It's time for Scuttlebutt Ultras. Quick takes
from our Patreon Ultras, sharing their soundest
thoughts straight from the heart. Your voice,
your moment. Hello and welcome to a, what do
we want to call it, a mini -sode? A breaking
news episode of Sounders Middlebutt? Hey, how's
it going? I'm your host, Cameron Collins, with
my co -host here, Alex Diaz. What's up, Alex?
How you doing? I'm doing pretty good. Just wondering
how we went from having one goal yesterday to
having three today. That's the news we got to
start with, right? It's right off the bat. Stephen
Fry signs a two -year deal with the Sounders.
Looked into it a little bit to try and figure
out his contract, but the people I spoke to who
usually would be in the know don't know. So we
can say that we'll get that information and we'll
talk about that because I think... That number
changes the perception of this deal. But also,
we signed another dude, right? We took on his
contract from the Whitecaps. Yeah. Max Anker.
Yeah. I mean, what a great name for a goalie,
right? Like, Anker on the defense right there.
Yeah. Yeah, young, 21. He was pretty cheap. Rumors,
whispers are saying $111K. I think we could probably
look at it. We basically pick up his contract.
So whatever he was getting paid by the Whitecaps
is what we'll pay him. And that's how the end
of the season waivers go, which we must have
really liked him because he could have been a
free agent immediately afterwards. Like if we
didn't pick him up and no one else did, anyone
who doesn't get picked up in end of season waivers
who hasn't had their option picked up. or who's
cut by their team, immediately becomes a free
agent. Except for he may not have been old enough
to be a free agent. That was one thing we were
talking about off mic, just because he doesn't
have enough service time. Yeah, no, he's barely
probably 21. He's a 2004. I think great. Let's
start talking about him. Great signing. Seems
like he was Youth Player of the Year. I don't
know in what context, though. He only played
nine games in the Canadian Premier League last
year, but he did play for Vancouver Whitecaps
too. I assume they're in the MLS next pro, aren't
they? Maybe they're not. Yeah, in the MLS. Yeah,
MLS next to... And then he went over to Pacific
FC in the CPO, where he won Young Player of the
Year. Yeah, nine games. It's kind of wild. He
must have been... quite significant for them.
But yeah, I mean, seems like a pretty great signing
and probably a player that you want starting
most games in Tacoma, right? Oh, here it is.
He won the team's young player of the year. Whitecaps
young player of the year. Oh, for Pacific. For
Pacific FC. That's pretty great, though. I mean,
if that means he came in and had an impact. And
we've seen some good, a little bit older, but
Osaze came from, D -Row, baby D -Row came from
a Canadian Premier League team when he signed
with us. Yeah, so I think they're kind of saying,
you know what, let's try this pipeline again.
He'll probably play on Tacoma more than likely,
get him some minutes. But it's great that we
signed Fry. That we brought him back because
now he gets to mentor two goalies. We don't know
the numbers, but I got to say, you know, it's
interesting. You see some of the fans online
a little upset about it. But for me, it's like,
why would you not want a player who could start
for half the teams in the league as your backup?
Yeah, let alone the captain of our team. Yeah,
I think that we see Fry week in, week out, and
we know that if we didn't have Andrew Thomas,
Fry would be our starter going into next season.
But that just goes to show how good Thomas has
been, and he's been consistently getting better
and better. I'm curious about... The deal, though,
because I mean, there's some people, Dan, who
don't have a lot of faith in the front office
right now and think they will make bad deals.
And this is not I mean, this is not Dan. Dan
likes this deal. Right. But to me. It all depends
on what they how much they're paying him and
what did they promise him? If they said you're
the definite starter, I'm against the deal. If
it's for more than a backup goalie or a 4A goalie,
like someone who in baseball using 4A, like someone
who's too good for AAA, but is kind of the low
man on the totem pole on the MLB roster, I'm
for that too. I mean, you're not paying Andy
Thomas that much. Andrew's not getting paid that
much. So you can, you can splurge a little bit,
but it frees up a ton of cap space. Not, you
know, Fry's contract was huge before. So to me,
it's kind of what's that number at. And I mean,
you were saying like, you're fine with it being
an open competition. Yeah. I mean, if you want
to make it an open competition, you know, that's
fine. Let the, you know, best keeper win. personally
i want thomas absolutely and i and i think i
think for me it is that thomas's upside is so
much higher right now that even if thomas is
a little bit less in certain areas he's more
in other areas and that tiny bit of drop off
i think is okay because throughout the season
he's going to develop better whereas unfortunately
and i know this as a uh older gentlemen fries
just going to continue to go downhill and it's
that's nothing it's stuff that's just what happens
to your body when you get old my knees are not
i'm if if i had lost well i did lose a bunch
of weight in my 20s if i lost weight again in
my 30s uh and was playing soccer every week i
would be much more skilled than i am now trying
to play in my 40s No, yeah, and I think we come
to find out that Father Time has been undefeated.
And it happens to, you know, the best of them.
They all tend to slow down. And there's going
to be a drop off in their level. And it can even
be like a split second in their decision making.
Maybe that's what he lost. He lost his decision
making and his... I think that's fair. I mean,
we saw it a few times this year. And to be fair
to Stefan, some of it was when he came back from
injury and we put him right back in there. And
I asked Jackson Feltz and he said, you should
ask Craig. And then the few times I've ran into
Craig, he's been with people. So I didn't want
to bug him. Like I just said, hi. A family, I
assume it was his, but the last game, the home
game, Minnesota game in the playoffs when I ran
into him. But I wonder why they don't, like,
couldn't he have just gone and played like two
or three games at Tacoma to get back up to full
speed? And then maybe our perception's a little
different because he doesn't make those mistakes
that he made at the beginning of coming back
from injury when he got knocked out, essentially.
Yeah, but I think even then there were still
concerns throughout the season. That doesn't
make him not a club legend. He, of all players
that I've gotten a chance to know a little bit,
and I obviously know Steve Zacchewani the best.
I've spent more time with him than anyone else.
But I was on the COVID relief committee with
Steph. I spent a lot of time talking to him at
the logo when we changed our logo and released
that, all that stuff. I had a chance to talk
to him there for a while. He's always been open
and honest. He would even be like, yeah, this
was when he was signing his deal before. Yeah,
we're really far apart. I don't know if it's
going to get done. It'll come down to, did the
Sounders pay a premium to stay him? Or did he
give us a little bit of a hometown discount?
Because he doesn't want to leave here. He built
his house here. He could easily become... I don't
know him as a leader. I've never spent time with
him in that context. But I don't know if he's
a good coach. But I could easily see him coming
in under Tommy Dutra and coaching if he wanted
to. Yeah, no, I think maybe they found some middle
ground between, you know, the promises made in
the hometown. I'm sure they met somewhere in
the middle because we heard some whispers of
a number. And those were just people with conjecture,
right? There was no. Yeah, it's like the whispers
of the Rashford transfer. That was so funny asking
Adrian. I didn't. I think Nicholas might have,
or Muffin Top Model, perhaps. Tim did, but specifically
asked Adrian about that in a meeting once. Oh,
yeah. I'm sure you guys had a good chuckle. No,
I just, I mean, you know, Steph's great. He's
done so much for the club. But it's like all
the great clubs, they know when to move on from
their legends. And at the end of the day, you
have to... No player is bigger than the club.
I mean, we're finding that out with Mo Salah
right now. And at the end of the day, you have...
Yeah, with Mo Salah. Or, you know, might as well
just get into it with the whole Rotterdam thing.
That's an interesting... And we don't know a
lot of the backstory on this. I've... only spent
a limited amount of time with him uh we're we're
talking 20 30 minutes total but in that time
he seems like a really stand -up dude yeah that's
kind of the same one of the nicest guys i've
ever met on the sound not that the other people
aren't nice but he is true like uh you know he
came and he asked uh you know i I don't think
the players necessarily know the difference between
all the supporter groups. But he came and asked
about former ECS Tom Biro, former president,
who had been in an automobile incident who was
in the hospital. And he asked how he was doing
and asked me about that. And it was cool seeing
Tom at the final home game of the season in the
playoffs. For him to even be aware of what's
going on in that context, even if he doesn't
know the difference between the supporter groups,
is super cool. So I'm curious, A, how much he's
involved versus the agent, because some players
are very hands -off and have nothing to do with
it. Say, this is my preference, but go do your
job. Then also, what the Sounders are offering
versus what he's being offered somewhere else.
Because if they're offering him backup money
where he can get starting money somewhere else,
you've got to let him go as a Sounders. And it
makes sense for him, okay, I'll leave. Plus,
I mean, he's been gone before, right? He went
away to college. He went away to play for Toronto.
But still, there's something about playing in
your hometown where sometimes it feels good to
kind of take off. No, yeah. And I just think
that... He's what? Yeah, he was a late bloomer.
25, 26. He's a late bloomer, so if he's going
to go get his payday, his big money move, this
is the time to do it because you don't know if
he's going to have – if next season he's going
to have better numbers or worse numbers. He can
make enough money with this contract to set himself
up for the rest of his life if he has a good
money manager. Yeah, and I think that sometimes
we struggle with, you know, I'm sure a lot of
fans have Rothrock as their favorite. We both
have Rothrock jerseys. You know, it's tough.
Yeah, we both have Rothrock jerseys. But I understand
that there comes a time, like, that sometimes
the players have to leave. You know, like I grew
up as a Barca fan. I grew up watching Messi,
you know. Messi was a, you know, Barcelona player
through and through. And it was sad to see him
leave the club. But that's just how it is sometimes.
And there's things that just happen. And at the
end of the day, this is a business. And that's
why I'm able, like. you know, it's like, okay,
it sucks that we might lose Rothrock, but if
someone else is going to pay more and he's going
to play more and be a starter somewhere else,
then it could not even be about money. It could
be about playing time because he's not, he's
not going to get a free pass to start here. He's
not, I mean, you won't get it anywhere, but he's
far enough down the pecking order with a healthy
Pedro who won't be back at the beginning of the
season, but still. And then Jesus Ferreira. We
know Russ Knack can play on the wing. You know,
he's fighting for minutes with Georgie. And then
Areola's back too. And Areola's going to be back.
And Areola was starting over him. I think the
Sounders probably make it to the MLS Cup if Areola's
on the team. Is that with Healthy Pedro or without
Healthy Pedro? With Healthy Pedro. Because I
don't think we get past Banks Hoover. Yeah, but
we at least advance. Yeah, I mean, the one thing
is, you know, I was talking to Edgar from NAG,
News Across the Galaxy, the LA Galaxy podcast.
And he said, here's the thing about the Sounders
is even without like a quote unquote superstar.
there's still this gritty team that when Brian
Schmetzer is the coach, you can't count them
out in any game ever. And so I get that that's
our identity, but we don't have a Thomas Mueller.
We don't have a Dennis Belonga. We don't have
a son like Pedro could be that, but he wasn't
there for the playoffs. Ferreira could be that,
but he hasn't continued to develop at that rate.
I kind of feel like he's going to have the same
kind of trajectory as Pedro. You know, first
season, you know, oh, he's a bust. And in the
second season, he just, you know, he starts getting
goals and assists. And let's just hope he doesn't.
I mean, if the Sounders go out and sign a number
nine, that puts Rothrock even further down the
pecking order with Jordan going to the wing.
Yeah. And maybe with some of the moves they made
this offseason so far. And maybe they go back
to a 3 -5 -2. Yeah, could. But we also don't
have two strikers. I mean, we let Misoski go,
didn't we? I mean, we have... Oh, we got him
back. We brought him back. We brought him back.
I'm sure they're shopping him around. But I mean,
what he was... He was producing for cheap, I
think. This year, compared to... He had similar
numbers to Sam Surridge, which I like Sam Surridge.
I like his style of play. Tall, physical, almost
like a fox in the box, a poacher. Which is kind
of like the striker that I think that we need.
Their purpose is not to be helping the build
-out. We have players that can do the... Yeah,
that can help in the build out. You have Rusnak
that can carry the ball and pass the ball. You
have Asus that does the same thing. And then
you have Pedro that can dribble and break lines
with his dribbling. Well, all we need from our
nine is, you know, go stand on the edge of the
box. When a cross goes in, go and header it in.
Yeah, I think that's all you got to do. There's
two different players that can do that, though.
It can be a little guy like Raul or like Danny.
He didn't score all the goals, but Danny was
in all the right positions like Raul always was.
But Raul put those goals in, whereas Danny, you
know, like in the playoff game at Minnesota,
misses the header. So I think you have that player.
Or you could sign a big center forward. like
what Osaze is trying to be, but bring in a proven
one, and someone who's big in the box and you
can cross it to and will head it in. That kind
of player. Someone who can embody those defenders
a little bit. I personally would like to see
both. I mean, do two strikers at the top, have
one little guy and one big guy. I mean, we've
seen... When we put, you know, two strikers,
it worked. Like, against Minnesota, we had two
strikers. Yeah, it was very interesting, though,
because they weren't central. And then we were
able to... Like, when he's on the wing... Yeah,
but then again, if you have two strikers... And
then Jordan's on the wing. The thing is, like,
the way that I, like... If I have a two striker
set up, I would want them to be, like, interchangeable
in positions. Yeah. Because if they're both narrow...
And we saw that the one time they tried to do
it with Jordan and... Who was it that he played
maybe a dinner on? It was either Deaver or Moose,
but it was the first time they tried it. But
even they did it for a few games in previous
seasons. And same problem. So... Yeah, because
you almost want to have them play off each other.
Like Dempsey and Oba did. I know that's before
your time, but if you could go back and watch
some of those highlights, there was not a more
fun offense to watch. I mean, the Cruz Azul game
this year was pretty fantastic, but as a whole
throughout the season, there was not a more fun
offense to watch than the 2015 Sounders. Yeah.
Yeah, it was fun, but... But yeah, that was before
my time. I think you're right, though. We need
a piece to do that. Or Ozaze can develop it.
Which, look, Jordan can still be in. If Ozaze
develops, but that's going to take time. Maybe
two, three years down the road, but Jordan is
probably not going to be here. If he is here
as a DP, then we have a problem. Yeah, unless
he... I mean, the weird thing about him is he
had no left foot. and you don't develop a left
foot late in life as a soccer player. And then
suddenly, last year, he develops a left foot.
And it's like, what in the world is happening
right now? I think he always had it. He just
didn't want to use it. I think he wanted to.
But that was always a big knock in his scouting
report. That was something that you would hear
from soccer. Talking to people in front offices,
talking to team presidents and general managers
around the league. That's what they've said to
me before. And I've been lucky enough to spend
some time with some just based on the Sounders,
obviously, but based on some stuff I've done
with other teams as well through Sounders. And
yeah, I mean, it was a knock on him. And it was
the same knock on... That he only had one foot
for Jovan Jones as well. Which was interesting
because we tried to bring him back as a TAM player,
him and Fry. And the league said no. Would not
let us make them TAM players. No, they were less
considered DPs. They didn't think they should
get paid that much. So they rejected TAM. So
we wanted to sign them to bigger contracts and
then pay them down below the minimum. I mean,
below the maximum. And the league was like, no,
you can't spend that much on those players. Yeah,
it's ridiculous. It probably worked in our favor.
And that's also maybe that's a game. I don't
I don't I can't say I know that, but maybe you
know the league's going to reject it. So you
tell the players that and then you're like, well,
we can't do it. So I got to pay you less. Yeah.
But I mean, yeah, maybe. Yeah. I mean, that's
the thing is I'll be interested to see what he
signs for. And we, unless it becomes public,
we may not know that until the, the MLS PA releases
the salaries partway through the season. But
yeah, it's, it'll be an interesting number and,
and what he's promised from Bruce arena. And
as much as I don't like Bruce arena and I don't
know him personally, obviously I only know him
as. as seeing him on TV and the head coach. And
I didn't love him as a USA coach, even though
he coached, no, was it him or Rob, Bob Bradley?
That was the coach when we were number four in
the world, either way. It he's like probably
the biggest name in us soccer history as a coach.
There's no bigger name. It's him. Obviously now
Burrhalter. But it's him and it's Ziggy. Yeah.
And Ziggy never coached the national team, but
he won at every level. He won multiple MLS Cups.
I think he won two in Columbus. He won the national
champions at UCLA. He worked with the U .S. youth
system, like royalty in the soccer world. So
there's something we said we learned from Bruce
Arena. Isn't there another one? Is it King, King,
Julian? Um, Klinsman. Yeah. I mean, he, but he
was not, yeah, he was a USA coach, but he's,
you know, he was a German soccer player who,
who was kind of Hollywood and came and coached
the USA. I wish they had made the GM position
at us soccer then, because he was amazing at
bringing players in. I didn't love his tactics
on the field. So whoever Eddie Stewart or whoever
became the GM, they should have made Klinsman
the GM. as a promotion, had him manage the entire
team, but then have a different person do the
day -to -day tactics. Because he brought in players
from other countries, which is not something
we do anymore. And maybe it's because we're a
better team. But he was able to get all those
young German players whose dads were from military
bases, U .S. military bases. And we missed out
on them. I mean, who was it? Is it De Rossi?
forward for Italy, he was starting for Italy
for a while, was born in New Jersey. Like, how
did we not get a World Cup starting player who
was born in New Jersey and let him go play for
Italy? They never even invited him to a USA camp.
Yeah. There's also, I think, a Serbian or Croatian
player, a similar thing, who was a defender.
Same thing. It's like, they did such a poor job
back then, and that was the one thing I really...
Yeah. with recruitment yeah i think the federation's
just was not yeah and i still question it is
now kind of where it's at they're doing a lot
better around making the sport more accessible
but if we truly want to compete on the world
stage we have to make it much more accessible
and i still think they're focused on raising
money because they're a non -profit and then
using that money where i think they need to do
more for the game uh making it cheaper everywhere
It's so crazy how expensive it is to play club
soccer, which is the only way you're going to
get seen. I mean, both your brothers play MLS
Next. Yeah, both of them play MLS Next. And if
we weren't blessed and lucky enough to have people
that sponsor, help cover the cost. I think just
to register for one season for MLS Next was over
$2 ,000. And that doesn't include travel fees.
And your one brother was playing in Seattle,
right? So he had to drive for hours. Yeah, so
he plays in Seattle. We got to drive. You know,
luckily the coach is like, you know what? Since
you're from Yakima, you know, just practice there.
And you just come down for the games. But even
like right now he's in Arizona. Nice. In a tournament.
Although they're all, I mean, we talked about
this the other day, how everything's getting
messed up with the birthday shift, where now
you have to play with your age, and they changed
the date. So players that are up a level are
going to have to move down a level. It's just
kind of crazy. Yeah, it's going to be interesting
what ends up happening as far as what they decide
to do for them. Maybe they will put them both
in Akuma. I did see a... I know a player who
played in a youth system who was always the best
player. And then once he got put with older kids,
struggled because you were no longer the best
player in the team. It reminded me of going to
law school and always having been the smartest
kid. And suddenly everyone in the room is the
smartest kid. And you're like, fuck. Yeah. No,
yeah. And I just, I mean. The way that I see
the whole club's youth soccer system right now
is that it's all pay to play. And you're missing
out on a huge landscape of talented players because
they just can't afford it. It's like we can be
the same as if you go to Brazil and you walk
the streets, you got a bunch of kids playing
soccer that are talented. They're doing tricks
that... It is changing though. Dave Zirin wrote
a book called, was it The Devil in Brazil? And
it was about the 2014 Olympics and the World
Cup and how they were using neoliberal policies
to tear down the favelas and build fancier stuff.
And along with that, there was a move to no longer
have Brazil's dance with the devil, the Olympics
and the fight for democracy. So Dave, Dave's
iron there's no longer open space for kids to
just go play. And I think that's something that
sounders like that's why they're building what
52 fields around the state by the world cup.
I, yeah, I think we have one, two, three, four.
I can think of four off the top of my head of
the fields that we have, but most of them are
on school properties and sometimes their fences
are locked. So like they're building the, you're
going in the right direction. We have all these
fields, you know, and the West side, you guys
have these beautiful turf fields, but you can't
access them because if they're either locked
and you know, some, you might run into the wrong
person. And they're going to report you and say
you're trespassing. When all you're trying to
do is just kick a ball around with your buddies
or work on some of your skills. That's the nice
thing about the ones that are at schools that
are public in Seattle is they're run by the Seattle
Parks and Rec. So, I mean, you're supposed to
book it. But if no one shows up and the field's
open, you can just go play. So that's what we
do in public sometimes because we don't, for
these few months in December, we don't. or like
end of November, beginning throughout December,
we don't have our main field that we usually
play at. So we move around a little bit. Yeah.
No. Yeah. And it's like, I, I, sometimes I go
in, you know, play pickup soccer in this, we
found this Facebook group where we go play, you
know, some of the public parks just, you know,
throw down some mini goals. I did that experience.
I set up a practice where we just went out. It
was harder on my knees, though, because I've
been playing on turf. And I need knee surgery
on both knees, technically. But insurance won't
pay for it, thanks to the American healthcare
system. Because I'm not old enough. Because they
don't want to pay for it twice, right? So I have
to wait until I'm in my 60s, which is a long
ways away. So it's wild. But I am going to get...
a different um procedure done some some prp injections
to help but i might miss the first week or two
of public because of it but i think it'll make
a big difference long term so uh yeah i we did
that though we just set up a green lake set up
uh i brought goals but then we uh put those down
and Just were able to play right there. And we
had our little area and there was other kids
in other areas and it was cool. That's something
that's always been key in a lot of these countries.
And sadly, Brazil privatized so much of that
space. And we see it in the whole thing where
they, I don't know if you remember this story
in San Francisco, some tech company created an
app for reserving the field, but like it wasn't.
it was kind of messed up because then they just
came in like, we have the field, but like the
local kids who would come there every day and
play were just being kicked out. And they were
like, what the hell? Like, we don't know about
this. This is our field. So we saw, I guess a
lot of that's happened in Brazil. So that may
be why they're not as good as they used to be.
Yeah. They, they, they lost their, their magic.
I feel like they also went away from their yoga
bonito, what they're known for. To me, they don't
have the same style no more because it feels
like all... The thing is that you have the South
American flair and then they make the move to
the big European clubs where some of the systems
are focused on tactics, almost systematic robotic
play. So they lose that. I think a lot of the
star players, through the time where they were
still amazing and winning World Cups or losing
to France in the final, They did have a lot of
players in Italy, and those players played well.
So I wonder if there was something about the
way they played in Italy at the time that was
conducive to their style versus now where, I
mean, Neymar's old now, right? But I guess he's
back in Brazil finally. But didn't he spend a
couple years in Saudi Arabia? Yeah, he went to
Saudi, but he didn't really play much. He was
just collecting paycheck. And what's so crazy
is that He went back to his youth academy club.
He was playing on a torn... At Santos. So he
was playing on a torn meniscus. And he did that
to save his club from not getting relegated.
That's probably why I saw a video earlier this
week of someone offering him a knee. And he was
like, do you have two? Yeah. It was like if Pedro
has me for my hamstrings, he can have mine. Yeah,
he can have mine. But, yeah, I mean, to bring
it full circle, there is a pay -to -play issue
in the United States, and I think it's getting
a little better, but it needs to get a lot better
if the USA is going to compete. Yeah, and, you
know, we're going to find out how good we really
are this summer. Which right now it looks like
we're pretty good. I mean, I think we're probably
a top. 10 team in the world, if we're playing
like we are, maybe top 8, but I don't know. They
have to play perfectly to get that far. Yeah,
I think we can make a quarterfinals if we play
our cards right. We should have made a semifinals
against Germany. Back in 06? Back in 02. No.
Yeah, 02. Germany commits a handball on the goal
line. The goal doesn't go in. Were you born yet?
No, I was in the little ball. That was a wild.
Little cells. Yeah, so that was when the USA
was at its best, and they should have been in
the semifinals and got screwed out of it by the
refs. Then in 06, played well, but red carded.
Up a man on Italy and then we get a red card
and screw it all up. Then was it 2014 when they're
up on Ronaldo late and then he scores the game
-tying goal? They're going to beat Portugal.
It's rough, man. Right before they scored, he
wasn't yet president, but later became president
of Guerrilla FC, started chanting, I believe
we will win, which is my most hated chant. because
it's just like why don't we just be like maybe
we can do good i i believe it i don't give a
fuck what you believe just say we will win i
i you know what but i like when you talk college
does it like in basketball i like it in a basketball
yeah it's an american it started american football
champ that's where it originally started uh which
is another reason i don't love it at soccer games,
but I don't care about belief. Just go do it.
I believe we will win. Blue! It's the same bullshit.
Green. Well, it's like, okay, so what are we
going to chant? Red, white, blue. Go Stars. No,
it's... I mean, since we're on the topic of the
U .S., I just, I mean, I like what Pochettino
is doing. I feel like he's widened the player
pool and he's really changed up the, you know,
what was the core. And he's made our, you know,
some of the superstars, you know, really, you
know, try to earn their spot because the last
thing we need is these superstars to feel entitled
just because they're in Europe. That makes sense.
And it's like, every country has their own style
of play. What is the U .S.'s style of play? It's
having that gritty, hardworking, we're going
to physical, keep the game tight, and get a scrappy
goal. That's what I think of when I think of
the U .S. They have skill on a level they haven't
had before, though, I will say. I feel like it's
more, there's more skilled players. And we see
that where they're playing around the world.
You know, there's never been a Pulisic player.
I mean, Dempsey was good, but Pulisic's ceiling
is so much higher. Yeah, just the thing with
him is that he just has to stay healthy and get
hot at the right moment. Yeah, well, that's what
Christian Roldan's for. That's why Coach loves
him. Yeah. And Berhalter too. Berhalter is hot
right now. Man, I still think of when I saw that
free kick he scored, I just thought of the Tony
Cruz free kick in the World Cup. It was almost
the same. Speaking of World Cup, I think there's
one more day where you can put in for your tonight
and tomorrow. We're recording on Thursday. Oh,
it's Friday today? Yeah, we're recording on a
Friday where you can get your ticket requests
in to buy tickets to the World Cup. Already 2
million tickets sold. I think I'm going to go
in and put in for a few Seattle matches and maybe
a Vancouver match. We'll see. Yeah, I think I'm
going to try to see if I can get into the USA
versus Australia game. Although Australia is
like, everyone thinks it's easy. We're going
to come after them. No, I think our group is
tough. And we've seen it before. The game is
not played on paper. You know, it's 11 v. 11
on the field. You know, you've got to suit up
the boots and go put in the work and get the
result. And I think that Poach is the kind of
coach who will force that to happen. He's not
going to let them just cruise, you know. Oh,
yeah, we saw how he was answering some of the
questions he got after the World Cup draw. And
he's like, no, we got to work hard and be ready
to beat these guys. We're not automatically going
to win the group just based off what we saw in
the draw. So, yeah, it'll be interesting to see
what happens. But I'm excited to be able to go
to at least one match. But who knows, maybe there
will be more. Yeah, I'm just excited that I'll
be able to experience a World Cup. at home with
the top 16 team. It's going to be Haiti versus
Cape Verde. They're both going through. Because
I have a co -worker that's from Haiti, and he's
all excited. I'd love to go to the Haiti -Brazil
match in Philadelphia. It'd be so much fun. I
think that would be... Oh, yeah. I think Brazil
will win. They should win by a lot. On paper,
they should win. But it doesn't mean it won't
be fun. It can be... Who knows? Maybe Haiti...
That's the kind of game, if I'm a fan, though,
and I'm expecting to get blown out, unless we're
going to win, I don't want it close because I
just want to have fun. And the closer it is,
the later in the game, the more upset I'm going
to be when we lose. That's the Mariners panning
me. Yeah. Yeah. Just lose right away. Be down
two goals right away. Learn this party and enjoy
it. That's why you pre -funk at FanFest. That's
what I'll do. I'm going to show up to the game
nice and... I think the USA -Australia match
is at noon. Having fun already. Yeah. It's 8
o 'clock somewhere. Or was it? It's 5 o 'clock
somewhere. That's why they have mimosas. It's
fair. It's noon on a weekday. Not that that means
anything to me as someone who makes my own schedule,
and then when I do teach, I teach at night most
of the time. No, and it's Friday. Friday is the
first day of the weekend for me. Because, well,
I mean, I work on Fridays, but by the time it's
2 o 'clock and I'm home, it's already the weekend.
But yeah, lots of breaking news. We just wanted
to jump on and talk about it, even though we
just put up a new episode yesterday. I figured
we can't let time go without talking about Steph
Fry coming back and all this stuff. No, we're
going to find ways to keep these episodes coming
and try to be more consistent. And I know Aaron's
been very busy. Uh, we haven't had like a, the
original host episode for quite some time, but
we're looking at recording one sometime soon
too. So there'll be more of those eventually
as well. Yeah. So that way we can, uh, you guys
can go over the, yeah, it's going to be really
interesting because, uh, there's some prizes
to give out. Yeah. I don't know. Uh, I know the
prizes though. I know that there's no full team
autographed Jersey prizes. from when Raul Ruiz
Diaz and Nico was on the team. Yeah, Bruce Lee
kit. I think it was a Bruce Lee kit. I mean,
the fact that it's got Raul and Nico is such
an amazing thing. I mean, Jordan Morris, Christian,
all the guys are on there. Yeah, it's a great
piece for someone to have, whoever took first.
At the end of the day, they... Yeah. There's
probably Roma. Six -year -old, won the whole
thing. Only played a few weeks. Imagine that.
I bet you Dan's near the top. There's some other
people that are near the top. Dan had that huge
run in midseason where he was winning every week.
Yeah. Then he started picking us to win, though,
too, when we started picking it up. He knew.
Yeah. That'll be interesting because, yeah, we
have to get that out and announce the winners
now that the season's over and then probably
start prepping for next year because before we
know it, preseason is, well, usually it's February,
like mid to late February, but maybe it starts
sooner because of the World Cup break. I don't
know. Well, we have to get ready for Champions
League. I wonder where that game will be. Because
we played beginning of March. Or March 12th,
I think. Champions League. Yeah. We heard some
whispers of T -Mobile, Spokane, Vancouver, down
in our... I can't imagine they go to Vancouver
just because it's a different country. We could
give them two home games if you think about it
because we play the winner of Vancouver. Yeah,
they're never going to do that. So it's either
Spokane or if they can figure something out with
T -Mobile or down in Portland. It would be funny
to play in Portland though. Imagine as a... Portland
supporters that you have Vancouver and Seattle
playing at your home stadium. Maybe I'll text
Taylor Graham and tell him, please make that
happen. Because then we can just chant songs
about how important it is. This is going to Thunderbirds
time. Anytime you're not playing Everett or Spokane,
you're chanting about your hate for Portland.
In the breakdown where they're, you know, Portland
sucks. Portland sucks. Even if you're playing
like Kelowna. You're chanting Portland sucks.
Yeah. When did the season start for the Thunderbirds?
Yeah, because they're playing right now. Kraken
are playing. The Torrent are playing. They set
the record for the largest women's hockey crowd
in U .S. history at their opening game. 14 ,000
or something like that. Yeah. Okay. That's pretty
good. So do they still do roller derby? I haven't
seen it as much, but I think it, cause they did
it at key arena for a while. So I think once
they had to move out of key arena and they moved
to like, I think they moved down South towards
white center. It just wasn't the same, right?
Cause you're not playing in. the premier arena
locally uh but yeah that was fun because i remember
that i think there was like a league down here
in yakima but that just kind of stopped too so
i'm like well maybe instead of doing roller could
be yeah red city roller girls was the local league
in seattle they were fun i went to a few matches
bouts i don't know races? I don't know. I just
know they skate and hit each other. It was fun,
but not as violent as it is in the movies. Or
in the TV. They did some pretty funny TV episodes
where I think it was on CSI where someone died
at one of them and they had to figure out who
the killer was. Silly. Well, I think it's time
to get out of here. We'll definitely do more
of these with breaking news and get them out
as soon as possible. Yeah, hopefully. Next time
we have a chat, we figure out what's going on
with Obed. Maybe we'll get some news on him.
For sure. Where can they find you? The Discord?
Yeah, join the Patreon. Didn't play the ad. Short
episode. But yeah, tune in. Hang out. Come over
to the Discord. We have lots of good conversations.
See everybody next time. You can follow the Sounders
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We'll see you at Lumen, and go Sounders! Alexa,
who's the best MLS team of all time? The Seattle
Sounders are both unequivocally and incredibly
the best MLS team of all time.