that's all right but you want to see what these guys have in store for you so you can figure out things moving forward so just to end my rant this is what I want to say nobody's gonna remember a loss in May against LAFC on the road, but what they would remember is you forcing a lineup one more time, getting an injury to a key player, or just...
Just getting a team that has already played a lot of minutes more tired into a Portland game that perhaps could be a bigger game because of the rivalry, because of the way that it's set up, because it's clearly a team that's around. right above you, and it just has a different feel to me. I just feel like it is a loser mentality for Brian Smetser and a set of sounders to think, just because it's LAFC, I have to prove something, or I have to
prove something, I have to risk my team. That would be a loser mentality. Not trusting your team and hoping that it's competitive. Yeah, and I think if there's a disappointment broadly, it's more that the Sounders and LA the fc have now played twice they face each other both times in the middle of fixture congestion they both rotated their lineups and they both blown each other out and we really don't know anything about how these two teams match up when they're both full strength yeah like the
Last time, and I think one of the other things that has bugged me a little bit in the discourse around this game is I saw a lot of people saying, like, well, what do you expect when you put out a lineup like that? And I think two things can be true. One is I think the Sounders had every reasonable expectation to think
I think that this lineup would be competitive. This was almost the exact same lineup that beat LAFC 5-2. Now the difference that LAFC in the first game was much more heavily rotated than they were in this game. This was pretty close. They rotated from the weekend, but it was pretty close to a first-
I agree. So, that was not a fair... Like, obviously, LAFC came out with a different mentality, but they were at home. They were... That's what I think is a big deal. And... They were coming out with a disappointing 2-2 draw. draw. The Sounders, frankly, I think were looking at this game as house money. If they could get a result, great. They did not feel like they needed a result in this game. I think they made a calculated gamble to rotate. And also, I'll also note one or another thing, LA
he has another day of rest after this one's event allowed them a little bit more flexibility and they also aren't traveling anywhere i don't even know if that game is in la which who's the host but either way they're not leaving la so it's just like it's a completely different like the sounders had to come back and
and they're going to have to travel to whatever. And I do think that there's something to be, we can talk about all these different lineup decisions and what we learn to individual players. But the big picture is I just don't think I feel any differently about this team today than I felt about.
you know a week ago because you shouldn't because that we didn't like all we learned is that LAFC's best team is a lot better than the Sounders second best team and I don't know that and but when these teams if they meet the playoffs will not look like the way that they will both have different lineups vastly different lineups and the criticism on depth goes a little bit off to what you said like depth it depends on and look this is from coming from somebody who
who's been, not to two amount more, but I've done a lot of radio in my time. I spent a lot of time with guys who know a lot more about the game than I do across the table. And if there's something that I learned over guys who've done it, been real professionals who are real coaches is that when you're talking about depth it's very subjective especially when you have no idea about the ins and outs of an organization so when it comes to that people what do they expect a whole beating to
to be just as good as the first game. Nobody's saying that. No, depth is just simply saying, hey, we have players in this team that we feel really good about, that if someone needs to rest, is injured, we've got to make adjustments. There is quality on the bench.
That was absolutely obvious, and that continues to be the case for this team. But nobody's saying that if there's eight changes to a lineup, there's going to be an obvious... A drop-off. A drop-off, and especially a continuing... right the chemistry the things that we saw on the field and we'll get into the individual performances but all of those were part of just having a team that hasn't really played together so beyond the talent it's that alone and I would
say along that same point it's one thing if you are playing two games a week for a long period of time and you're changing that lineup every from one game and so that both teams are getting a lot of reps this team had not played together effectively so
since the LAFC game. Like, there was a lot of the same pieces that were in there, and now they had all played at various times, but, like, as a unit, they just had not really played together, with the exception of Osaze de Rosario. But, so it's just, I think it's, we just have to give,
some grace, I think, in terms of what was realistically expected. And I don't know that the Sounders thought that LAFC would rotate more heavily than they did. But honestly, they have to make the decision that's right for them.
They can't get worried about, like, well, if LAC rolls out their first-choice lineup, we're going to get smashed. That can't be part of the equation. Absolutely not. If they think guys need rest, if Christian Roldan didn't travel, Stephen Fry didn't travel, I mean, that should tell you a lot about the mentality of what this
was I will say the one change that I would have liked to have seen in part because I think I said this after the RSL game I think I saw this when I saw the lineup in this game look if you're going to put out a group that is already playing from a deficit
And I think maybe I would like to see Stu Hawkins start in the middle and put John Bell on the left of that three. Because I do think that would be a real learning. Now, that might be a no-win situation for Stu Hawkins. Maybe it's unfair to him. But it would have been an interesting little wrinkle, I think.
if we've learned one thing I think maybe John Bell is not best suited to be playing in the middle of a back three yeah thank you I absolutely agree I said that Thursday that is incredible those were the words out of my mouth it is clear that
especially if you're going to play with a three-man back line, J-Bell cannot be that guy. Look, to me, J-Bell is a good player. He's a good player. But he's really a new replacement. Exactly. And I don't think people realize that. To me, and not even necessarily to
point of new because well i guess so yes because he's what i would call a stay home fullback right on the left side that's where he's best suited and that's what when he's playing in the three-man back line he's looked at when he plays outside of that middle when you got jackson reagan being the guy
that's managing the ball, that's holding possession, that he's the one that's trying to break lines with the ball. That works. But when you're the guy that has to do all of it, he was pretty bad in this one. And we'll get into it. I'll say one last thing about the overall general sense into this game.
it's a three game road trip we said this right I think Severs handled it perfectly you go to Houston you guarantee yourself you do what you can to guarantee exactly you put your best foot forward you put your foot That's your most winnable. Of all the three games, that was the game where you had the best chance to win. Make sure you secure those points. And you did. And you did. So you did. So it's going perfectly to plan. The second game, you're going to run.
and you're going to hope that your competitor, you're going to hope that you get a result. It didn't quite go that route. I agree that the game, the scoreline at the end specifically, 4-0, whatever. Again, people, if you want to lose your mind about it, go ahead. I've always said it is your prerogative to lose your mind
and say this is the worst team on the planet because they decided to rotate on Wednesday at LAFC but the reality of it is what you just said a couple of minutes ago you should feel no different about this team than you did a week ago and the same thing was for LAFC I don't
I don't think Steve Gerundolo is going like, oh, we got LA. We got the Sounders number. Exactly. Come on. I mean, let's be realistic. So that's all I want to provide is a different perspective for you at home or at your car or wherever you're listening to this. Yeah.
to have a different contrast and decide where you lie that's okay but I just feel like I've done my job by ranting about it I can feel really good now that I've got it off my chest and you know there's people out there that are deciding their way of
informing people is by losing their mind and getting clickbait and all this craziness, then go ahead and watch. About here, we're always going to be neutral. Neutral in the sense of just having an understanding of what's really happening. We're going to have Thank you.
individual performances that I think are worth digging into. We talked a little bit about John Bell, but on the positive side, I really did, I was encouraged by Kalani Kosarienzi's performance. You know, he ended up getting left on an island a few times with Benny Buanga, and he basically held his own. Like, I'm not going to sit here and say
he shut Belonga down, but he never looked like he was overwhelmed. You know, he... I think he was okay in possession for the most part. He was good going forward. You know, and I think there is still a sort of working assumption within the Saunders that he's...
more suited as a wingback than as a fullback. And I think that's probably fair, but I think this was a good test for him that he can be trusted even when he is sometimes a little exposed. And so that was one positive development. He also... Man, he had a goal line clearance that was as good of a clearance as, you know, you'll see. I mean, it ended up not really mattering, I suppose. But, you know, Denny Buonga had a pretty nice move, and he was able to come and slide it in.
the weak side and cleared off the line. I was very impressed by that. At times he looked like the player who was most out there trying to prove something. And then the other player who I was actually, I don't know, maybe the opinions will be a little different on this.
But I thought Osaze de Rosario did pretty good, especially considering he was really on an island. Did not have a lot of help. And he was still able to get himself into some dangerous positions. He wasn't perfect. No, he was okay. He was okay. But he had a couple good to hold up plays. He got one really good look at a header that maybe he could have done a little better with, but he put it on frame and he had one shot from distance that was well hit. But I think...
So again, if he's your third option at striker, I feel okay about that. Sure. And that's what you brought him up for. So just I'll touch on both of those and I'll give you two different guys to look into. But Atokosa, especially going forward, was very selective was very good and when it comes to being a fullback I think that that's the thing that he's going to grow into and if there is something that perhaps I didn't necessarily agree but I understood later and that's why I asked him
question was why did the sounder set up in a 343 after the 4231 had been working and it's a fair tactic to want to set up when it comes to your formation to even out that three attacking guys from LAFC's 4-3-3 with three defenders. It's a numerical thing that happens very normally before a game when you're going against a team that runs the 4-3-3. So for me, it's a
understandable. But when it comes to Kosorienzi, in the second half, and Brian mentioned this, they went back to the foreman backline. And I thought of the fullback, he did well. So Kosorienzi has a lot of promise. Obviously, I still feel like Alex is the guy but this is your guy for the future and I think you can mold him into that and I just really like that I wasn't so high when it came to I mean I'm sorry there was
Rosario just simply because of some of the pressing triggers obviously the goal can he get out there a lot sooner to press that guy that is at the top of the box absolutely I mean, there were things that, you know, he's a young player, so I'm not going to kill him for it. I just thought he was okay. I thought, and we might defer on this one, because I've heard different thought processes on it, but I thought Pedro was engaging. I thought Pedro was trying.
I thought Pedro de la Vega was influential. He was the guy that seemed more committed. You wanted to try to make sucker. Yeah. And that's important to me, right? It wasn't perfect. There was a couple, if not more than that. of bad passes there is the goal uh the second goal where he gets the turnover where he gets the turnover and it's just a beautiful pass by uh yeah i don't know how much i was i was going back and forth on how much of that i put on him because he does sort of make us he makes
a long run and he ends up getting dispossessed and on one hand making runs like that can have the effect of unbalancing a defense but on the other hand it also unbalances you to defend the counter and the sounders got killed on that counter
counter I don't know again I think you gotta you have to you have to if you're gonna put Pedro on the field you have to you have to be aware that he's gonna do that that's part of what he does and you have to be so I don't really put that too much on him I with you though I did like that he was willing
to try, I mean, to push the game and to do things. I was a little surprised how long he was on the field because I sort of assumed he would start against Portland, which I don't think will be the case now. We'll see. Maybe Georgia gets to start and that wouldn't be...
worst. That would be an interesting... Georgie has looked pretty good against Portland, so that would make some sense there. Go ahead. I would like to say Pedro, but... I just don't know if you'll play again on... He played 45 minutes on
against Dynamo. I don't know. We'll see. It'll be interesting to see what they do with them. And then when it comes to the bad, because you mentioned one bad, one good with J-Bell, I would say that other than J-Bell, who to me was probably the one that had the most unimpressive showing.
Jesus Ferreira had a really tough time finding the ball. He had a really tough time finding the ball. And I hate to put it on Andrew Thomas, but I feel like he was also very lethargic. He, I mean, okay. And it's not just the goals. It was just...
moments where he just wasn't commanding that box and he was just unable to get on the ball quicker you know those little things that you want to see from your yeah yeah and you know talk about the first goal which is the one I think it's easiest to put on him
I guess it does take a deflection off Nuhu. It still gets a lot of Andrew Thomas. And I'm not going to beat him up too much for that because it is a tough... But if you can get your body almost behind the... ball and that's kind of what happened you gotta figure out how to keep it out of the goal um you know that he's not the only person the bigger maybe problem is that Unger got the open shot with too much time and space um Amén.
So I don't know. I agree with you, though. And I will say also, I thought JP got a lot of criticism in this game. And I don't want to sit here and say he was great. But I also think there was a lot of mitigating circumstances around here. And I'm not at all convinced that people are like, oh, well, clearly he can't be your number six. And it's like, well, he's not the number six, but he's played plenty of other games. Another over ranch.
concerns about okay if they do sell Obed in the summer what's the plan going for from there that's a fair concern but that's also one of those things where it's like maybe I don't know I'm not that I'm not worried about it that much right now I will also
note that it had been a month, I think, since JP had played. It's tough to, I think, if anything, I would like to see him get just some more spot minutes, not necessarily starts, but just getting him on the field, getting him in the pace of the game a little bit more uh and you know 314 minutes including this 90 so he was below 200 before that it's difficult and to your point and most of those were early in the season when they were in champions cup
earlier in the season and once again I thought when he looked more maybe out of his range was in the first half of the 3-4-3 where there was so much issues because look another thing that went really wrong for the Sounders was that their pressing was non-efficient easily their worst non-efficient yeah it was almost to the point where it didn't even seem like they were really pressing and that is not this has been a team who has kind of
developed into a pressing team this year and it was a very ineffective press i will also say that lafc's press was that was the most effective anyone has pressed saunders this year again facing a b very much a b team
But that was a very effective press that LAFC, kudos to them. They deserve credit for that. They came in with a game plan. They executed it well. They mission accomplished for LAFC. I just don't think we can make too many grand I don't think we can take almost any big picture ideas out of this game and I'm willing I think it's kind of like a okay on to the next one and that's kind of the thing so another and just to kind of come
the point that we're talking about is JP. I think that anybody who, and I heard it, I saw it, and I did everything in my power to not engage was, JP's done. He should never be brought back. He is too old. I can cuss here, right? Sure. Shut the fuck up. Shut the fuck up when it comes to saying things like that off of one game when a player is obviously needed some more minutes and he's getting them now. Yeah. Yeah.
I definitely cannot agree more with that sentiment. It's probably a good place to call a break. Hopefully we'll come back with a second segment. If we have time, we will come back and do a second segment. If not, I'm Jeremiah Shan. This is This is Nico Moreno. This is Nosadrientes. And hopefully we'll be right back. Alright. Thank you for listening to the Sounder at Heart Podcast Network, which now includes No Sanientes, Lobbing Scorchers, and The Cooler Gale.
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Find out more. Just visit center at heart.com and click the subscribe button in the top right corner. Thanks for listening. Welcome back. So we are going to record a second segment. The Sounders still are not out of training. Not that people need to know that. But let's talk about Portland a little bit. Portland is also in the midst of...
strange week for MLS to do so-called rivalry week where there are almost everyone played midweek games including the Timbers played at RSL, right? They tied 0-0. I don't know much about what happened in that game other than It was a 0-0 tie. I would imagine that they did not use their first choice lineup in that game. They did not. They rotated. The funny part about that one when I was watching it is that there was a lot of components of that U.S. Open Cup.
Cup team that was there against the Tacoma Defiance. But yeah, they rotated. Okay. So... Yeah, so this is probably going to be a reasonably well-rested and first-choice group for Portland, just like it should be a reasonably well-rested and first-choice group for the Sounders. I suppose that sets up how you want this game from... a neutral perspective.
What can we say about Portland this year? They seem to have taken a step forward from last year. They have somewhat figured out the defense. They are still pretty dangerous going forward. Not maybe quite as explosive.
You know, DaCosta has definitely stepped down from Evander from a pure danger man type of perspective. But this is still a team that looks dangerous. They have a lot. You know, Jonathan Rodriguez has been limited... to injury but still causing a lot of problems for opposing defenses you know Anthony is a effective attacking piece Moreno is a they've got Felipe Mora is sort of like a kind of a knockoff Danny Masofsky
That's good. I like that. Yeah, there you go. But they kind of do their jobs very similarly where they kind of are just very good at getting into dangerous spots. what do you know what do you think of Portland I mean they they're second and third in the table yeah so I've I've said this maybe way too much because of the U.S. Open Cup and things like that, but they're a team that understand their weaknesses and do what they do best very consistently. So they know where the strengths are.
and they focus on that. And when it comes to their weaknesses, they... try to minimize those in the last two games I've seen them play more of a mid block because they understand how much they're exposed a lot of the times when they're a little too high and that's credit to Phil Neville I think that
They have realized that as a collective, they can without a doubt replace or mimic what Evander provided to this team. And they've actually been better when it became more balanced, right? Because before they depended a whole lot on Evander. And if there are two guys that have stepped up and played even better than they ever had with the Timbers is Anthony, who is my number one player to watch. I think that he is their most dangerous player. Four goals.
seven assists but beyond the statistics he's a guy that's gonna wear you down because he can do so many things on the ball and he cannot just beat you one way he can beat you six ways I've seen this guy do a sombrerito like a little flick over the top of a defender. They're at the end line without any space. I mean, the guy's creativity is off the charts. And this year is at its biggest display. So as a unit, they've been able to really replace what Evander did, the magical component.
that he's my number one guy to watch. Second guy is the Costa. The Costa's more of the branch of the operation. The guy that's putting balls through. the guy that's going to be at the end of most set pieces. Kind of an Albert Rusnak type of game. Kind of an Albert Rusnak type of player. Perhaps a little bit more athletic.
but definitely a guy that has those same he's not a flashy player not a flashy player but he does the job well he is he is efficient he is he can put a shot away if it's if if he gets it he's not a shot he doesn't make his own shot necessarily but he's you know good at making the right pass yep and then Felipe Moore
And it should be no surprise that they're all attacking players because that's their main components. Although I think Kropov coming back, he is a guy that, because of the way that they play direct, having a guy that has his type of distribution. He really helps his team out. So I think Mexico Paul is another important guy, but Felipe Moura. Yes I got that
He's a guy that likes to play against the Sounders. I have heard him from his own voice that he plays at a different level when he plays against the Sounders. He's had some good performances. Some very good performances. So he's a guy that Yammer knows well. He's a guy that... I feel like there is a little of a competition there, but he's going to play at a different level when it comes to the Sounders. So a couple of other notes from their last game. Diego Charap.
played some minutes. He came in in the 61 minute, 61 minute. He had been injured, leg injury for quite a long time. He looked pretty good. And he's a guy that is another one. He's like 52 years old. I know, but he plays like he's 25. I mean, it's ridiculous. I'm pretty sure this is his goodbye tour, but a guy that is a problem nonetheless. Don't think he'll start.
But if things get complicated for the Timbers, you best believe that he's going to be on the field. And then Jonathan Rodriguez also came in in the 61st minute. And he's a guy that has been injured, that has come on and off. He's kind of been a super sub for them. He's been a super sub for them. This is a team that, once again, a lot of it goes offensively.
Going back to their weaknesses, in the last couple of games, they've been able to hold clean sheets because of the way they've been a lot more conservative, pushing forward guys like Bravo. They only have one goal in those two games. And they have one beautiful goal.
Yeah, absolutely. Goal of the year candidate, if not for Kevin Danky's unbelievable bike, I would say that would be a very good contender for goal of the year, that goal that he had. I would say the other... reason for skepticism, and this is not necessarily a commentary on how well they've played, but I do think there's some doubt about how for real the Timbers are, it's that a lot of games against bottom of the table teams they have by most metrics the weakest opponent schedule this
faced up to this point so far. Fully a third of their games have come against the LA Galaxy and Sporting Kansas City, who are two of the worst teams in the league. They just again came off a game against RSL, who is in a very bad place right now. Although, I don't know, they got a result
result at RSL, which is something that the sounders don't do very often. So, hey, who am I to say? But this is a team where I think we still don't they haven't been tested the way that I think the Sounders even have been tested where they've played some top teams and they have you know had to hold their own So it'll be, I do think, as always, it's always an interesting matchup. I still think this is, you know, it's funny, our friends at
soccer-wise, did a ranking of the top rivalries in MLS. And sort of the general consensus is that Cascadia is still near the top, but maybe not the top rivalry right now. And I think that's mainly because this rivalry has just not had a lot of juice in the last few years they're just you know the teams have been good but the games haven't necessarily been super entertaining i don't know this one feels like maybe it could be could could be fun this feels like two teams who maybe match up in a
more interesting way than they have in the past. Yeah, and I understand, not necessarily, because it really bothers me when people don't think that the Cascadia Timbers Sounders rubber is the best in MLS. I mean, I... It bothers me, and I understand... By such a large...
Parson, the most historic rivalry in American soccer. There is not really a good, I mean, maybe Sounders, Whitecaps might be a close second, but there's obviously no, there's not nearly the fire in that one. In terms of real, this is the most organic, long-standing,
Longstanding. This is the closest thing we have to a proper garby in American soccer. And I'm okay with that. I love that. What bothers me is when still... when we have an LA Galaxy team that's yet to win and has the worst start in MLS history people are saying that that's the best
Darby going into this weekend. It just seems ludicrous. No, that's a silly thing. That's a silly, silly thing. I agree. I saw the same thing. Now, the hell is real Darby, I think, is definitely the one. I like that one. That has been a lot of fun. That's, of course, the Columbus-Cincinnati rivalry. I'm not going to throw
to throw any shade on that other than it just doesn't have a lot of history but it has real animosity it has you know in the recent years they've been two of the best teams in the league it has a lot of juice right now i don't have anything this is the book stadiums get really exciting really fun i have nothing but nice that's a great that's a great rivalry and then honestly after that it falls off a lot like the hudson river derby is not anything right now the i don't know they me
Maybe the Canadian Classique is a nice derby, but what are we doing here? We're talking about Canada. Yeah, exactly. The Orlando-Miami one is interesting. It has the potential. I like that one going into this week because Messi has looked frustrated because Orlando's been a juggernaut over the last couple of weeks. Four games, they've been undefeated.
I think Ojeda has played himself into MVP conversations. I mean, that's a good team against an Inter-Miami team that's always going to be interesting because of the Messi factor. What did you make of Messi actually playing in PayPal Park?
against San Jose, I thought that was actually kind of cool. I am not like a Messi, I don't really track Messi that much, but I do find something really neat about him playing. I respect, there's players that made a lot of really questionable decisions for forever really but committing to play that game at paypal park i thought was actually a really clever midweek game so maybe that
helped the decision they probably didn't i'm sure they didn't know if messi was going to be there or not but that messi played ended up being cool like as a barrier guy i thought it was kind of a neat thing i guess he hadn't played in the barrier in like 10 years uh since i like he He played some random tournament there a while back, but so that was kind of a cool little thing. Uh,
Speaking of Galaxy, though, I feel like we should just mention this since now we have Nico Moreno. You're a commentary guy. Greg Vanney officially...
signing his extension today. Going to be there until 2028. The more notable thing maybe about that is friend of the pod, friend of the Sounders, former Sounders assistant GM, Ravi Remanini, is... now the head of the director of qualitative analytics i believe is what they call it yeah so that was kind of a neat little uh feather in his cap what did you make though greg vanney like i was a little surprised that the timing of it feels a little...
A little weird. A little weird. They're coming 13 games into the season without a win. Just blew a 2-0 lead. Seems like maybe one of those ones that Yeah, hold on to your hat a little bit. I don't know. Maybe their hand was forced. It did get reported by a couple different outlets before it was official. But I don't know. What do you make of that? It's what I like to call the cushion of an MLS cup. I mean, that's really it.
And a team that, in my opinion, would only be compounding their problems by letting go of Greg Vanney, regardless of the results. And they've been bad. as bad as it could possibly be. Greg Vanney has not lost one sense of the respect of the locker room and I know this with inside information. Greg Vanney is also a guy that to me radiates a lot of confidence when I was I would feel like he knows and understands his league vastly. So I think it's a good...
choice with what you have because what's the other thing you can do? Go and try to find another Guillermo Escoloto from like South America because he's a big name in the comments. Yeah, they've tried a few different things. I think that's a very relevant question. If you...
Fire Greg Vanney. What do you do? And you can, because you can make the case in a vacuum. Sure, he should be fired. There are 13 games winless. That's the way it goes. But then what are you going to do next? And, I don't know, hire Peter Vermees. You're going to hire Jim Kirk. Tim Curtin, what's that? Or are you going to go, like you said, are you going to go find another Garam?
Guillermo Aberascolotto where you really don't know what you're going to get. They've already tried that path. It's a complicated thing. I don't know. I think the timing is a little weird, but
Whatever. I mean, I suppose it would have been good to get this done in the offseason, and then no one would have questioned it. Yeah. But a lot of good rivalries, and I think this all goes and ties in perfectly into it. Once again, I feel like this could be a challenge game for lafc and i think that people who kind of doing a full circle where we started had a lot of huge conclusions from this win I feel like
If it goes sideways on LAFC this weekend, I'm going to be the happiest man alive. I would not be at all surprised if LA Galaxy won this game. That's what I'm saying. We do this on Thursdays where we put money, we talk about odds and things like that. All the odds are with the IFC, but they're not as high as you think.
And the reason of it is because you feel like this could be a trap game. So, man, deal with it as you will. But to me, that's going to be an interesting game to follow. And I have a feeling. And not enough for me to be financially tied to it. I do have a feeling that LA Galaxy could trap LA Galaxy. Let's close out with a note about Sounders here. How do you feel going into this game? Do you feel reasonably confident? Thank you for the question because I've been dying to get it out.
I'm confident in the Sounders man And if you know me, you should know that that's a big deal. Yeah, you're a hater. Because I'm the hater. I'm the one that, you know, why would you say that, Nico? You're just not a sounders guy. I'm not a hater. I really see it as I feel it. And I think that this team, like we have been discussing the entirety of this podcast today, it was a calculated risk to put all your eggs in the basket of timbers. And to me, watching both.
teams closely this season. I watch 90 minutes of both Timbers and the Sounders just about every week. Maybe I miss once of the Timbers. Seattle's the better balanced team. And I think that Seattle defensively can really limit what Timber does well. They're going to want to go wide. They're going to want to go direct. They want to have a lot of speed. And they're a team that, like you said, and it was a fantastic point, they have not been tested to the way.
that the Sounders have been tested. The Sounders have been down on the grind. They've had to pull in games. The Timbers haven't. And quite the opposite. They showed us. against LAFC, against Vancouver, that have a hard time holding on to leads. San Jose. Against San Jose. I mean, this is a team that has some difficulties really following through the 90 minutes. And Seattle.
is quite the opposite. They've been good on the road. They won in Houston. I think they can go to Portland and do some damage. I feel good about it.
I feel like the Sounders are going to get a statement win. And we're going to forget about LAFC immediately. And I'm going to get to laugh at people for the LAFC. And that would be best case scenario. But regardless of, I think Seattle has a very good... percentage to win this game regardless of and I feel like it's gonna be a good performance no matter what I see a team here that's confident that understand what it takes to win
And I feel like you're going to see that at Providence Park on the weekend. Well, that's a great note to end this on. I'm Jeremiah Shan, signing off for Nico Moreno, who you can find on soccer down here, who you can find on Pulso Sports, who you can, of course, hear on Lobbing Scorchers. And Nos Adietes. Thanks for joining me again on another episode of What We Learned This Week with Nico. Thanks for listening. And we'll catch you next time. I expect a LAFC who is motivated
To prove themselves at home to prove to their fans that that they're capable of winning in this league and it's up to us to Really ruin the party. Yeah, you guys like that awkward joke dad joke