Come into you live from our Elliott Avenue studios of Sports Radio ninety three point three e JRFM. This is Saunders Weekly with your host Jackson Felds. Good evening, everybody, Welcome into Sounders Weekly. Jackson Felts here for the next hour talking to all things Seattle Sounders FC soccer every Wednesday from seven to eight pm right here Sports Radio ninety three point three KGRFM. We're back after a
three week break. Sounders were eliminated in the group stage of League's Cup, so we haven't played a game for there a few weeks until Sunday's match there against Atlanta United. We're gonna spend some time talking about that two nothing loss. In just a moment, you're gonna hear from Stephen Fry after the game, had a chance to catch up with the Sounders goalkeeper and the new record holder. We'll tell you about that specifically in just a moment, so from
Stephen Fry. After our kind of recap of that two nothing loss, we're gonna step back and take a little bit of a far away, longer view of Sounders in the middle segments tonight, So coming up in about twenty five minutes or so, You're gonna hear it from Craig Wible, the Sounders general manager, and Craig spoke last week and had some very interesting thoughts about the
rosters. It sits right now about you know. I think one of the big lines that I took and you'll hear it coming up in the next segment, is about the players who make a bunch of money on this team. And anybody can go see how much money they make. All the salaries are available, you can just google it. There are very highly paid players on this club. And Craig said, these are the guys we need to step up, and you know they didn't step up there on Sunday and the two
nothing loss. You're gonna hear more from Craig Wible coming up. And then, as always here on Sounders Weekly, we will go around the league with MLS Soccer dot coms are Lillienwall, and around the sound with our good friend and Puget Sound soccer expert Andrew Harvey. So Stephen Fry, Craig Wible, Arillienwall, Andrew Harvey all coming up before or we get to anybody, though,
we do quickly talk about the game there against Atlanta. You know, One of the few parts that was actually you know, pleasant for me in that two hours watching the game was getting to visit with Garth Logerway. Logerway was back in town, the former Sounders president of soccer and general manager. He left Seattle in the offseason to go become the president and CEO Atlanta United. He was back in town. He received a Conkercalf Champions League, you
know special watch that everybody received from winning Conkercalf Champions League. He received it on the field from Adrian Han hour before the game. He came up and he was, you know, you know, saying his hollost. Everybody in the press box had a chance to see Garth and talk to him and catch up a little bit, and that was cool. Wasn't able to record anything or get him on the show, but you know, just to just to
see Garth again was was great. And obviously missed talking to him both on this show and in the stadium and out of Starfire, just miss having him around. So it's great to see him there and we had a fun conversation during the first half. It was shortly after Atlanta went up when nothing and I asked him, please tell me you call Yakumakis, the Greek goal scorer who scored both of Atlanta's goals there on Sunday. I said, please tell me you call him the Greek freak and he said, no, we call
him the Greek god of goals. And I joked, well, listen, garthe famously maybe the Sounders roster into Avengers. It sounds like you're well on your way of doing that in Atlanta with your thour Greek god of goals. But Yakumakis gets the header. Both of his goals where a header's rockets passed. Stephen fry Brooks Lennon the assist on the first one, and then Thiago Almada, who was just stunningly brilliant, he assists on the second goal.
And I'll tell you what, it's pretty clear watching Thiago Almada why he's on the Argentina national team and why he helped them win a World Cup last year. I mean, that is a supremely talented midfielder. So talk Garth about him, and he told me that the radio crew, whenever Yakumaki's scores, they say boom Yakumaki's like boomshaka waka, And Garth was laughing, and this came about two minutes after Yakumakis has scored for his first goal, and I
was not laughing. Nonetheless, I mean it was great to see Gartha. But on the field, you know, talking about this match, Thiago Almada had so much space, and Brett Evans and I talked about this throughout the first half and during the halftime show, the fact that Almada really had the ability to do whatever he wanted in that game, and it was frustrating watching
him work in the midfield. And I mean they had, you know, two or three really good opportunities with Maskira on the right wing where Almada would find Muskira, and Muskira you know, missed the goal, I think two or three times where he had great opportunities coming off the right and Almada for the most part, had his choices when he just you know, led the attack, wasn't really closed down in the midfield, and then as he approached the box just kind of said, all right, what's my best option?
And Atlanta very easily could have been up three nothing at the half. So immensely frustrating in the first half where Atlanta kind of dominated, and then in the second half the Sounders got their chances. I mean, you look at the expected goals in this game. Atlanta had one point two six and Seattle had one point two three. And I think a lot of that one point two three came in the second half when the Sounders a lot of that time
they were down to nothing. But you think back to the Freddy Monchero chance where he hits a water bottle right to the left of the goal at point blank range. You look at ral Ruy Diaz sailing a ball high above the bar in the fifty fourth minute. You know, yea it was. There was a header from Yamar in the forty eight. You know, so many opportunities. And then after yeah, the combination of Obed Vargus Paul Rothrock.
By the way, congratulations to Paul Rothrock earning a first team contract last week. So Rothrock comes onto the field with Obed Vargus, Freddy Montero. A lot of stuff was generated after that change. So you get all of these opportunities, a lot of when were you're down to nothing, and listen, if you could just get one of them, maybe it's a different game.
Maybe you get that belief. But a lot of this game felt like the game up in Vancouver from about three months ago, not the recent one where the Sounders won three two, But if you remember back about three months ago, the Sounders lost a game I believe it was too nothing up in Vancouver where it just you don't feel the belief, you don't feel the energy. And maybe the Sounders they would have that if they had gotten the goal in.
But you just saw a lot of heads and hands and frustrated faces and a lot of frustrated faces up in the booth, and myself personally, it's just listen, that was a game that we want to forget because it was very, very frustrating. But at the end of the day, listen, it's a two nothing loss and then you gotta turn back around. The good news christ she rolled on is out of concussion protocol. They were just very safe with Christian as they should be coming back Christian, yes, this is
his second concussion of the year. He was out for a long time with the first one, so now with this second concussion, you want to make sure he is absolutely one hundred before getting him back on the field. So in order to do that, you do need to take it easy. So Christian did not play for that reason. Would think he would be available for this coming Sunday against Minnesota's up be great to see him rock and roll. But then for Brian Spencer, it's the question of what's your best eleven?
Is it Christian on the right, Jordan on the left? Roll up top? Is it Jordan up top with Chew on the left and Christian on the right? Is it Christian next Joel Paul? Them in the holding midfield? Where do you have Nicholas Ladero? Where do you have Albert Russneck. All of these questions need to get answered because there's nine games left in the regular season, just nine. I don't think this team is in a worry to miss the playoffs. There's a big bubble between them and the number ten spot,
a large, large bubble. But you don't want to have a row game as a seed in the West. You want to at least have one home game. So the Sounder's got to start racking up some points here in the final nine games this season, which means Brian Spencer has to figure out his best eleven and that coaching staff has their work cut out for him because now this team is healthy, and when this team is healthy, they can
win. I think it's just a matter of getting the personnel together in the right combination and making sure these players are playing to the best of their abilities
together. I don't know if that is a simple answer as getting Christian back on the field, but at this point, I mean Brian said in the postgame press conference, there's nothing else we can do, so get Christian back out there and keep pushing and hopefully that is the answer that results in a Sounder's win coming up this Sunday. But looking at that Atlanta loss massively frustrating. On Sunday there at lumin Field. One of the points that wasn't frustrating
I mentioned Garth Logerway. The other point that wasn't frustrating was seeing Stephen Fry capture a club record. He has now appeared in three hundred and forty matches as a Sounders goalkeeper. That is a club record, as he broke Azzi Alonso's record. They was sitting at three thirty nine. Stephen Fry beat it and got it there on Sunday. Was great to talk to him after the game about not only that record, but about the game itself, what he
saw. He was wearing the captain's arm band, so what kind of pressure and what kind of leadership duties fall on his shoulders now wearing the captain's arm band officially, but we talked about that, but the question did start about that record. So here's the conversation we had in the locker room with the Sounders goalkeeper Stephen Fry after the two nothing lost Atlanta on Sunday. Here's Steph. It's a huge honor. I'm proud of it because it proves my longevity.
You know, I think I take offense when when field players say, oh, you can play until you're forty two year a goalkeeper. I feel like we trained the hardest every day. We put our bodies through the most grueling things every day, so it doesn't come easy. You know, my
fingers are falling apart. You know, I have things that are are getting harder and harder to deal with, but I take pride in overcoming those and I've been able to do it for ten years here, five years prior professionally in Toronto, So fifteen years is great, but I'm not done yet. I feel very good, good staff around us that prepares us. I try to use that to the best nobility to prepare myself in my body hopefully hopefully somewhere to come. Staff. After a game like that, back here in
the locker room, take us inside. What's the mood of the team, what's said, you know, what's going on between you guys. After a game like that, I try to discuss some play, some situations while it's still fresh and well gone wrong and what we could have done better, also things that worked, and just just try to get better move on from it. And obviously we have a big week coming up with three games Minnesota, Austin and then a big went at home. So you know, nobody's going
to do it for us. You know, as you saw as we were getting ready in the locker room before in Minnesota in New York City pulling out a result, nobody's gonna nobody's gonna do it for us. We're going to
be the ones that have to do it figure it out somehow. So obviously they anymore you mentioned, you know, in terms of figuring out what went wrong, what went wrong in your eyes, I mean, we knew they're strong on on service, and we in any air whether it was direct direct free kicks or direct on corners or or just a second pickups and obviously some some tall guys and with Chumakis as a target target guy and he he scores two of them, all right, so a little bit more concentration needed.
We knew exactly what was going to happen there and and to just still couldn't prevent it. So so that's one thing I think they did a really good job in terms of stretching us. And then i'll Midas seemed to have a bit of a free role and very intelligent player for his age to to to really I think see the whole picture in terms of where we are stretched and where the pocket is and that that hurt, that hurt us throughout the game.
I think he was able to really put himself in a position where once he did get the ball, they would break one or even two lines and at times even run at US six six before. So yeah, they played really well. They deserve to win. You talked about the leadership and the messaging that you can provide. You take the captain's armband, Now do you see your role in the leadership aspect? Change it all with the captain's armband?
Not really, I mean it's it's maybe a bit more the spotlight on me, but you know, I've always tried to I was schooled captain for I don't know how long, and I've tried to do whatever I can in that role already. Now it's more of a I think logistics in terms of if guys have problems that I need to voice to our coaches or someone else
come to me. I want to be the one that is the guy and them in between and they get to see all that if if people don't like what the team wants, but I need to look out for the best of my teammates and make sure everybody's happy. But in terms of on the field and in training, it's not gonna change anything for me. It's not gonna change anything for Niko either. Niko has always been someone who's worked his tail off and and uh, I think we remove forward with that. How is
your finger, by the way, great? It's awesome. It looks actually pretty good. So it just came out, broad came out. Was it a bit something that I don't want to do again, catching balls with a pin in your finger as your pin twists, and uh, and Ben's so we took that out and and since then it's felt great again. Like I said, you know, I've I've I've played with dislocated fingers. I've I've played with stretched out ligaments and things and it's not fun, but it's it's
part of the game. So I gotta give a shout out to the doctor. Doctor Wagner did really well as staff was awesome. Again, good people around me. That helps you too to try to stay on the field and we keep going. That's Stephen Fry, Sounders FC goalkeeper. Good to talk to him there in the locker room. But the Sounders really now we'll have to turn back around and get things going here for Sunday's match against Minnesota. We'll preview that a little bit later on tonight with ari Leenol of MLS Soccer
dot Com. We'll also go around the sound with Andrew Harvey. But coming up next we're gonna hear from Craig Wible, the Sounders FC general manager. Here from Craig next on Sounders Weekly Sports Radio ninety three point three KJRFM. Now back to Sounders Weekly on your home for Sunders FC, Seattle's Sports Radio ninety three point three kjr FM. Welcome back Saunders Weekly. Jackson Felts here on Sports Radio ninety three point three KJRFM. You're home for Sounders FC Soccer
This coming Sunday for Sounders at Minnesota United. Really quickly, we'll give you those broadcast details one more time. Those The Sounders are in Allion's Field in Saint Paul, Minnesota. We're gonna have a one o'clock pre match kickoff is going to be a little bit after one thirty. You can watch the match for free on Apple TV, also on Fox thirteen. Listen right here.
As I mentioned Sports Radio ninety three point three KJRFM, also LRA thirteen sixty first Spanish and the Providence Swedish prematch show will start at one pm here on KJR this coming Sunday for Sounders at Minnesota. Whereas listen, as we talked about in the previous segment, the Sounders are gonna have to bounce back from that too. Nothing lost to Atlanta. That was a frustrating, frustrating game. They're a lumin field on Sunday night. I know it was a smoky,
smoky night. I know a lot of people weren't able to make it out there for that match. Lots of conditions that both teams had to deal with. But the Sounders will certainly have to try to bounce back. Good to hear from Stephen Fry there in that previous segment talking about the game, talking about his club record now three hundred and forty career appearances there for the
Rave Green. So congratulations again to Stephen Fry. But I told you in the last segment that we're going to kind of take a step back here and look at the view from thirty five and feted at the entire team situation, and not only at twenty twenty three, but also at twenty twenty four. Because listen, if this team as it's built right now doesn't go on a run and win an MLS Cup and doesn't go far in the playoffs, there will have to be questions answered about the roster, has it's built, What's
the future of Nicholas Ladero his contract is up. What's the future of Albert Russnack he has an option for next year. You know, there are contracts and there's situations with players on this team where there are question marks of will they be back for next season. There's also the questions about roster regulations in terms of right now there's three designated players, you have a cap for gam you have a cap for tam Do either of the designated player rules or the
tam GAM caps change because of what happened with Miami and Lionel Messi? Does that situation change things at all for MLS roster regulations? All of these questions lead us into the element of what does the Sounders club look like six months from now? That was one of the many topics we talked about with Craig
Wible. We also spoke about the signing of Paul Rothrock, the situation with Danny Lava with Colorado who's still on loan, and some really I mentioned them in the previous segment, some really pointed comments at the end of this clip here where Craig Wible talks about the high priced players on this team needing to step up. So a lot of interesting concepts and interesting topics here with Craig
Wible. Certainly, as we look forward not only to the end of this year and the last nine games, and this was recorded, by the way, when there were still ten games left in the season, doesn't really change anything. But listen, not only do these apply for the last point of this season, but as we look ahead to twenty twenty four. I think there's some very interesting comments here from the Sounders general manager Craig Wible. So
here he is from the comments last week. We started the conversation by talking about the newly signed Paul Rothrock of course, you know, to coma defiance led them and assist this year three goals in three first team appearances with the Sounders before Sunday where he made his first appearance, coming on as a substitute in the second half. But before that appearance, before his fourth career with the Sounders, Paul signed a first team deo with Seattle. So first Craig
Wibel talked about signing Paul Rothick to that new contract. Paul's done well this
year. We're really happy for him, and a lot of us has overlapped, you know, as it is as dominoes right, and so has been in close contact with porig Do in Colorado over the last several months, several weeks as you might imagine, regarding Danny leaves loan and so when they decided to retain Danny had opened up a spot and Paul's definitely you're in the opportunity, so really proud of him to prove again there are more than one there is more than one way to do this and make it to the top team
on the Sounders, and it proves our mode. I don't want it proves, you know, in terms of development, We've got a lot of the right people in the right positions. In terms of Danny Levit being retained by Colorado, do do you feel like he's somebody that they're gonna want to keep around long term or do we because obviously it's you know, that's that even could expire. You could see Redic could be back after this, after the seasons of the Yeah, there's two ways to handle that. For me,
I could have asked that question. I didn't because I don't want that to pressure or influence decisions they make in the next couple of months. There's always leverage in those conversations in terms of a price of a player goes up, a price of a player goes down. So rather than put Poregor myself in that position, I left it at Hey, we have an agreement, it's
your decision. We'd love to have him back, but they have a decision to make and they wanted to retain him, which we felt probably offered more minutes potential minutes for him. So we'll get into that conversation at the end of the year. But I mean, as of now, Danny's with us for for next season and we're not unhappy about that. Signing Paul Rothrock any other news in terms of this transfer window to give ory you guys feel like you're you're set for the set for the Strugger. No, it's it's the
same. It's the same message that I have been saying. Unfortunately or fortunately or however you interpret it, uh is. Look, we were looking for players that could come in and start and that was the only way we were going to make a significant change at this point in the season. So we we had a lot of conversations. We had more conversations than people know about. It was, unfortunately and exhausting window, even though it doesn't look like
it from the outside. But none of them came to fruitions. So again, going back to the domino idea, the first one gets knocked down the second one. You know, attracting players isn't hard when you're the Sounders. Making making all of those deals work in the middle of a season is really difficult from a financial standpoint in MLS. With the way we went about this season and the decisions we made earlier in the year to retain and also signed
Nalyst. Roster rules is a topic, hop button topic right now, and with everything that has gone with Miami, yeah, right, with everything you know down there, I'm wanting to get your take two on your thoughts on the future of MLS roster rules, where you think it's going, if you think it will change or stay the same. No, I think the league has done a wonderful job over its existence of evolving. I mean, the reason it's a better league today is because it's evolved, right, and it
will continue to evolve. And whether or not the impetus is a player, an additional player, a high profile player, you know, world recognition with MESSI right now, in my position, I'm not really bothered how the evolution happens. I just love the idea that we're in a league that refuses to stagnate and we want to evolve. We've got a group of ownership across the league, but specifically in Seattle that's desperate to evolve, that wants to evolve,
that wants this to get bigger and better in so many ways. And so you know, a parallel with the announcement of ownership. You know, these are topics that are that are hot topics across the league, but specific you know, to us, it's it's welcomed, it's you know, it's a topic we talk about all the time. Is Okay, we're gonna play in the rules, but the rules are going to change, you know. Unfortunately, I'm in a position that's going to find out a couple hours before
you do what those rule changes are. But uh, but look, I'm I'm highly optimistic that ownership groups like the Sounders Ownership Group are pushing to evolve and help those those roster rules change and you know, honestly become more lucrative to players. And there's no secret. Uh you know, players signed contracts
to play in. Those contracts always have salaries. So falling up on that, we'll start with the ownership part of it, you know, with with the new ownership news that came out today, does that and how does it change what you do at all? Well, I mean, on my day to day it doesn't change a lot. I guess there's a few more people to ask me questions behind a closed door, which is which is perfectly fine. But these you know, our ownership group is rock solid. And the
additional people that are they're joining on are just a remarkable community people. They're Seattle people and their Sounders people, and they make our unit stronger, they make us better as a group, and they serve to do what we've always done here, which is unify, unify the team with the fans, with the experience, which is going to be really important on the stretch. And
you know, I couldn't be happier. I don't know how the PR team decides and when to announce these things, but this aligns with everything going on in terms of soccer. You know, we need to pull together in the last ten games, and we need that not to be finger pointing. We needed to be the fans and the players supporting each other. And ownership is
it's it's the head of the dog man. It drives this with that evolution in mind of the league in general and Sieta having to adapt, He's a fair to say that we could foresee in the outcoming the windows some record signing in terms of money, transfer, captain at things of that nature. Though all those conversations are going on right now. I mean, look, I've I've not beat around the bush with you guys all year, and I'm not going to beat around the bush. Now there's evolution, and this team has
been together a long time. We very specifically kept this group together that won the Champions League last year on purpose, and this team is set to do something really special down the stretch. There there are roster rules, there are financial rules. There's a lot of things that go into what this offseason is gonna have in store, but inevitably change changes on its way. It's it's impossible to stay the same unless the rules change overnight. And I assure you
I haven't been told the rules are changing overnight. So there will be evolution of the roster. There will be some turnover in terms of record setting and phrases like that. You know, I always shy away from most things because it may be the cheapest free transfer that has the biggest impact on our team, or it might be a player out of contract that signs chooses to sign with Seattle that has the biggest impact. It's not always how much you pay
for something. I always say smart money beats dumb money, and so our intent this offseason will be to use our money wisely. You talked about the evolution of the league as well. So how do you both plan and prepare for the inevitable evolution of the league in terms of those roster rules, but also plan for the current rules in place. You have about nine hundred spreadsheets
saved somewhere on a computer. We've got three or four different plans. At the end of the day, we know the rules, We know the rules that are set for next year. You know exactly what those financial rules are in terms of roster. That's what we've drawn up. We also have contingencies the just in case, what if two million in gam was added. What if you know, target allocation money went up instead of down. What if the salary cap just jumps to nine million or ten million instead of five or
five point and so we have all those contingency conversations. But those are honestly just to challenge ourselves on the reality of how we're looking at our roster, the reality of how we're looking at individual players, and the reality of how we're looking at the overall fit of this team, all the way to you know, breaking it down to okay, there's no names on our roster, how would we build from scratch if we were doing it today, and so
all those conversations are kind of the fun soccer nerdy part of what I get to do with my group. But the reality is we we live within the rules, and so we have a very clear plan as to what we kind accomplish in that we've had three weeks off from the last game. You know, you beat a player, you get a coach. What does that time provide this group of players in the field and off the field? You know, it's it's gonna be interesting to see which teams benefit from the time off,
which teams don't. We have a veteran corps. We've talked about it a lot this year. Is a break good? No, winning games is good, and if we were winning games, we would still be playing. But our veterans are professional. I think the break probably rejuvenated their focus. It got them the time, the energy, the time with their families, the time individually to evaluate where they are and what these last ten games mean.
Veteran groups like ours tend to pull together when when when the calling comes, you know, and the phone's ringing, you know, I don't shy away from it. And I said it a couple of weeks ago. We're gonna see what these last ten games are because there are there are some players out there that we pay to winn as games and we're gonna find out if those players deliver in the last ten games, and that's what we need.
That's Craig Wible, Sounders FC general manager. And listen, I mean, you know the comment that that stands out to the most and I mentioned it the previous segment as well and a few minutes ago, is the fact that the high priced players are going to have to earn their money essentially and you know, show up and once again, you know in that tune to Nothing lass against Atlanta, we didn't see it. And it's troubling because you look,
I mean, anybody can go google the MLS salaries. You can go check out you know, the the MS Association that they release all the salaries from players. Anybody can go google that and check it out. I mean, you look at the prices of Nicholas Ladero, rolruy Diez and Albert Russnach. You're three designated players, and even you know, further down the list to a Duel Polo, to a Jordan Morris, the high priced players for the Sounders are not showing up. As much as we need right now,
and that needs to change. Yes, we're still fourth placed in the Western Conference, but that really really needs to change if this team has any hope of not only you know, getting a higher seed, a top four seed in the Western Conference, having a home playoff games, plural games, but also trying to get back to an MS UP. That's the ultimate goal here right is get back to a championship and right now with the Wave, everybody's
playing, not only the high priced players, but everybody's playing. This team is not playing at a championship caliber level and that needs to change, and hopefully it does change. This coming Sunday, we'll take a look ahead at the Minnesota match with Ari lean Wall of MLS soccer dot Com. We'll have our sharp version opponent outlook, and we'll also celebrate some very good news here
in local soccer. Andrew Harvey is around for around the sound. Both Ari and Andrew come up next on Sounders Weekly Sports Radio at ninety three point three KJRFM. Now back to Sounders Weekly on your home for sunders FC Seattle's sports Radio ninety three point three kjr FM. Welcome back Sounders Weekly. Jackson Felt's good to be with you here on Sports Radio ninety three point three kjr FM Sounders Weekly on every Wednesday from seven to eight pm. Here. Thank you
for joining us in and thanks to both Craig Wible and Stephen Fry. Good to hear from them so far on the show tonight. Check out the podcast in case you missed any of it, well, Sounder fans, bud Light was brewed to be a delicious and easy to drink beer. Bud Light, easy to drink, easy to enjoy. Pick up bud Light at your local retailer today and please enjoy responsibly. Speaking of podcasts, a podcast host of Lobbing Scorchers also writer for MLS Soccer dot Com, Ari Lillian Wall joins us
once again right here on Sounders Weekly. Ari, it's been a long long time, my friend. Good to get you back on the show. It has Yeah, good to be back. Jackson. Well, there's a lot for us to talk about, Ari, not all of it great, So let's eat the vegetables first. Let's get this out of the way. Two nothing loss for the Sounders against Atlanta United. Your quick thoughts on that loss
on Sunday night there at lumen Field. Yeah, I mean I think it was just disappointing to see a performance like that after a three week break where I think, you know, the hope was the batteries would be reach hard, they'd be ironing out, ironing out some of the stuff that hadn't been working before Leagues Cup, and obviously the performance in League's Cup was also disappointing. So to kind of lay an egg like that in your first game back,
it's felt a little deflating and dispiriting, didn't it. And I mean, I just think ultimately that this team is at a bit of a bit
of a crossroads. You've got a core that has been together for a long time, won a lot of games, won a lot of trophies, but you know, these things are cyclical, and I think the thing to figure out over these last two games was exactly how they were going to approach the roster over the off season, what guys are going to be coming back, what guys are going to need to move on from And it's frankly looking like that there's gonna be a lot of changes. So it's definitely going to be
an interesting off season. I will tell you that certainly will be on I mean, I don't disagree with you on any of those points. It's just amazing to me. Now, this is a club that's fourth plays in the Western Conference right now, and we are, you know, and we and I think a lot of fans are right now just looking ahead to the offseason.
I mean, we just played a few minutes from Craig Wible's press conference last week where we're specifically talking about, you know, working towards different rosters in twenty twenty four. And you know the fact that our attention is even a little bit on that where this team sits right now is it's shocking, weird place to be as a Sounder fan. But we must, you know, as Brian Spencer said, you know, keep pushing, and for the
Sounders, they gotta keep pushing towards Minnesota coming up this Sunday. Let's talk about that a little bit in our shot vision opponent Alikari, because this is a Minnesota team that went pretty far into League's Cup before getting steamrolled by Nashville. They came back this last Sunday, got a two nothing win over New
York City. We know that Ray Noso's back, but I know we were talking in the press box about they having a new striker, So talk to us about what's going on with the Minnesota United this year and what the Sounders have to worry about on the road this coming weekend. Yeah, Minnesota for a long time has been a team that's pretty much Emmanuel Rainoso or bust. They go as he goes. He's the centerpiece of the whole operation, and if he's playing and informed, they can beat anybody. But if he's not
playing or he's not informed, they can also lose to anybody. But I do think they've made an intriguing addition with Timokouki as their new number nine. I mean, this is the leading scorer in the history of Finland's national teams, so he's a very talented player. He's thirty three, but you know, I think I think he does still have a lot left in the tank, and I don't think he hasn't really gotten going to his full capacity for them yet. But I expect him to make a big difference for their team
ultimately. But one thing that's pretty interesting about Minnesota this year is their home form has been really not good at all. They're two two and six at Alliance Field, which is not really what you would expect especially from kind of an imposing venue like that. It's one of the nicest stadiums in the league, and they have a really great fan base. The atmosphere is always electric
at every single one of those games. So seeing that record that kind of raises my eyebrows a little bit because you would expect that to be better there. They've won six games on the road, so it's been kind of a bizarre season for them, But I mean, there's certainly a team that Seattle
should be able to compete with and taking a result. To take a result in this game under normal circumstances, they're they're okay, but they're they're not so good, we're so overpowering that a result is impossible or anything like that. That home record is quite interesting. They're the two two and six number because they're eight eight and seven overall, you know, holding out of that ninth spot in the Western Conference right there, barely above the red line.
But that's very interesting that home record status. Will certainly mention that on the broadcast coming up this Sunday, very quick to remind people about that. Coming up this Sunday, that match is going to be at just after one thirty Providence Swedish prematch show will start at one o'clock right here on Sports Radio ninety three point three KJR FM. You know, watch match for free on Apple TV app or on Fox thirteen and listen also in Spanish Linklage on l Ray
thirteen sixty. Ari Lenlaw was our guest MLS Soccer dot Com host of the podcast Lobbing Scorchers, and I'll mention very quickly that tonight's opponent, Alec was presented by Sharp Vision, Modern Lasic and Lens, the official lasic provider of Sounders FC. Ari, we got to spend our last few minutes talking about Lease Cup because that came to an end on Saturday night. Listen, man, we can talk all about Messi and Miami. We can talk about that
till we're blue in the face. But before we get to those subjects, just I wanted to get your overall impressions of this new or i should say refined tournament. Now it's a you know, roughly a month long. Both leagues leamck's and MLS come to a stop and both leagues just dedicate themselves to this tournament. Just overall thoughts on how this came across for the first time in this expanded format and how you think it went. I thought it was
fun. I enjoyed watching the games. And you know, my take on it is I support as many games as our MLS clubs can get against Legua and Macy's teams as possible because I do think that as many reps as you can get in those games against that competition that helps our clubs get better. And branch Metzer and the players on the Sounders have talked about this, but when they were in League's Cup and they made the final last year, they
said that those games really prepared them very well for CAP Champions League. And I really do think there's something to that, and I think that is a reason that Seattle was able to win that tournament, is because they got so much experience against those clubs and playing in really intense environments, high intensity games. So I think in principle, the idea of an expanded tournament like this, where we have our clubs going against their clubs and getting those reps,
I think that much is great. The only concern I have with it is just and we're going to see how this pans out, but you know what, the roster restrict that we have in MLS and kind of the top heavy rosters that that results, and I question how much the depth of these rosters is going to be going to be able to hold up once we get back
to league play. I worry about the physical toll a little bit, so I think if they're going to have a tournament like this, I would like to see those loosened and allow MLS teams to have deeper rosters to be able to withstand kind of the physical and the mental toll. But I thought it was fun. I had a good I had a good time watching the game. I think I did as well. I think your hit the nail on the head when it comes to roster regulations. I think that needs to shift.
And listen, I mean the end of the day, the two final participants were both MLS teams, and MLS won this tournament, which is great. But yeah, I agree with you on the roster stuff. I think that's well said. Are Louien Wall one more thing for you, buddy, and that's talking about Miami. I mean, listen, when Lionel Messi joined this league, I think we both thought that there was a chance that he
could pull off what he's currently doing. I think in the back of my mind I almost didn't believe it. I almost said, like, listen, he's gonna have to there's gonna be a period of not only getting to the comfortability of this league and the physicality of this league, but there's gonna be a little bit of a delay before he really starts kicking things into high gear and dominating and wrecking the league. Dude, it didn't take any time at
all. He joins Miami and from the first game, you know, hitting that winner there in the group stage of League's Cup, he has just been a rocket sailing to the stars. They just cruised through League's Cup. Man, what were your impressions of not only Miami as a whole, but just how dominant the trio of Messy, Bousquets and Alba have been, because it has been just something to behold. Yeah, No, it's amazing to watch. It's it's phenomenal. I mean, there's a reason that this guy is
up in that pantheon with greatest ass a go. There's there's only so many names that you can put up on that kind of mount rushmore of athletes, and he's very much on there. He might be the best out of all of them. And you see why. I mean you mentioned those free kicks that he's hitting. He does he does that in the pressure moments and every time he lines one, he lines up over one of those, you know
he's gonna make it before he even takes it. And there's no other player that's ever played this game, at least not in recent times where you can say that about where you know what's going to happen before it happens, because he's just that good. And yeah, I mean, I agree with you. I thought that there might be at least some sort of adjustment period where it took it would take them time to get going, but that just was not the case at all. They frankly look like the most unstoppable MLS team
that I've ever seen. There's I want to stop you right there, because that's the follow up question. I know we're tight on time, but are the unstoppable enough to not only make the MLS playoffs because right now they're still in the last places in the East. So are they dominant enough to just roll through the rest of this season and then make a run Tom Moss Cup. Are they that good now? No? I think they definitely can do
that. You know, it's it's about if they can stay healthy and how much of the minutes that they're able to get the New Barsid Boys to be able to play. Assuming those guys are playing seventy five to eight of the minutes, think that it's doable for them to get the amount of points that they need to make the playoffs, which is crazy to think about because, like you said, their last place on the league table and they got to win pretty much every game to be able to do that. But they're fully
capable of doing that. I don't really see who stops or slows them down. That's just I mean, that's going to be a constant topic on all of your visits here on Sounders weekly for the rest of this year, and I know on your podcast Lopping Scorchers, it's gonna be the cons a weekly look of are they really gonna do this? And I mean, I'm with you. I believe it's completely possible. Just stay healthy and letting MESSI cook
as just stunning are great stuff, my friend. As always, no show next week, we have a Wednesday match for the Sounders, So we'll talk to you in a couple of weeks and we'll get more messy. Watch sounds good. Jackson's good to be back. Good stuff there from Ari lellen Wall. Make sure you check out his podcast Lobbing Scorchers. Episodes starting backup soon.
But from Ari lellen Wall. We now go around the Sound as we welcome in our Puget Sound soccer expert and voice of Ballard FC National champions I'm sure we'll hear all about that. Let's go around the sound here with Andrew Harvey. Well lots to catch up on Around the Sound. Jackson Tacoma Defiance played in North Texas sc to a two two draw on the road last Saturday, claiming the bonus point after prevailing six to five and the penalty shootout.
Tacoma's also headed the Minnesota this week. They'll play Minnesota United two on Friday at five pm the National Sports Center in Blaine. That match will air on mlsnexpro dot Com. Ol Rain fell one mill on the road to the Kansas City Current last Friday. They've now won just one in their last five. They'll be on the road against Angel City FC this Sunday at five pm. That match will air on Paramount Plus Ballot FC. As you mentioned, capped
off their second season in club history with a national title. They defeated lions Bridge FC two one thanks to a stoppage time goal to claim the US League two crown in front of a raucous crowd at Starfire Stadium. Since then, they've been honored with a parade and being officially honored by the Seattle City Council. They declared one day last week Ballard FC Day. Even better for the
clubs that they've helped four team members move on to the next level. Alex mehe At, Lars Hellern and Gamy Roblays have all signed professional contracts directly from their time with Ballot FC, and former head coach Jason Farrell was offered and accepted a spot on the coaching staff at Seattle University. And finally, the Tacoma Stars made a big offseason signing ahead of the twenty twenty three twenty two
for MSL season, they brought back legendary Seattle sounder Roman Torres. Torres joined the MSL last year after retiring from outdoor soccer, played with the Dallas Sidekicks. Sounders. Fans can see Torres and the rest of the Stars all season long at the accessor show Where Center in Kent. I'm Andrew Harvey glad to be back. This has been around the sound, Andrew Harvey, our piget
sound soccer expert, taking us around the sound there. I had completely forgotten about the news of Roman Tos. I'm glad Andrew threw that in there. Fantastic to see a sounder legend getting an opportunity locally and we'll see what his gigantic tank like frame can do in the MSL. They're of an indoor soccer league that will certainly be fun to watch and head out there to this games. I'll certainly be there occasionally wanting to see Roman Tores and what he can
do in that league. So much fun. But also congratulations to once again Ballard FC. Second year. As Andrew mentioned, first year, they went to the West Final loss of Ventura County. Here. In the second year they beat Ventura County in the West Final and then win the freaking National championship at home at Starfire. The National Championship was played down there at Starfire.
Peter Kingston, whether you want to call it his goal, whether you want to call it an own goal, the winner coming there in stoppage time, the flares firing off there at Starfire. I mean, it looked like a spectacular atmosphere. So congratulations to Chris sam Lamar, every player on that club, and great to see so many other guys on that roster getting pro contracts. Just outstanding. So congratulations to everybody with Ballard FC and Andrew the play
by play voice. What a run it has been in the second year winning the title. Can't wait to be back there at Inner Bay next year. I was leaving the press box on Sunday from the Sounders game and Chris was there with the trophy and got a chance to just touch it, and it's just, you know, it's it's magical in a sense, you know, even at the USL two level. So wonderful, and congrats to all of them again. But that will do it for Sounders Weekly tonight. I'll quickly
tell you two things. First up that Sounders sc Soccer is presented by Providence, Swedish official healthcare partner of Sounders FC. And lastly that Sounders FC and Boeing are teaming up to support the Washington Youth Soccer Community Corner on match days this season joins in stadium as we welcome Washington youth soccer players and coaches to cheer on the Rave Green courtesy of Boeing. So we will talk to you on Sunday, Sounders in Minnesota at Allan's Field there in Saint Paul to face
Minnesota United. It will be a one pm pre match kickoff just after one thirty. Look forward to having you with us right here on Sports Radio ninety three point three kjr FM this Sunday for Sounders and Minnesota. So we'll talk to you then and until then, have a good week everybody, and Fox Sports Radio's coming up next