He's a tough kid.
All I got to say is, Portmanteca says, cheer!
It's situating!
It's sensational!
It's Seattle South FC soccer!
Welcome to Sounders Scuttlebutt.
I'm in SoCal.
I'm Aaron Lingley.
I'm joined by two incredible voices in the Sounders community.
Alliance Council Secretary Cameron Collins.
What's up?
And Alliance Council extraordinaire Nicholas Biela.
What's going on, bruh?
Bruh, what's up?
I'm so stoked.
You learned to skateboard?
I'm so stoked.
You've been surfing yet?
I'm literally next to La Jolla Shores.
So my uncle, who is a surfer and from SoCal, is telling me to get back on the board.
He taught me how to surf.
So yeah, potentially, once I get my life in order.
But I finished the intro here.
We're here to break down all the Sounders news, game analysis, preseason analysis at
this point, and of course, the Scuttlebutt straight from our fans.
And who are our fans?
They are in our Discord.
So good jump in there.
Sounders has had some new members join since I last poked my head in there.
It had a pretty distracting week, but that's exciting.
It's growing.
It's hopping and popping.
And then of course, join our supporters section, Patreon.
Actually, thank you, Pat C. He quadrupled his monthly output to support this show.
So thank you, Pat.
Appreciate that.
Yeah.
Thank you, Pat.
And who are our others?
We got Cedar.
Yeah, we got Cedar.
We got Daniel P., Alex D., James C. And of course, I mentioned Pat.
So thank you all for that.
That does go towards the support of the show directly.
So rock on.
Well, as I mentioned, I've been pretty distracted this week.
So I'm going to hand the reins over to one of you two.
What do you want to talk about first?
Beer?
Yes, I like that.
Beer is my friend.
I'm going to pop one open.
Am I the only one?
Wait, how come I'm the only one that's looking like they're popping?
Okay, thank you.
Thank you.
Don't make me drink alone.
I'm drinking whiskey.
He's got a giant bottle of whiskey.
I'm just going to pour it right.
That sounds like quite the pour.
Well, I've been saving my post-work drink for the show.
So I have a tiny little fridge in my room, still in the hotel.
Like a champion.
So beer would take up pretty much.
You've got the TBR.
I do.
You've been getting ready for the weekend.
Next week.
I am looking forward to my ninth straight year playing in this pond hockey tournament,
9,000 feet up in the Rockies.
It's a great time.
And I am going to drink a lot of beer and going to play a lot of hockey.
Very nice.
Nice.
And I am drinking Liquid Death Dr. Death.
Whoa, it comes in 12 ounces.
It counts though.
Yeah, it's the new Dr. Pepper flavored Liquid Death, which is really, really good, unlike
the root beer one, which leaves a lot lacking.
Or whatever that phrase is.
Don't love the root beer.
Haven't tried the cola yet, but the Dr. Death is fantastic.
You know, I got to say, I'm really impressed with them.
Of all things, the Target Seltzer water brand, whatever the name of their-
They have a good one.
Yeah.
Good and plenty.
It's some weird-
One of those.
Yeah.
They have good flavors.
Yeah, the flavors are really good.
So-
Except for we're boycotting Target right now.
So don't buy it.
So are we?
Am I missing some news?
Yeah.
Oh, I guess that's to be-
There's a lot of badness in the world right now, most of which is not a part of this podcast.
Except for if we're trying to bring in players on visas, we could see delays around the league.
And there seems to be moves everywhere.
The latest being, although it hasn't been fully announced that Columbus' star player
is moving on to LA-
Cucho?
Yeah.
Tom Bogart has reported on that and it hasn't been actually announced, but we've seen so
many moves this off.
I feel like this is one of the busiest off seasons we've seen in MLS history.
I don't know how you two feel.
Yeah, I think we are seeing MLS relax some of their roster rules and giving new mechanisms
to transfer players, which I think is great.
You're seeing players that ordinarily would not have been able to be transferred within
the league due to their salaries, due to the DP nature, giving some options for that.
I think that the U22 initiatives are starting to bear a lot of fruit as it evolves.
So I think these things in conjunction, you're really seeing a new step in how MLS roster
is going to move forward.
What about you, Aaron?
Yeah, I mean, was it, well, not the last episode because you guys snuck one in without me,
which was smart because there was no chance I was going to be available.
You were busy.
But yeah, but that, I mean, we kind of ran through, but the league is done, what every
team has kind of done.
And yeah, I mean, it keeps going is the crazy part.
It's still happening.
I mean, we just got Kihei, right?
And there's potential for Atlanta.
Atlanta just signed Emmanuel Latailoff for 22 million from Middlesbrough.
You know, Columbus sending Cucho away.
Did you see that Chicago Fire signed Omar Gonzalez?
Really?
Yeah.
So that'll be interesting just because they brought in Sam Rogers as well, who I think
at best was going to be fighting for that backup center back minutes.
And now Omar Gonzalez there on the back line as well.
Yeah, sporting.
And they already had a bunch of defenders back there too, which is crazy.
Three new strikers for sporting Kansas City, Houston, of course.
We talked about it last episode, got Jack McGlynn from Philadelphia Union.
Orlando brought in Marco, I can't say his last name, I apologize, Pasilic, Croatian
International from H&K of Rijeka, and then also Faku Torres, of course, moved on.
So we're just seeing, and I think there was just a trade, someone got traded to LA Galaxy,
I'd have to confirm that.
But you know, we're seeing tons of moves everywhere.
So it's pretty cool in some ways, but all I'm saying is stop sending people to the Western
Conference.
We don't need more.
Well, no, I think this really kind of comes into play where you're always getting this
year in and year out.
But I think the quality of players that are being moved are obviously getting better and
better, which is going to ramp up the quality of the league.
Now what really becomes interesting is the axiom in sports, which is can you get the
pieces to play together?
You can have a great team on paper, but it all comes down to the team has to actually
play together.
And that's why I think the LA Galaxy move is so key because they're getting Christian
Ramirez from Columbus and he's from SoCal.
So that's a new starting forward for them after losing Joel of Econovercy's name, losing
my favorite player to sporting Kansas City.
But that's one of the things that I think the Sounders have in their favor while others
may not appreciate that is that consistency and that roster consistency.
It is hard to acclimate to a new team for a lot of players.
And when you have a team that has so much cohesion, that's part of the reason why the
Sounders defense has been one of the top three in the league the last four or five years
is there's been a lot of consistency there.
And then when you add in a couple of players like Jesus Ferreira and Paul Areola, who both
came from the same team and have familiarity with some of the players already on the roster,
I think that's going to bode well for them and hopefully get the team running to a hot
start right from the get go this year.
But we'll see.
You got to play the games instead of just talking about what's on paper.
Well, and those two are domestic, right?
They're not coming internationally with a different language to learn or anything like
that.
I mean, and they're familiar with the league.
Yeah, exactly.
And even the friends with friends on the play had an issue with all of that.
You know, yeah, he just never really jelled.
Yeah, so there's the art of roster construction and that happened in every sport.
You can see it in baseball in particular, you know, seeing the moneyball style or...
Baseball.
What is this baseball you speak of?
We don't have it in the Northwest.
No.
Oh, I'm sorry.
I'm missing an adjective or a little bit in there.
Basketball.
Oh, yeah, of course.
Reamer and Coop?
Yeah.
I'm all about them.
I immediately think of his swing and penis whenever I remember that movie.
I love that movie so much and their house band is Real Big Fish.
So good.
But no, we don't have them.
In fact, that's worth talking about before we get into other stuff is that Mariners...
Suck again?
Opening day tickets are on sale.
That's a game that generally sells out every year.
There's tens of thousands of seats available.
The cheapest seat is 50 bucks in center field.
This is a team that shouldn't be selling a single ticket in an entire stadium for less
than 20.
I mean, for more than 20, excuse me.
Every ticket should be 20 or less considering the product they're putting on the field.
And I've never seen 50 bucks for the worst tickets.
I mean, yeah, it's insane.
Well, it's really interesting because I've said before on multiple occasions that one
of the things the Mariners do really well is they have their theme and community night
specials.
They've expanded the Filipino night, for example, from one night to two separate nights this
year with two different items.
And honestly, that's the thing they got to do.
They're playing kind of the hustle game.
Are they both good items?
No.
Is it a jacket in?
The first night is a bucket hat and it's not my style.
So it's not like a jacket and a jersey.
That would be cool.
The second night, though, is a hooded sweatshirt that looks like a hockey jersey.
And I kind of like that and dig that.
So I think I'm going to last season, I think I had 47 tickets for the Filipino night for
the jacket.
This year, I think I'm going to target that second date in particular.
So I'll keep you in the loop, Cameron, if you're interested in that.
Yeah, last year was super fun.
Are either of you on the Mariners email or text list?
I guess I should say.
Yeah, someone that buys group tickets like that in the past.
I'm on all those.
Yeah.
So they sent out a text yesterday or on Wednesday, excuse me, that said, hey, have you looked
at those Mariners?
I saw that.
I want to get our seats for opening day.
And then, of course, text stop to cancel the button.
Oops, sorry, wrong person.
But you should grab your tickets, too.
It's March 27th, the T-Mobile, by the way.
And it's like, thank you.
I appreciate that.
This is no this is no hot dogs from heaven.
This was a major fail, especially when you click through and see how many tickets are
available and and how expensive they are.
Yeah, it's just wild.
It's not great.
No, but well, maybe we'll all become Padres fans for Aaron.
And they act the Mariners do come.
I would love to go to Petco.
Petco looks like a really great place to see a game.
Yeah, that's that's the Mariners natural rival in the West, don't you know?
That's why we play them every year.
Yeah, because every other team in the West have real rivals and we don't.
So that's who we get.
Yeah, I think it's mid May 15, 16, 17.
I think they play too early in the year.
And of course, the Sounders are going to be here on April 5th.
And I'm already planning on going to that.
Yeah, that should be a fun game.
Any other news out there in the world?
Catch your guys eyes before we we move on to some soccer talk.
No, not really.
I'm kind of.
In a daze lately, just trying to get through, get through the days until my trip.
Some I'm just kind of.
Moving forward as much as I can.
What about your and how's everything going with the?
I guess I guess I'm the news.
Yeah, yeah.
No, everything is gone.
It's been incredibly crazy, but positive.
I landed on Saturday at noon.
I woke up actually in Saturday.
As you know, I live in.
I don't live in Everett anymore.
My wife is still there by pain field, so I was able to get round trip out of pain field.
Oh, that's cool.
Yeah.
I mean, five minutes from the house and then like I got through security half a second
or whatever, but I woke up with the dog.
I was two inches of snow like, oh shit, are you kidding me?
It's been beautiful since I signed the offer for this job.
Seattle Pacific Northwest begging me not to leave.
Snowcat Mountains and sunny skies.
And then I finally leave and Seattle's like, you know, fuck you.
So I was worried I was going to miss not be able to get on takeoff, right?
Delayed by an hour.
They had to be ice it.
But I got here, hit the ground running, toured seven apartments in two days, Saturday, Sunday.
Got an old school mechanical typewriter over there.
Yeah.
Turned it back on.
You could hear it.
Oh yeah.
Yeah, dude.
Yeah.
I muted my mic.
What's it going through?
I'm not sure.
It was very, it was pretty comical.
Very rude.
I was trying to tell everyone.
That is quite interesting.
But yeah, so.
But hey, yeah.
Yeah.
Good news.
Yeah, we got the number one apartment out of the seven I looked at on Saturday was the
one we got it.
Awesome.
I get the keys tomorrow.
I have to wake up, go to like the equivalent to Albertsons.
Well, it's not quite the equivalent.
I'm in La Jolla.
So now are you going to Ralph's?
That's called Pavilion Pavilions.
I got to do a money order and then I'll be going straight to get my keys with a suitcase
and a laptop bag and no furniture.
So that'll be interesting.
I realize the job's been amazing and excited to not live in the hotel of which.
I work.
So I can walk around naked.
So y'all can still hear me if I talk like this?
Yeah.
Yeah, I'm fine.
Okay.
Is your microphone going through your keyboard or your computer for some reason?
Yeah, it's going through my keyboard.
That's why he was so loud.
No, it's going through my camera up here.
Okay.
And it won't let me change it live.
So it's okay.
Yeah, you're good.
It just means I'll turn you up.
That's all.
I mean, I'd rather be turned on than turned up, but I'll take it.
So let's talk about those sounders.
We have a bunch of questions.
So I feel like maybe we should just hop, go into the mailbag and then take a break after
we finish the mailbag and then just finish with our final thoughts.
Yeah.
Okay.
Why don't we start with the Facebook then?
These are not people that are on our discord, but maybe they'll join.
One of them I think we've answered in the past and we'll both, but I think they're good
questions.
Javier Jacobo Cruz Lastra asked, new kit.
You know Javier?
Oh, Javier is great.
I spent a lot of time with him in Mexico City for Champions League final.
I sent him a few times for the annual garage sale.
I will- Oh, yeah.
I know who he is.
Javier and I sent him a Brian Schmetzer jacket and no, Javier is one of the most legit guys.
One of these days we're going to get him out to Seattle for a game.
When that happens, it'll be glorious, but Javier is a real one.
So hi Javier.
Hola.
So Javier says new kit, game versus Antigua in Guatemala.
I think we know the answer to that is probably not.
Traditionally correct.
Traditionally that first game is the kit's not ready to go live yet.
I can see it being the final game in the Bruce Lee kit potentially, unless we went with the
green.
But it will depend on what they wear, right?
If they wear something where we can't wear the green, then we'd go to Bruce Lee.
Yeah.
I think that's usually correct.
I feel like new kit would be at home.
Is it not?
I don't think I recall.
The new kit is not a regular kit.
The new kit's a community kit.
So we don't know when we'll wear it.
We wear it in Bruce Lee at home.
No, true.
But it's not a primary choice.
Yeah.
We usually would wear the green.
Oftentimes when we wear Bruce Lee with a few exceptions, it was because of the MLS rules
on light and dark jerseys and not clashing colors.
So yeah, I would expect though, I mean, I don't know.
They could be released right around that time.
That is traditionally when Jersey Week has been since the season moved up.
Is that next week?
So we could see it for the, is that KC?
Who do we play that first home match?
The RSL?
No, no, East Coast, Carolina, Columbus.
Not Columbus, CLT.
Miami.
CLT.
That's Columbus.
No, CLT.
Oh, that's the Scarlett.
My brain is not there right now.
And I wanted to keep it kid friendly and not get the explicit list.
So I had this.
We're always on the explicit list.
I've already dropped the F-bomb.
You're fine.
Yeah.
We're always on the explicit list.
Well, you know, the Charlotte CLT, all I can think of is Jay and Silent Bob.
Who's looking for the CLT?
I am the CLT commander.
Jesus Christ.
So the other question we had come in from Brandon Rupert was who's most likely to be
loaned out?
Realistically, potentially, potentially Stuart Hawkins.
I mean, right now, he is our number three defender.
So I would be surprised.
But if he doesn't play like that, then yes, we definitely could see that.
There was someone else that I was thinking of the other day that was a candidate for
that.
And I'm just trying to rack my brain to remember.
Leo, Leo Burney, for sure.
Down to defiance.
I mean, I think the question is, I think the idea being not to defiance.
I think that's the...
Oh, I would not expect anyone to get loaned out then unless they're not performing and
we need them to get minutes.
Maybe Cody Baker.
He still seems like too much of a death piece.
It would have to be someone who is no longer on our plans and so akin to what we did with
Danny Leyva.
So I could see Danny Leyva again, that happening too.
Yeah, maybe, but maybe not.
I think, well, I mean, we'll find out.
Maybe no one.
But then again, we may still have a couple of signings for those final roster pieces.
You know, we've got some players that have really excelled in preseason that I think
have earned the potential for a first team call up.
But the real question there is not so much, oh, well, why sign them if we're not going
to use them on the first team?
But there are legitimate reasons.
One of them will be related to a question that will come up in the mailbag shortly.
But for example, one of our recent sales was sold by Tacoma because they weren't under
a first team contract.
So it does have benefits when those roster spaces don't really impact the cap.
They're kind of off cap roster spots.
Yeah, for sure.
Yeah, I have a hard time wrapping my head around a name.
But I think also with a new emphasis on, you know, getting goals in the net and fairly
new, I mean, some new key pieces to the starting lineup.
I think we're going to see who's not getting minutes after four or five, six games.
And I think that might start changing the conversation.
But I can't think of a name off the top of my head that we would loan out now.
Correct.
Yeah, and it would have to be someone that's a depth piece that was expected to play a
little more and then isn't getting those minutes.
Exactly.
I do think we're going to see Kalani Kosa-Ranzee get signed to the first team.
I also think Snyder Brunel has earned that look as well.
Snyder Brunel.
For sure.
Which leads us nicely into Tim Hamilton's question, which you just alluded to.
If Tacoma sells a player, does that money stay in the MLS Next Pro team?
And we discussed this, was that last episode?
Yeah, a little bit.
Basically, any money that Tacoma gets, the Tacoma roster rules are going to be a little
different than MLS roster rules.
But for the true purpose, that million dollars that we received for the, was it Castro?
Who do we just send to the Mexico, the MX team?
It was a U17 player.
Alex something.
I forget.
It's too long ago now.
That was at least six, seven days ago.
I know.
It's been a little crazy.
But in the end, that $1 million, basically where that's going to go into is through admin
and just business with operations.
It's not going to come into roster using.
There is no salary cap in MLS Next Pro, which is a very interesting thing.
Well, yeah, because no one's going to use MLS Next Pro to try and win MLS Next Pro.
That's not the purpose of that, which is why MLS Next Pro separated from the USL championship.
Well, also, you don't want 16 and 17 year olds have to play against 30 year olds every
single game.
Yes and no.
I mean, it's a little different, but ultimately you have the USL championship teams like Sacramento
Republic, like Louis Vile, whatever their name is, racing Louis Vile.
Louisville?
No, no, I think you're pronouncing that wrong.
You're putting the wrong emphasis on the syllable.
It's Louis Vile.
Vile-ly?
Oh, wait, the team I'm going to see play next week?
Yeah, that's the one.
Oh, did that officially come through?
Anyway, that's an off-topic.
But with that in mind, in the end, it doesn't really make sense for MLS Next Pro to be competing
at the USL championship because they have different definitions of success.
No, yeah, and they're what?
In between USL 1 and USL 2, if you're talking about talent?
I mean, technically on the pyramid, they're the third tier of the US pyramid, but yeah,
I think somewhere in there.
So I put them with USL 1, but I think USL 1 is a better…
Well, I mean, the baseball…
They have rosters together to win, right?
It's the same with what you're talking about.
Our rosters are not put together to win matches.
They're put together to develop players.
And that's kind of the baseball analogy is sometimes the best players in the minor leagues
on a baseball teams organization is not in AAA.
It's in double.
They're always in double, yeah.
Yeah, and so it's kind of interesting how that works out sometimes and the mindset behind
that.
And by the way, just so you know, Cameron, I know this is an audio podcast, spoiler alert,
we're talking about eventually moving to video.
That blonde doll in the background is creepy as fuck.
It's a bride.
Yeah, it's a bride of Chucky.
I get that.
It's creepy.
Meanwhile, people are like, wait, what blonde doll does he have?
What does Cameron have in the back?
Does he have a sex doll?
No.
Chucky, look at us.
Don't you see?
We belong, kid.
Goodbye, darling.
See, she says stuff from the movie.
God, I hope that turns on at random times automatically like a Furby used to.
No, I actually had to turn her on to make her talk.
Chucky talks too.
Hey, I don't need to hear how you turn on your dolls.
No, no.
It's, no, no, we're moving on.
Meanwhile, in preseason, says Alex Diaz, we scored a total of 12 goals.
Should we take this with a grain of salt or should we expect to score many more goals
this year?
Aaron?
Coaching staff seems to be very thrilled with this.
Aaron, what do you think?
Yes and no.
I think when you have as many players rotating in and out through a game, it's not indicative
of what we're going to see week one.
But I think it is promising that because they haven't been playing together very long and
they're still going out there in the first three preseason games and scoring multiple
goals, I think just if you take a 30,000 foot look at that, that is positive.
I'd be concerned, the inverse, I'd be concerned if we weren't scoring goals right now.
I think you're right.
I think it's the way we're scoring goals right now.
I think we're making very creative, dangerous looking passes and opportunities.
And I think that is not by accident.
I think that is a repeatable thing.
We are forcing defenses into making some really difficult decisions.
When you have Jordan Morris making these dangerous runs, like, okay, well, we're going to mark
that run.
Maybe you have Jesus for opening up some space or Pedro, who's looked really good in this
preseason, creating opportunities.
How repeatable is that against teams that have more familiarity with us?
We'll find out.
But it's very, very encouraging.
And for a preseason, I would rather see reasons for excitement than squeaking out one-nothing
victories or two-one victories where there's just not a lot of creativity.
And I think that's not the case in this preseason.
We're seeing a lot of creativity.
We're seeing a lot of energy.
And I'm very encouraged personally.
I'm excited personally.
But I do caution, just be careful about coming out of the gate.
Because our first game will be on the road in another country for Champions League, expect
us to be playing for a 0-0 type of draw.
That's what we've done historically in these early group stage games.
Sometimes those fields can be a little tricky to navigate.
So eking out one goal, two goals, keeping it really close and tight has been the historical
context of what we've done down there.
Cameron, what about you?
Yeah, I mean, the teams we're playing aren't the best, right?
We have the, we just tied Hammer B22, their second, probably second best team in Sweden.
But you look at their roster, it has a total market value of 28 million.
I mean, that's significantly below us.
And if we had had the offseason they had, our fans would be revolting right now.
Because you go down and you look at, they just sold off a player for 10 million, a player
for 5.7 million, a player for 4.5 million, and a player for 3.5 million, and the best
player they brought in is worth 1.3 million.
So they just sold off nearly 20 million.
And a free transfer from Minnesota.
Yeah.
So are you saying that they are basically FC Dallas?
They're kind of FC Dallas-ing it.
Yeah.
And so, you know, I think that is something we need to consider.
Like you said, we can't just look at these matches and go, oh, this is a one for one.
Like, this is how we're going to do this season.
You know, these clubs also play a different style than we do.
If we go look at the other team we played.
Wait, wait, wait.
I'm sorry, real quick.
Hit the back button real quick.
The player they brought in, the player that they brought in, scroll down, Warner Han.
I saw him in Japan earlier this year.
That's Kyoto's goalkeeper.
Yeah, there he is.
Kyoto Sanges goalkeeper.
Transfer fee question mark.
Yeah, they don't.
He's 32, probably not a lot.
Oh, that's cool.
We played Nor Koping, who I believe was at a 2-1 win, if I recall correctly.
And their entire team value is 12 million.
So they don't have.
What do they rate Seattle's just for context of apples to apples?
What are they calling Seattle's transfer market?
Yeah, I mean, so this will be.
Aaron, do you have any predictions before it pulls up?
Damn it, saw it.
I would have said 60 probably.
53 million.
But that's looking at the value of a player, some of the players that are right now on
a down that we're taking flyers on, like a Jesus Ferreira who is getting valued only
at 5 million, but last year would have been more like 10 to 12 million.
And this is yours.
Yeah, and what's really interesting about this is if you scroll up to the roster there,
some of that seems very.
I mean, you know, it's trying to do the best it can with limited information.
But when you see some players a little higher up, I had to laugh because I saw Georgie,
for example, if you scroll up a little bit, you know, it had.
Yeah, Georgie's value at 400k euro right now, which seems about right.
Last year he was at 200k, so he's doubled his value.
And if he proves himself, he'll keep skyrocketing.
Yeah, it's interesting.
But it also, you know, 800k for Paul Rothrock, which is which is interesting.
Severely seems to undervalue Obed Vargas 3.5 million based on the number of like puts out
on the same pace as Albert Rusnak.
But that's about the offers we're getting for him right now.
This is how much you would get in value for him, not how much you want for him.
Well, I know we're asking for 10, but I feel like we've heard we've heard reports of six
to six to eight in in previous reports.
I feel like it was more three to four is what people are trying to give us.
And you know, Pedro being valued at six million euros when he was at his peak before he blew
at his knee at 10 million.
So you see, since he's come to Seattle, he's dropped a little bit.
Yeah.
So these things are interesting and take them with a grain of salt, you know.
It's much like the gambling betting lines.
MLS is always going to be an opportunity for picking and beating Vegas because the odds
makers don't always have the same dial in on MLS as some other sports.
So it's just kind of, you know, trying not to see it as gospel, in my opinion.
No, I think it's just a good idea.
And also remember, you've got to take all those values and multiply them by 1.5 because
this is a euro, it's not dollars.
All the money.
And hey, look at that.
What do you got right there?
Or do we do have a mailbag question about that?
I think we do.
Yeah, we do.
We do.
We'll get to that.
Now let's talk about where Alex Diaz brought up that Nico Moreno mentioned the possibility
of bringing back Nico Lidero to Seattle, who at the end of last season was valued at one
million euros.
Seems a little high for me considering his performance last year.
When he left Seattle, he was at 1.8, no, 1.5.
And so he's gone down, according to them, about 0.5 in value.
But of course, he went there on a free transfer.
Yep.
What are you all thinking about the possibility of Nico coming back?
Not whether or not it'll happen.
What would he do for the club and should we do it?
I mean, I think it comes to me for, well, let's think about, obviously, he would come
in off the bench.
So the question that I have for you is what can he provide off the bench?
Can he provide a spark in 20 minutes?
Can you get some, can you get some production out of him?
Now keep in mind, last season for Orlando, 34 games played, he started 16 of those games.
So clearly coming off the bench a lot.
But in 1600 minutes, that's kind of backup time right there.
In 1600, well, 1700 minutes, 1697, he had one goal and 11 assists.
So to me, that tells me you can bring him on to create some offense in the final 20
minutes.
Yeah.
If I can get him at a reasonable fee, yes, bring him on.
Because I think a year in Orlando, much like, you know, Brad Evans taking that year in Kansas
City where unfortunately he didn't get to play a game because of the injury.
Brad Evans left Seattle a little angry, a little upset.
But it was because, you know, he's competitive, he's fiery and he thought he had stuff to
give.
Nico, who by the way, I think handled coming in off the bench at the end of his time in
Seattle pretty damn well.
I think he's got the right mentality, the right mindset to come in if that's going to
be the offer.
I unfortunately don't know, is he currently a free agent?
Was he on a one year deal with Orlando or would there be a transfer fee involved?
No, he's free to go wherever he wants.
He'd be free transfer.
So he's currently an unsigned player.
Yeah, he's trying to return to Argentina.
The only person I've seen report at all apparently about this is Nico Mourinho, but everyone
else, his agent has said that he's trying to get.
No, Argentina are the teams he's trying to play for.
Oh, to go back to like, okay, the league.
Yeah.
No, no, no.
So, but yeah, I mean, I feel like even total he had two goals in nine assists last year
in 2000, almost 2100 minutes.
So including a goal and assist versus Calvary FC, the Canadian Premier League team in the
CONCACAF Champions Cup, who yesterday became the first Canadian Premier team or was that
earlier today?
It might've been earlier today.
First Canadian Premier League team to beat a Mexican team as they beat, was it Tigris
they beat?
I don't know.
Wait a minute.
No, no, no, that's not right.
He is still under contract with Orlando.
They did not, they let him go at the end of the season.
I don't see that in their, I don't see that in their roster moves updates as of December
5th.
Now things may have changed.
According to his agent, he plays, he does not on their roster.
He's available to go wherever he wants.
Okay.
So maybe they, it might be like a Brodeer Leo Rodriguez thing where they made the decision
after the official.
Okay.
They beat Pumas, excuse me, not Tigris.
I knew it was a cat.
So Calvary FC to beat Pumas in a stunning CONCACAF Champions Cup first leg, which is
pretty exciting, I've got to say.
I'd be happy with it.
Yeah.
It doesn't displace anything that we currently have that I'm excited about with our current
roster and he'd be coming off the bench.
The stats that you just both mentioned are promising and makes my heart warm.
Well, you know that Nico, what are, what are, what are the things you're going to get out
of him?
You're going to get running.
You're going to get someone who's moving around.
I mean, yeah, that's an added benefit for sure.
Would he be in every game day 18?
No, no, he wouldn't because I think we got some, some other options that are available.
But there'll be times where, you know, there were, there were games last season where you
look at the bench, you're like, we have no attacking options off the bench.
We have nothing where I feel like we can generate a goal off the bench.
As a matter of fact, for a while there, I think, I think if I'm remembering correctly,
we went a very long time where we did not have a single goal off the bench for, for
a significant portion of the season, if I remember correctly, it might've been two years
ago though.
My brain's a little, a little weird today.
So give me, give me people that can create an impact.
I will 100% take that.
So yeah, did I answer your question, Nick?
It looks like they call, I mean, Orlando did, they had a club option on him for this year
and they did take it, but they must be willing to let him out.
Like you said, like Bradili Rodriguez.
Okay.
And that makes sense because I would imagine that I know Orlando made some significant
roster moves and some of those moves might make Nico's role redundant.
I'd be curious to see-
And he cost some 800,000 this year, which there's no way he would get in Seattle.
100%.
And that's where I wonder if Orlando would use a buyout or if it'd be a situation where
Orlando would pick up part of the salary.
I'd be curious to see how that mechanism would actually work.
Granted, if Orlando uses one of their buyouts on him, now keep in mind teams get two buyouts
this year.
That's a new rule.
If Orlando was to use one of their buyouts, that's guaranteed money.
So then Nico coming in at a, let's say a veteran minimum, I don't know if that's the way it
would go, but if-
Yeah.
I can't see that happening.
You wouldn't waste that mechanism on Nico when you, I mean, the rosters aren't set,
right?
You can still do whatever you want for another-
Two weeks.
I think the 21st-ish, I think somewhere around there.
So as long as he's not on the roster, then they'll be fine.
They want you to-
But in the end, I mean, honestly, that deep dive of the capology side of it, I'm less
interested in having that conversation because if both teams want to make it happen and they've
got the space, they either have the space for it or they don't, that's really kind of
getting aside from the point of the conversation, which is really, would you want him back?
My answer is, yeah, if we can afford him.
Yeah, I'll take him.
Yeah, for me, it's got to be league minimum and we have to give nothing to Orlando.
I'm not giving anything for him.
Correct.
I feel comfortable with our roster, but anytime you give me an opportunity to add someone
who's got an engine and who can create chances, yeah, coming off the bench, having someone
like him who can create assists and has, we know his vision with some of these players.
Could you imagine Niko feeding Georgie with the pass through lines late in the game?
Yeah, I'll take that.
What else do we have on the mailbag?
You know what else we got?
Are you satisfied with our off season in general, says Asian Man 1974, including transfers, tactical
preparation, et cetera?
First off, I love his avatar.
It's a AS Roma's third, the wolf.
So I do appreciate that.
I just want to shout that out, Asian Man 1974.
I think that's a sharp logo there.
Isn't that one of the clubs that are not very cool?
You know, I am biased.
I am obviously biased, but yeah, I'm pretty happy with our off season in general.
We've done a couple of things, very successful.
We've structured our signings.
We brought in pieces to give us more tactical flexibility in formations.
We're considering those kinds of formation changes and opportunities.
So I think those are key pieces.
People can disagree about whether we should assign X player or Y player, but I think we've
set ourselves up for success.
Now the question is, we're going to find out real soon if the pieces we brought in were
the right pieces.
So I'm excited.
What about you, Aaron?
Yeah, I think this is probably one of the more robust rosters I can remember for this
team.
I think there is just, I think every signing was smart, but obviously Hazy's and Paul at
the top of the list, I think just having those two players in rotation as starting with players
we already had last year and we performed pretty well last year.
I think we definitely weren't the best team in the West.
We know that.
I think we very well could be.
I think we're going to be a really hard team to beat.
I think we're going to score more goals, hopefully, than last year, but nothing was splashy.
And then I get there's going to be that fan base that wants something a little more splashy.
But we've repeated this over and over again, especially you, Cameron, why Seattle cannot
do that.
And I think these are the right signings for this club in every aspect, both in tactics
and locker room and for the length of this season and how many matches we're going to
have to play.
You know, can I say, because you touched on something that I thought was really interesting.
You mentioned robust, and it reminded me of how I felt going into the twenty twenty two
season when we won Champions League.
I thought we did a really good job bringing in Albert Rusnak as our big signing kind of
to to build this robust roster to to compete for Champions League.
We brought in Freddie Montero as that, you know, aging signing, which which Nico could
fill that kind of a role.
Yes.
Yeah, but when I look at that twenty twenty two roster and I compared to what we have
right now and I thought that twenty twenty two roster was exactly that was built for
depth.
Now, unfortunately, having that major injury to Joe Palo really hurt.
And after Champions League, we did have some injuries that that made some some problems.
So the depth was challenged, but I look at that roster and I look at this roster and
I think there's even more depth and I think it's kind of a more elevated version of that.
So I'm excited.
What about you, Cameron?
I mean, I think mine comes down to what Dan the bastard asked next in the mailbag, which
is who's going to be more important to this team's success or failure, Jesus Ferreira
or Pedro de la Vega?
And I think if and I would include Jordan Morris in there, too, but I think if we do
not see an increase in goals from both those players and we do not see an increase in goals
from Jordan Morris, then it was all for not.
I feel like we we went the creative route by bringing in players below their value and
getting a whole thing to get more out of them.
And we're either going to get a home run or Schmetzer's going to be fired halfway through
the season.
And I don't know where it's going to be.
And I think part of that is putting too much on Jordan Morris being a DP, which I do not
think he is.
I hope he proves me wrong, but he has yet to prove that he is.
We've argued many episodes about that, but he had four goals in the final 11 games and
only one of them was from forward position.
So if he's playing forward, if he's not playing for that, maybe he's a different story.
But if he's playing forward, I'm going to need him to score forward like goals.
I mean, obviously, you and I both disagree on that that side.
We talked about that in previous years.
So I'm not going to hear previous episodes.
I'm not going to hit that again.
But I think my argument is we've gotten DP production out of a contract that was not
DP from him.
And this is now the, OK, well, now we've got the DP contract.
We need you to maintain and hopefully more improve on that.
Improve.
Yeah.
Because I want to see him put up number nine numbers, not winner numbers.
And I get that.
We're going to find out.
And what about you?
What about you, Aaron?
I pretty much I agree with Cameron.
I'm not I need to see more importantly, Jordan.
I need to see him.
He was just he really frustrated me last year.
And then to see him become a DP, which I know isn't like he's a six million dollar DP or
anything like that.
But put up or shut up is what I want to say.
We need a six million dollar DP on this team.
And if he's not going to be that, then we need to go get one.
Yeah.
I mean, that that is the thing is, though, you you basically have.
Albert and Jordan, who are both producing at DP numbers.
But let's be honest.
I'll be I'll be fair that they're more of that third DP, the traditional DP that is
kind of on the lower end of DP.
So you have two of those.
So realistically, the reality is you you could get that six million dollar DP, but you would
not have one of Albert and or Jordan.
So Albert has I mean, I don't know the numbers.
Albert probably has four or five more assists if Jordan scores four or five more goals last
season, which he should have.
I think Albert is absolutely fine in my book right now.
He was a best player last year.
But on some I'm getting the sense that on a lot of players or a lot of fans wish list
on what they'd like to see with the roster construction.
They would like to see a player like Albert be the third DP and then to quote unquote
big time DPS, I think is the the envisioning.
But with the way that this is laid out with Jordan's contract triggering an automatic
DP upgrade, I think I think that's that's if I'm speaking for people, I think that's
a concern.
But let's see.
Well, sure.
Albert is your third DP if you have a six million dollar forward playing as a six million
dollar forward and Pedro de Legas playing healthy and to expectation when we signed
him last year.
I mean, I think I think Albert is your third DP.
Ferrera could be that if he develops into what he's in.
And Pedro Pedro was worth 10 million euros at one point.
All those players can become that player if they play the way if if Ferrera plays the
way he did not last year, but the two years before that or same same for Pedro before
he got hurt.
All of those players become those players.
Very much on the table like very much.
Yeah.
And then you have then you have four DPS on on a budget of three DPS.
And then that's the thing.
So in in the situations in which we're winning trophies and being successful, it's because
we are maximizing our DP production, getting four DPS for the price of three.
And Craig Weibel is executive the year or whatever.
Yeah, yeah.
Whatever war that is.
If that doesn't happen, it becomes well, now we're hamstrung with these underperforming.
Don't say hamstring.
Oh, God.
Did we sign that that do?
There has been some rotation in the in in the sports health team.
Yeah, historically.
But yeah, so that's really kind of what it comes down to is that's the that's the risk
reward that Craig Weibel is going for is he believes and historically it's worked for
us.
And we knew who on entry level contracts through a lot of our trophy runs where we you know,
we joked around about, you know, how many new whose is he worth?
You know, when when he was getting paid like seventy thousand dollars, you know, and getting
production out of him at a position where other people are paying a lot more out of
that, you're seeing that with Obed Vargas, you're seeing that with Jackson Reagan, you're
seeing us historically getting big hits and getting great production out of out of great
deals.
We got that out of Christian and Jordan for so long.
But now we're you know, now we're seeing that other side of it where now we just need
those people to keep producing.
And if not, that creates some really interesting questions of you think there was there was
challenges in the in the fan base when we let go of someone like Raul or someone like
Nico.
Well, it happens when it comes time to say goodbye to homegrown Jordan Morris, hopefully
many years down the road.
But what's that conversation going to be like?
It's going to be delicate for sure.
I mean, him Christian, I think is another one that that conversation is going to be
a very tough one, because for me, I feel much for me, I know Christian has never risen to
the level of Jordan in terms of play.
And we see that by the contracts.
But Christian is a much more important player to this team's history than than Jordan is.
And Steph, I mean, I love Steph, but his his time is coming to an end.
That's not any reflection on him.
He's just getting older.
You know what I mean?
Yeah, we have a replacement ready to go.
But and I like Steph.
He's always been very nice and gracious to me any time I've talked to him and spent time
to sit down and and have conversations with me.
But he's been on this team for over 10 years.
That is nuts when like, wait, wait, what do you think about that?
It's amazing.
I love it.
And we have a really special team like that.
But eventually, we're going to start coming into that time where last year, Nico the year
before or two years ago, Nico last year, Raul each year, we're going to start having to
make some tough choices to some people who have been very important to this club for
a very long time.
That's just the nature of sports.
Hopefully we keep restocking with with players that'll that'll make their mark.
So we are 55 minutes in.
Why don't we take a break now so that we can hit the rest of the mailbag when we get back?
That sounds great.
Let's take a breather.
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 for me to talk to you about our corporate overlords and our
corporate overlords are us.
That's right.
We would love it if you would head on over to Patreon.com and look for Sounders Scuttlebutt
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Well guarantee you get at least one extra episode per month.
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Now there will be other stuff that we put in there, but this is where we're starting
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That's Sounders Scuttlebutt podcast over at Patreon.com.
Now back to your regularly scheduled programming.
And we're back.
I don't know if anyone that's from an SNL skit with Ben Affleck and he's a radio DJ.
Man in the box, get back in the box.
Anyone?
No?
Okay.
No.
And we're back.
Anyway, more mailbag?
That's pretty much what this show is, right?
Just a mailbag.
Although now you got me thinking about Ben Affleck and mall rats.
And so we're just gonna let that one sit right there.
There you go.
I was trying to figure out a way to bring that reference in and I just couldn't do it
without going wrong.
All right, let's hit some more questions.
Cameron, you want to lead us through?
You've been doing that so far?
Sure, yeah.
You could argue, Alex says, you could argue that both LA teams lost very important minutes
and players this transfer window.
Their teams didn't significantly get any better from last year and the Sounders didn't lose
any important pieces from last season roster.
I'll put an asterisk on there with the potential move of Columbus's lone striker.
I guess they have two strikers in the roster right now, but their lone starting striker
being sent over there potentially.
Can Seattle get home wins against these teams and riskily push for the number one seed slash
supporter shield?
And I think those are two very different questions.
What will lead to more attendance at home games, wins or goals?
First off, I do not believe that Seattle and both LA teams will all finish in the top three
this year.
I'm gonna just say that right now.
I do think Seattle will be one of those three teams in the top three.
I do not think both LA teams will occupy the top three spots.
Just so that I'm quiet there.
And I believe to Alex's point, I think the Sounders are bringing back somewhere in the
90s.
I think 93% of minutes played last season are back on the roster.
So that's great for that team cohesion.
And then again, as much like we said, we've talked about every episode for the last like
six episodes when it comes up.
Paul Rothrock was your starting locked in left winger.
He's third on your depth chart there.
So you're returning these key pieces, your team, but then you've also added some great
pieces that I think you're gonna be able to have minutes for.
So I think I'm just so excited for the roster flexibility there.
So the question is, can Seattle get home wins against these teams?
Yes, absolutely.
Realistically pitched for the number one seed, supporter shield, supporter shield.
No, no, they can't because they're in too many.
They're in too many competitions too good.
This conference is too good.
Someone did a deep dive.
And basically since 2018, almost every team except I think one who has one MLS Cup or
maybe one the supporter shield, I can't remember which one, basically did not make the playoffs
the year before.
So what that's basically saying is essentially that these successful teams don't have as
much fixture congestion as some of these other teams.
And I think there's a deep correlation to the number of games a team plays and how far
they can go.
I mean, that makes sense.
Yeah.
I don't think supporter shield is in the conversation, but first in the West, I wouldn't be surprised.
But I think we have a better shot at that than I am since maybe 2014.
I'm really excited about this roster.
I'm really excited how it was built.
I think it's the right pieces and we can have egg on our faces in six months.
But I have more confidence in this team and that 93% stat you just dropped is incredible.
And I think that's barring injury, obviously.
But that's exciting.
I think so.
I think they'll finish up on both LA teams.
I think you're right there.
By the way, that supporter shield winning team had 64 points.
I can see us surpassing that, but not winning the shield.
But I think we're going to be in that 55 to 65 point range is what I'm expecting to see
out of the season personally.
Yeah, I think a lot will depend on do the players show up.
And if they do, and they do what the team expects them to do, now that both LA teams
have dropped off a little bit, I could see us grabbing that number one seed.
I think our average finishes too, like we've talked about.
But ultimately, I think it'll come down to injuries because Adrian Hanauer has talked
about this with us before.
And it's a stat that was true then.
And I asked, I think it was last year, and my understanding is it's still true, is that
it's all based on how many minutes your starters play.
And if your starters play as many minutes as possible, you win more games.
And that's MLS wide.
That is not just the Sounders.
But yeah, that's historically the correlation of missed time and success on the field is
going to be huge, which is part of the reason why I'm a little hesitant to put LA Galaxy
in the top three because having Ricky Pooj out for most of the season and not having
a way to truly replace him, that's going to hamper them.
Now I think they'll be really dangerous on the second half of the season if he comes
back.
But at the same time, depending on when he comes back, if he comes back in September,
that may not be enough time to ramp up to 100% fitness and he may not be able to make
it a strong enough impact on them.
It's a long season.
We'll see a lot can happen.
Absolutely.
So let's take a few...
Well, Aaron, do you have anything to add to that?
No.
He's not the best color around at baseball for nothing, ladies and gentlemen.
Oh, RIP to Bob Uecker who passed away recently.
Let's get a few more in here and then we can get out of here.
I think some of the questions we have are about preseason in a way that we can leave
it for next episode.
But we actually had a question that I missed earlier that I think we should have talked
about before because we weren't talking sounder stuff, but who's winning the Super Bowl and
who are you guys rooting for?
Kendrick Lamar is winning it, baby.
That's all I'm talking about.
Aaron, why don't you start us off on those?
That might be all who I'm rooting for too.
I mean, I'm going to watch it because I like football.
I really wanted to see a healthy Detroit Lions and the Ravens.
That's what I wanted.
I'm sorry.
Did you say the healthy Detroit Lions and the Buffalo Bills?
Did you want to see the world end?
Sorry.
Neither team is not doing it.
No, I thought I like running and I like defense.
So anyway, but I actually I think I don't want the Chiefs to win another one, but I
also don't want Philly fans to have something to win.
To have happiness.
Yeah.
I mean, the Chiefs fans to me are so much more obnoxious than Philly fans.
I'm rooting for Philly 100%.
Like, I just cannot stand.
It's like the one half dozen of another man.
I don't.
I'm tired of the Chiefs.
I am also tired of everyone complaining about the refs because they broke it down and the
Chiefs actually don't benefit that much from bad calls compared to some of the other teams.
Like Buffalo had the most referee aided touchdown drives of any team by far this season.
Would you say that the because I don't know if maybe I'm just not following as much.
I don't really know if I find the Chiefs fans obnoxious.
Would you put them on Patriot fan levels?
You know, because is that just kind of what happens?
They do a racist chant all game long.
That alone is enough to be like, fuck you.
I'm not with you.
You have nothing else to say.
Also I think any fan base where you're winning that many times, you know, I mean, they're
come on.
They're they're a legacy.
They're as I would just call it when you're when you win all those.
They're what the Sounders could have been if we didn't start dropping.
Well, I mean, you saw the you saw, you know, what happened when Sounders were at peak success
as the any team, you know, the Aces all any club accepts to be fair.
Aces started from day one of the Sounders when we started winning.
Well, I think I think I think people it's to the point of when national media, it's
all they want to talk about.
And for obvious reasons, when the Sounders came into the league, it was a great story.
Seeing all the success in Seattle, where I was like, oh, Seattle, Seattle, Seattle.
So if you weren't a Seattle fan, you're like, oh, fuck off.
So I can I can understand that.
I mean, I guess what I'm getting at is I don't really have a problem with chiefs as a team.
I just don't.
You know, I'm just rooting for them.
They got a great defense.
So I like I like their head coach.
Yeah.
You know what I mean?
Like I think what I think Patrick Mahomes, I think Bumble Rooskidoo terrible company.
You know, I was rooting for them.
Travis Kelsey, the Kelsey brothers seem really, really good people.
Yeah.
You know, and I was rooting for Taylor Swift.
You know, I want her to be happy.
Now, Barkley is someone like Barkley.
I love Taylor.
Really, really.
And I love Taylor.
It hurts to.
So he was on your fantasy team.
Well, yeah.
Yeah.
I mean, it didn't hurt at all.
But I guess I guess in the end, though, this kind of a super bowl where it's like, you
know what, I'm not really rooting against anyone.
Just entertain me and whatever happens, happens.
I think it'll be a good game.
As rappers at halftime, though, they're like, we need some good old fashioned rock and roll.
Yeah, yeah.
What's the what's the over under on on the oh, we need like you said, we need old fashioned
rock and roll.
Yeah, it's never stopped.
But I can't imagine a single rock and roll band that would be as good as Kendrick Lamar.
Is there even a band that would perform in that?
To me, there's not.
I mean, you would perform.
That would be good.
Well, who's in that conversation as far as rock and roll bands in Super Bowls that have
not already done so?
Did Colton ever do one, by the way?
Yes.
OK.
That's right.
They did.
But but so it's got to be someone's.
Rolling Stones have done one.
Yeah.
Honestly, Aaron's Aaron's shirt right there, but it's not really their jam.
Yeah, Pearl Jam would be one of the few, I think.
Oh, I could do we didn't talk about this last episode in in Foo Fighters.
But that Nirvana reunion.
Yeah.
It was so fantastic.
Yeah, especially especially when audio issues with there's so clearly some audio issues
with the microphones, particularly on the singers.
But I thought that St. Vincent was just off off beat.
I don't know.
I thought I thought it was really good.
But but outside of bands like that, like there's no one as big as Kendrick Lamar in the world.
I mean, unless you're bringing in a case disappearing a little bit.
Now, there you go.
Like, could you imagine like a black pink came in?
Or twice twice is too old now, I think.
But where's BTS in the world nowadays?
Like BTS is still up there.
They're like the grand dads.
But no, like like that.
Because that that's kind of interesting, like thinking about it in those those ways.
We should say our prediction so far that's and they asked for the who do you think is
going to win, right?
Oh, yeah.
Honestly, here's the reality.
It's going to be a really close game.
And we're never going to hear the end of the ref narrative, because now people are looking
for reasons and every game there's always going to be things that you can complain about
for a rep.
That's the nature of sports.
It's going to mar it's going to mar the result of the game.
So I think the Eagles got it.
I mean, Saquon Barkley just too good and they'll be able to finish out the game with them.
I think Saquon Barkley is going to come is is I mean, you could see in the last in the
NFC championship game.
Like he I have not seen that kind of the chiefs.
They're struggling on the run.
They look like in their games that they're struggling.
And even with the Bills, you know, they were able to make some runs.
So, yeah, I mean, I think that's pretty.
I think about the chiefs, though, I think that I don't think they had a single game
over 30 points all season.
So that tells you how good their defense actually was.
They just don't have the players like Philadelphia, where you have Jaylen Carter, you have two
rookie DBS, you have that or a conversation for rookie over there, and then you have bomb
the guy no one's ever heard of.
They sign him out of nowhere and he's defensive.
I don't they haven't done those awards yet, have they?
Yeah, and BP came out yesterday or today.
What about defensive player of the year was the bomb guy?
Because he got he was in the conversation for it, but no one knew who he was until they
signed him.
So everyone knows the Philly defense, but I think Spagnola for the chiefs is underrated
sounds kind of like an exaggeration.
But I mean, they don't they're not where they're at finishing first in the AFC without that
defense.
So it's going to be it's going to be a really good football game.
I have to say it's probably going to be the chiefs until they don't win a Super Bowl,
just because Patrick Mahomes is that good.
I mean, offensive player of the year was Barkley.
Unsurprisingly, defensive player of the year was Patrick Surtain from the Broncos.
Interesting.
Bonn was was Bonn was Bonn finished first, second, third, fourth, fifth behind Trey Hendrickson,
Miles Garrett and TJ Watt.
Still no one knew who the guy was.
Yeah, I think I'm leaning towards you there.
I do think that until someone can prove them otherwise.
Chiefs are going to win it.
If it's a close game and Mahomes has the ball, Chiefs win.
I do think it's going to be.
I think with two minutes to go.
It will be a one score game.
Does it end as a one score game?
I don't know, because it could be, you know, but I think I think late in the fourth quarter,
it will be a one score game.
It'll be interesting because this will be out for maybe 24 hours and then the game will
be over.
So we should move on.
You've been listening to Super Bowl Scuttlebutt.
Herb Owl.
Yeah, let's shift it back to Sounders with the doozy of a question from Dan the Bastard,
which I think is one that the front office is going to face the entire season.
I don't think it is a secret that there is a delta between fan expectation, particularly
with roster construction, and ownership slash front office willingness to spend.
How much can you tell us about ownership slash front offices view on fan opinion?
Do they think it's a vocal minority that winning will cure fan discontent, or do they just
not care about fan sentiment?
I'm going to leave this to just you two considering your connections and I'm just a guy.
It is very clear that they are aware.
I get the sense, I'm going to use my words carefully because for reasons, I get the sense
that and it is my opinion that there is a vocal part of the fan base that may not necessarily
accurately represent the actual whole of the fan base.
But I think it's a much larger minority than it's been in the past.
I think that's also correct.
I do think that's also correct.
The front office is very aware of, we'll say, internet opinion, online opinion of the club.
The front office also very much has their game plan on what they're trying to do and
they're sticking to that plan because that plan has been historically successful, in
my opinion.
Years ago when League was bringing in players like Ibrahimovic, players like David Villa,
we would always ask these questions about what would it take for us to bring in another
marquee name.
The front office has consistently, from the Garth era on, has consistently made it clear
that there is a premium that you pay when you're bringing in a name DP where you're
paying for the name but you may not be getting the production.
You see that in the Steven Girard, you see that in Pirlo, you see that in other Dos Santos
type of signings.
The front office is very united in the way that they think they should go about it and
they stick to their guns on that and it's been largely successful.
I don't think that they're willfully ignoring it or dismissing it but I think they just
genuinely feel that that is not necessarily the correct avenue for success.
They think that they are better off identifying and finding players who maybe aren't as familiar
to an American market and getting max value out of them.
You saw that in a Nico signing and a Rui Diaz signing and hopefully we'll see that in a
Pedro signing but to start that just hasn't happened in the first year.
That's my thought on that matter and I'll leave it to Cameron to add thoughts.
Yeah, I think I would echo similarly, I can also tell you there is no one that hates losing
more than Adrian Hanauer.
I don't care how much you think you hate losing, there's no one that hates losing more than
him.
Stories have been kind of epic and I've heard some great epic stories about that.
If you think that he is being cheap because he doesn't want to win, that's not it.
He wants nothing more to win.
There's a reason why we average finishing second place over our entire existence.
He wants to win every single year.
Now what are we going to prioritize this change?
As Garth very much said, well, you don't need to win the supporter shield because that's
no longer the fastest path to get to Champions League.
It's by winning the US Open Cup, it's by doing this, it's by doing that.
What is our goal?
I think it's MLS Cups and Champions League victories and Club World Cup performances.
But he does, they do have a different view on spending money.
Now do I think some of the criticism is valid?
Yes, I do.
I think there's plenty of criticism out there on our inability to spend money when other
teams are spending through the roof, especially when we're seeing what Garth is now able to
do in, hey, Dempsey's in the background.
What's up, dog?
He's looking at me like, hey, he's popping in and hitting his nose on my elbow.
Am I going to get walkies?
We're almost done, Demps.
Don't worry.
Demps has got a dick of deuce.
But I worry that eventually the gap between what we can spend for players and the talent
in this league may go too far.
That gap may become too great.
That's a fair criticism.
I don't know if we're there yet.
And I don't think we're there yet because I think we're going to have success this year.
I'm optimistic that we're going to have success for a year.
Just because I'm saying I need to see Jordan prove that he's a DP doesn't mean I don't
think he will.
I really, really hope he does.
And I think he might.
But for us to be successful on the level that we expect, that's the expectation that we
need when you sign a player to that contract.
Right.
And the Sounders have never been a team that can sign a player to one of these huge contracts
and then have them not perform.
Correct.
We cannot miss on a DP.
We are not one of the New York teams.
We are not Atlanta.
We are not Miami.
We're not L.A. We do not have the money to do that.
And how the hell did Allen Velasco get bailed?
Did Kansas City get bailed out of that contract?
How the hell did they get a league of Mx team?
Oh, that drives me nuts because they failed on that contract and they got bailed out.
So do they hear you?
Yes, they are very aware.
I do think some of the over the top rhetoric prevents them from taking it completely seriously.
And so you get because it's nonstop and they get no credit for anything.
And so if you are unhappy, you have to put your money where your mouth is.
Like if people keep going to Mariners games, the Mariners owners are going to keep putting
crap out on that field because they don't need to make the playoffs.
They just have to miss it by a couple of games to keep our hopes alive.
But that's what's happening in Seattle.
For the Sounders.
No, it's not.
But that is the view that the fans have right now.
And so if you really think that's the case, you can try and make that point.
But I don't think it's going to work right now because I think the average fan isn't
that involved.
They don't care that much.
What they want to see is wins at home.
They don't care about goals.
I know super fans do.
They care about wins.
They care about points.
If we win one nothing, I'm going away happy.
I'm not.
I'm an average fan.
I think you have a good point there where you mentioned, you know, we can't miss on
those DPs and I think that's really true.
I think the Sounders have done a great job of finding that value in their signings.
But I guess my question to you is I wouldn't call them the moneyball Oakland A's because
the Oakland A's when they were successful, yeah, they were getting the great value out
of their roster.
But the Sounders have always been a top successful team in the league.
So who would be that analog in sports if there is one?
A team that finds that isn't signing the biggest free agent, for example, but is getting value
and consistently.
Golden State Warriors when they first started on their run, when they were homegrown players
and then they would bring in, yeah, and they bring in maybe an outside player before they
started bringing in superstar free agents.
They would bring in role players to fill in, to go along with all of those players that
they had drafted and developed.
Look at the Eagles this year.
I mean, Saquon was a big signing, but running back contracts are not breaking the bank in
the NFL.
Jalen Hurts was a second round pick.
They have two rookies that were up for rookie of the year and I already kind of went over
that.
Jalen Carter was a draft pick.
AJ Brown is probably the biggest splash and even him, he's not the number one receiver
in the league.
He's not Jefferson.
2012, 2013, 2014 Seahawks when you have Russ on a small contract and you're bringing in,
you have some talent, but you have a core of youth players with talented players around
them and a few stars, but the superstars were homegrown.
And I think that's what the Sounders have largely right now, except for I think Jesus
Ferreira is going to be that star.
I think Pedro de la Vega is going to be that star.
I think those are going to be the faces of our team.
Max is in homegrown.
That's true.
No, but they've also, you also got a lot of these players that have been in the league
for so long, have been on the club for so long that they become, you're not seeing that.
Russ Nack wasn't a sexy move.
It was to me.
He was the right move.
And now I think that's what we've been saying about Ferreira and Areola.
They're not sexy moves, but they very well could be the right move.
And like I said before, when we talked about what a steal they were, if it works out,
Wyble comes out looking like a genius because how much money did he just save in putting
together his team of superstars?
Okay, that's a narrative that bugs me a little bit.
Now we're back about, oh, how much money did he save?
We are in a cap league, so every dollar matters.
Oh, I mean, as in like he had to save money to sign those other players.
I get that.
And it sounds like part of the reason we were able to make some of these signings this year
was the roster rules that came out that the Sounders got additional gam for qualifying
for club World Cup.
That's something that we haven't talked about, which I think is a good place to end the show
on.
We're not getting 50 million.
Guess how much we're actually getting?
Do you know the number, Nick?
Can you say it?
It's 750.
Yep, 750.
750,000.
Yeah.
So, not 50 million, 750,000.
So can we stop the conversations about going out and signing some premier league striker?
Or whoever.
It's not happening.
So with that in mind, let's see how we spent that money.
So we took that 750 extra gam that other teams didn't get.
We got that for club World Cup.
I don't think we even have it yet.
I don't think we have it yet.
I think we can still spend it.
Because according to a person who is in the press who I do not like, which anyone who
listened to the show knows, we have not spent it yet, according to him.
No, I believe that's referring to the ability to borrow against the next two seasons gam.
That was including that previous gam, though, unless it's port writing tweets, which is
also a possibility.
So it is my understanding that we received 750 gam.
So did Miami.
That was much like in other.
It's crazy that we get so little compared to other teams.
Well, other teams would get gam for qualifying for Champions League, qualifying for like,
you would get gams for different reasons.
So we got that as well.
So we got 750 for qualifying for club World Cup.
And we also receive the ability to spend an additional, I think it was 1.5 million.
I'd have to double check.
Yeah, I think it would be 750 per year.
So we're pulling that 750 from next year and the year after for.
But we have to pay that back.
Now I don't against the cap later.
I don't want us.
I don't want us to use that because of the club World Cup unless it makes sense.
And so for right now, I don't think that's there at this point.
But the 750 in combination with also selling off some of our international transfer spots,
that's how we use most of that gam to pay for the Jesus Ferreira and Pauli Riola deals
because we traded a lot of gam to Dallas for those players.
And when it happened at the time, it was like, man, that that's a lot of gam.
Where the hell did we get all that?
You know, we had that gam though.
When they announced how much gam we had left, that was crazy.
I know.
We were on the high end of the camp.
Yeah, we still needed to account for that gam for other players still.
So now it makes a little more a little more clarity on how how we were able to make those
those roster moves.
Also they took way less money.
I mean, they both of those players took less money to sign with us and we were contracts
that would have hurt us and made it so we couldn't sign them into favorable contracts
that that could only they will only hamstring us hamstrung us.
I'm trying to use the word use earlier and to say shout out to Reed Baker Whiting for
hurting his hamstring during the shit.
Really?
Yeah, yeah.
He's supposed to be OK, but he heard it in preseason.
But the only way we get hamstrung by J.F.'s contract is if he performs.
And then at that point, we're not complaining, right?
Yeah.
He's performing well, then cool.
That's awesome.
Yeah, we need that.
So so so in the end, though, but but that that's kind of the the idea is that we are
constantly finding ways to maximize our value.
It doesn't necessarily make us cheap.
It makes us efficient.
I would say we are one of the most efficient teams in spending in MLS and have been for
the majority of our time, especially since Garth took over, since Adrian stepped down
at the G.I.
And cutting spending in and of itself isn't always efficient.
It's how you cut it.
This is something that we are learning right now based on what's happening in the larger
world outside of soccer.
Shit.
Look at Portland last year.
Portland spent a lot of money on a lot of salary on DP or on on their on their backline.
And you're like, oh, well, why aren't we spending money like that on our backline?
Yeah.
Well, look at their defense.
It fucking blew last year.
Terrible.
And they didn't address it very well.
And Evander is currently on his way back to Portland because they have to either keep
them or trade them and they haven't figured out what they're doing yet.
But but ultimately, what I'm saying is spending is spend smart.
Put together that cohesion.
And just because we haven't made those big signings, I'd rather have a team that's cohesive
and is killing it together than a big signing that may or may not work.
Anyway, so just just anyway, that's just kind of where I'm breaking news.
Breaking news from Tom Bogert.
Oh, do I need to get a siren out?
LA Galaxy finalizing deal to sign Brazilian youth international for Mathias Nascimento
on loan from Botafogo.
He will be under the U-22 initiative.
He's 20 years old and has 96 first team appearances for Botafogo, 12 goals and 4,200 minutes.
OK.
But but again, that's the planet player I want on our team.
That's what I want.
LA Galaxy keeps doing what I want us to do.
That's all I'm saying.
OK, so.
We'll see.
Yeah, I mean, we have room.
We have open U-22 slots.
And that's a question that Patrick Das will get to next episode.
That basically just keep in mind, 12 goals and 4,250 minutes is is basically one goal
every four games.
So so so so so it's not.
I'm I'm just trying to get some some data analytics.
I'm just doing some back of the napkin data analytics.
I had all those goals in one game.
But also.
You're bringing in a 20 year old integrating to the US, integrating to MLS this this LA.
You've got other Brazilians on their team, though, too.
Don't forget that.
I get it.
So so not all that glitters is gold.
Yes, it's currently valued by transfer market at nine million euros.
Reasons to be excited.
Sure, sure.
Does that mean it's going to be successful?
We'll see.
I guess the LA has a history of making that successful at this point.
Now one, we do have another UTP slot available under under 22 initiatives about available.
So this is the kind that this is the kind of thing you'd like to see us take a flyer
on something like this.
I don't think it's a flyer because his value would be by far the highest rated, the highest
valued player on our team.
This is the kind of player I mean, this is Gabriel Peck all over.
Well, in this case, it would be a flyer because they are loaning him.
So it would be a flyer.
That's why I use the word flyer in this.
Sure.
But we don't know how long it is, all that kind of stuff.
But yeah, I mean, this is the type of player I would want would be a player that has the
potential to be the best player in the MLS.
Okay.
Obviously.
Yeah.
And and and so my question is on a player like that is, okay, well, right now.
Where where do you get those minutes?
I guess it's a good problem to have.
Give me again.
It's like the Nico Lodaro situation.
Give me anyone offensive that's got ability to change a game.
And I will take that question remains to be seen whether this person is that or not.
So it'll be sure it'll be interesting to see.
Okay.
But I think that's probably a good stopping point.
Yeah.
Mm hmm.
Daddy's tired.
Yeah.
Might be this go to bed.
I'm drinking though.
Samuel Grant never heard of it.
Hey, all kidding aside, it's great to great to see you having some success there in San
Diego, Aaron.
Thank you.
Yeah.
When you do make it back up here, let's prioritize getting together.
I know $10 a bottle, Aaron.
They haven't paid me yet.
Okay.
But you're drinking like the bottom of the barrel whiskey.
Yeah, no, I know.
You don't you don't know me.
Look, look, look behind.
Look behind Nicholas's head there.
There's plenty of good alcohol.
What do you want, Aaron?
You want you want literally anything you take off that shelf will be better than what I
have been destroying my body with.
I don't think I don't even get like drunk.
It's just it just I feel pain.
I pee blood.
What is happening?
Wait, what's happening?
Maybe you need to go back to like February when you weren't drinking.
That would be January.
Anyway, January.
And I didn't that was nine days because then I got the job offer and I drank.
No, I just wish I had room for beers in my little my little fridge here, which will maybe
I'll put on the capex for now that I'm anyway, it doesn't matter.
Yeah, judge me.
I'm going to find you internet where you will be drinking and regaling us with stories of
your your bloody urine.
I was talking.
Did you ask where they can find me?
Yeah, on our discord.
I haven't and I and I haven't opened up X.
So I'm just going to probably delete it.
But we should probably have a main home for what should be our main home on socials for
Scuttlebutt.
Maybe that's an offline topic.
But I we need to transition, I think, from away from X. That's just going downhill.
Both users and I think that's changed since you were last on it.
Everyone's come back.
Oh, OK.
Well, then never mind.
You can if you want to talk to me, I'm on X. I won't delete anything at AARON.
I'm on GLEY.
But predominantly, I'm going to be getting back on the discord now that I get my life
settled here in sunny San Diego.
Aaron can be reached at 206 779 4432.
That's 206 779 4432.
I have no idea.
Someone's going to be really pissed.
Supposed to be really pissed at you.
Spoiler alert.
We made up the numbers, so do not call.
It's a T-Mobile phone number.
I can tell you that much.
So do not call that.
Where can they find you?
Who?
Nick.
Oh, me.
I missed that.
I was listening to Aaron.
I was listening to Cameron there.
You can find me at Nikita Banana, N-I-Q-U-I-T-A-B-A-N-A-N-A on Twitter X.
You can find me at Cascades2C on Facebook and see what concerts I'm going up to.
And Instagram.
What I'm doing.
Instagram.
Oh yeah, that is Instagram.
Cascades2C.
What did I call it?
Did I call it Facebook?
You said Facebook.
No, Facebook.
I'm just Nicholas.
If you just find me at Facebook.com slash Nicholas, that's me.
Facebook.com.
Yeah.
And don't call that number because Sarah B, who owns it, who lives on 28th will be really
upset with you.
Oh, wow.
The internet's wild.
The things you can find out by just entering in people's phone numbers.
I was going to say, I'm really good at stalking.
All right.
Sarah B, I am sorry.
I am sorry.
Eagle-minded punk on all of the different various internet webs for medias of the social
type.
Come join us on Discord though.
It is a fun spot.
And this year is going to be, I think this year is going to be a great year for Discord.
I think we're going to have some fun.
We're going to have some fun threads there.
I think I want to bring back the game day prediction type of threads, figure out ways
to gamify that.
It's been a while since we've done that and I really love doing that.
By the way, I think I still owed a prize from when I won back in the day.
Oh.
Or was the prize being the host?
We didn't bring you the prize?
It was the prize being the host.
Being a host.
Yeah, there it is.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Hey!
So it's you.
And the winner this year will replace Nicholas.
Let's take it out of what you owe me.
I also think, you know, we've been talking about pivoting the video.
We've been having a lot of discussion about that.
There might be an opportunity for some live viewing of our recordings while they're going
on for Discord, or excuse me, Patreon members.
So join the Patreon.
And whoa, it's getting sexy up here.
I'm in the Patreon.
Nick, you're de facto marketing genius.
So you will be doing the Discord fun and Cameron is our...
You got the clout so you can get the interviews.
So yeah, we got a lot of fun ones coming up.
All right.
Cool.
Right on.
Thank you so much everyone.
Thank you everyone.
Looking forward to next time where you are going to have a good old, big old fashioned
preseason hoot nanny where we do some preseason predictions.
We will do that before the first Champions League game.
Looking forward to that.
So if you have ideas on fun categories that we can all vote on and make predictions on,
send us those categories in the Discord page.
Yeah, we didn't have a game today, Nick.
I know.
We got to make one.
We'll get we'll get we'll make sure next time we have a game.
Yeah, we'll have another fun game.
All right, everybody.
James, you should take it away.
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