He's a tough kid. All I gotta say is the point
I can't say is CHEAT! Hello, hello, hello. Welcome
to another episode of Sounders Scuttlebutt. I'm
Aaron Lingley, and as always, joined by two Alliance
Council extraordinaires. Your Alliance Council
Secretary, Cameron Collins. And all over the
place with the Alliance Council and the soccer
community, Nicholas Biella. What's up, man? Hey,
how's it going? Well, it's going good. The Sounders
did get a result at home midweek this week. And
on the weekend. And on the weekend. And we didn't
record. Yeah, duh. I didn't even think about
that. It's the 29th that we're recording. It's
Thursday, so the day after the San Diego match,
which is kind of funny, considering I'm in San
Diego. So that wraps up the Vetter Darby, should
we call it? No, there's another home match, isn't
there? No. Do we play them three times? No, no,
just two. Just two, but I think they won it on...
You're aggregate. Aggregate, right? Is that how
that works? Yeah, I guess. Now that I've just
created it. I mean, it exists in baseball. It's
in the Eddie Darby or the Vetter Darby. Should
this be the Eddie Darby and that's the Vetter
Cup? Yeah. Okay. No one gives a shit about that.
By the way, I wore my Pearl Jam hat, my Pearl
Jam home show. No one from San Diego considers
Eddie Vetter to have anything to do with San
Diego just because he was there before he came
to Seattle. Yeah, he worked at a gas station
and then worked as a volunteer. Is he from Chicago
originally? Yeah. I'm like, why does he root
for the Cubs? Yeah, diehard Cubs fan and isn't.
Anyway, so yeah, Sounders win. Yeah. Should we
just get in a scuttlebutt that's non -Sounders
related? Sure. I have one that I want to hear
Nicholas's take on. No, first, first, gentlemen,
alcohol. Oh, please. Oh, yeah. Hey, I'm really
bummed, actually. My stubby holder's missing.
My beloved stubby holder. Oh, no. I blame Margo.
Did I just hear a zipper? Yeah. We're talking
about a stubby holder? My cooler. Uh -huh. Your
cooler, sure. You were pulling out your stubby.
Three, two, one. Mine's a bottle, so that didn't
work out very well. A little bit. Ooh. Okay.
Pulling up the rear, Cameron. As always. I'm
drinking an Aurora Hoppy Alice from Carl Strauss
Brewing Company here in San Diego. Ooh, local
beer for you. I grabbed it because it's Aurora.
Yeah, we sent him to San Diego to make him have
to get new beers on the podcast. Not a bad choice,
but with that said, I'm actually double fisting.
I already had one open that I was working on,
but I needed to – so I've got a Rainier in one
hand and the gigantic brewing company Wonder
Crusher, which is kind of like a pale ale IPA
type of citrus and tropical vibes. God damn it.
I can only do this for so long. I can only look
at the screen. God damn it. You don't know? Yeah,
you've kind of just... Now you're just a pervert.
I know. Look at the stupid screen. Ever since
you said double fisting, Nick, he's been doing
that, and I'm not going to describe it for the
listeners. I'll leave it up to their imagination.
Oh, man. Come for the London Bridge and stay
for the double fisting. Okay. Lane Lambert. Talk
to me about Lane Lambert. The new head coach
of the Kraken, who was the assistant coach of
the Toronto Maple Leafs, who also previously
head coached the New York Islanders. Yeah, so
basically as long as the Kraken stay out of the
playoffs and out away from Game 7s, they should
be okay. Because the Toronto Maple Leafs haven't
won the Stanley Cup in how many years? 1967,
who's counting? Yeah, but Lane... he's led his
teams to the Stanley Cup playoffs eight times
in 10 years. And every single time he advanced
the second round or better. No trophies though?
No. So that works for most Seattle sports teams.
Maybe perhaps with the Islanders. I mean, no,
no, no. Did they make it through the cup at all?
They didn't win the cup. We know that. No, the
Islanders haven't done shit since the 80s. Where's
Barzal these days? Is he still there? Yeah. Time
to bring him home. Okay. On to the next one.
Maybe soccer related? Yeah, I got you. I mean,
there are goals and offsides in both hockey and
soccer. We're going to have a very interesting
one -two punch on Saturday and Sunday. Saturday
is going to be the LAFC versus Club America Club
World Cup playoff game following the European
Champions League final. Let's go America. Now,
keep in mind, the European Champions League final
is going to feature two teams that are playing
in the Club World Cup in Seattle. So that'll
be really interesting. That's crazy. And I'm
going to get my second trophy from Europe in
a week after Chelsea just won 4 -1 against Real
Batiste. You're just cherry -picking teams as
you want. Yes, my Chelsea fandom that dates back
to 1995 and my PSG fandom that dates back to
2000, I am cherry -picking my fandom. Neither
of them were owned by oligarchs or... yet fair
enough fair enough so yeah so we got that on
Saturday the the interesting play -in game followed
by Sunday which I'm really interested to see
the Vancouver Whitecaps taking on Cruz Azul for
this year's CONCACAF Champions Cup for the right
to play in the 2020 nine club world cup nine
yeah and that's uh that's leg one correct no
one game one game oh geez one game they changed
that a couple years they changed that after one
match that's one opportunity which yeah um yeah
so so what are your thoughts on this first off
let's start with the club america lafc game in
the words of donald trump America, fuck yeah.
All right. And I don't think you're talking about
the United States. I agree. I do not want LAFC.
It's bad enough that Miami was gifted a spot
in this, which just still doesn't sit right.
I mean, if it wasn't Miami, it would have been
another U .S. team. Yeah, but I'd rather it had
gone to a true sporting. you know a true criteria
that everyone was aware of before it happened
you know yeah but you know it's it was a skeezy
entry that's for sure yeah that's how the mls
operates though i mean they change the rules
regularly to make sure la galaxy finished the
highest when they change it from gold differential
to wins so you know by the end of this season
the team that's going to be in first place is
the one with the most losses That's the rule
they're going to change so that they can get
their chance to win the MLS Cup yet again. Since
the Galaxy still haven't won a game, I think
they're doing pretty good there. Yeah, I'm going
to change it. Now, it is interesting. At first,
I was a little upset at the idea that they gave
the game to a home game for LAFC. But the reality
is Club America is going to travel. And strangely
enough, that's probably about the fairest. to
a neutral site stadium as it could be. I thought
it was a home match. What's up? It's not a home
match? I thought it was LAFC home match. It is.
It is, but it's in LA. But it's in LA. Southern
California, Texas, Club America probably is going
to have a decent populace in the stadium. Yeah,
but I'm guessing their season ticket holders
got most of the tickets. I think it's controlled
by FIFA, not by... Not by LAFC. I hope so. So
I expect it to be about a 50 -50. I also expect
to see LAFC just get trounced. I really think
this will be a 3 -1 or worse. But what about
that Vancouver game? How are you guys feeling
about the Vancouver -Cruz Azul game? Vancouver
all the way. You think so? Yeah, with their dumb
ass. Blue! I like blue! I like blue! That's the
dumbest chant from the dumbest fans on the face
of the planet. And think about this. I say this
later in the ultra section. What if both Vancouver
and Seattle have won Champions League? Now, Vancouver
didn't do it through the MLS. They did it through
Canada, so they have a different route. So we're
still the only United States of America team
to win it. And then guess which team from Cascadia
hasn't won it. Oh shit, that's Portland. So now
all we can do is make fun of Portland more. We
do have Timbers at the top of the bonfire. I
mean, ultimately, I don't know. I just want us
to be the only one. I do want us to be the only
one as well, but I would be thoroughly impressed
and I wouldn't be angry. If Vancouver does it,
I will give them mad respect and credit for the
way they've done it as well. What do you think
gives us the best chance for them to be let down
after that? If they win it, does the gravitas
of the game against us disappear? Oh, they're
already fucked. They're already fucked in our
game because it's international break and they've
got like nine players that are gone for international
duty. And we only have like two international
players. So, so actually, yeah, Vancouver is
going to be struggling in, in, in that. So, and,
but we're getting, getting ready for the club
world cup. So think about, think about this too.
Will, will there be comparisons between Vancouver
and Seattle based on their performance for the
rest of the season? Like the hangover, right?
Cause we notoriously missed the playoffs. for
the first time ever after we won it. True, but
we also lost Jao Paulo for the season in that
game. That ignores the fact that it was made
very clear from within that locker room that
there's a bunch of people that said we won the
big trophy. The season doesn't matter after that.
There's still going to be comparisons. Yeah,
I think so, but also there'll be comparisons
because we beat Minnesota and we beat Vancouver.
we will be one point behind Vancouver. I mean,
three points behind Vancouver with they still
have a game in hand, but we'll be in second place.
Only three points behind them. So I guess my
point is I would hope that they don't win anything
for the rest of the year in terms of trophies.
If they win that, because I would like the other
ones available. Yeah. To be ours. Yeah. So, I
mean, I'm just going to be a very interested
observer for both games this weekend. It'll be,
it'll be fun to see. What are they? How do you
watch them? The. Fox Sports will be the LA or
the Vancouver. Cruz Azul game will be on Fox
Sports 1. The LA game will be on the DAZN, which
will also be all the Club World Cup games, I
believe, or the World Cup games or something.
Yeah, so we got to all subscribe to DAZN. DAZN.
That's what DAZN stands for, DAZN. Okay. We in
DAZN. Oh. Auto zone. Yeah. Oh, oh, oh, O 'Reilly.
Auto farts. We all say it. We all say auto farts.
Yeah, I mean, these are good jingles, man. These
are good jingles. Okay, so that's what I got
on my radar. Yeah, I mean, I think those are
both good and great things. I mean, I think also
on my radar is the various... uh, and we can
get more into it, but for me, it falls in scuttlebutt
is, uh, MLS power rankings. Um, okay. With, uh,
obviously Vancouver's first and all of them.
But if we look at, I'm going to tell you the
top five in the three major ones, uh, and then
I'll tell you where the sounders are. ESPN has
Vancouver, Philly, Nashville, Columbus, and Minnesota.
Those are the top five, uh, sounders are in six.
They moved up to six from ninth. Uh, this was,
after the Dallas game, before the San Diego game.
Okay. Then you go on over to MLS .com, where
the top five are Vancouver, Philly, Orlando,
and Columbus. And you have the Sounders coming
in down at eighth. Again, this is Dallas, no
San Diego, but they have us where we were. We've
stayed the same. Then you go on over to Sports
Illustrated, where the top five are Vancouver,
Philly, San Diego, Minnesota, and FC Cincinnati.
And you have to go all the way down to 12th to
find the Sounders, where they say we had a largely
forgettable game against Dallas. Yeah, so I have
a couple things that are a little concerning.
I mean, what are these? These are power rankings.
And traditionally, power rankings are typically
about, you know, where someone is at this point
in the season, not necessarily at this point
right now. My argument should be that the Sounders
should be a lot higher. And my main argument
for that is in our last nine games, we have one
loss. We have six wins, one loss, two draws,
so 20 points out of our last nine games. And
without our two top forwards, now three center
backs, we just keep doing it. And if you look
at it on a game -by -game basis, yeah, we're
not incredible at times, but we're finding ways
to win. And one loss in the entire month of May.
I want you to tell me what other team in MLS
can sustain their top two strikers and three
of their top four center backs being injured
and still getting results like this. Great testament
to the depth. LAFC is about the only one I can
think of. Maybe Cincinnati. But ultimately, that's
kind of where we're not getting to see us fully
loaded and that that's unfortunate but that's
the reality of an mls season i don't think any
of us would have predicted these kind of injuries
to continuously stack up but i'm very impressed
with the way that we're getting results in different
ways sometimes it's going to be a gritty result
sometimes it's going to be For example, let's
just look at the last two games this week. The
Dallas game, I thought we were taking it to them
early in that first half. We could have had three,
four goals. We were just absolutely obliterating
them offensively. Didn't get a goal, had to kind
of play it out to the end. And then yesterday,
it was kind of the vice versa, where San Diego
really took it to us in a lot of ways, but we
just kind of bunkered down, played solid defensive.
I think we kind of remembered what it was like
getting beat 3 -0, and we wanted to really make
sure we focused defensively. And you saw that
result there. So I think this team has a multitude
of ways to get it done. I agree with that. But
my take on that, it almost sounds like, yeah,
I don't know. The Dallas game to me, well, we'll
get into it. But the Dallas game was every single
thing that I thought was wrong with the Sounders
team coming out of Portland. It was that big
debate we had on the fact that they can perform
but not score. More of the fucking same. I mean,
we were lucky to get a point there. But we did,
and that's what matters. Whereas the San Diego
game, although you look at the – what's that
chart you like to look at? Momentum chart? Yeah.
We had very little – we had one in the first
half and one in the second half. But in those
instances, even though the XG is way higher for
them on the game, I never felt threatened by
most of their chances except for the ones Fry
made the saves on that were really good. Otherwise,
they didn't look that dangerous versus we had
– three possessions in a row where we could have
scored there and and the pressure we were putting
on them was i mean and and if danny had done
a better run then christian doesn't have to shoot
that shot and then we score another goal anyway
so i came away from that dallas game being like
we're screwed and then come out of the san diego
game doing that that was impressive it's so funny
i just don't know how And we're just seeing different
things, I guess, because I was so energized by
what I was seeing out of that Dallas game and
the way we're taking it to them and just wave
after wave after wave of attack. I think it's
the problem because it proves what my problem
with the team is. So you're excited for the attack,
but for me, it's the lack of scoring. And so
every time they're on attack and doing well and
then can't score, it just reinforces this belief
in my head that... It's like Felix Hernandez
pitching a perfect game and we lose. I get it,
but the game's not played in a vacuum. The other
team has agency in how it goes as well. Sure,
but Dallas sucks, and they were rotating. Yes,
but they were also on the road. So they were
basically playing to try and stay alive the best
they could. So I don't... I just think it's a
good Rorschach test for how you see the team.
And I guess it's pretty known I'm ultimately
the optimist. I'm between both of you. I am as
I was before the show, right? People are like,
what is he talking about? Actually, if you know
us, you know it's probably exactly what we're
talking about. Anyway, I'm frustrated and also
excited. This team tends to own the game that
we watch. I don't ever feel threatened. by other
teams so much. We've had two games where we've
just shit the bed. Other games have been close
and I've never been, haven't been concerned with
just kind of give up stupid goals. But the lack
of scoring, those two or three games that we've
had, four or five goals, that's about it. Everything
else, last three games, one goal. And that is
frustrating to me as well. So I'm kind of agreeing
with both of you that I'm just like... I'm encouraged,
especially with the injuries, especially with
the injuries, that we're coming up with results.
And the last six wins, we're in fourth place
right now in the Western Conference. So, I mean,
we can exhale. We're going to start getting...
And Jesus just scored. Like, is that floodgates?
So, like, I'm still excited, but I am frustrated
at the fact that we're not getting as many two
-goal games. I need more two -goal games. But
for me, like... It's the tale of two games because
my problem is that San Diego is a good team.
I don't have a problem with us only scoring once
against San Diego, even though we could have
scored more. My problem was coming out of that
Dallas game where I thought it was a miserable
performance from a scoring perspective wise.
Dallas is a team that we should be beating for
nothing when they don't have their starters.
They're off the game. They're coming off of every
single fucking time. You had Coach Schmetzer
calling out players after both games for playing
like shit. He was nice to them. He said Obed
is 19 years old. He can't play perfect every
game, but he's calling out players both times.
But for me, it's the tale of two different games.
Dallas game was an embarrassment. The San Diego
game was super impressive, and we were able to
come out of it in a way that I think will lead
us well into Minnesota. There seemed to be a
focus in the San Diego game, whereas it... Dallas
seemed more uncontrolled. They're just throwing,
they were more talented, but we're not doing
it. And they were, there was effort, but it,
it just actually was way higher than there. So
yeah, so we were, I felt like we were pummeling
them, but there was just no control. There was
no, there's, you know, and now I think, I think
especially with Hazy scoring and hopefully that
shakes off whatever. what's going on because
he's more talented than one goal and obviously
he's been a part of other match or he's been
a part of goals before he just hasn't scored
hopefully this shakes it off and this maybe kind
of just sparks my two goal matches i'm looking
for yeah we got any mail mail bag before yeah
we should get into that actually that was like
match review yeah for sure looking at the mailbag
we did have um i know there was something that
came in uh yeah yellows for oh what was with
uh so that we do have to go back yellow card
for taking off his shirt um russnack in dallas
it was interesting because we all assumed it
was because and i said this later in the podcast
as well that it's because he became the first
player in history to do 25 -25 for two teams.
But after the game, he just said there had been
so much frustration. So the fact that they actually
scored and were going to win the game was, although
Abubakar tried to make that not happen, it was
such a relieving moment for the team that he
took off his shirt and threw it in the crowd.
And then Alex had to get it back for him. Yeah,
I thought that was funny. I didn't think anything
of it other than that's a yellow, but I totally
got like... i was relieved yeah it's just like
okay let's okay good we're getting three fucking
points out of this fucking match let's get out
of here i think we should have three uh goals
but um that's what i didn't think that didn't
seem like an accomplishment that i would i would
put on my mantle i would be like yeah that's
cool that i have that but it's not like a i mean
the only player in mls history right was that
yeah it's pretty cool yeah do 25 goals 25 assists
for two different teams yeah So, I mean, yeah,
I will say I worry. I mean, we're already a game
past it, so we have a ways to go. But luckily,
he's not a big yellow. I mean, if it was Ozzy,
you know, you worry. But yellow card accumulation,
of course, worries me. So when you're getting
a yellow card for something silly like that,
you don't really want that to come back and bite
you later. It didn't in that game. And, you know,
we've got a few more games to prevent it from
happening. So I'm not that worried about it,
but it was very exciting. Yeah. Never. And it's
my understanding that at the end of the game,
real snack went back and gave the fan. Oh, that's
cool. Yeah. You know, if I'm him, I keep the
Jersey, but I give them something else just because
that Jersey is the one you score. You did the
something that's never been done in the MLS before.
Give them some sign, give them your boot signed
or something. Well, those boots are also the
boots you wore when you did it. So that's true.
Send those to the MLS hall of fame. Is there
an MLS hall of fame? Dallas is the U .S. Soccer
Hall of Fame. Right. And Kansas City is the U
.S. NFL Hall of Fame. But what's the MLS Hall
of Fame? It's clearly the headquarters of Pro
Ref. Why? Because they seem to think everything
revolves around them. I was going to say Miami.
But holy shit. That was a red card, right? The
goalie did handle the ball outside the box. Looks
like it to me. And it looked like a penalty shortly
after, so I'm all right with it. Yeah, I mean,
I only saw the replay once, and I had it on at
the basketball game. I wasn't there, of course.
I had to work the Superhawks playoff game. But
the second half, I was able to put on and watch
live. And I watched the very end of the first
half. But because the game was going on in front
of me, I had the game broadcast for Superhawks,
and then I had the... Sounders broadcast down
below. So a bunch of us, including the guy keeping
track of the score and the scoreboards were watching
the Sounders. We also broke the Sounders did
not score three goals when I wasn't there. So
it turns out it had nothing to do with me. They
did win though. They won on Saturday when I was
there as well though. So it's not me. I can go
to games and realize that I do not have as much
of an impact on them scoring as I would hope.
You don't matter, Cameron. Yeah, yeah. It's not
all about you, Cameron. I mean, I'm still waiting
for my Super Bowl ring for when the Seahawks
won, and I wore the same belt buckle every single
day from after they had their final loss of that
season until they won the Super Bowl. Belt buckle?
Who has a belt buckle? It was a 1975 Seahawks
belt buckle from even before they were a team.
I wore it every single day. I thought you were
just talking about just like some belt buckle.
No, Seahawks belt buckle. I had these cufflinks
that I wore every day. Who gives a shit? We're
talking too much of the match. Anything else?
Discord? Messi and Suarez bought a team. Messi
and Suarez bought a team. They named it after
themselves. While they're on a team? Not an MLS
team. I didn't catch what country it was in.
It's called LSA. LSM. So Leo Messi and then Luis
Suarez. So they put their names in. It's called
LSD. Yeah, where you would have AFC or whatever,
they have LSM. That's terrible. Yeah. Well, cool.
Good for them. There's nothing in the Discord,
though? We didn't tell them we were recording,
did we? No, but that's everything. We had yellows.
Tim talked about dumb yellows, dumb reds. The
dumbest second yellow I think I saw ever was
Kellen Rose when... He threw the ball for time
-wasting over. He deserved it. He was told before
the match that they were going to do that and
give yellows for that and that they were going
to be harsh on it, and he did it anyways and
got a red card. So it was dumb on his part, but
also it seems like such a dumb thing to give
a red card for in the first place. Especially
when it didn't hold up play at all in the scheme
of things. That's true with the jersey being
taken off and thrown in the crowd anyways because
Alex went and grabbed it and then he had it back
on before they even kicked off the ball again.
I don't know. Some of the things that they give
yellow cards out are just based on tradition,
I feel. Yeah, arbitrary bullshit. Speaking of
gold celebrations, big shout -out to Jesus Ferreira.
He's got a baby on the way. After his main celebration,
he ran back to the ball that's on the stand behind
the goal, put it under his shirt, sucked his
thumb. I don't think they showed that. They didn't
show that, no. No, because it was well afterwards.
It was like, oh, yeah, wait, I got to get a ball.
And he did that in front of ECS. So, yeah, so
he's got a baby coming on the way. So congratulations
to Jesus. Wait, sweet baby Jesus. Oh, my God.
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. We got a sweet
baby Jesus coming. Oh. I did think of something
that was a scuttlebutt that was non -soccer related,
just to mention real quick. Seeing Dallas lose
their third straight Western Conference final
in hockey after being a stolen team is glorious.
Unfortunately, that did not happen for Oklahoma
City, and we are potentially about to see Oklahoma
City win a championship, and they're going to
talk about this is their second championship,
and it's going to drive me crazy. I'm not even
watching. Stolen Valor. You know I love basketball.
I'm not watching it either, yeah. I can't. Yeah,
you do. A lot. But we can only hope the Pacers
show up. You know. Anyway. Weird. Should we take
a break and come back with some more game talk?
Let's do it. Yeah. Well, first it's the Ultras.
Yeah, let's have Ultras. Ultras. It's time for
Scuttlebutt Ultras. Quick takes from our Patreon
Ultras, sharing their soundest thoughts straight
from the heart. Your voice, your moment. Scuttlebutt
Ultras with Dan the Bastard. What's up, Dan?
How you doing? Hey, what's going on? I am still
riding high after beating San Diego. Whenever
we lost to them, I really wanted a rematch almost
immediately afterwards because I felt like it
would go better the second time. The score definitely
went better. The game was a little bit nerve
-wracking. But yeah, the score was better. I
thought it was a great win. Before we get too
far into that, why don't we go back since it
has been a two -game week. Why don't you give
us your thoughts on Dallas? It's crazy, but we
had really similar outcomes. They were both 1
-0 wins with the goal coming a lot later in the
Dallas game, but still coming well into the second
half. The feelings I have about the two games
are completely different. I was pretty down after
Dallas. It was one of those times where we talked
about it after the Portland game, just shot after
shot, and they can't go in. I have PTSD from
the first time I saw the Sounders play live in
Austin, and it was the same thing. So every time
it happens, I just get triggered. And I'm sure
y 'all saw some of the stuff I was writing on
the Discord, probably thinking, man, this guy's
a wacko. No, my comments, I think. mimicked yours
on the actual podcast so yeah i i just i i think
uh dallas was a little bit of a letdown one uh
we you talk about we we have uh there's there's
an excuse for grade that runs around and you
talk about, well, you know, we have excuses for
why we got blown out by LA. We were tired. We
were heavily rotated. Well, Portland, we were
heavily rotated. So now we're playing a heavily
rotated team that is tired. That's traveled all
over the country and we can, we can barely score
against them. If it wasn't for a. It was a fair
call. It was a good call. But still, the ball
bounced the right way for us. And about time,
because I feel like the ball bounces against
us a lot. But if it wasn't for the ball bouncing
just right, and I think the team knew it, too.
The Rusnak celebration was, you know, he talked
about after the game that he just had a lot of
frustration up to that point. So I think they
were probably way more frustrated than us. The
fans were me, Dan the Bastard, sitting here watching
the game. was but that that was my big takeaway
is it was another game where we dominated the
ball we had time of possession we were just all
over the field and we couldn't get that final
product even though we're taking shots right
in front of the goal yeah whereas the san diego
game stats wise kind of the opposite the exact
opposite right what we had uh before we scored
we had two shots on two shots a total i don't
even know if they were on goal but we had two
shots and then jesus just That first touch he
took, I thought it was an accident watching it
live, right? My initial thought was like, oh,
the touch was too hard and the ball got away
from him. And, you know, then he scored. I was
like, oh, sweet. But going back and watching
it, I think he meant that. He passed it to his
future self. That's what he did. It was just
a really skilled and talented play. So I'm happy
for him, happy we got the win, but definitely
happy for him. You could see a weight being lifted
off of his shoulders whenever he scored, too.
And then ran straight to the UCS section, arms
in the air. That felt good. That's great. Yeah,
totally. What do you think we can take out of
these games heading into Minnesota? Another,
I wouldn't say must win, but it's another team
that is right ahead of us in the standings and
a chance to jump them. maybe jump up to second
place. So I was actually kind of thinking about
this today. And one of the takeaways that I think
I have is that we as fans, the talking heads,
take too much, read too much into a single performances
or a couple performances. And I think that past
performances maybe don't even tell us. you know,
all that much what's going to happen in the future.
Now to contradict myself, one of the things that
I was excited about the San Diego game that I
was worried about and going forward, playing
Minnesota, Minnesota likes to counter a lot.
You know, San Diego will, they will hold the
ball back there in their half and then find breakthrough
passes. But in a way, you know, they move the
ball down the field quickly and Minnesota does
that too whenever they have it. And so countering
has been... difficult for us in the past at times.
And so if we can play the same style of defense
that we played against San Diego, Minnesota is
going to be a lot of fun for us. Yeah. Although
those counterattacks is what got us against LA.
It sure is. Which, which time? Every time. Every
time. At least three of the goals. Every, every,
every time. So, you know, A lot of next man up
coming up. It really was hard to see Kim go down
with an injury as well as he's been playing and
just as much of a fan favorite as he is. Going
down, hopefully he recovers quickly. Hopefully
he's not in a lot of pain and he's getting through
it. But Stu looked good. Yeah. Absolutely. And
he played, I mean, Schmetzer said it, he's played
next to Bell before down at Defiance. So they
definitely have some time. Yeah. I wonder, do
you think Reagan's going to start or do you think
they'll bring Reagan in somewhere between the
60th and 80th minute? It may depend on his time
restrictions, right? Like he couldn't come in
that game because of his minutes were restricted.
So the question is, where are his minutes at?
And if he is at, let's say 45. Do you start him
and take him off at halftime? Do you bring him
in late if you need him and give him more rest?
I think that's a hard thing to decide, and it
may depend on how they're feeling about that
Hawkins -Bell partnership. Just how comfortable
they are with those two starting the game out.
Yeah. I mean, they look surprisingly good considering
what we'd – I mean, we know Stu is a superstar,
but – He hasn't necessarily shown that yet. A
few minutes that he did have, L .A. made him,
kind of turned him around a little bit. So I
think that, and you know, Brian, he seems to
be cautious. He'll play young guys, but he still
seems to be cautious with them and doesn't want
them to get too excited or too down on themselves.
Absolutely. I mean, in his post -game interview,
it was interesting to hear him. critiquing players,
but then also saying, but they're human. So of
course a 19 year old like Obed is not going to
have a perfect game every time. Yeah. Yeah. Gave
him the old shit sandwich. But yeah, I mean,
great month, one loss, the rest we won all the
time. How do you think the Sounders are looking
as we head in just a couple more games before
the World Cup break? Yeah, two more games, right?
And one of them is going to be against a Vancouver
team, which is scary, but they're missing nine
players, which makes it a little bit less scary,
unless you have the theory that the Sounders
play down a competition. Well, and they're playing
the match before is in Mexico in the CONCACAF
Champions League. That's right. So do you want
them to win that? How are you going to be rooting
for that? It's a tough one. I was talking about
this earlier on another Ultra segment where I
don't hate Vancouver. And I do kind of hate Cruz
Azul after our games with them. And there's something
where if we could say like, oh, hey, Portland,
you've never won Champions League. You know who
has? The other teams in Cascadia. So it A, elevates
Cascadia, and B, gives us another point of making
fun of Portland. So you know what? I think no
matter what happens, I'll be happy. But I'm mildly
rooting for Vancouver. Yeah, I think I was mildly
rooting for Cruz until you brought up some of
those points. I always like if we get knocked
out of a tournament, I always want the team to
knock it out that knocks us out to to win it,
because then we can point and say, hey, look,
yeah, we you know, we didn't go as far as we
wanted, but we we met the the team of destiny
that and I'm scared of Vancouver. I don't want
to play Vancouver healthy. I don't want them
to be as good as they are because I want us to
be that good. And so I I would hope that a loss
here would maybe. strike midnight on the Cinderella
story. And then we can go on with our lives as
MLS can be back to normal and Seattle can be
the top of the Cascadia again. Is I, no, I haven't
looked, I believe that's the first leg, right?
Do they have a second leg after that? Yes. Yes.
I believe they do. So maybe we just have them
do well in that first leg. And so they're going
to rest players against us because they want
them to be fresh. Then they can lose. Okay. Then
we get, that's the best of both worlds. And they're
playing in. Mexico, right? Yeah. Interesting.
I just want to beat Vancouver. That's what it
comes down to. Whatever happens, happens. But
at the end of the day, I want us to be able to
beat them. And if we play with the resiliency
that we did against San Diego, I wouldn't count
us out completely. Totally agree. So we got to
get you back to your family duties here. And
I have to record tonight's episode that we're
recording. Do you have any final thoughts before
we get out of here? The last thing I got to say
about the San Diego game is it was my favorite
one of the year. The first half was rough, but
that second half, I just enjoyed it so much because
it felt like the stakes were high and it was
a good team playing against a good team. And
it was, you know, if we're going to grind out
a win, I want to do it against San Diego and
in that fashion. And I enjoyed it. So thanks
to the Sounders crew for such a great game. Yeah,
at one point I was counting, they had six players
back on defense plus two center defensive mids
dropping packs. There's eight players basically
playing defense in some of those late minutes.
It was nervy, but it was a lot of fun to watch.
Yeah, absolutely. So Dan the Bastard on... The
Discord, where everyone should join. Yeah. No
internet. I mean, I think I have an account on
Blue Sky. I can't tell you the last time that
I logged into it. I try to put my efforts in
other places besides social media. Smart. Social
media is worthless, yet I'm on all of them. You
know, I watched Idiocracy a couple nights ago,
and every time I get on social media now, I can
just think of Idiocracy. Yeah. Imagine that must
hold up. tremendously. I've seen it and I watch
it about every 10 years. I feel like, yeah, it
does. So speaking of videocracy, go Sounders.
That's right. Way to, way to bring us back on
top. All right. We'll talk to you soon. What
is up, Alex? How you doing? Hey Cameron, how's
it going? Good. Another Sounders win. Great month
for the Sounders. How are you feeling right now?
Pretty good. So far we got six points out of
six points on our little home, back to home trip.
The chance to get three more against the team
right ahead of us coming up. Yeah, I think we're
only one point out of second place in the West.
Yep. Right there. And we played Vancouver after
that. So what do you... Well, let's go back to
Dallas because we have had two games since we
had a midweek game since then. What were your
thoughts of that Dallas game? That was a very
gritty performance, I would say. That one showed
that if it wasn't for that penalty at the end,
I didn't see us winning that game. After we started
off hot, like that first half was... It was good.
I liked what I saw attacking -wise. And I just
knew that once Jesus missed that toe poke in
front of goal that it was going to come and bite
us in the ass. Yeah. But luckily, we were able
to win a PK off a set piece on that handball,
so we were able to get three points. It's always
good to get three points at home. And then, of
course, out of that, we turn around and get another
three points midweek against San Diego. What
were your thoughts on that one? Oh, man, that
first half was something else. What was it? Honestly,
we got outplayed. But it's just like how it is
sometimes when we're outplaying teams. All it
takes is one to go in, and you end up winning
the game. Like if you look at the stat line with
San Diego, we were outpossessed, outshot. Their
XG was better. Their XG was a 1 .1 and ours was
0 .4. But what matters is the goals that go in.
It was a 1 -0. 1 -0 win. I didn't feel, except
for the saves that Fry made, I didn't feel that
their... were overly dangerous, though, their
chances. And it felt like there was a few times
where the Sounders easily could have put up a
few more goals, especially right after our goal
when Rusnak had that next shot. Yeah, I agree.
I think that Fry had a very tremendous game.
He's making the people that said he was washed,
you know, eat their words. And there was instances
where I felt like we could have got that second
goal if we were to make, let's say, pass it.
play that through ball in or make that extra
pass. But, you know, like, Jesus has arrived.
He's finally arrived. Yeah. That's what we've
been waiting for. He scored the game winner.
And you could tell once he scored, like, you
could tell he was relieved, like, his face. Like,
there was, like, weight lifted off his shoulders.
That's awesome. Yeah. I mean, he talked about
it in the locker room too. And I think Schmetzer
said, this is the first of many. Yeah. I think
this is going to be kind of like once Moose scored
his first, it just, it's going to be the momentum
is going to carry and he's just going to find
the net. Was there anything that you think that
you can take away from those two games? You know,
a strong month where the Sounders in May only
lost one match. Of course we got blown out in
that match, but. I don't think that score was
necessarily indicative of the whole game. But
fantastic May, and then first day of June, we
have Minnesota coming to town, the team right
ahead of us in the standings. Yeah, I think Minnesota's
very counterattacking, just like San Diego. But
San Diego, I think, possesses the mall more than
Minnesota does, because I think Minnesota might
have the lowest possession out of the whole league.
And they might even have like a... league high
like a league low like the record for having
the lowest possession in like the history of
MLS but given that we saw some the Saunders were
able to bunker down and lock down and not get
scored on in the last 15 minutes really like
shows that we can do it because there's been
times last year where we had a lead in the last
15 minutes and we gave up a goal or then we gave
up another goal and we ended up losing the game
where we were up with like 10 minutes left. So
that just shows more improvement this year defensively.
Yeah, absolutely. What do you think could happen
with Minnesota coming to town? Do you think this
is a game the Sounders should win or is it going
to be another close one where we have to eke
it out? I think it might be a close one, but
if we're able to get one or two early goals or
get a goal off a set piece, then it can go our
way. I think there might be some rotation, just
depending on the evaluations that come Friday,
like Brian was saying. With injury, there has
to be. Yeah, so we're going to see Kim Kihee.
He's out. So that means we're probably going
to see John Bell and Stu. Maybe we'll see Regan
subbed on because Brian said he was on a minutes
restriction still. But then that's also going
to give more opportunities to Reed Baker, Whiting,
and Cody Baker. Just in case they want to put
Nuhu as a center back, you know, they'll put
someone in at left back. But I think that we
have to stick with the 4 -2 -3 -1. How important
do you see four at the back for us right now?
I think defensively is just, there's more balance
in a four back than I guess a three back. Because
the times where we have gone three back, well,
the last time we did go three back is when we
got blown out against LAFC. Like even though
the scoreline doesn't reflect the game, they
still put four. But then again, it was on Andrew
Thomas. And, you know, Stu Hawkins was out there
in his first game. I mean, there was a few things
at the end there that I think maybe the score
didn't reflect the actual game. But, yeah, you're
right. Yeah, yeah. And at the end of the day,
yeah, even though you felt like the scoreline
doesn't reflect the game, like, at the end of
the day, people are going to look at the score.
They're going to say, oh, 4 -2. Like, LAFC is
back. Not everyone's going to look into the deeper
dive into the stats. Like some of us that will.
Perfect. Thank you, Alex. Excited to have you
here yet again, of course, for the ultra segment.
And we'll talk to you soon. What is up, Cedar?
Welcome. We're happy that you are here in another
ultra segment. It's good to see you, my friend.
It's good to see you, too. Hopefully your head
is doing better. uh i don't i'm assuming we'll
talk about this before before this comes into
the episode so my head is um injured again as
you know i got punched in the head and have a
uh eardrum that is uh now ruptured so um welcome
to my world oh boy oh boy yeah this hopefully
this will stop being a weekly check -in and yeah
right as rain here pretty soon that'll be nice
we do know though that uh Since I did not get
to attend last night's Sounders match because
I had to work because the Super Hawks, I wish
Super Sonics, had a playoff game. How'd that
go? We lost, unfortunately. But we lost to the
first place team. Now we have to go play there.
We have to win twice there in order to advance.
But I wasn't there and the Sounders didn't win
by three goals. So maybe it isn't me. I think
we're safe now. Yeah, we've debunked that. Yeah,
you're clear. That's good. but but we do have
two matches to talk about because we had a midweek
match so um i'm just gonna let you take it away
talking about what you thought about uh that
dallas match i think there's a lot of parallels
between the two matches in some ways oh yeah
yeah a lot of parallels and then parts where
it's like one's the inverse of the other but
two obviously great outcomes uh yeah that dallas
game was was uh was frustrating in that you know
dallas had a demoralizing match just before um
on the road in the open cup uh where they lost
um and and they didn't yeah and like they had
the lead at one point then they gave it up and
uh if i'm remembering correctly and so and they
also were missing lucho costa they had kind of
a rotated lineup So you felt like, okay, that
should be a favorable situation for us. But as
the game unfolded, it was very difficult for
us to score. Obviously, we got that handball
PK. It kind of bailed us out at the end there.
Well, yeah, we'll take that, right? I mean, we
had 2 .1 expected goals versus their 1 .3. That's
good to hear though. So at least, I mean, we
were dangerous. It's just that same old story
and we can't score. Exactly. I mean, we had that,
uh, Ruth snack shot that just went wide. Um,
and then Kent had an assist to Georgie, but he
was offside. And, um, yeah, so we did, we did
kind of like, I feel like we earned that result,
but for most of the game, it felt like, oh man,
like if, uh, you know, Dallas could get away
with a draw or even. you know um i mean this
was actually after the penalty but they had a
breakaway in the 93rd minute in stoppage time
and uh abu bakr had a shot go off the post i
was like okay beautiful shot from a defender
yeah seriously he's uh yeah that was that was
really nice on the half volley i like him he
jumped in the crowd one time after the game to
talk to a friend because the friend couldn't
come on the field and i got to have a very short
nice conversation with him and i've he's been
When he played for Colorado, he was really great
to one of my friend's kids. So he seems like
a good guy, but I'm still glad he didn't score.
Oh, totally. I admire his dedication to his hair
too. Yeah. That is something else. Yeah, no,
it really felt like, okay, we kind of got away
with one there, even though. We were the better
team. We had more possession. We created more
opportunities, but it was a little sketchy there.
And then, man, Yamar getting injured, not great.
Yeah. He's going to be out two to four weeks,
I guess Brian said yesterday. So there's that.
But as we saw in the San Diego game, because
Kim Kihee also went down. John Bell and Stuart
Hawkins were, were really solid. Yeah. And if
those are our two, you know, youngest, most inexperienced,
you know, quote unquote, worst center backs out
of our five, I think we're in, we're in good
hands, but you know, let's hope now that Reagan's
back, that's great. But. let's hope for no more
injuries because right right and he went down
uh pretty early in that match i actually only
got to watch the second half live because um
of the basketball game that i was working at
but i did once i sat at the scores table i brought
up the game on my on my laptop and i was watching
it during the game so i did see the second half
but uh what what was your thoughts on At least
my takeaway was it was another game where we
seem to be the better team, but we're not scoring
goals. Yeah, I felt like it was pretty even.
I mean, San Diego definitely outpossessed us.
I mean, they had three, you know, their midfielders
are kind of their total ball hogs. They had three
players with over 100 touches where are the player
with. the most amount of touches for us i think
was 75 and that was christian um and yeah they
they possessed the ball but it still felt like
it was it still felt like it was more or less
even like i you know they were creating chances
that you know were were not super dangerous yeah
this might take away too like they were creating
chances but i wasn't afraid they were going to
score most of them fry still stepped it up though
Oh, totally. He definitely did. He had, what
did he have? He had seven saves in total and
yeah, a lot of them were right to him, but there
was that one shot from Mighton just before halftime.
That was a, was a pretty big save. And then it,
it, it completed with the new who bike clearance,
which was pretty great. New has been, he's been
really, I mean, he's always feeling himself,
but I love. uh just him deking out attackers
you know shielding the ball with his body doing
a little rope -a -dope here and there he's it's
really fun to watch um and it feels like he's
because i know he you know there have been times
in the past where he maybe gets a little overzealous
in terms of advancing the ball forward maybe
not making the best pass but it really feels
like he's he's kind of fit in well to um the
flow of the team this year yeah um but yeah that
uh yeah that that game also had a similar kind
of like oh we've got some chances but they're
not you know nothing's going in and then um man
so great to see Jesus get his first goal right
um that first touch you know, sending the defender
just a half a step the wrong way. I thought that
CJ Dos Santos, the goalkeeper for San Diego,
he could have, I thought his positioning was
a little weird on that one. If you're looking
at the goal camera, like Jesus, you know, gets
the ball towards the center of the box. I mean,
it looks pretty clear like he's going to take
that with his left. But CJ Dos Santos, instead
of like stepping over to the right and closing
down that angle, he kind of steps back a little
bit, like straight back. And it opens up that
angle for Jesus to curl it in past him. So I
thought Dos Santos could have been better on
that one, but we'll take it. Dos Santos had kind
of a shaky game, you know, in general. In the
third minute, that was a weird... Deservedly
right card for touching outside the box in that
one. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Yeah. I wish we had a
better angle on that. Cause I, I mean, I wonder,
you know, if there's anybody who's in the stands
who could, who had that angle and could attest
to if that was out because yeah, that would have
been, that would have been really nice. But yeah.
And then the, obviously the third minute, the,
his, his poor clearance and. Alex almost chipping
him, basically, or getting him off his line.
That would have been nice, too. But yeah, we'll
take it. Great to see Jesus score one. I feel
like that's the same thing with what happened
to Mussofsky. Once the first one comes, confidence
goes up and things start falling. Absolutely.
Successful May. One loss out of, what was it,
six matches? That's pretty good. It's an incredible
month, despite some times of frustration. Sounders
continue to be undefeated at home. What do you
think that does when we start June on Sunday
and bring Minnesota into town? It's good. We're
going to need it. Minnesota has a really good
defense. They're just a really good team overall.
I don't have the standings up right here, but
they're ahead of us by five. think it's one or
three points yeah but you know we're fourth now
they're second so this is gonna be a great test
um and then after one point ahead uh one point
ahead yeah and they're tied they're uh oh they're
behind san diego and wins so they dropped a third
or oh okay gotcha with their match hey so we
just you know we just beat san diego we're gonna
be playing uh Minnesota, and then after that,
Vancouver. So this is a really good stretch of
games to test ourselves against the best in the
Western Conference. Teams right ahead of us with
a chance. If you win both those matches, you
are at minimum three points behind first place
Vancouver. They have a game in hand, though,
too. Right. But still, three points back from
Vancouver with another play against them. Yeah,
that's pretty good. Especially when we still
don't have our full strength lineup back in action.
So I'll take that. I'll take some good momentum
going into the Club World Cup, which is going
to happen after the Vancouver match. And yeah,
we're almost to the halfway point of the season.
I think these next two games will be... we'll
mark that as the first half of the season. So,
so overall feeling pretty, pretty good about
where we stand. I think in terms of, you know,
notable players for, you know, at least through
the first half of the season for me, I mean,
Albert Rusnak so far already with 10 goals plus
assists quietly, you know, kind of having another
really, really solid season. It's so fun to see
him tear off his jersey and throw it in the crowd,
even though it was a yellow card. Yeah, absolutely.
I think they had to get it back, too. Yeah, Alex
ran up and grabbed it. They didn't show that
on TV, but Alex ran up and grabbed it and got
it back to him because they aren't going to have
one sitting on the sideline waiting for him.
Oh, that's so funny. I hope they went and gave
the fans something, though, afterwards because
how cool would that be to catch that? I mean,
he needs that jersey, though, because he just
set an MLS record as the first player to, was
it 25 goals, 25 assists on two different teams?
Yeah, that's right. I think that's why he celebrated
like he did, because there's no other way to
explain on a penalty kick why you would throw
your jersey into the ground level and take it
off. Well, I love that. I love that. Yeah, that
is a really great milestone. And yeah, it's great
to see him enjoying himself. And then this was
a really interesting stat. Danny Mussofsky actually
leads the MLS in non -penalty expected goals
per 90. Which is, he's up there with the likes
of Ty Baribo, the striker for Philadelphia, and
current Golden Boot leader, and Messi. So it's
going to be interesting to see, even when Jordan
comes back, it's like, who do you start, right?
Who's the better player? I don't know. And then
we've got Christian. He leads the team in touches
and minutes. He's eighth in MLS. That's surprising
considering we've seen what he means to the team.
Oh, my God. Yeah, he really is so, so crucial,
obviously. And then Fry is third in goals against
per 90. Just behind... Dane St. Clair, I think,
is leading that. So that's who we're going to
be facing when we play Minnesota. That's interesting
because you mentioned a week ago that an MLS
podcast was kind of questioning where he was
on the numbers. And I would argue, and I think
I said it then too, that his defense has been
largely letting him down rather than the other
way around. Not that he has any mistakes. That's
impressive. Yeah, 12 saves in the last two matches
and a couple of highlight saves. Yeah, no, he's
playing really well. It's nice to see him in
a good run of form there. Absolutely. Well, why
don't we wrap it up here? Any final thoughts
before we get out of here? No, not really. Just
hoping to, again, put in some really good performances,
get some good luck against two really tough teams
in Minnesota and Vancouver headed into the Club
World Cup. So, yeah, let's keep it rolling. And
when are you going to come up and watch a game
with us? I will be up on June 19th to see us
play Atletico Madrid. So I'm really stoked. Well,
we'll definitely have to plan something pre or
post match for that because that'll be fun. Absolutely.
Yeah, let's do it. Cool. All right. Well, where
can people find you on Discord or the internet?
I am on the Discord. So join the Discord if you
haven't already. It is the place to be. Yeah.
All right. Thanks, Cedar. We'll talk to you soon.
Thank you. Bye. Hey, everybody. This is one of
your hosts, Cameron Collins. Now, I know we said
this time is 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
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intact will only be available for you patreons
at least initially now there will be other stuff
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Podcast over at patreon .com, P -A -T -R -E -O
-N dot C -O -M. Now back to your regularly scheduled
programming. Welcome back to Scuttlebutt for
the second show in a row where Nicholas was going
to bring us in and then didn't pay attention.
As I pointed at him, because you were asked to
last time and they were just paused. Let me guess,
you haven't been sleeping well because you work
overnight and have to find a way to raise a daughter
and do all sorts of other things like go to Sounders
matches. Well, I do have to be up for work in
three hours. Something we missed real quick.
Just because I know this is close to your and
my heart because we used to live in San Jose.
Did you see the third kit leak that was shared
by Alex Diaz in the non -sounders talk portion
of a throwback Clash third kit leak for the San
Jose earthquakes, which would be super fun to
see? You know, I did not get a chance to take
a look at that one yet, but I can guess what
it looks like. Yeah, it's what you would expect
with some extra 90s air thrown in. That looks
dope. Yeah. That looks really cool. It is totally
1992. Yeah, I mean, it's incredible. So we played
two games. First was Dallas. Next was San Diego.
One -nothing wins in both. We all had different
takes from all of them. Why don't we start with
the Dallas match where, Nicholas, can you speak
a little bit more on how dangerous you thought
the offense was in that? Because you felt like
that was a real highlight of that game. Yeah,
I mean, right from the get -go of that game,
Dallas was just weathering storm after storm
after storm. They just could not get the ball
out of their own half of the field. Every time
they'd get the ball, they'd have two players
on it. Sounders would get the ball back and just
reclaim it. Talking about the momentum meter,
while, yes, I use it as a tool of looking at
things, I mean, it's just completely off the
charts there for that first half in particular.
It's really pretty funny to see. I've never seen
anything quite like that one before. But, yeah,
and I just thought that the Sounders, they had
67%. possession in the first half they had nine
shots three on target two big chances they just
were they had four off sides which some people
may might look at that like oh they couldn't
stay on sides I look at that on the sign of a
very aggressively attacking team you know and
so I just thought it was a really really good
first half of a play very exciting. And I think
there could have been multiple goals out of that.
I don't mind offsides actually. I think I agree
with you that it shows, I mean, unfortunately
is Georgie that does it quite often, but he was
so barely offsides on that. Like it was literally
him leaning forward. It wasn't like his foot
was in front of it. It was the top, it was the
upper half of his body. So I am hopeful that
they actually changed the rule based on what
they're trying out, where you have to have any
part of your body behind. the defender like you
do in the NFL when the quarterback is throwing
the ball. That's interesting. Yeah. Because to
me that makes more sense because if you start
your run, but you still have a part of your body
behind that defender, that makes way more sense
to me that the defender needs to react better.
Well, that's, that's, that's also how it is in
hockey, hockey. You can, you could drag your
foot to stay on side. Oh yeah. Think of how many
more exciting plays will happen per match. Yeah.
If that was the rule change. I mean, that's the
question. It does. Doesn't it just move the line
of demarcation though? Yeah. It depends on if
people are still, if they start leaving earlier
than, so they're offsides more often, or if they
would keep the same mentality in the onsides
more often. I think it's, I think it has to do
with reaction time. I think a well -timed, that's
true. A well -timed pass is, is only, you know,
12 inches. There's a, probably a 12 inch grace
there, but we're, we're missing that. If that's,
Any part of your body. That's true. I will say
one thing that I really like. And since COVID.
FIFA and international soccer has shown a willingness
to experiment with rules. Yeah. And it started
with the five substitutions, which is clearly
a win. Big win. And then the substitutions 10
-second rule and the concussion subs. And coming
up in the Club World Cup, I believe, will be
the first tournament in which the goalkeepers
are now allowed to hold the ball for... eight
seconds not six they already have been allowed
to hold the phrase no no wait wait but if they
hold it for eight seconds and the horn blows
off it will no uh what will happen is it'll become
a corner kick instead of an indirect free kick
uh from from inside the box yeah so the thought
being that refs are unwilling to signal the six
-second runoff because it's so punitive towards
the goalkeeper, so they just don't enforce it.
But if they turn it into a corner kick, it is
much more likely to be enforced. And I believe
that that could be a very positive change for
the game. I think so, too. And we've seen baseball
adopt so many... um interesting new rules that
i think the larger bases larger bases i mean
i didn't love the pitch clock at first now i
would be so mad if they got rid of it because
games are shorter it's not just the pitch clock
it's also the like engage with the pitcher oh
yeah yeah yeah right within before eight seconds
now the one that i'm not a fan of is starting
a runner on second base in extra innings yeah
although the mariners seem to take advantage
of that a lot i mean Damn shame. I don't know.
I'm fine with it. Breaking news. Hold on, but
Cameron and I were at the 18 -inning game. That's
true. That was painful. That was nuts, and that
was the playoffs, so there was no ghost runner.
Yeah. I don't know. Aaron, I'm telling you this
because this does not fall within your criteria.
Do not watch the Mariners game tonight. They
lost 9 -3 in 10 innings. They were leading three.
Oh, my God. Just piece together how that can
happen. They gave up seven. It was two to two
after nine, and they gave up seven runs in the
top of the 10th and then only scored one. God,
that's what I was worried about. I was like,
hopefully it was like. And now they've lost two
or three to another terrible team. So thank God
we have the Sounders right now because the Mariners
have went from the best. Again, only one team
can be good in Seattle. Yeah, I think so. At
least the Storm are doing okay to start the season.
Yeah, there we go. Yeah, look at that. Seattle
Storm, baby. How many games have they played
so far? Six, maybe. Okay. They just started.
I think they're like, don't quote me on this,
maybe five and one, four and two. Don't quote
you on it. Okay. Don't. Nobody out there goes
into a conversation. Well, Cameron says. Hold
on. Let me get my notepad. They are 3 -2. What
was that again? They've played five games. They're
3 -2. Also, I learned a funny stat where, what's
her name? Angel Reese, who Nicholas and I are
going to go see later this year. It was something
like 34 % of her rebounds last year were on her
own missed shots. So she was like this awesome
rebounder, but it was because she was just missing
them and bouncing them back up. She going full
Gretzky. You're going to miss 100 % of the shots
you don't take. No, she was missing a larger
number than that. But yeah, I think whatever
happened, we came out of those two games with
two wins. Six points and a real chance going
into the Club World Cup break to be three points
out of first place in second place. They'll have
a game in hand on us. But if we had talked earlier
this season and said the Sounders are going to
be three points out of first place in the West
against the best team in the MLS. We know Nicholas
would have said yes. But Aaron, would you be
surprised right now? Yeah. Yeah, if you had told
him that the best team in the league was Vancouver.
Yes. And LA Galaxy hadn't won a game. Yeah. When
do we play them? I'm so worried it's going to
be us. Oh, my God. I hadn't thought about that.
I'm so worried it's going to be us. That's uncomfortable.
I don't want to look it up yet. What I'm excited
about is that this team... We don't play them
until after League's Cup in August, so that would
be funny if it is us. But that means they would
have to lose a lot or not win a lot more games
between now and then. That's why it's almost
worth it. It's tracking. That will happen. It's
just like a locomotive just heading right down
for us. The LA Galaxy's first win. Chugga chugga.
I forgot what I was saying. What about you? Nicholas,
I mean, you were positive on the team, but we
were struggling and you knew we could turn it
around. But would you be surprised? Are you surprised
we turned it around? So, I mean, it feels like
the ball is bouncing our way now when it hasn't
been the last couple of years. It's a loaded
question because the sport is always so topsy
-turvy. I mean, look at our injuries, you know,
they're just piling up. um and will that come
back to bite us or maybe it won't because we're
about to get a break and they'll all come back
healthy and we've gone through i mean think if
we're doing this now what are we going to do
when we're full hey i'll tell you one thing i
did talk to jordan morris yesterday um you know
well no no no but i asked him specifically this
question like i did i did specifically ask him
um you know how you know how how he's feeling
as far as will he be ready for club world cup
and he's like you better believe i will be yeah
um breaking news on this podcast nicholas bielo
can report yeah that jordan morris is expected
to play in club world cup you're not going to
hear that in any other podcast because they aren't
asking those questions we are thank you cameron
thank you cameron yeah uh and so And so I think,
you know, it goes back to the whole Mufasa thing
earlier in the year. And what was I saying about
Mufasa? I thought you were going to say Mufasa.
What was I saying about Mufasa? I took Jordan
and I held him over my head and I was like, oh.
No. What I told him is, what I said about it
is. I really like that he keeps putting himself
in good positions. And if you keep doing that,
the results are going to come. And that's what
I was getting at with the Dallas game. Now, now,
now, now, now, let me, let me boister that point.
Yep. I think it was Cedar that talked about this
earlier. You haven't heard it yet, but on his
ultra segment, uh, Musafsky has, I believe the
third highest expected goals in the MLS. Yeah.
Per forward. Yeah. Incredible. It is. And he's
putting himself in really good positions. But
the thing is, this team has a lot of quality
that can pick out passes. And the talk about
Albert Rosnack is really starting to come out
big on the national stage. I mean, we're trying
to see. Yeah. Oh, for sure. Yeah. Well, and finally,
I mean, we've been tooting his horn for three
years now. And the funny thing is, I think he's
doing it more quietly than he usually does because
he's not, he's not flashy and he's not the star
player on our team from a outward looking in
perspective. Yeah. So, you know, you know what
I'm stoked about is remember when, was it Christian?
That said that this locker room is the most tight.
Last year when he said it was the closest locker
room. Right now, this is the moment. These next
couple months is when that's really going to
start to shine through. I think you see teams
start to find regress or regress to the mean,
so to speak, after we go through these tournaments.
In the next few months, we come out in August
on the home stretch for playoffs. I think this
tightest locker room he's ever been on is really
going to start to shine through because we've
been very consistent. That was last season. Yeah,
but I mean, look at what you're hearing. Was
it last season? It was, it was. But look at what
you're seeing from players like Ryan Kent coming
in and saying how he's finding the joy of playing.
It's the bulk of the people coming back and then
you're adding key people who, I mean, No, not
key people. Kim Ki -hee. Kim Ki -hee. Yeah, Ki
-hee. You added Ki -hee. But no, like players.
What do you think is, when people talk, you know
how like Barack Obama's Barry? What do you think
they call Kim Ki -hee? Do they call him Ki? Do
they call him he? They call him Ki -hee? Is there
another nickname? I wonder. We should find that
out. Ki -ki. Ki -ki. What's up, Ki -ki? Yeah,
I'd love to hear, you know, I'd love to have
like a fun, you know what, this is what we're
going to do. We're going to do an episode where
we're going, we're going to do a Patreon episode
where we're going to do like sounder superlatives
and we're going to make up nicknames for everyone.
And we're going to make up like, you know. We're
going to leak them to Jackson Feltz and see if
we can get them into the lexicon. Yeah, we're
going to be like, okay, so which sounder is most
likely to be banned? What if it's like we asked
the Discord to give us their starting 11? And
their nicknames. And then we will give the superlatives
for those players. Oh, for those 11, yeah. Yeah.
Including referees and the judges. Shitface McGee.
Well, which one is that? I mean, most recently,
I wasn't there for San Diego, so I don't even
know who our ref was. But I'll tell you what,
Chapman in the Dallas match was quite frustrating.
Well, Chapman also has a long history of fucking
things up in a beautiful way. Despite being multiple
times. It's Alan Chapman, right? Yep. I think
he's multiple times. I feel like that's the only
Alan I can think of. I know Alan's in real life.
Really? I don't know any Alans. My brother -in
-law. I've heard about the name Alan. Okay. I've
heard of the name Alan. I don't think I've met
an Alan before in my entire life. Yeah, I know
a few. Also, in that game, the VAR ref, so not
the game where we would have had to rely on it,
was a well -known VAR ref, or a well -known referee
to us. Chris Penso was the VAR ref in that game.
I've met a Chris before. You've met a Chris?
Oh, that's good. Yes, yes. That's ludicrous.
His name is Chris. You're right. Chris Bridges,
right? I believe so. So Minnesota's up next.
What are we thinking? Sunday, 3 p .m. I love
that we're playing them. I love that we just
played San Diego. I love that we just played
Portland a couple days ago. A couple days, a
couple weeks ago. And they're right below us.
And I love that we're going to play Minnesota.
It's like we're... getting results against the
top of our Western conference table. This one's
going to be really interesting though, because
this is a complete pairing of styles. Minnesota
does not like the ball there. We talked about
this in a previous episode where they are at
a historical low as far as having possession
and the Sounders at their best love having the
ball. So it seems like it it's basically it could
come out to play to see, well, whose style is
going to is going to win out here. But I mean,
it plays into both of our favor in that instance.
Yeah, it just seems like we're just going downhill
on ice. Yeah. Now, our head referee for this
match is Lucas Spala. Hate him. Bringing up his
profile. No idea. Yeah, sure. His profile? Where
does he summer? No, his transfer market profile.
He said 10 appearances in the MLS this season
and given up 36 yellow cards and two penalty
kicks. Oh, so the 20 % chance of penalty kick.
Yeah, he has not given out penalty kicks in any
of the Champions League. Well, Champions Cup,
Central American Cup, Gold Cup qualification
or Nations League, CONCACAF Nation League matches
he's reffed, which he's reffed at least one in
all of those. So it'll be interesting. But most
recently, he looks like he reffed the Austin
Salt Lake match tonight. which was a 1 -1 finish,
and he gave out three yellow cards. Sounds exactly
like the result we're going to have this weekend.
Probably 1 -1. I'm going to say something here
that I want Nicholas's reaction first. The VAR
ref for that match is Daniel Radford. The silence
speaks volumes. Well, I mean... He's kind of
found himself as a VAR ref because he clearly
is not going to be placed in a center position
at the MLS level. We've talked about that before,
that he was thrown to the wolves, fair or unfair.
He was thrown to the wolves in the red card wedding.
Okay. So, yeah, give some context to people who
don't follow referees. So it's a derby game in
the quarterfinals of the U .S. Open Cup, and
you brought in someone who had never officiated
a game of that magnitude before. They set him
up to fail. Now, I will never know the answer
to this, but when that kind of happens, I can't
believe that that was by accident. I have to
believe that he was set up to fail for whatever
political reason. And I'm not talking about politics
of Seattle and Portland. I'm talking about politics
within MLS Pro. Why are you putting a guy whose
first match at MLS level? uh, granted it's in
the U S open cup, but is a, is not just any match,
but a Darby match between Seattle and Portland
at star fire where you're like on reputations.
Yeah. I mean, I was talking to a Memorial day
this weekend. I was at a party, uh, with a friend
and I was talking to one of her, uh, friends
who had gone to the Portland versus defiance
match. And he actually had to, he, he liked it,
but his little son, he had to go cause the fans
were so violent against the referees and what
they were shouting. And so there was so much
vitriol in that match. I was there. The, the
rep was bad. And this was before. Yeah. Yeah.
But this was before the, he left at halftime.
So this is way before the, uh, the, the awful
penalty kick, uh, given, but, uh, I'm just saying
that like the history is still there where when
you were playing Portland, it doesn't matter
what level of Seattle at starfire. It is a, uh,
I think people get PTSD. It's a pressure cooker.
Yeah, yeah. So I guess what I'm saying is I'm
coming around on Daniel Radford where, yes, he
had a howler of a game, and it was just bad on
so many levels in the micromanaging, but it seems
like he's found his place in... you know in the
in the league in in usl or in us pro and so um
as long as it's not center reffing i think i'm
going to be okay with that so it sounds like
to me it sounds like to me shitty center refs
get set down to be our VAR refs, which are critical
of others. And so is considered a good ref though.
So cause, cause, cause well, well, well usually
like if it's like baseball where there's a rotation,
you know, you're kind of doing that. However,
some people might just be rotation. Well, no,
no, but, but let's say this, Daniel Radford might
have a great. technical knowledge of the game
might be able to when he's not the one that's
running alongside and making the decisions on
the fly when he's able to sit and observe he
might technically read that game better than
anyone i don't know that sounds like i would
give someone a compliment sandwich and then their
documentation now did we did we mention this
i don't know if it's still true but in 2023 uh
which we we had the show then i'm pretty sure
january 2023 Yeah, 2022 was our first season
and we won Champions League Cup. It was phenomenal.
Daniel Radford, he was named the first ever senior
manager of referees for US Youth Soccer. So maybe
that actually plays into what I'm saying here.
I think it does. I think he is a very technically
skilled ref who was in over his head. And, yeah,
I mean, Ricardo Salazar was similar. He had a
number of games against Seattle that just did
not endear him to the fan base. But in his final
few seasons before his health issues forced him
out of being on the field. How do you know shit
like that, Nick? Well, I actually used to be
a ref. I used to do high school officiating for
different sports. And I'd like to think of myself
as someone who's fair and balanced. I don't know
what, you know, Ed Hockley's. Well, no, his son
is actually in the NFL as well. Yeah, he is.
He's an official. Yeah, he's an official in the
NFL. So it's funny you bring that up. I said
Ed Hockey Lee Jr. Isn't his name Ed Hockey Lee
Jr.? I don't think it is. I don't know if it
is or not, but his son is an official in the
NFL. And we can talk forever about NFL officials
because my favorite official went to Santa Clara
University and had a – he's now the CBS Mike
Carey. He's the CBS – But he didn't even need
to ref. He made so much money from heated snowboard
pants he invented that he was just reffing because
he loved doing it. Well, most of the refs, it
was a part -time gig for them as well. So the
reason I bring this up is because I do pay attention
to that stuff. I have friends who were minor
league baseball umpires. It's a thankless position,
but for me, my mantra when I'm officiating a
game is if I'm going to get the call wrong, that's
one thing, but be in the right position to get
the call wrong. Anyhow, we got onto a tangent
there. That's all right. I think it's important
to talk about referees, especially... in this
upcoming match against Minnesota. So Minnesota
ahead of us in the state, we have a chance to
jump ahead of them. I think their style is still
playing out of the back as their new head coach
developed last season and it's working for them.
Yes. Nicholas. Speaking of new head coach, did
you catch that? Did you catch that St. Louis
city fired their coach? No. Did that just happen?
Yeah. Breaking news. They did. Yeah, they fired
their coach, I think, yesterday, maybe today.
They just had a rough start. I don't think he's
been with them very long. I think this might
have been his first year, if I remember correctly.
But I could be wrong on that. If that's true,
that's... I mean, obviously, we don't know what
goes on behind closed doors, but that's... I
hate seeing when a coach gets an opportunity
and then they don't get to see their vision through.
If that's kind of what you've hired them for,
right? Yeah, 15 games. It's 15. Whoa. Yeah, there
has to be stuff going on behind the scenes. Yeah,
there has to be. And let's take a moment. real
quick before we give predictions. Let's pull
one out. Don't waste your beer. Let's take a
moment before we get our predictions in this
upcoming Minnesota game. I think we need... Oh,
and don't forget our prediction for next little
segment. This is more important than all of that.
Let's talk about what's going on with San Diego
and their fan base. Oh, shit. What happened?
You didn't see the videos of the match before
ours? LA. Can I get the context? Galaxy fans.
Yeah, go ahead. Wait, so it was an LAFC before
the last time we played them? So they played
LA Galaxy before they played us this time? This
was the LA Galaxy game because... Because there
was shit in the one previous to ours before.
Okay, sorry. So after the game... San Diego fans
went up to the supporters section for the LA
Galaxy's away fans and got into a fight with
them. A pretty nasty brawl. Not too many rows
up from the railing. There were people tumbling
onto the rail. So it was a little nervy. Now,
I will say that the cause of the fight... was
in the away match when LA Galaxy, when San Diego
traveled to LA, LA Galaxy supporters stole one
of the banners of the San Diego supporters. And
then after the game was held, they held that
banner upside down, and that's what triggered
it. They went to go get their banner back. So
in this recent one. Yeah, but we've also seen
ECS do that to the old players of San Jose. I
mean, to me, there's no future fight. Yeah, that's
happened. The Wayboys. A long time ago. Yeah.
It's why I couldn't hang out with all my friends
from San Jose anymore when they came up, even
though I wasn't in ECS. They wouldn't let me.
them hang out with me because i mean supporter
and and i'd love to do an episode and we've already
kind of talked about this amongst us uh i'd love
to do an episode where we do talk about supporter
culture and get in depth on those things because
it's a really fascinating subject and and just
like It's a key part of soccer, and it's important
to understand the dynamics. So when you're visiting
another stadium and you're told, tie your scarf
to your body, don't let your scarf hang loose.
There are people that are... That could just
be a sub -series. I can tell you all about when
I lived in Europe and the things I experienced
going to PSG matches where Stan's getting...
You got trapped onto a train. You got funneled
onto a train after one of the games. I definitely
experienced it firsthand. One of my friends got
his jaw broken. One of our friends got his jaw
broken in DC. That was awful. yeah dc actually
yeah dc stop talking because it's going to be
an episode okay i got we're going to do this
this sounds awesome because because with the
meantime with uh international yeah whatever
read among the thugs by bill buford to see what
hooligan culture used to be it is the movie i
mean green street hooligans is not a fair representation
of the book the book cosplay yeah the book is
one of the most incredible things you will read
about what hooliganism was like in the 80s in
England. It's not pretty. Among the thugs. I
mean, we're talking racism, people being murdered,
attacks. That's why hooliganism here is cosplay
-ish to me, number one. And number two, the moment
it goes out of hand is the moment the MLS cracks
down on all supporter culture, which we've seen
a few small instances of that. Over the years,
San Jose fans being banned in Portland, you know,
LAFC fans getting banned for fire in the stands,
mainly because their fire was right next to things
that weren't fireproofed and could have really
harmed people. But yeah, Among the Thugs by Bill
Buford, check it out. It's an incredible book.
One other piece of note, talking about bands
and talking about soccer, is news that came out
that we just didn't talk about, a press release
from the Sounders. We're going to try and set
a Guinness Book of World Records on Father's
Day. And the idea being that'll be one year to
the day from the first World Cup game in Seattle.
And at Pier 62... The Sounders are going to try
and set a record for... Is that where we had
the party? Yes. Yeah. That's where they're going
to try and set a record for the biggest soccer
clinic, which San Jose has. What? It's a Guinness
Book of World Records. Okay, come on. Okay. But...
Should we... Hey, can we talk to them and see
if we can do the biggest podcast recording at
a soccer clinic? yeah exactly yes please let's
do it but hey it's never been done But pre -registration
is required. Go to the Sounders website. It's
partnered with Raid Foundation. I believe every
participant will go away with a soccer ball.
It's also the same day as our first Club World
Cup match against Botafogo. So it'll be a really
busy day for some of us with Pub League Fun Week,
followed by this, followed by Botafogo. It'll
be a big day of soccer. So for all you dads out
there, It sucks, man. Who wouldn't want to set
a world record? I don't want to be here right
now. Come visit. I don't want to be in San Diego.
Just here. Come visit that weekend. Don't watch
the F1 movie until that weekend. We'll all watch
it. Leave my family for Father's Day weekend.
Yeah. It's Father's Day. You should be able to
do what you want. I want peace and relaxation
away from the kid. I'm jokingly. Just to see.
I actually don't want to be with you. Just say
you need to step out for some smokes. I got to
go get some milk from the store. I got lost.
I drove the wrong way into Mexico and Trump wouldn't
let me back in. All right, so let's get ready
to wind up here. So let's start with our predictions
for the Minnesota match and then move on to the
Scuttlebutt prediction results. Yeah, let's do
it. Aaron, what are you thinking? This Minnesota
match coming up on Sunday, 3 p .m. start. Two
contrasting and or similar styles. What are the
Sounders going to do? Well, one, this is Apple
TVs. Isn't this the Sunday? Sunday soccer. Sunday,
Sunday, Sunday. I think it's Sunday night soccer.
Sunday night soccer at 3 p .m. It's at 3 o 'clock,
yeah. East Coast bias. I really, I love the idea
of Sunday night soccer. I kind of wish it was
executed better because this would be cool to
be a part of it. Yeah, it was actually Sunday
night. I love Seahawks primetime, right? It's
always, you get amped up. Yeah. I want a reason
to be amped up beyond just the... the matchup
because of the table. Right. Um, I want a reason
for us to score multiple goals, like just for
the team to just be all on 11. Right. So as usual,
my predictions, which we'll get to shortly. Right.
I, I have been saying three, nothing sounders
for rare scores for, for weeks. I actually want
that to actually happen for this match. Love
it. Because I've been saying that because I've
just been trying to will it into existence, and
it still hasn't happened. But I think this is
the match where it needs to happen. This is the
first week I think I changed from Ferreira being
the scorer. So is you. That was the key. Me,
not you. Yeah. Nicholas, what about you? I like
scoring. Scoring is fun. I like goals. I have
been predicting some high -scoring goals lately.
high -scoring games, and they just haven't come
to fruition. This game's going to be really interesting.
I'm a little nervous about the counterattack
from Minnesota, especially with our key center
backs. That's a good point. I am nervous about
that, so I do think it's going to be tough to
keep a clean sheet. But, boy, I just... I like
our odds if you're giving us possession at home,
letting us cook. I do like our odds with that.
So if we can get the injury report looking good
and have a true number nine up top, so whether
that's Danny, I think you take Jesus over Osase
de Rosario, but... If Danny's starting up there,
we can get three goals, I think. If not, we might
get one or two. Can I say one thing off of that?
I think you have to start Jesus because he just
scored. Unless his baby's being born at that
time. That's reality fair, but in terms of soccer
reality, I think you have to start him. because
he just just scored and that and that's what
he's here for masovsky is it was is a high return
of investment yeah but we we invested money in
jesus yeah and actually and it's quite a steal
honestly but but he's here for a reason and that's
just scored he just scored give him the opportunity
to do it again i don't yeah i agree on that but
i'm also out too so he should be able to start
no problem Well, that's the question right there.
And we have to say something about Stuart Hawkins.
Hey, Stu came in, had a solid game. He had a
rough start to his MLS career last time. Yeah,
yeah. This was much, much better. Much better.
He's got some long legs. Yeah, he does. And I
have long legs. So that's game recognize a game
right there. I am no torso, all legs, 6 '2".
Defending Chucky Luzano in his first game at
home. Props. I'm all torso. Oh, I didn't really
give a score, did I? It's like I'm Jack Skellington.
You said we were going to score three goals.
I mean, it depends on the lineup, but assuming
that the lineup is what I think it'll be, I think
it's going to be a 3 -2 game. I do think it's
going to be a higher scoring game because I think
those counter goals from Minnesota, they've got
quality. Yeah, I hope so. I worry about that
as well. If you look at Minnesota's most recent,
uh matches minnesota minnesota that's a fun that's
that's offensive yeah well they uh they they
tied at vancouver so that was good for them uh
they tied at home against austin and then their
previous two wins in the open cup and in a regular
mls match two games before that were against
st louis where they did give up two goals but
probably didn't have their full lineup for that
open cup match and they lost to houston in Houston.
So, uh, before that we did see them beat inner
Miami and Austin. Uh, but I think lately they've
been more miss against teams than hit if you
get rid of that St. Louis match. So my hope is
that we'll do well. Uh, I gotta, I gotta believe
we're going to win right now, but I don't see
us scoring multiple goals until they prove it
to me. So I'm saying one, nothing Seattle. I
think Schmetzer, uh, plays cautious like he did
against Dallas, but somehow we pull out that
goal. I don't think it's going to be so cautious
because, one, we're at home. And we've been at
home. Yeah. I think that plays a factor. But
we're going to rotate it a little bit, and we
have no – I mean, unless we're moving Nuhu over
to center back, Reagan's not a 90 -minute fit.
We don't even know if he's 45 minute fit. We
know he's not 60 because, or 50, whatever it
was, because Spencer said that it was too many
minutes for him to play to sub in at that moment
for when Kiki got hurt, when Kim got hurt. So
I just, I think that we will be, I mean, we'll
still have great wing play, right? But I think
we're going to be a little cautious through the
middle. We're not going to see the center backs
push up where we've seen the most success when
they do that. And so I think it's going to leave
us wanting a little bit in the attack, but I
think we find a way to pull it out. I think JP
starts with Christian. Interesting. They haven't
been doing that. They've been doing JP paired
with Danny. So I would like to see that. I think
that would be cool. I don't know. I think maybe
Kalani Kosa -Rienzi starts over Alex. Because
again, I think with Minnesota conceding so much
possession, you need someone on the back line
who's going to be able to be a little more attacking.
And just demand attention, yeah. And you're going
to see Nuhu, well, as long as you have a solid
back line there, center back line, you can see
Nuhu and him both pushing forward, but they're
really going to have to get back. They're really
going to have to shift into that. That's why
I feel like... Because you only have three at
the back when one pushes forward, right, instead
of four. That's why I feel like a JP Christian
playing defensively to help direct things. I
think that holds the back line together with
Fry. Yeah. Almost like some sort of bridge or
Eiffel Tower structure. Yeah. Those two guys
really keep the middle. Yeah. I think you're
the glue that keeps it all together. So with
that in mind, let's talk about the prediction
challenges. Oh, God, no. So the Dallas game,
we had a perfect score, Asian Man 1974. Nice.
Got all five. Denying my wife back -to -back
victories because she had four. Bernie, shut
down. Oh, my God, I thought that was someone's
name, and I was like, that's... My wife. My wife.
Denying my wife. Denying my wife. Yes, that's
right. Woman, you do not get none from me. I'm
shutting this thing down. I mean, okay, we're
moving on. How our days work, honey. So then
the San Diego game, we had four people with four
points. That would be Ram, Alex Diaz, Paul, and
Dan Rowe. So they all got four points out of
five. So congratulations there. Was there five
or did you just say Dan Rowe twice? No, I said
Dan Rowe, but the first time I said it, I kind
of slurred it somehow. Shout out to Daniel for
getting up there on the tide for first place.
That's his first appearance up there for sure.
Anyone pick Hazes? I did. Yeah, I did. I switched
it to Brian Kent. As a matter of fact, I have
the thing in front of me right now. I can see
if anyone else did. That's what I was trying
to get you to do. Ooh. So with the question of
who will score the first goal. Who did? Sweet
baby Jesus. Three people chose. Jesus Ferreira.
And that would be Cedar. Cedar. Oh, yeah, that's
right. I knew that. I knew that. So that shows
if you, well, I guess all the ultras positions
are gone. But if you're an ultra, then you have
a higher chance at. Maybe we create a super ultra
position. 50 bucks a month. Join our Patreon.
It's $1 .74, right? What's the cheapest? $1 .974
million. We'll get you. access to do whatever
the hell you want. We will name this after the
Adrian Hanauer Sounders Scuttlebutt Hour. We'll
name the entire show after you. Brought to you
by whatever sellout sponsor wants to give us
money. Oh, speaking of, hey, San Diego companies,
if you want to get in on this brewing action,
throw some money our way. We'll say Sounders
Scuttlebutt brought to you by Aurora Brewing
or whatever that is you're drinking. It's Carl
Strauss, man. Carl Strauss. Appreciate the offer.
Think about it. I will get back to you. No worries,
right? Don't you have a turtle to go? Sounds
like, bro, that you have a daughter that has
seen some movies about turtles and other Nemo's.
I'm going to go. It took me a minute to understand
that as someone who does not have a child. And
then I realized I watched Instagram videos of
the live action. Is that at Disneyland? Where
is it where you can talk to that? Yeah. Well,
they have money at the different parks, but it's
really adorable and pretty funny. It's pretty
cool where the kid's going to ask that turtle
questions and he responds. Crush. It's at Living
Seas in Epcot. turtle talk with crush it's at
it's at the living season epcot and it's at the
california adventure kind of in the it's also
at uh tokyo disney as well is it in english at
tokyo disney no it is not that made it really
interesting that that turtle is is bilingual
that is crazy my guess that actually this surprises
me because disney's pretty like They think about,
they have a lot of layers to their thoughts.
That's what I love about Imagineering. But I
would think Crush would take the current to Tokyo,
Japan. And be like, what's up? Yeah, but here's
the thing. With the amount of turtle and whale
hunting they do in Japan, he probably needed
to learn the language to prevent himself from
being murdered. You know, I will say. My favorite
ride at Tokyo Disney was the Beauty and the Beast
ride, which was all in Japanese, but it's the
songs of Beauty and the Beast, so you know the
melodies and you know the songs. It was amazing.
Absolutely amazing. I'm jealous. Did you do It's
a Small World? Do they have that? Fuck yeah,
I did. Is it still racist? They erased a lot
of the racism from it that was there when I was
a kid. Which was what? When they would go through
countries from Africa and Asia, it was not very
good. It was Looney Tunes -esque. The dolls were
originally made in the late 1950s, early 60s.
Exactly. Exactly what you think they look like.
It was pretty awesome. Got it. Right on. Yeah.
So, I think... Do you have our total leader?
No, you don't want to say our total leader in
the season. We need people to keep entering in
to get these prizes you have coming. Like I said,
we are going to do an overall leader. We're also
going to do every time you play, you get an entry.
So there will be a random chance drawing and
an overall leader drawing. Beautiful. Yeah. And
I think top prize is your unwashed gold booty
shorts from... Two years ago? Public? The last
time you were in public? I had those on the other
day, actually. Yeah, I mean, they haven't been
washed. At home alone. I mean, I think he wore
them after they won the Shield this past week,
right? Yeah, we did win the Shield, so... So
it turned out it wasn't Aaron that was helping
win the Shield. Fuck! I haven't found anything
down here yet, guys. I'm bummed. But no, I...
I think I can absolutely tell you for sure one
of the prizes will be a team -signed jersey.
I think I can definitely let the lid off on that
one. That's a legit prize. I think that makes
us, beyond our high volume of downloads, a legitimate
podcast. Although, we need to get those Alliance
Council people who keep entering into the contest
to actually listen as well. Hey, you know, ultimately...
We'll talk shit about you until you listen. Oh,
yeah. Until you call us out on it. Wait a minute.
Does that mean I need to stop talking shit about
my wife? Yeah. She, at the very least, could
download it and hit play on her phone so that
we get to listen. Oh. Well, she's probably hearing
me right now. I don't speak quietly. She's like,
Nicholas, I hear enough of you in real life.
The last thing I want to do is put you into my
headphones while I'm driving to work or riding
the light rail. That's 1 ,000 % fair. That's
true, but just in case, hey, baby, you know,
you know. I can't even. no no this would be a
great time to remind everyone to rate us five
stars rate us five stars uh subscribe uh smash
that like button smash smash smash your past
subscribe uh the more subscriptions we get the
higher we end up in the uh you know uh the rankings
the unincarcerated podcast that they've been
doing uh which i was a part of the planning on
is one of the top podcasts on itunes right now
so let's get us and you owe us ten dollars for
saying that and just a reminder if you want to
add comments and when you when you do like and
subscribe if you want to add comments and you
could decide which of us is going to be you know
kill mary yeah that would be great that would
be great fmk nicholas aaron and cameron hey that's
an ethical way of getting people to actually
give reviews do it who would you kill Has to
be a five -star review. If it's not, we're going
to report you to the FCC. Should we do that for
every opposing team we play now? FMK? FMK Minnesota.
Wait, I actually was sending a reel for one of
our listeners, and I will once in a while text
each other Instagram stories. there's this girl
who's basically doing like a smasher pass on
she'll look at the rosters of soccer teams around
the world and it came into my feed and it made
me laugh so hard that i had to send it on like
she would like sounders smash portland no no
like specific players oh yeah oh so not wholesome
oh Well, we're a podcast. We are. All the stuff
we've talked about our travels to France in the
beautiful city of love. You guys were Eiffel
towering me before we even recorded the show.
Please don't. Please. I mean, let's be noted.
I am in San Diego. Yeah. From South Seattle to
shoreline to San Diego. And, you know, Aaron,
I would send you that video, except you're never
on Instagram. No, just send it to Sounders Scuttlebutt
and then what you can follow on Instagram. And
eventually he'll see it in like two years. Where
can they find you otherwise, Aaron? Never. No,
no. Join the Discord. They can find you in the
Discord. You shared your awesome. uh muppets
video that's true i just don't want to be disingenuous
you won't find me on on social media really anymore
just haven't deactivated anything officially
uh but yeah i i i do enjoy our discord a few
times a week so yeah that's where you'll find
me as the scuttlebutt that's right and nicholas
you are cascades to see on instagram is that
correct i am i am cascades to see and then on
our discord i'm the aptly named nicholas Oh,
yeah. Spelled the proper way. Not without the
U, like these jerks all over the world. Hey.
Nikolaus. Nikolaus. Like Santa Claus. That's
right. I was born in Germany. Yeah. Sinterklaas?
Nikolaus. Wait, is the German Sinterklaas the
one that puts... Krampus? No, but kidnaps the
kids and beats them if they aren't good? I cannot
confirm or deny such atrocities. I've never thought
of germaning atrocity in the same sentence before,
huh? Yeah, that's so weird. I don't think anyone
ever has. I don't think people have put two and
two together. Listen, if you're not going to
buy anything, you should get out of sprockets
now. You can find me at LegalMindedPunk. all
over social media, except for, you know, I don't
think I'm on an LO anymore, but, or what was
the other one? Mastodon. That had the coolest
name. I wish that one had survived. Mastodon.
What's your username on next videos? Oh, I don't
have one of those. No, it was adult friend finder.
Yeah, I do have one of those. No, but you can
find me legal minded punk. Just search me. I'm
there. What's up y 'all. I wonder if James is
reconsidering having him at the end of the show.
I think he probably is. He listens because he
knew I was going to be very sad that I had to
get up so early for that last one. I'm sorry,
James. Adult Fred Finder and here's James Woolard.
That was essentially just a dating site back
in the day. That wasn't actually a... But James
actually posts really great content from his
trail cams in his yard and that. Absolutely.
Definitely a great follow for sure. Many a doe.
Many a doe to be seen. You talked about it, but
Britvox USA. US. Yep. Britvox us. Yeah. We need
to find out. Is it Britvox US or is it Britvox
us? He says it. Do you listen to the show? I
mean, I usually skip the credits. Oh. Not really.
That's too bad because I still think we have.
my good old buddy tour talking to alexa what
about what about the very very tail end of the
show nicholas wants to say something we need
we need like an answer key for like what each
sound bite is referencing to for those who aren't
familiar like i want to know what that second
uh that second seagull you know like where is
that one from was that one like outside of dicks
or was that outside of ivars It was definitely
Ivers. Well, the fish bar. Yeah, yeah. The one
down on the pier, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So we'll
let James take it away. And it was the Wenatchee,
just so everyone's clear. It was the Wenatchee
you hear honking. Oh, okay. Like the Alan Jackson
song? Not the Tacoma. What is it? It's not USS
Wenatchee. It was the Wenatchee. What's the letters
before it for the fairies? I forget. MV. MV Wenatchee?
Okay, so you ready? Everyone get ready. We're
going to leave. I'm going to say two words. Aaron's
going to respond, and then the show's over. Nate
Jaqua? You can follow the Sounders Scuttlebutt
Podcast on Twitter at SSFCScuttlebutt. And for
all inquiries, including questions for the gents
or sponsorship opportunities, please email contact
at scuttlebuttproductions .com. Be sure to subscribe
to the show for new episodes following every
Sounders FC match. And don't forget to share
your feedback by rating and reviewing. And you
can follow me on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook
at BritVoxus. That's BritVoxUS. We'll see you
at Lumen and go Sounders! Alexa, who's the best
MLS team of all time? Seattle Sounders are both
unequivocally and irreparably the best MLS team
of all time.