stuff kid all i gotta say is the public can't
say shit Welcome to Sounders Scuttlebutt. I'm
Aaron Lingley, and joined, as always, I am. Wow.
I am sick, by the way, so my head's not working.
But, as always, I'm joined by your Alliance Council
Secretary, Cameron Collins. Hey, everybody, I'm
not sick for a change. It's surprising. I think
I might have given it to Aaron the other day
when we were making out. And, as always, joined
by Nicholas Biela, your Alliance Council... At
large. At large. At large, yes. It's not just
a clever name. It's not just... And I'm your
Alliance Council friend. Welcome. It's Sounder
Scuttlebutt. It's your first time listening.
We have a show, Discord, and it's been beautifully
organized by your Cameron Collins to fit for
our mailbag, for general Scuttlebutt talk, when
our show gets posted, and there's just really
good banter on there. And yeah, we tend to pull
from the Discord for our Scuttlebutt portion
of the show. And if you want to help support
the show on Patreon, we have our supporter section.
It's only $1 .74 to join. That does go towards
hosting the show. And we really do appreciate
it. And also Cameron Collins will drop some interviews
in there. We've just started one last month.
LA Galaxy fellow. Tolkien Scholar. It was incredible
fun. Incredibly fun. We got some other good ones
coming up. In the works. In the works. Speaking
of in the works, it is the offseason, and all
the clubs are doing stuff. Not much longer. Not
much longer. I think some teams have already
started training camps. Whoa. We've started training
camp. That is true. That is true. It's the 14th.
40 days. 40 days. That's all the offseason was.
Yeah. So what I was getting at is that our rosters
are constructed, right? So we now can kind of
see what the work that's been done to both our
team and others and kind of can start, I don't
know, predicting, prognosticating what we think
might happen. And there's a lot of paths to trophies
this year, isn't there? Oh, yeah. A lot of chances
to win. Oh, yeah. Yeah, so where should we start
off? What should we be doing? We should be cracking
one open. Go ahead. I'm going to figure out what's
going on with my mic right now while you do that.
Who's mic? That's the person in the mask locked
up behind him. Is that not a Rainier? You are
correct. This is a Pabst Blue Ribbon. I have
my annual Colorado Pond Hockey Tournament, the
Pabst Colorado Pond Hockey Tournament coming
up in just a few weeks. You corporate whore.
So I am training. I got to get ready for high
altitude, 10 ,000 feet above sea level hockey.
You were telling me about that a few months ago.
That's pretty dope. It is. It is. So we get a
lot of Pabst that weekend. And so, you know,
I got to remind myself what it tastes like and,
you know, I'm sorry. Hey, I like cheap beer.
I mean, I do too, but it's not really. I mean,
I much prefer a Pabst over like Keystone or anything
with ice in the name. Natty Ice, man. I think
for me, my order is Rainier, PBR, and then when
I can get it, Yingling. I don't know what that
is. Montucky Gold Snack? You know what? That's
not bad. Yeah, Montucky's not bad. I'll take
a Montucky. Is that what it's called? Gold Snack?
Something like that. Yeah, Montucky. What are
you drinking since you're not drinking in January
there, Aaron? Eloqua. Although the other one
is the Spindrift. The poppies are gone. Poppies
are so good. Spindrift. Seriously, the prebiotic
sodas. Spindrift is good too. What is it? Spindrift.
Yeah, Spindruff is, but have you had a poppy?
Oh, of course. Okay. I prefer Ollie. Check this
out, guys. You know me and my stubby holders.
I don't know if I mentioned this in the last
show, Cameron, but I have a Yeti stubby holder.
It's metal on the inside. You put it in the freezer,
and then you put this cap on. Seals it. That's
cool. So these are the ones that look like floaties
in a pool, right? Coco Cabana. Ew. Upgrade. Yeti.
Not a sponsor. And so no one's going to take
the obvious joke about your stubby holder? No
one? I'm drinking iced tea from Red Robin. That's
what I'm drinking. From Red Robin? Yum. I had
Red Robin delivered today. And when you get it
delivered, you can get a giant bag of iced tea.
So I got a giant bag of iced tea that's currently
in my fridge. It's probably like two and a half
liters or something like that. Okay, that's...
It's only $8. It's probably the best deal on
the menu. Okay. Let's hit it. Let's talk about
shit. Game changer for the MLS, says World Soccer
Talk. Game changer! They have a new trading system
that is cash for player trades, which has never
been allowed. It's similar to... essentially
buying players like the transfer we can do everywhere
else. I'm glad we can talk about this publicly
now because Nicholas and I have known about this
for a little bit, but it's not something that
we were allowed to publicly speak on. But the
new rules say that each team gets a maximum of
two trades annually. And there's transparent
transfer fees. So the fee amount will be publicly
disclosed, which you don't see always in other
places. And if a player is a DP or a U22, they
retain those designations at their new club.
So it brings out some pretty interesting stuff.
Because of it, the contract buyouts have gone
from one to two. So now you can have two contract
buyouts. Before all the Raul Ruiz Diaz slash
Craig Weibel haters get in on this, nothing has
changed concerning guaranteed contracts. So if
any portion of their contract is guaranteed,
you're not getting cap relief if you cut a player
that way, if they have a guaranteed contract
in any portion. Just a sunk cost. Yep. There's
adjustments to GAM. It no longer expires. It's
good indefinitely. So you can, I guess, add it
up over years to sign more players. And the transfer
windows have changed. The secondary transfer
window has shifted to better match the global
transfer market. And so now it runs from July
24th to August 21st. However, keep in mind this
year for Miami and Seattle, we have a special
window before Club World Cup. All teams in Club
World Cup have a special window for like two
weeks. before the tournament where did you learn
that information that was in the fifa guidebook
for all club world cup teams sweet what do you
think about that that's special no i don't know
how much that would come into play for us but
it you know it is an option well that is a game
changer um and not as confusing as i anticipated
no it's pretty straightforward in fact it i mean
it limits the number of moves you can make but
it allows you know a player to be traded uh who
maybe uh wouldn't be otherwise because you can
now sell them for cash rather than gam well there
are there are also a couple other little little
things that that aren't so little um one of them
being that if you loan an outgoing designated
player um that mls team will open up that designated
player slot during the loan period um so that
that would so if we were to say loan raul ruidias
as an example uh down to a peruvian team um then
we could have opened up a dp slot during that
time um and then the other thing is just a reminder
this is not necessarily a new rule i think this
was starting or maybe they announced it last
year and it's it's now in place now teams have
two options on how to do dp and under 22 uh spending
so that that was announced at the beginning of
the season but the new wrinkle is that you can
switch halfway through the year go ahead yeah
and so to thank you thank you and so the reminder
is you can go with three designated players as
traditional and then um it's three designated
players and then that allows you to have three
u22s or you can have two designated players wow
i'm gonna get this messed up and i think it's
like three view 22s and additional gam Does that
sound right? Yeah, you can do three DPs and three
U22s or two DPs and four U22s with the additional
game. Okay. Yeah, and I think that's some of
the, you know, it'll make it very interesting
to see which teams do what. Like, as we'll get
to teams like Dallas, I expect them to maybe
go with two. and and keep all that gam i mean
they have one right now so that's what i mean
you know and then and then obviously the sounders
are a three and three team um i mean let's look
at that real quick so jesus ferrer is gone paul
ariel is gone alan velasco is being uh sold so
the only dp they currently have is petar musa
and then they have uh dallas has giovanni jesus
or jesus and this sally and leo chu as the 3u22
slot so it'll be i i don't know if they've already
did they already have to declare that's what
i don't know is it so i was and i was going to
say this is effective as the public announcement
of it or like because because obviously jesus
was a dp and no longer is that's contractual
though he took a pay cut for that okay so could
this trade happen now if we traded for him now
he would remain a dp That's what I was trying
to clarify. If we got cash instead of GAM, but
you can still do the GAM trades. You can still
do the old trades. It's just the new trades allow
for cash instead of having to use Garber bucks.
Real cash money. Exactly. Yeah. So it's going
to be interesting what Atlanta does with all,
you know, you think about the cash that their
owner has and what they... Seriously. I mean,
I think we've seen now with what has gone on.
that considering the limitations that Garth had,
he's probably the greatest executive in MLS history
based on what he was allowed to do with the amount
of money he was given. So it's pretty impressive.
And so now that he's going to have infinite money,
I'm excited to see what happens. And honestly,
looking at the, I mean, we'll have more roster
talk later, but we still have flexibility to
sign like a nine, like you want Cameron or. another
maybe roster flexibility i don't know if we we
have the budget flexibility but i know so like
going down the neck we could build on this season
in the next year or two you know especially with
the money that will come in from fifa competitions
because we're going to win them all but yeah
that that using real cash is could be i mean
definitely for the big markets a game changer
but i mean right now the sounders have three
dps and one u22 Correct. They will get, which,
you know, Pedro, Jordan, and Albert, U22's Josh.
There will be another U22 from our internal,
I bet, because that's what Craig's been saying
for a year now. And then he mentioned that we,
at his press conference, that we would potentially
sign another U22 maybe. So I watched all the
press conferences today. It was pretty fun just
watching every new, you know. new and old sound
player talk about what they think is coming this
season what i think is interesting going slightly
out talking about uh transfers and such as san
jose because they're going to be uh they just
picked up chicharango but for those keeping track
and options he was hurt but still one of the
the dangerous players yeah but um what's really
interesting is that gives san jose at this point
four dps So they have to get rid of one of Christian
Espinosa, Hernan Lopez, or Carlos Guerzo. But
they have five more weeks to do that. No, that's
true. February 21st. But that's a roster compliance
date. But it'll be interesting to see what they
do there. And, you know, it's Bruce Arena taking
control of everything. And we'll see what happens.
Matt Doyle. our friend Matt Doyle, who works
for MLS Soccer dot com now believes it's that
it's going to be Gruzo. Is that how you say his
name? I don't know for sure. That's that's that's
what it is. So and they have no U -22s. So you
could see them potentially coming up with some
of those, which is so interesting because they
were they had a few young superstars that have
moved on to other teams. Well, they they Haven't
had a consistent identity in a number of years
now. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Which is too bad
because I really liked the all or nothing approach
that when what's his name was coaching. Hector
or not Hector Mexico's. Oh gosh. What is his
name? I don't remember. It's too long ago. Anyways,
it was the COVID year when we were spanking them
7 -0. I'd like more of that. Yeah. I mean, looking
around the league, let's just do it. I'm not
even going to necessarily go into the players,
but Austin has three DPs and one U22. Of course,
they brought in Brandes Vasquez, but Drissi is
on his way out, so really they're going to be
at 2 -1, so we don't know if they're going to
the 2 -4 route or the 3. two route. So we will
see what happens there. The Rapids have three
and one. The Dallas, like we said, the Dallas
has one and three. Houston has two and three.
KC has two and two. LA has two and two. Other
LA Galaxy has three and one. Minnesota is 3 -2.
Portland has 2 -3. Salt Lake has 1 -4. So, so
far, they're the only one to go the 4 -U -22
route. Wait, I think you have Dallas backwards
a little bit just because I think what you're
looking at might have been before the trade.
No, Dallas has one DP. Two. No, they have Peter
Musa. That's it. As Velasco officially left?
No, but he's being sold. They accepted a $10
million offer for him. Okay. So he's gone. They're
in complete rebuild. Well, Dallas is the new
worst team in the MLS. They're the new San Jose.
San Diego only has one and one though. So, oh,
I guess I should finish. There's only two more.
Three and two for St. Louis and three and two
for Vancouver. Kevin De Bruyne rumors are coming
back for San Diego. Yeah, yeah. So they obviously
have money to spend. They want to make a splash.
I don't know how good they are. San Diego also
has $5 million in GAM left, which is pretty impressive.
The Sounders have $4 .2 million left. So they
could still make something happen potentially,
but we'll see. So yeah, it's around the league.
It looks like most people are going the traditional
3DP route. But the big news is that that can
change halfway through the season, right? Because
you can decide, hey, this player wants to play
for us. We're going to switch it up and drop
a DP and pick up an extra U22. Hmm. Exciting
stuff. Any other news come out of the MLS? I
don't think they're, I mean, Inter -Miami signed
a new player today. They signed Tadeo Allende
on a one -year loan from Celta de Vigo in Spain.
So they've got another quality player coming
in for them, and I'm sure we'll see more of that.
Sometimes it's hard not to get FOMO, but we'll
get into that because I think FOMO isn't always
what it's cracked up to be. Yeah. And I just
want, you know, I already had put it in our show
description because I didn't want to mention
it. But Matt Doyle, who you just mentioned, did
an article going over kind of everyone's where
to go. Every team's like offseason, like who
should they add? Yeah, that's essentially what
I was looking at. It says what they have. okay
good everything's biggest transfer need is preseason
begins for the western conference it was released
on tuesday january 14th which is today that's
when we're recording yeah yep so um it's in there
and he pretty much says that uh we have the highest
floor in the league and don't need to make any
changes and if we did any would be in the middle
of the park yeah we'll talk about it we'll talk
about it i mean here's the thing is portland's
making moves they're trying to get some defenders
in there If they get their defense broken down
solidly, they're going to be good. News broke
earlier today that San Diego is trying to sign
U .S. men's national team midfielder Luca De
La Torre, which would be a pretty good signing
for them. Chicago Fire is trying to get a Fiorentina
winger. Chicago picked up former sounder Sam
Rogers. Yeah, they did, which is interesting
because they have a lot of defenders. And then
they signed Jack. What's his name? Jack. I'm
blanking on his name right now. The guy from
Philly. Bryce is what was in my head too, but
that's not right. Isn't it like M. McGurney or
something? I don't know. Toronto just signed
a player from Girona, and they have a new head
coach, of course, with the old... robin frazier
the old coach of colorado and before that i mean
he might have been in teams in between that but
i remember most notably is shivas usa that one
year they were kind of fun so uh still moves
coming there's still time right there's there
until the roster doesn't freeze but uh you've
got to you've got to make sure you're within
the roster rules by that date so um i think the
sounders have announced what four moves recently
and and they might have one more coming yeah
they announced jp's re -signing albert signing
uh paul areola and jesus ferrara so on top of
leo bernie and um yes so so why don't we start
there how do you feel about the state of the
Sounders as of right now? Do you think this has
been, how do you feel about this transfer window
in the offseason? Well, why don't we take that
and turn it into Alex's question or request of
us to rate our offseason signing and offloading?
Perfect. Let's do that. Why don't you read the
question and fold the way he wrote it? That's
it. Rate our offseason signing and offloading
from 1 to 10. 10 being great. I'm going to give
it a 7 .5. Why? Because I think Craig Weibel
absolutely fleeced Dallas on the two trades.
I mean, you brought in two players at well, well,
well below their value. You had them rework contracts
so they don't hit the threshold the way they
did. They could then both fit within the salary
cap. And it's an upgrade. Both players are an
upgrade at various positions. Uh, you know, I
think based on, uh, what Christian said in his
press conference today, he's no longer a winger.
He'll be playing in the middle of the field,
whether that's as an eight or a six. So, uh,
I think you bring in a, uh, another Paul is an
Areola and he can play on the left or right,
but obviously he's great on the right. Usually
for USA, that's where he played. He can play
at a wing back as well. So if we're playing five
at the back, he'll play back there. and uh we've
just seen it's i think it's a it's a big upgrade
uh in terms of of that so uh i think we we moved
on from chu who we talked about a lot was a not
an expensive piece but when you can exchange
him for a jesus ferreira who can play both wings
the ten and the nine and hopefully we're gonna
be playing two at the top so he'll be playing
Jordan up top with him right behind him, kind
of like Dempsey used to do for Oba. And then
I think it's going to be unstoppable up there
because we'll have so much service. I think what
they did with Pedro de la Vega, telling him to
come in stronger, which Brian Schmetzer said
today in his press conference, that's what they
did. And he's come in stronger and he's in shape.
So that's a huge thing. And so I think, you know,
we had the best defense. We addressed a bunch
of needs. And I think by moving Atencio back
to center back, we also addressed the fact that
Yamar is getting older, which, of course, Brian
mentioned in his press conference day as well.
So I think all in all, we improved a team that
finished, what, fourth in the West last year
and was the final two in the West. Do I think
we're as good as the L .A.'s? No. I think we
needed to bring in a U22 type player, high -end
U22 or a DP, a younger DP who either at wing
or forward who could score or create a ton of
goals. We did not do that. So although we upgraded,
I think we could have upgraded more. I will say
Jesus Ferreira, I mean, we brought in a player
for very little whose value is... upwards of
10 million but i would have liked to seen like
a 15 20 million player brought in so see this
push i'll push back a little bit on that but
let me finish and then because uh i don't think
george i mean everyone's doing jordan uh the
fact that he earned himself into being a dp brian
mentioned today that he it wasn't until he moved
him strictly to forward halfway through the season
well that means he really did everything in a
quarter of a season because the last quarter
of the season he didn't show up other than the
one goal in the playoffs, which he scored from
the wing, he had 11 straight games where he didn't
score from forward. So he had four goals in that
time, all from the wing. So he has not proven
it to me. So he's got to go out and prove that
he's a DP. I think he's a low -end DP compared
to what other teams have. And so I see the fact
that we did not bring in a higher level player
as the one hit. So we're not going to hang with
both LAs. That doesn't mean we can't finish second.
but right now we're the third best team in the
west champagne problems aaron nicholas oh yeah
nicholas you already had a thought ready to go
yeah um i'm gonna start i'm gonna rate it as
an eight i think there's a lot of good things
about what you said there i i just keep coming
back to people shitting on jesus ferreras uh
proven stat sheet already oh i'm not that no
no i think he is a they brought in a dp level
player for sure i'm just saying we needed another
piece on top of him i get it but you were you
were saying oh we didn't bring in the way you
were you were saying it is we didn't bring in
an attacking player i wanted to get gabriel peck
i wanted a best player in the league type player
jesus well it depends on what jesus we're getting
if we're getting jesus from two years ago we
got that yep you know if we're getting the jesus
from last year maybe not so that's why i'm going
to give it an eight because and where i'm gonna
give craig weibel a lot of credit and you touched
on it again as dallas absolutely got fleeced
now we were able to do that because they're on
a fire sale right now but still well look they
still sold velasco for 10 million and we got
we got jesus ferreira for pennies yes and especially
when you look at just the fact that you keep
this in mind as well When you re -sign a player
like that and you get him to take under DP dollars,
you are having the Jordan Morris problem. What
just happened this year with Jordan Morris? Jordan
Morris was told in his contract if he hit certain
performance metrics, he would get DP automatically
in his contract. I have a sneaking suspicion
that that's written into Jesus Ferreira's contract
as well. Like if you hit certain performance
metrics, these things will happen. Now, what
will likely happen is the club wisely recognize
that, oh, if he hits these performance metrics,
well, then that's going to mean that we're going
to be able to sell him for a lot more than what
we brought him. Or Rusnak has a second year option.
He's gone after one year. Now that could, I mean,
either way, it gives us way more roster flexibility.
And that's been one of the issues we had from
our time post -2020 when we were going for it
for Champions League is we painted ourselves
into a few corners. We re -signed Rui Diaz, we
re -signed Lodero, and we knew at the end of
those contracts that we were going to be... it
was going to be a little tight for a bit when
they were not necessarily performing up to those
contracts. Now you have the inverse. You're bringing
in Jesus Ferreira, and he's a TAM player. So
you have this great flexibility of being able
to complement that in a different way. So really,
really excited about that. The trade for Areola.
uh same thing areola took a pay cut to to come
to seattle um i saw a quote uh i saw a quote
somewhere where either jesus or paul were saying
i want to play for a winner you know uh and and
and that's something that we get as a sounders
and we i posted in our discord but we talked
about the fact that areola and and and uh Jesus
became the second pair of American players in
MLS history in 2022 to each have double -digit
goals. The first pair ever to do it, of course,
was Clint Dempsey and Will Bruin. Yeah, and that's
just crazy. Right there, we didn't mention the
numbers on the Areola trade. I mean, it was only
300 ,000 in GAM and a first -round pick. And
we've talked about the limited value of first
round picks, especially if the Sounders perform
like they typically perform. When we're picking
in the high 20s, it's like, who cares? I mean,
you're getting a player who potentially could
start if you nail it, but usually not. So, I
mean, both those trades, just people get mad
at Weibel, but I feel like he's doing a genius
job with what he's been given. I'm very pleased
with these things. i get the consternation about
not getting a overseas dp transfer um there are
risks and rewards to that for sure i will say
that if we did not get jesus ferreira then i
would have been really upset because but the
jesus deal in itself was a master class in um
in creating a trade in a creative manner that
allows you to maximize the impact on your internal
uh cap hit yeah and really really pleased with
that but you could bring in a player of higher
value that would have hit the cap at a number
that would have prevented us from being able
to sign a player like Paul Areola. So if you're
bringing in that DP that I want, you probably
don't also bring in Paul Areola. And so you've
just upgraded at two positions instead of one.
And actually, you also don't bring in... you
also don't bring in uh albert rusnak true yeah
because you because because jordan's dp salary
was triggered automatically yeah that's right
because of his contract that's locked in so you
had three players for for the major one there
exactly uh do we have a superstar tbd we have
players We have multiple players that can be
superstars. And you know where I'll start? And
some of those are young players. Jackson Reagan,
you don't see superstars in the center back position
because it's not a sexy pick, but that can be
a long -term thing. Jesus Ferreira can absolutely
be a superstar. Again, do not forget, just last
season, a Russian team offered... signed a deal
for 13 million and mls blocked that transfer
i mean that's that's what you got to think about
is you got a player who we know the value is
set at around 13 million based on what he was
doing and so you brought in a player for leo
chu and two million dollars a gam not even real
money garber bucks for for 13 million wait i
i need to i need to build off of that a little
bit not only the leo chu and that you actually
gave yourself even more options than you think
because you brought in a player who was a dp
you got him to buy down to a tam and you sent
off one of your u22 dps thus opening up in additional
spots you basically got two dp level spots in
this trade opened up one from buying down jesus
one from from shipping off uh leo chu just a
master class and i mean this is the stuff where
it's easy to not appreciate if you aren't nerding
out over the roster rules but i i think i nerd
out a little bit and i love it i i absolutely
love it and what do you think and what do you
say to people who don't think that we're on par
with la like i i don't think we're as good as
the la is yet What do you think about that? I
was beginning to wonder if I should just say
my number and move on. This is the discussion
that's been going on nonstop everywhere on the
internet. I mean, come on. I know people are
upset, but let's cut some of the negativity.
You can say things on our board on Discord without
being angry. You can give your opinion. People
are so mad. It's like soul -sucking right now.
It's not just us. It's Facebook. It's Twitter.
It's Reddit. But we haven't even kicked the ball
yet. I think this will be one of the more cohesive
seasons this club may ever have. Not have. Have
had. Sorry. Sinacy. I mean, that's what our problem
was. You already mentioned our defense was great.
We got a proven. scorer not not as it's jesus
is flashy when you start looking at his numbers
and look at his recent history yes he had uh
wasn't it an injury last year that kind of hampered
very this season they were playing yeah playing
that's my areola right right wing and that's
my point let's look let's look you have joel
paulo christian rolled on albert rustak um you'll
have jordan morris who is a better maybe distractor
of the defense than a facilitator himself but
Pedro de la Vega was going to be my cap to feed
Jesus. That's a lot of quality on the ball, a
lot of great vision, and a lot of cohesiveness
already. Jesus and Paul are going to be the new
guys. They played together, and they're experienced.
Paul Areola's played in Liga and Mechies for
years. Yeah, he was a wingback there. He talked
about that in his interview where that's his
natural position. Yeah, and that's likely what
we're going to see if you look in our Discord,
I think, who brought that formation up. Eric13.
Thank you, Eric. I do love that formation, which
is JMoJesus at the top, Rothrock, Rustneck, Areola,
Obed, CR7. I mean, I don't think you play Rothrock.
I mean, he has them there as well. I also include
Pedro. If you drop them back, right, you could
put Areola. on the right i wouldn't have rothrock
i would have pedro de la vega on the field i
think he forgot him yeah for sure but i mean
that i think i think people are discounting pedro
i think people think because of last season uh
they didn't see the moments of brilliance that
some of us saw they didn't realize the um i mean
they've talked about it the pressure's on him
now he's he's no longer has to get acclimated
to a new country he's no longer a kid he's coming
in with adult expectations and has to perform
They're expecting him to get assists. And I expect
him to actually play up to that. If he stays
healthy, I think he will. Well, yeah. You just
assume healthy, right? Shit happens. And he obviously
was pockmarked with injuries. Before he blew
out his knee, he was on pace to be – he was already,
I think, in the B squad of Argentina. He was
on pace to eventually make the A squad. within
a few years like this dude has all the talent
in the world his injuries that he got for the
sounders were not related to the other injury
can i ask you a question what do atencio reagan
fry ferreira areola morris and roldan all have
in common they play for the sounders and um they've
gotten called up to the u .s national youth at
least at a youth level No, senior. All of them
have gotten called up to the senior level. Even
Fry. He did get called up before he got his U
.S. citizenship, actually. So he was in camp,
but he wasn't. He got called up into a camp.
How many caps is that? I think it's still all
areola and haze in Jordan. But the point is that
there's still a quality level. Yeah, because
Fry talked about it today in his press conference
that he doesn't know Areola, but he knows that
Christian's really good friends with him. I think
Christian had a nice quote today that both Jesus
and Areola are two more bilingual players who...
Yeah, they can help translate. So it's not just
Christian doing it is what he said. Well, no,
no. So there are multiple players in the team
that are bilingual. And that just, I think, adds
to clubhouse chemistry. And I think both Areola
and – In general. Well, both Areola and Jesus
Ferreira, this is the third team that Jordan
Morris has played with Areola on between – over
in in Wales when Swansea they were there at the
same time same time same time yeah another so
serial US national team and now Sounders but
but what I'm getting at is you're bringing in
two new players but those players have some familiarity
with other members of our team and that's only
going to be good for chemistry yeah and that's
something that we spoke about multiple times
last year is this team had tremendous chemistry
so i'm really excited then you keep glue players
such as a xiaopalo re -signing him and hopefully
if they can get the deal over over the over the
hump the kim ki he signing as a as a backup center
back that would be you know i i'm very happy
i didn't know about that news yeah oh yeah kim
ki he's uh you know the deal's not done yet but
uh is likely to come back There was a report
today that there was a snag with his former team,
and if they don't get it resolved in the next
few days, they'll move on. Well, there's a chance.
That'd be cool. I mean, he's played a lot of
minutes for that team the last two years, and
even though he's 36, I think he played most of
their games. Well, they're in the Club World
Cup as well. Oh, yeah. That makes sense why they
don't want to move on from him. Yeah, Olsan,
Hyundai. Wait, where are they playing? They're
not playing us. No. We're going to have like
a love triangle of clubs with JP's Botafogo.
And if Kim Key joins us, then his team's in there.
Yeah. That'd be awkward. We should go to break
just because we're about halfway and I am sick
and would like to get some sleep, but I want
to keep talking sounders. So I guess we'll go
to break. Hey, everybody. This is one of your
hosts, Cameron Collins. Now, I know we said this
time's time for a break, but really, it's a time
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-T -R -E -O -N dot C -O -M. Now back to your
regularly scheduled programming. Okay, we are
back. Yeah, I missed it by two seconds, Nick.
What? All right, so let's just continue the conversation.
We still have some Discord stuff we should bring
out. I think maybe we could look at where we
think this team is. I saw it right here. Give
us your predictions to the season and where do
you see the Sounders standings and MLS realistically?
That's from Alex as well. Why don't you start
us off on this one, Aaron? Yeah, I already said
third. God, that's tough. Because he follows
up mentioning the other competition. So I'm just
going to think MLS because that's what he says.
I don't think first. I think second, though.
I think this team is going to be what I wished
for, I think, in the last episode was to be,
I want a consistent winner. I think we're really
going to compete every single game. We're not
going to have as many valleys as we've been used
to. I think the depth is there for it. us to
be that good in the defense what do you think
about the fact that we will be playing other
tournaments though that will interrupt so like
we're going to be putting starters in for non
-mls games for example at least the second well
that's where i'm comfortable with uh the youth
we've been playing for three four years um that
can fill in those spots amicably and we are deeper
across the board i still want to see We mentioned
the five -back, wing -back system, right? But
there's going to be matches where we don't do
that. I don't really like our left and right
-back depth. No, I actually think that if we
were doing it right, we would be putting Christian
at right -back at this point. We may. Yeah, the
ball has been kicked. Christian said he's going
to be in the middle of the field. But I think
we should be putting him out there. Yeah, but
he's not going to be in the middle of the field
every single match for the rest of the season.
But there may be times, yeah, there may be times
where, you know, because you've got Reed Baker
Whiting who can play in the back. Depending on
what happens, Paul Areola has been a wingback
for Dallas and setting up a lot of productivity
in the wingback position. Yeah, but that would
be playing with five backs, which I still...
i want two forwards and you're not doing i don't
think you're doing two forwards with five backs
i do think that paul ariola will paul areola
will be a upgraded version of what kellen rowe
was to us just playing in so many different spots
just playing just kind of where we need him plug
and play i think i have a feeling areola will
end up making over 30 starts on this team. Yeah.
So I realistically say second is where we'll
finish. Nick, just finish it. Where do you think
we'll finish? Yeah. I think that depends on what
kind of roster formation flexibility we end up
using. If we stick with just our traditional
setup. I think we might struggle a little bit,
but if we can unlock, you know, a three center
back setup, like we did when we were really successful
during that COVID year in 2020, if we can get
back to that and have a Reagan, Yamar, new who's
three center back system, I do think that. That
can unlock some really good stuff. And I'm going
to say second, though, in the end. I do. I do
think we're going to finish second. I would say
first if we weren't in so many damn competitions.
Wow. I just want two forwards. That's all I want.
That's all I've ever wanted is two forwards.
One forward isn't getting it done for us. We
need an Oba Dempsey type pairing. And we at least
have the Dempsey. I'm not convinced we have the
Oba, but Jordan can go out and prove me wrong.
So in this case, are you saying, hey, Zeus is
the Dempsey? Yeah. Okay. Yep. And I think his
skills are probably on par in terms of his ability
to score and create. And try shit? I don't know
if he can try shit like Dempsey. well they're
not the same player obviously very very few people
in mls history have but but like you said you
think areola will play 30 matches i mean he paid
31 last year 25 and 23 and 34 and 22. so yeah
i mean i would expect most of our players are
going to play at least 30 matches because we're
going to pay over 50 this year well i mean i
mean starting 30 matches i'm saying starting
30 matches and i do not think so who's getting
the short end of the stick then I just think
that's going to come natural. I think he's going
to do – look at the year when Kellen Rowe played
every single match for us when he had no business.
He was starting a lot of them because we just
needed different spots. But that's what I'm saying.
Life happens in an MLS season. But who's missing
out then? Because if he's – He's saying anyone
can be an ankle for a week, a hip for a week.
He's the player that I think can get on the field.
He's the whack -a -mole. Yeah, I think he's the
Brad Evans. He's the Kellen Rowe. He's the player
that you can put in too many positions. He's
better than both those players. But what he does,
that flexibility, is the same as how we previously
utilized those two players. And so that's what
I'm saying. I think he might end up starting
30 -plus games for this team. I think there's
enough depth and talent on this team and experience
Even if we're facing a flashy team like either
L .A. or a Miami at full strength, we're going
to hold our own if not win more than half of
them. If we can score, we have to prove we can
score. But I have to say, if Schmetzer doesn't
produce wins with this roster, I mean, that's
a problem. I mean, we have... we have the defense
defense even the la game in the playoffs we did
things to la that no team had done for over half
a season you know shutting them out at home for
70 plus minutes you know things like this we
have the defense our problem was the final third
and i think the addition through um just through
time with the club of pedro de la vega um and
then adding uh jesus and areola i think we're
going to see um i think we're going to see something
really good and i'm hoping that we get some good
um continued growth from uh from georgie uh but
but we're gonna we're gonna see how this all
fits together but i'm very very optimistic i
think we can easily update our total goals scored
this season by at least a dozen. Oh, I'd hope
so. Yeah, I would hope at least. But I also think
if that were to happen and we aren't playing
five at the back, then something has gone catastrophically
wrong if Ariel is starting that many games. That
means Pedro is a bust. Or, I mean, because even
if you have 50 games, that means he's starting
more often than he's not. That means... You know,
one of the players that we brought in isn't doing
their job. I mean, I honestly think they'll probably
start Reed Baker Whiting it right back. Put him
back where he started. I'm very curious to see
how this preseason, this training camp, I'm curious
to see how these things shake up. Yeah. They're
going to be there in Arizona, right? Spain, I
thought. Aren't they going to Spain? Spain. They
leave on Friday. All right, let's keep this going.
Dan the Bastard says, will I really have to wait
another three years before an outside DP comes
in? But since we should probably move on, there
have to be some moves recently that hint at a
three -back system. So we talked about the three
-back system anyways, but let's adjust to that.
Outside DP? Yeah. I mean, until the end of Jordan's
contract, I don't see us bringing in another
DP unless Jesus Ferreira is a bust, and then
we're not going to be that good anymore. Or Pedro.
I mean, we just brought in Pedro last season.
Yeah. And I think that the – One of our TPs –
If that happens. I mean, the big thing is this.
What we paid for and what we're getting out of
Jesus Ferreira is better than almost any DP we
could have gotten for the value. And it's not
a budget thing. It's just simple math. But like
you said, he's probably going to become a DP.
Assuming he plays, if he isn't a bust, he's going
to become a DP. And if he does that, then there's
not a DP opening unless Pedro's a bust. So assuming
those players play well, yeah, we're not bringing
in outside DP for... uh three years uh because
i don't know but but we only reached until there's
a fourth dp we only resigned um because jesus
will then step up and take that position i think
I think that we probably have at least two years
guaranteed of Jesus as Tam. I think it would
be when it comes to the option years is my guess.
But I'm pulling that out of my ass. I mean, if
it's like Jordan, it's based on performance.
Yeah, but I think Jordan, this would have been
an option year. And that option was moving him
up to the DP. Oh, so you're saying... No, he
was an option. He's under full contract. His
contract goes for another... two years after
this year. I'd be very curious to see how that
was structured. There was no options. I wish
there was a little more transparency in our roster
makeup. MLS just doesn't... No, I know, but that's
one of the things that actually it kind of...
It makes it harder for fans to get into it. That's
one of the things about NFL, MLB, is fans can
see the numbers, can see the deal, and they trust
your fans to be intelligent and to make intelligent
conversations about these things. I think it's
only a good thing. So I think that's a miss from
MLS. Yeah, I agree. But then they'd have to explain
more about these Garber bucks and what they mean.
Well, I mean, you know. We are on Friday. The
team leaves for Spain and they already have matches
lined up against a bunch of European teams. So
I'll be interested to see who they are. Brian
was talking them up in his press conference,
but typically they are like Bromby and teams
that are not top tier teams because they're not
going to want to take a break in the middle of
their season. But I mean, honestly, if you also
don't want to get your ass whooped in your first
two training matches, I don't think they care
about that as much as people playing against
good quality players. Not, you know, they don't
need to play against Manchester United. But yeah,
yeah. You know, and sometimes they play like
two 60 minute halves. It's not even like real
games, right? Or that way, two 60 minute games
with unlimited substitute. yeah yeah so uh last
year they played in spain and let's see uh they
played uh tsc baka nor coping and odense bk so
those are all uh what norwegian teams i don't
know which country they're from one one is from
sweden one is from denmark and one is from uh
i don't know uh where baka topola is from but
uh i'm gonna get you know those those countries
serbia wow even though they use fk so uh sometimes
those games are viewable and other times they're
not. The final friendly was in, I think it was
back in the States, in Seattle against Sacramento
Republic last year. So I don't think we will
have that this time unless it's like a closed
-door practice type thing because on the 19th,
a month and five days from now, we play in Guatemala.
Meaningful game. Indeed. And we start out hot.
Hey, I like Paul's question because, one, you
answered it last episode, Cameron and Nick. You
were on assignment. So I want to hear what you
have. And then I like his follow -up questions.
So Paul says, rank the comps, MLS, League's Cup,
Club World Cup, U .S. Open Cup, others, question
mark? Like Cascadia Cup, actually. Shield. Which
would you prioritize winning? Which would you
prioritize attending? What are your hopes and
predictions for each? I mean, I can answer one
for Nick. We're attending them all. But use your
experience and knowledge of the tournaments to
say, hey, I can only go to like five games this
year. Oh, Club World Cup. Yeah, I mean, I'm going
to say Club World Cup because here's the thing
about the Club World Cup. This is the first time
they've done this tournament in this kind of
style. It's not going to go away. It's only going
to grow from here. So being able to do the first
one ever and to be able to go to all three games
at a relatively affordable price is going to
be something you're going to very much. You're
going to thank yourself down the road because
one, the only time it's going to happen in the
US again. is if the U .S. is going to host a
World Cup in the future. So you're looking at
a minimum of 24 years. Unless someone falls out,
which right now they're picking rich, rich countries.
So that's probably not going to happen. So one,
this is a once in a generation, I don't want
to say once in a lifetime, but definitely a once
a generation opportunity. to see your home club,
the club you support, in their home stadium in
the Club World Cup, that's not fucking happening.
Just appreciate that. Meaningful games against
Paris Saint -Germain. Meaningful game against
Atletico. Meaningful game against Botafogo. We
could get a meaningful game against Botafogo,
possibly, because there's been talk about American
teams joining Copa Libertadores. But those other
teams? that's not happening yeah yeah so so so
one prioritize that um i make no bones about
you know any yes okay all hats off yes i i'd
win that i'd i'd go oh four on the season if
the exchange was that we won club world cup you
know what i would there we go yeah because yeah
no i i mean one just because that in itself would
be hilarious yeah you lost every single game
in the regular season yeah and you won club world
cup just just we're just drunk at all the other
matches yeah yeah okay now with all that said
um so yeah it's not realistic but yeah that would
be that would be that would be the you would
have beyond, like it's so beyond bragging rights
on any other team in the league that I can't
even fathom what that would be. It's very expensive
though. So if you can't make it to that, I mean,
we don't know where we'll be in US Open Cup,
but I love the US Open Cup matches at Starfire.
If you can make it down to a US Open Cup at Starfire,
I mean, the atmosphere is different. The feel
that you're on the players, it's just... It's
a different kind of game that you can't experience
anywhere else. Now, if we advance further, obviously
it's better to go to later matches because then
we have more starters out there and it's more
fun. But it's also more expensive. Yeah. Like
that LA game was so stupid. Because US soccer
now sets the price. I know. And it's 75 bucks
or some crazy number for the ticket. That was
the first US Open Cup game at Starfire that I
passed on since the red card wedding, which I
was. watching the U S women play in the world
cup for that game. Although that's the second
one I've missed since then, but yes. Yeah. But
so I do love the open cup and I, I want to win
another U S open cup, but those are, those are
fun trophies. But, but where would you, so, so
I was doing it from the perspective of which
would you prioritize attending for our, for our
audience, but trophy. So trophy wise, where are
you going? A trophy club world cup. MLS Cup.
I love stars on my jersey. Give me all the stars.
That's the hard one, right? Because I would have
put Champions League above that. But I like stars.
Actually, shit. I did not think about Champions
League. No, yeah. We got to win a Champions League
at least once every four years. Because I want
to be in the next Club World Cup. I want to be
in every Club World Cup. So yes, give me Champions
League, then MLS Cup. And then US Open Cup. Where's
the US Open Cup fall between that and Leagues
Cup then? Oh, US Open Cup over Leagues Cup by
far. And then where's the Shield in all of it?
Leagues Cup is my least priority. I do love the
Shield. Leagues Cup guarantees us into Champions
Cup. Yeah, but if we win any of those other things,
we get it too. So yeah, so I guess Club World
Cup, then CCL. CCC. Yeah, that's right. It'll
always be CCC. www .ccc .com. From a branding
perspective, it makes no sense why you would
move away from what Europe uses. because you
want people to be talking about the only thing
that can be you and not the uefa maybe maybe
uefa trademark champions league or something
i don't know they there might have been a hey
don't make us do a cease and desist because it'll
look ugly yeah um i don't know that'd be stupid
i mean i just it's dumb to me but you know it's
kaka so just wait a year and they're going to
change the format and the name all over again
so don't don't worry about it it'll change um
But yeah, so the reality is we just got to win
Champions League once every four years, just
somewhere in that four -year cycle to make sure
that we're in each Club World Cup. Rusnak said
he just wants a trophy. He's like, it's time.
We were in four semifinals last year, didn't
win a trophy. Last time he said that, we won
Champions League. His first season, he said,
remember, it's in my video. Hey, with that said,
I'm putting Cascadia Cup above League's Cup,
if I'm being completely honest. Wow. I don't
give a fuck about the League's Cup. You get more
out of League's Cup is the thing. Because we
don't know what will happen to those other comps.
We could lose out on all those other comps. I
know. You just got to get, what, top three in
League's Cup to make it to the top four. I can't
remember. I know Colorado got in and they were
hurt. And we haven't ever won it before. So you
got to have at least a copy of one. Here's the
thing is as much hardware and stuff, it's not
going anywhere. I know. I know. But until they
play games in Mexico as well, which I know they're
not going to do, it's a bullshit tournament to
me. We're not playing in it anyways. So I just
remembered. Oh, we are? Because it's at the same
time as the Global World Cup. Yeah. So but in
the end, we don't even in the end. I mean, in
the end, just look at how spoiled we are. We
are going to get a lot of soccer. I love this
club. I really love this club. Rusnak said he
said, I love that we have so many games because
that means we don't have that much practice and
I hate practice. I don't want to train. I just
want to play. Okay. Okay. That's a great quote.
That's a good. Okay. What about two of you? I'm
copy -paste. Yeah, I mean, we're pretty much
the same minus. I would put Lee's Cup higher
than Cascadia Cup. Cascadia Cup's the best. I
would as well, just because, like I said, I want
one of each. And I'm putting Heritage Cup above
Cascadia Cup as well, simply because I'm the
holder of the Heritage Cup. I was going to say,
that's got to just be holding, man. Yeah, I'm
the holder. But I'd also be the holder of the
shield, so I'll put the shield above that. My
question for you, I got a question for the three
of us. I know, I know. How many beers have you
had? Well, that's a good question. As a matter
of fact, let's just try and... There we go. Okay,
so what player who was not a regular starter
last season... Are you excited and most hopeful
for to see have a breakout season? Who is not
a regular starter. Yeah, so that means Rothrock
is not going to be an eligible answer. What about
Pedro? No, he was a regular starter. So I'm going
to say no on Pedro. So we're looking at potentially
like a Georgie or a Reed Baker Whiting. uh you
know even a danny leva or even uh um uh jonathan
bell uh you know uh cody baker who oh so that's
a shame he was injured i really liked i loved
his energy because i didn't have one and then
i just realized i do danny masovsky okay there
you go danny it's just i mean he is technically
a forward even though he often came in on the
wing until georgie became a revelation And so
if he can go out there and perform like he has
every other year besides last year, he will and
he'll have service now. He he could throw in
a few goals and be a solid backup. You know,
he's not he's not going to push for starting.
He's also changed numbers. I think he's number
19 now as Areola is 17. So, yeah, I'm going to
go with Mazovsky because I'm not excited about
I mean, obviously, I love Cody Baker. I thought
he, his ceiling's much higher. I thought he was
a nobody and he proved me wrong and I will always
respect him and love him after that. But it's
Danny because I think he can have the biggest
impact out of any of those players except for
maybe Reed Baker Whiting, maybe Georgie. I was
going to say. I don't see Georgie getting on
the field if Pedro's playing well and, and, and
Ariel is playing well. I mean, he could be a
cheat code for some of these extra competitions,
you know, but true. I think, well, I was going
to say Georgie might be, are you put, although
you almost can be, I think you might've convinced
me of Danny. Almost. Danny's also one of the
nicest guys on the team. Yeah. But he's actually
done it before. Right. And we're also Georgie
right now looks like a one trick pony. Like it,
he does, which has been hard on that. I'm sorry.
I keep pushing back on that. He's got that movie
does going along to the corner and the touchline.
But he's also making those passes earlier. He's
leading the team in key passes per 90. I'm not
saying he's doing a bad job at it, but I have
not. Of course, every soccer player is going
to kick the ball in just about every direction
at least once. I get it. But most of his stuff
is right down to the end, a step over, and he
doesn't curl anything in with his left foot,
at least to that I've seen. He did start cutting
it in and hit a few with his left foot in the
semifinal there. The Western Carp was final.
But that's because they were forcing him to.
But speaking of Danny Mazovsky, I mean, he scored
11 goals in 53 matches for LAFC. He scored and
then he got loaned down for a few games, five
goals in 15 matches for Las Vegas Lights. And
then he had five goals in 23 matches. So if we
can get five goals out of him. And in the season,
I think we are doing great. Yeah. Danny's a clear
like he's done it before. That's it. It won't
be a surprise. Georgie looks like he has a very
high ceiling and he's very flashy. Right. So
can I continue to develop the way he has been?
Yeah. In honor of retiring the Bruce Lee Ketz
and talking about Georgie, I am going somewhere
with this. I would like to stay a Bruce Lee quote
that I think is very appropriate to what you
were just saying about Georgie. I fear not the
man who has practiced 10 ,000 kicks once, but
I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10
,000 times. So if, if you know what Georgie's
about to do, and yet he still does it time after
time, he's damn good at that move. So that's
kind of like, I just, I just, I just laughed.
I just, I just do think that. he's even if you
know it's coming the fact that he's one taking
people on yay um but but two i just i just hate
to see people discredit his results when it's
just oh oh but but but we know it's coming or
it's just i never said anything bad about it
no i know i know but i'm i am i am i just said
he's consistently does the same thing yeah i
think we need he's good i mean here's the thing
is he needed to develop into creating goal -dangerous
chances last year to get signed to the first
team, and he did that. And then he, at the first
team, started doing that. So we need to see his
development continue. I mean, I think the only
reason I think that he may not have the opportunity
to shine to the level that Mazovsky could is
because, yeah, it's opportunity. There's too
many people potentially in front of him now.
But he could also say, fuck you. run roughshod
over all of them and and make himself a starter
like rothrock did last year yeah yeah i think
this would be another place to put paul rothrock
if he were eligible because he now has people
potentially above him yeah he's not an automatic
starter i mean yeah i don't i i mean depending
on how many forwards you play suddenly you he
could be fourth in line and if reed which is
crazy in line uh in the left yeah it's so crazy
that you're you're starting your your locked
in starter is now maybe at best your third yeah
choice that's how good that's how much we added
uh yeah that just means it's a good offseason
that's that's what i'm getting at i so this is
where i'm like you know what i think weibel i'm
happy but now we got to see them do it on the
field uh if i have one request for this for this
this next season i would love to see us collectively
as, as a, as a fan base, be a little bit more
optimistic. That's, that's just killing me is
the lack of optimism when we haven't even kicked
a ball. I mean, y 'all are Seattle sports fans.
You should know that we go into every season
optimistic and then we get our hearts broken.
But you've got to start out with the optimism.
It's just a question of when do our hearts get
broken. Right now, I mean, obviously, the Hawks
didn't make it, and then the Mariners have just
been doing absolutely nothing all offseason.
What do you mean? They just signed two mediocre
infielders. I don't know what you're talking
about. Again. One of the worst. Older, too. But
here's the thing. I mean, the Seahawks, I'm glad
the Seahawks didn't make it to the playoffs.
It gives them a better draft pick. They proved
that they... are a better team than they used
to be. They got to figure out what's going on
because you're about to pay $44 million for Geno
when there's multiple quarterbacks out there
that are better and cheaper. But this is not
Seahawks scuttlebutt. So what we should talk
about is the fact that I have a Bruce Lee quote
for Danny Masovsky and how he has to get his
five goals. If it kills you, it kills you. If
he dies, he dies? Someone put up a picture of
Detlef Schrempf the other day and said, who's
this? And I put up that, if he dies, he dies.
I love it. God, I love Detlef. He's like best
friends with the GM of the Superhawks. So we
were talking and he's like, oh, I got to get
you to hang out with Detlef more so that you
can start getting in with the Sonics front office
people. I'm like, yes, please. Yes, please. Can
I be your lackey as usual when you're hanging
around people like that? Yes, yes. I mean, I
got to hang out. Cameron, what are you doing
here? I got to hang out last year with Gary Payton
and Xavier McDaniel. So good times. And would
have been Sean Kemp if he didn't get arrested.
If someone steals your stuff, don't go to try
to get it on your own with a gun. It doesn't
work. Oh, it was that story? Yeah. Oh, he went
the OJ route? Yeah. which that's why oj actually
did go to prison was for trying to get back stuff
that was stolen from him on his own with a gun
so uh yeah don't do that don't do that let let
other people do it for you for presumably law
enforcement folks but uh you know i always seek
help from other people all right so you both
think that we're getting second i think we're
getting third uh this since this is the pre -season
preview although we'll probably do another just
tell me Where are we going to finish in the MLS
once the season's done and the playoffs are over?
This will be what we let James take it away with.
Repeat the question? Once the playoffs are over,
where are we finishing? Oh, I thought we just
did that. No, you did regular season. Oh, I see.
I see where you're going. Okay, well, I honestly
think that this is an MLS Cup winning contender,
I think. I didn't feel like we were last season,
although I felt like we finished where we should
have finished in the playoffs. I did feel like,
yeah, it would have been an uphill battle to
win the MLS Cup. I think actually it would have
been harder to beat LAFC than it would to win
the MLS Cup last year. But I do think we'll win
it this year. Or I put... Yes, I do. I'm going
to put money on it. All right, Nick. Well, not
really. I have no money. Wow. Nick? It's been
six years. If you think about it that way, when
was the last time we won an MLS Cup? 2019. 2019.
It's been a long time. It's been a long time.
This is no longer a team that in the MLS is a
dynasty. We've become the Buffalo Bills, which
Nick knows a lot about. You shut your face. So
where are we finishing, Nick? On my... Oh, wait.
Explat that. And muted. Honestly, I feel good
about this season. I really do. I do think that
we are going to be an MLS Cup. Nice. I do. I
do. I think we're going to be an MLS Cup. I think
if we finish second, I would agree because that
means if someone could knock off whichever LA
finishes first, then we could host that game.
And I think we go through. If we finish third,
I think we're going to need some help. So I'm
going to say we're going to lose in the Western
Conference Finals again. But yeah, I mean, but
I feel that even though I want trophies, I feel
that is a successful year because only one Western
Conference team makes it that far. I will say,
though, I do think that Miami's going to have
a struggle this year. I think it's going to be
interesting to watch that happen. And let go
of some good players. Yeah, and everyone's gotten
a little older. So, you know what Nick always
says about Leo Messi, if it kills you, it kills
you. If he dies, he dies. Wow. What's funny is
I love Leo Messi. Oh, I don't think we ever talked
about this. I just want to say real quick, he
won the U .S. Presidential Medal of Freedom.
For people that think he don't deserve it, you
clearly haven't looked at past winners. They
give it to people in all sorts of arts and sports.
I mean, Margaret Thatcher got it, for God's sake.
Someone who helped aid the... thousands and thousands
of deaths in Northern Ireland who started infinite
wars who uh we won't get too political but you
know just if she's getting that kind of stuff
you know uh other people like uh one of the experts
on Beethoven got it at one point it's like here's
the guy I just think he's a soccer player of
all time I think he's just literally getting
every award you can possibly get but but that's
kind of I think he's done more to raise the profile
of soccer in the United States outside of soccer
fans than anyone else has done in the last 20
years, since the last World Cup. I'd agree with
that. So I'm for it because it means the sport's
getting bigger. And I think if it were two years
from now, or a year from now, a year and a half
from now, damn, and it was a World Cup, then
that's going to be the big news. And I'm just
prepping myself to not be able to go to those
games, even though I wanted nothing more than
to go to a game with my dad for the last 20 years.
Because you thought Club World Cup was expensive.
Hoo boy. Okay, so a couple things about that.
So here's what I really do expect to see happen
with the World Cup. One, just keep in mind that
FIFA does tickets in demands. They do the demand
in waves. And so there's an initial ticket wait
period. Then usually there will be a local sale.
And then usually as you get closer to the World
Cup, there will be another wave, like a second
chance tickets for things that, you know, maybe
sponsors and people who are offered the rights
to buy tickets don't. don't buy up. So there
will be opportunities to get tickets at face
value. You just have to be diligent on that.
But I do think that face value is going to preclude
me from going to all the games in Seattle. Unless
I get a new job. My goal is one game in Canada,
one game in Mexico, one game in the U .S. I want
to go Vancouver, Seattle, and Mexico City. If
I can do that, I'll be really happy. Damn, you
greedy. I just want to go to a single game in
Seattle with my dad, preferably USA on June 19th,
just before my birthday. Think about that, people.
Join our Patreon so that we can buy us tickets
because it would be a perfect birthday present.
You can give more than the $1 .74. You can give,
you know, $1 ,000 .74. And if you do that for
a few months, you do it for four months, we'll
be able to get all three of us plus my dad a
ticket to that match maybe. And you'll get a
photograph from us. We'll live stream for you
on our phones. And if you subscribe at the highest
tier, one of us will streak on the field, get
arrested, and make national news. Wow. And then
it'd have to be Aaron because you and I would
get kicked off the Alliance Council for that.
Shit. I did not sign up for this. And we would
probably lose our season tickets as well. We
need to bring this into port. James needs to
save this. Where can they find you? We're thinking.
Where can they find you, Nicholas, on the internets?
On the internets. You can find me on Twitter
at NikitaBanana. You can find me on Instagram
at Cascades2C. What about you, Aaron? Twitter
at Aaron Lingley. A -R -O -N -L -I -N -G -L -E
-Y. And, of course, you can find me at LegalMindedPunk
on all the stuff, including Blue Sky, although
I'm never on there. And just remember, in the
words of Bruce Lee, if it kills you, it kills
you. Take it away, James. You can follow the
Sounders Scuttlebutt Podcast on Twitter at SSFCScuttlebutt.
And for all inquiries, including questions for
the gents or sponsorship opportunities, please
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We'll see you at Lumen, and go Sounders! Alexa,
who's the best MLS team of all time? The Seattle
Sounders are both unequivocally and irreparably
the best MLS team of all time.