October 23, 2025 • 30 mins
Pulso Sports/Sounder at Heart's Niko Moreno drops by to look at the wins from wild card Wednesday, the questions in Orlando, and the series that start on the weekend in MLS
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, what a Jared long time. How's it going, my guy?
Speaker 2 (00:05):
It's going. Yeah, moved out, moved out to the mountains,
and and and was greeted by watching RSL peter out
of the playoffs last night, uh at the hands of
Mora and UH and Phil and the Phil Nevil re
revenged tour.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
Yeah. I was surprising, for sure.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
Mm hmm. I did not have I didn't have Kamal
Miller on the Bengo card at all, scoring a goal
and then getting justin glad losing kamal Miller at the post.
I did not have that on the card at all. No.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
I actually put at a shot on frame and scored
off the first time of two years.
Speaker 3 (00:42):
So there's that that too, Yes, that too.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
Hey, I'll raise you, uh, Philippi Moore brace after twenty
plus games of no goals. I mean, he seemed like
everything went right for the Portland Timbers. I think that's
what he took to get him out of this round.
And on the same sent everything went wrong for ourselves.
I mean it fell for you know, twenty minutes of
(01:06):
that second half that they were gonna score a couple
of goals and they just they just couldn't do it.
You know, there was mistake after mistake. I have no
idea what Cruz was thinking on that free kick by
who wasn't that took it? Why is he escaping? My
name the Colombian defender? We know, we know, we gotta Yeah,
(01:32):
well the free kick is perfect. It was gonna clear
the He was going to clear the wall, and I
don't know why he just all of a sudden decides
to do some sort of moving screen and just pushes
the wall. I mean, it was completely unnecessary. And I
thought that he was a no show. You know, gossip
(01:55):
comes out and he comes in and and I thought
he was irrelevant and he ended up doing more bad
than good for Irissel. Uh So, yeah, it was definitely
a combination of things that led to Poorland moving on
to the playoffs.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
Yeah, I was now it was just oh my god,
uh that that moment where why why you're going into
the wall? That that blew my mind? Why why you
decide on a kick that was going in and it
was gorgeous it and you decide you're going to go
in and crash the wall and try to compress it
(02:32):
and try and sit there and make a distraction everything,
and you violate the spacing rule and everything. So it
was just it's like, dude, what are you doing?
Speaker 1 (02:42):
Yeah, Brian Vera, Brian Vera is not going yeah, And look,
I thought that Brian Vera was very good. I thought
that Oheita was excellent at the Luna had a lot
of moments. Quite honestly. You know when you look at
the stats, when you look at you know, if you
are uh, you know someone that that that goes into
the x G factor. I mean, our Cell should have
(03:03):
won that game. It's just it wasn't there for them
to have and they allow the Timbers to stay in
this game. And like you said, Kamal Miller there at
the end completely unmarked. He does a good job at
staying on site. I mean, you know, he sees the line,
he checks himself and then goes finds that header. But
Glad went from hero to zero there, right because he
(03:27):
gets that beautiful header. Great job of getting that goal,
you know, the two to one that kind of gave
our Cells some momentum and some life. But then, man,
that last play is just unacceptable.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
When how often do we see that though in these games,
especially a playoff game where a team where an RSL's case,
they're pushing, they're creating chances, they're forcing saves. They could
not find the breakthrough. And then after a few minutes
of that, you get one situation the other way, and
(04:03):
it's the killing blow from Portland where the RSL had chances.
You're right to tie it up. They didn't take advantage
of it, and they Portland went down, only needed one
shot and they put the game away. Man, you gotta
take those chances.
Speaker 1 (04:19):
I'm yeah, totally agree.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
Legitimately. I think if the Willie A got a bicycle
kick in the crossbar, I think we're talking about an
entirely different game with momentum and such. But you figured
that one when a goddess kick hit the crossbar instead
of going in, you figured it just wasn't going to
be their night.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
No, Altunji, you know that that there is an easy
tap in that he just doesn't get to. He doesn't
anticipate that pass was clear where he was going to go,
and he just doesn't get to it at all, Like
just not quick enough. There was just a lot of
moments for our cell where he just felt like it
wasn't gonna happen. You know, I mean, those two just
allowed goals, you know, both fair, both fair, but one
(05:02):
very unnecessary and and and just themb to be quite
a lack of better word, but yeah, you know, I
thought I was self deserved a little bit better. And
as much as the Timbers army and the atmosphere was there,
I continue to think that the Timbers are very, uh
(05:23):
sporadic and irregular in their play. I mean, look, I'm
happy for Philippine war right, and I've always thought that
he should be the nine. And I think that one
of the problems that Field Nevels had in Portland has
been that rotating door of people at certain positions, including
the nine. But look, the goals were there was a
(05:47):
little bit of luck involved, man, I mean, I don't
know because he just had, you know, a daughter I
believe he had, and it was just the moment. But
there's a ricichet on both of those goals. He just
felt like he had a magnet stuck to his foot
that just kept pulling the ball his way. But yeah, man,
I mean, I think that we can all agree that
it wasn't impressive from the Portland Timbers, but hey, sometimes
(06:10):
that's what it takes to get into the playoffs and
sometimes that makes you dangerous.
Speaker 3 (06:14):
Yep. Jarrett found the quote from ksl's Caleb Turner from
Pablo after the match quote, Brian Vera is a free
kick waved off quote That is not something we work on.
That was ad lib, man, and it was a bad
moment to ad lib, especially when the ball hit the
back of the net. And if there's one guy you
don't need to really move the wall, for the wall
(06:36):
is gonna move. It's Brian Vera. So you end up
with Pablo with one and done. I want to I
want to go to the east a little bit. And
like I said, it was something we talked about in
Hour number one, but I want to get both of
your thoughts on this as well. Nicole. Let me start
with you Oscar Pereja, and I know this is something
(06:57):
that your friends at Pulso Sports were lighting up in
the teas with you coming in. Oscar Pereh went back
to old Oscar Pereh for the Purple team at the
worst possible time this season. Instead of doing that even
keeled thing where everything's cool and you make your run
in the postseason, you go back to how it was
you hit a marker and then you just kind of
(07:19):
do the slow fade and it's just kind of like
one of these you can just kind of see everything
just fading away in the sunset, and the Purple team
wins one out of eight to wrap up the season.
Then you have the moment that you had or the
match that you had last night in bridge View, which
was a clunker, and we went over the stats there
as well, where I think Chicago had like seventy eight
(07:41):
shots and fifty nine of them were on target last night.
Does this mean that Oscar has worn out his welcome
in Orlando? Because I imagine there's going to be a
lot of thought about Oscar and the future where you
have that fade, you come crashing in, you were fourth,
(08:04):
you come into the playoffs at the nine, and you
put up a clunker in bridge View. What do you think?
Speaker 1 (08:12):
This is a very touchy subject because I feel like
there have been a lot of shots fired towards Oscar
Pereh and rightfully so, look, I was the first one
to say, as I'm watching this game, a game that
I thought that Oscar was going to plan differently, a
game where I thought that Martine Haite was going to
(08:35):
step up and be that MVP that he is, That
Maguire was going to be a guy that we all
know what he can do when he's on. But the
reality is that it was an embarrassing performance by Orlando City.
They never had control of the game, they'd have possession,
They weren't creative, There wasn't transition moments. There wasn't even
(08:58):
fight or character or response. That's what you at least
expect that of an Oscar Perea team. It almost feels
like the team gave up on him at a certain
point of this game in Chicago, just took advantage of
it and never let him get up. But two things
can be true. Do I believe that Oscar Pereja has
been unsuccessful to put Orlando City where they want to
(09:23):
be or take the next step? Absolutely, But you know,
I've heard comments about him being a fraud and all
of these things. But Oscar Perera has Oscar Perera, and
Oscar has never sold himself as this genius tactician that's
going to make your franchise this entertaining soccer. Oscar Prera
(09:43):
has specialized this on lifting programs from the ground and
making them relevant. And I thought he did that in
Orlando give them their first trophy. Right, Sure, it's a
US Open Cup, but he did it. I think he
did it in Dallas. I think he's a guy that
eventually will be in a Ring of Honor or a
Hall of Fame for Dallas, shoot maybe even for Orlando City.
(10:07):
But the reality is is that he has always been
true to his form, to his ideology, to his way
of handling teams. So the word fraud, to me is
unnecessary and inaccurate. But I do think that there is
a clear criticism of Oscar Pere has just been unabled
(10:28):
to create a team, regardless of how good it is,
because I think this comes into the picture, right. Orlando City,
on paper is a great team, and you know, Oscar
had all the resources that he possibly want. He got Moodiel,
and he got a politic, and he Kep Maguire and
(10:49):
went and got on Gulo, went and got a Twista.
I mean, everything he's wanted, he's kind of got. He's
called this his most talented team. And you're unable to
not just reach the mount, but you go on a
ten game winning winningless streak, or I think you get
one win in those ten ten games and then you
(11:09):
drop from fourth to ninth, and you have to play
this game, and now in this game, your team doesn't
come out and perform. I think that his job is
under line. I think that the criticism is fair, but
I wouldn't go so far into at calling Oscar names
(11:31):
or saying that he provided something that he did not reflect,
because I thought that he did a good job at
getting Orlando City back to relevancy.
Speaker 3 (11:42):
Here I go for it.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
I agree, it's go if. I don't know if people
truly remember, and I don't know if this is just
recency biased because we're just used to Orlando being a
functioning franchise. Oscar got there. Man, Up until Oscar got there,
they were just a series of wildly coyote cartoons in
just different forms. The Jason Christ era. O'Connor comes in
(12:10):
for O'Connor, the I remain convinced that that a chunk
of it was Nonnie when he was there, Who's a
brilliant player, one of the best of our eras growing
up as kids. But man, they were just so mentally
weak in that era, and Oscar seemed to change all
(12:33):
of that. Maybe Oscar is not the guy to take
them to the next step entirely possibly there are History
is littered with those guys who take a franchise in
any sport, in any league and take it from being
a mess to being stable and giving it a solid foundation.
They might not be the one to get you to
(12:53):
the promised land, but that that stuff matters, and maybe
you go get somebody, but I think you have to
be careful full about it because if you go get someone,
you need to make sure that they can build on
that and that it doesn't backslide. And that's a scary
decision to have to make, and especially for me right now,
(13:13):
it would be I'd be, it'd be kind of. There's
a lot of traffic with MLS teams right now. Like
you know, Atlanta's open LAFC is opening after the Cup.
There's a lot of traffic for a lot of big
teams that will want to bring in guys and want
to court managers, managers. Maybe a year after. I don't know,
(13:35):
but yeah, I what Oscar did in Dallas, what he's
done in Orlando, he's been great, and I think he
gets too defensive at times late in seasons and it
stinks and I don't like it. Roscars I don't think
I've ever heard a crossword about him. But if you,
(13:59):
if you make that, I'm not going to tell them
that they're wrong if they think they need to hit
it into another gear. But it's just it's a risky
decision man.
Speaker 3 (14:08):
M hmm.
Speaker 1 (14:08):
Yeah. No, I love that you bring that up, jury,
because I mean, that's the reality. Look as someone who
has covered Oscar Pereja, who has sat down and talked
to him countless occasions ever since his early years coaching
at Dallas, and I've sat down with him and Clavijo
rest in peace, and he is always going to be
(14:31):
true to his form, and sometimes that's fort of the
better or for worse. Look, if you're going to come
and tell me that Oscar's too conservative, y'all all agree.
If you come and tell me that he has been
unsuccessful to win major trophies, sure let's do that. If
you want to come and tell me that his tactics
at time are a little antiquated, let's have that conversation.
(14:52):
But don't tell me that he isn't a good coach
or that he was complete failure in Orlando, because I
would absolutely disagree for everything that you just said. Orlando
had been a mess and Dallas was nothing before Oscar
perej well nothing, but they had been for a long time,
(15:13):
not quite relevant until he got there and made him relevant.
So I just have a hard time with people who
are way too radical when talking about a head coach
that I know is passionate about the game, that is
extremely qualified, that goes out there and gives one hundred
and ten percent every single time he's leading a team.
(15:37):
Whether that works or not, it's fine. Whether it was
a bad decision to let Romir and Rique walk and
you know you were going to depend more on Muriel,
who you thought was at a certain form but then
it wasn't. And you know you were hoping that Maguire
was a certain guy, but then he wasn't, and you
had problems with some injuries. I'm not saying that's why
(15:57):
he failed this year. I think that there's more to it.
But at the end of the day, Oscar Perez went
out there, he did a job and he was just
unable to reach it. But but don't come and tell
me that the guy is a fraud or that the
guy should be put in soccer jail for absolutely no reason.
Speaker 3 (16:16):
Yeah, that's a that's a load of bunk, and that's
that's the terminology that I would use. I know that
we have to discuss the injury to Pedro de la
Vega and what that means, because you've got a series
coming up against the Loons on Monday. I think his
match number one, Jarrett brought up a topic of a
series that starts sooner than that one. So let me
(16:37):
go to this topic and then we'll go to Seattle.
And it has to do with what's possibly going on
in San Diego. And according to Tommy Scoops, now that
he is at the Athletic now, the availability of San
Diego s C star wing er Chucky Lozano for the
club's playoff run is uncertain due to an internal situation.
(16:57):
Absent from the matchday squad in decision absence due to
a verbal altercation that took place in the locker room
earlier this month's sources said summed off at halftime during
the game against Houston October four, unhappy about it verbal
altercation takes place. One source said that Losano needs to
prove how committed he is to the locker room in
order to be available to play in the playoffs. San
(17:20):
Diego obviously is going to be taking on Portland on
the weekend. Mikey Vera said after the win Saturday, he said,
we had a situation we are dealing with internally, and
so in addition to the idea of possibly signing Luca
della Torre on a permanent you got Chucky Lozano and
all of this drama. Nico not something that you need
(17:42):
heading into your first playoff series as an expansion club. No.
Speaker 1 (17:47):
I know said this when I first saw it, and
then later I put it on X. This could have
major implications because when you look at a San Diego
team that depends so much on what those talented wingers do,
and that after deciding not to keep Milan the lost key,
(18:10):
you lost that firepower and that finishing in the final third.
You need a guy like Losano, a guy that has
the magic that can at any moment in time finished
from mid range and just be another problem for defenses.
And look, no disrespect to Pelagrino, who you know, he
is a good player, and you know he's played the nine,
(18:32):
he's played out wide, and of course Dryers the MVP
of this team. But not having Losano is a problem
without a doubt for San Diego. I'm not saying against
Portland because Portland I don't know if they can really
put this San Diego team on their duress enough to
make it worth it. But whoever it gets out of
(18:52):
Minnesota and the Sounders, you best believe they're gonna benefit
if you have decided to not keep Losano. Now, I
do not know what happened. I have reached out to
some sources and it sounds like it is something that
will be resolved. So my guess is that after whatever happens,
if it's an internal disciplinary action or if it's just
(19:17):
a talk I mean he's already missed the game, or
whatever it is is going to happen. I think that
it will get resolved by the time that you need Losano.
But the Bibes are not going to be right no
matter what, and that cohesiveness and that type of identity
(19:37):
that we saw from this San Diego team kind of
depends on that kind of depends on that ability for
this team to play get as a collective. So it's
an issue. I think it'll get resolved, but you cannot
tell me that you know, Corbert, it is what you
want there at the nine with Pelagrino on the side
compared to maybe having Losano and Pelogrino at the nine.
(19:58):
I just think that Sandy it was kind of playing
with fire right now. But at the same time, I
understand that a coach is not going to be talked
to a certain way, and a coach like mikey Verus
is not going to allow diva ish type of attitudes
in his locker room. So for all accounts, I think
that the situation will be handled. But it would be
(20:22):
interesting how it affects the serenity or lack the rough
of that locker room.
Speaker 3 (20:27):
That's an interesting word, Jared, that Nico uses the serenity
of the locker room. I like that breakdown.
Speaker 2 (20:34):
But this is why we talk so much about managers
as not just tacticians, but is man managers of finding
that balance between Yeah. Yeah, this is one of the
worst times possible for you to have a player kind
of get out of pocket or proceed to get out
of pocket, however it's being reported. But you can't let
(20:57):
this kind of thing go if you're the manager, and
if if it makes this three game playoff against Portland
tricky now, but you in doing so, you establish a
hard line in the sand, and you establish a and
you were establishing a culture. Then sometimes you have to
take a half step back to keep moving forward. And
(21:20):
it's important to not let a player dictate everything like that.
And if if they're going to cause problems, you have
to you have to treat them all the same. Now
that means that doesn't mean you, you know, you're a
herd ass with everybody. You don't want to be Bud
Kilmer with everybody like every player needs to be. Do
you treat them differently to get the most out of them.
But on the discipline side of things, you can't let
(21:42):
somebody rock the boat right before the playoffs. And it's
it's a tricky situation. And it's that that man manager
side of things is one of the reasons you pay
for a good manager.
Speaker 3 (21:54):
All right, I've delayed long enough. We have to discuss
the playoff series that is happening on Monday for the start,
and it is the late one. It is nine ish,
so I guess is like nine to twenty Eastern time, Minnesota, Seattle.
The four to five and news came out late last
(22:16):
week Nico about Pedro de la Vega and it's six
to eight months in recovery for a fractured patella. Those
are not words that you really want to have in
any sentence at any time. But the impact of this,
just as as PDV was getting into that rhythm of
that of the offense and the demands that Brian Schmitzer has,
(22:37):
that is awful news at the worst time.
Speaker 1 (22:40):
It is awful news. I have been on record saying
that this minimizes Sounders' chances to go on a deep
run this playoffs. I think that is undeniable that Pedro
de la Vega was an X factor, was a game changer,
was a guy that made your attack elite. Not that
(23:04):
he cannot be good or dangerous with Paul Rothrock playing
that position, not like you don't have dept with guys
like Georgie right behind him, you know you can do
a lot of things at that winger position, even playing
Colonia a little bit higher. You know you could play
read Baker Whiteon a little bit higher. But at the
(23:25):
end of the day, you are losing a guy that
had been a proven player, that is definitely by far
your most talented attacker, that has a bag deep as
it goes when he comes to just being able to
affect and influence the game, both defensively and offensively. So
it's tough. My mind goes directly into being dishearted for
(23:49):
the player. Peter Lavega has put everything in his power
and has turned his life into just rehabit and trying
to figure out how he stays healthy, and for it
to just go down in flames against New York City FC,
you know, in a game that maybe was low stakes,
but that I felt like he needed to be out there.
(24:10):
I felt like it was I felt like it was
important for him to continue to build continuity, continue to
build minutes, continue to build, keep his form. It's just unfortunate.
So he's got surgery. Surgery went well, Brian said, six months,
you know, six to eight sounds about right. He'd be
ready for April. But I do believe that his base
(24:31):
case scenario for the player and for the club had
it been in ACL, which was my first thought, that
he was holding that knee, same need that he did
in Leannews. My mind went to ACL. So I was
happy to hear that it was a potella, and I
was happy to hear that the the idea on recovery
(24:53):
was a lot shorter than he could have been, so
we hope that he gets well. But the the Sounders'
chances are going to be impacted, even if it's against Minnesota.
I feel like they're going to struggle a bit to
break down a team that look to be honest. Minnesota
has fallen off three or four steps to where they
were at at one point. I think that not having
(25:16):
Tanny has been huge for that team. I think that
the lack of Eyoboa because of the injury has been big.
I feel like even defensively, they've showed some holes they
weren't showing earlier. So I think the Sounders are still
the favorite going into this one, regardless of what you
may see in the standings and regardless of the three
game series obviously benefited Minnesota. But I feel confident that
(25:39):
the Sounders with what they have, they can manage to
win at least Round one of the playoffs.
Speaker 3 (25:46):
Right now, looking at juice boxes for this game specifically,
not the series on the hole, Seattle is a road dog,
no real surprise, but it's not a large margin plus
one seventy right now for Seattle to win over ninety
minutes minute draw plus two forty seven and the Loons
are a plus one forty three tomorrow, Niko, we have
(26:07):
a series. I don't know if you've heard of this, gentleman.
There's a guy named Messi. Oh yeah, And so we
could have a situation where Nashville and Messi and Friends
could play four times in a row decision day three
game series. And I think the longer the series goes,
(26:31):
the more I lean toward Nashville in this one because
of experience and age and knees and joints and all
these kinds of things, and finding out that your speed
on the wings can get behind the back line of
Messi and Friends. They start things off on Friday night.
What's your early vibe on match day one?
Speaker 1 (26:49):
Yeah, both you and I are in the same page
when it comes to look, I really believe that this
format benefits Natchville, and I feel like beating a team
five two in a game that didn't really look elect
to fight too that if it's not for the nahar
a handball in the eighteen, Nashville probably does a lot
(27:10):
better in that game, but you allow momentum to shift
to Miami. I like Nashville, I really do. I think
that BJ has a real way to influence the game
and keep the ball away from MESSI Again, it all
kind of goes out of sorts when one of the
best players in soccer history arguably decides to turn it on.
(27:35):
But I do think that because of the amount of minutes,
because of the amount of familiar reality between these two teams,
I really do believe that Nashville has more weapons to
break down and expose Inner Miami than vice versa. And
because of that, and because of what I believe is
(27:59):
a more sustainable approach to the game, I think Nashville
is gonna surprise people. I think this one might go three,
but I do believe that Nashville will come out on top.
Speaker 3 (28:11):
But is it a surprise though, if Nashville takes care
of business in three.
Speaker 1 (28:14):
I mean, I think you'd say for most right, I mean,
everybody who I talked to when it comes to the pundits,
most of them have Inner Miami moving on obviously the
massive factor. And look, as much as I think Rodrigo
de Paul has been underwhelming, yeah, I mean, in my opinion,
I don't think his came on and did anything incredibly Differently,
(28:37):
I believe that without a doubt, Nashville is the better team.
So to your point, do I think it's a surprise.
I mean, I guess so. I think anytime that you
have Messi on the other end and the team has
pummeled you the week before, I think that it's fair
to call it that way. But I think we're both
(28:59):
in the same page, or maybe we should not be
a surprised because we know that Nashville is a good team.
Speaker 3 (29:05):
All right, what's going on? Pulsar Sports sounder at heart
because I know once again you're heading to the Providence
in Swedish delicatesen and five minute oil change to find
out what's going on as they get ready for the
series with Minnesota.
Speaker 1 (29:17):
Yeah, we got a lot of stuff going on obviously.
I mean, if you want to find out what Brian said,
what Jordan Morris said to us yesterday who you know, Oh,
by the way, told us how important it was for
him to get that goal in New York. One of
the positives that they come out of that game was
Jordan Morris getting that monkey of his back when he
comes to not being able to put the ball in
(29:38):
the back of the net after his injury recovery. You
can check that out of Postal Sports We're gonna be
on Love and Courches later on tonight. I believe it's
seven o'clock. We're gonna do a nice little roundtable with
Jeremiah and Noah and Ari. We're gonna be talking about
the playoffs. We're gonna be talking about the Sounders, so
go ahead and check that out. Apples to Sports. I'll
(29:58):
be putting out a video about out my ballot for
the awards ML's End of the Year Awards, although I
don't really have a ballot because MLS doesn't think I'm
good enough to have a vote, but I'm still gonna
go ahead and do it, and I'm gonna put that
video out there. So yeah, a lot of stuff coming up.
Of course, Frida, we're gonna have what we learned this
(30:19):
week with Jeremiah Shan breaking down the week that was
of training, and then on Monday, Loves Cultures kickoff with
Ori little Wall where we break down what happened during
the weekend, And obviously we have the game on Monday night,
so you're gonna have to wait to see what happened
with the Sounders till later that.
Speaker 3 (30:37):
Day and we will recap it all again, and we
reconvene here at the same time again next week as always,
my friend. Great to see it. We'll catch up with
you next week as we are now full blown in
the MLS cut playoffs. Great to see you and have
a safe weekend.
Speaker 1 (30:48):
Thank you, John, Jared, my guy's good hearing you, my
man and SDH family. Always happy to be.
Speaker 3 (30:55):
On all right. We will catch up with you in
a week's time.
Hey, what a Jared long time. How's it going, my guy?
Speaker 2 (00:05):
It's going. Yeah, moved out, moved out to the mountains,
and and and was greeted by watching RSL peter out
of the playoffs last night, uh at the hands of
Mora and UH and Phil and the Phil Nevil re
revenged tour.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
Yeah. I was surprising, for sure.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
Mm hmm. I did not have I didn't have Kamal
Miller on the Bengo card at all, scoring a goal
and then getting justin glad losing kamal Miller at the post.
I did not have that on the card at all. No.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
I actually put at a shot on frame and scored
off the first time of two years.
Speaker 3 (00:42):
So there's that that too, Yes, that too.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
Hey, I'll raise you, uh, Philippi Moore brace after twenty
plus games of no goals. I mean, he seemed like
everything went right for the Portland Timbers. I think that's
what he took to get him out of this round.
And on the same sent everything went wrong for ourselves.
I mean it fell for you know, twenty minutes of
(01:06):
that second half that they were gonna score a couple
of goals and they just they just couldn't do it.
You know, there was mistake after mistake. I have no
idea what Cruz was thinking on that free kick by
who wasn't that took it? Why is he escaping? My
name the Colombian defender? We know, we know, we gotta Yeah,
(01:32):
well the free kick is perfect. It was gonna clear
the He was going to clear the wall, and I
don't know why he just all of a sudden decides
to do some sort of moving screen and just pushes
the wall. I mean, it was completely unnecessary. And I
thought that he was a no show. You know, gossip
(01:55):
comes out and he comes in and and I thought
he was irrelevant and he ended up doing more bad
than good for Irissel. Uh So, yeah, it was definitely
a combination of things that led to Poorland moving on
to the playoffs.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
Yeah, I was now it was just oh my god,
uh that that moment where why why you're going into
the wall? That that blew my mind? Why why you
decide on a kick that was going in and it
was gorgeous it and you decide you're going to go
in and crash the wall and try to compress it
(02:32):
and try and sit there and make a distraction everything,
and you violate the spacing rule and everything. So it
was just it's like, dude, what are you doing?
Speaker 1 (02:42):
Yeah, Brian Vera, Brian Vera is not going yeah, And look,
I thought that Brian Vera was very good. I thought
that Oheita was excellent at the Luna had a lot
of moments. Quite honestly. You know when you look at
the stats, when you look at you know, if you
are uh, you know someone that that that goes into
the x G factor. I mean, our Cell should have
(03:03):
won that game. It's just it wasn't there for them
to have and they allow the Timbers to stay in
this game. And like you said, Kamal Miller there at
the end completely unmarked. He does a good job at
staying on site. I mean, you know, he sees the line,
he checks himself and then goes finds that header. But
Glad went from hero to zero there, right because he
(03:27):
gets that beautiful header. Great job of getting that goal,
you know, the two to one that kind of gave
our Cells some momentum and some life. But then, man,
that last play is just unacceptable.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
When how often do we see that though in these games,
especially a playoff game where a team where an RSL's case,
they're pushing, they're creating chances, they're forcing saves. They could
not find the breakthrough. And then after a few minutes
of that, you get one situation the other way, and
(04:03):
it's the killing blow from Portland where the RSL had chances.
You're right to tie it up. They didn't take advantage
of it, and they Portland went down, only needed one
shot and they put the game away. Man, you gotta
take those chances.
Speaker 1 (04:19):
I'm yeah, totally agree.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
Legitimately. I think if the Willie A got a bicycle
kick in the crossbar, I think we're talking about an
entirely different game with momentum and such. But you figured
that one when a goddess kick hit the crossbar instead
of going in, you figured it just wasn't going to
be their night.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
No, Altunji, you know that that there is an easy
tap in that he just doesn't get to. He doesn't
anticipate that pass was clear where he was going to go,
and he just doesn't get to it at all, Like
just not quick enough. There was just a lot of
moments for our cell where he just felt like it
wasn't gonna happen. You know, I mean, those two just
allowed goals, you know, both fair, both fair, but one
(05:02):
very unnecessary and and and just themb to be quite
a lack of better word, but yeah, you know, I
thought I was self deserved a little bit better. And
as much as the Timbers army and the atmosphere was there,
I continue to think that the Timbers are very, uh
(05:23):
sporadic and irregular in their play. I mean, look, I'm
happy for Philippine war right, and I've always thought that
he should be the nine. And I think that one
of the problems that Field Nevels had in Portland has
been that rotating door of people at certain positions, including
the nine. But look, the goals were there was a
(05:47):
little bit of luck involved, man, I mean, I don't
know because he just had, you know, a daughter I
believe he had, and it was just the moment. But
there's a ricichet on both of those goals. He just
felt like he had a magnet stuck to his foot
that just kept pulling the ball his way. But yeah, man,
I mean, I think that we can all agree that
it wasn't impressive from the Portland Timbers, but hey, sometimes
(06:10):
that's what it takes to get into the playoffs and
sometimes that makes you dangerous.
Speaker 3 (06:14):
Yep. Jarrett found the quote from ksl's Caleb Turner from
Pablo after the match quote, Brian Vera is a free
kick waved off quote That is not something we work on.
That was ad lib, man, and it was a bad
moment to ad lib, especially when the ball hit the
back of the net. And if there's one guy you
don't need to really move the wall, for the wall
(06:36):
is gonna move. It's Brian Vera. So you end up
with Pablo with one and done. I want to I
want to go to the east a little bit. And
like I said, it was something we talked about in
Hour number one, but I want to get both of
your thoughts on this as well. Nicole. Let me start
with you Oscar Pereja, and I know this is something
(06:57):
that your friends at Pulso Sports were lighting up in
the teas with you coming in. Oscar Pereh went back
to old Oscar Pereh for the Purple team at the
worst possible time this season. Instead of doing that even
keeled thing where everything's cool and you make your run
in the postseason, you go back to how it was
you hit a marker and then you just kind of
(07:19):
do the slow fade and it's just kind of like
one of these you can just kind of see everything
just fading away in the sunset, and the Purple team
wins one out of eight to wrap up the season.
Then you have the moment that you had or the
match that you had last night in bridge View, which
was a clunker, and we went over the stats there
as well, where I think Chicago had like seventy eight
(07:41):
shots and fifty nine of them were on target last night.
Does this mean that Oscar has worn out his welcome
in Orlando? Because I imagine there's going to be a
lot of thought about Oscar and the future where you
have that fade, you come crashing in, you were fourth,
(08:04):
you come into the playoffs at the nine, and you
put up a clunker in bridge View. What do you think?
Speaker 1 (08:12):
This is a very touchy subject because I feel like
there have been a lot of shots fired towards Oscar
Pereh and rightfully so, look, I was the first one
to say, as I'm watching this game, a game that
I thought that Oscar was going to plan differently, a
game where I thought that Martine Haite was going to
(08:35):
step up and be that MVP that he is, That
Maguire was going to be a guy that we all
know what he can do when he's on. But the
reality is that it was an embarrassing performance by Orlando City.
They never had control of the game, they'd have possession,
They weren't creative, There wasn't transition moments. There wasn't even
(08:58):
fight or character or response. That's what you at least
expect that of an Oscar Perea team. It almost feels
like the team gave up on him at a certain
point of this game in Chicago, just took advantage of
it and never let him get up. But two things
can be true. Do I believe that Oscar Pereja has
been unsuccessful to put Orlando City where they want to
(09:23):
be or take the next step? Absolutely, But you know,
I've heard comments about him being a fraud and all
of these things. But Oscar Perera has Oscar Perera, and
Oscar has never sold himself as this genius tactician that's
going to make your franchise this entertaining soccer. Oscar Prera
(09:43):
has specialized this on lifting programs from the ground and
making them relevant. And I thought he did that in
Orlando give them their first trophy. Right, Sure, it's a
US Open Cup, but he did it. I think he
did it in Dallas. I think he's a guy that
eventually will be in a Ring of Honor or a
Hall of Fame for Dallas, shoot maybe even for Orlando City.
(10:07):
But the reality is is that he has always been
true to his form, to his ideology, to his way
of handling teams. So the word fraud, to me is
unnecessary and inaccurate. But I do think that there is
a clear criticism of Oscar Pere has just been unabled
(10:28):
to create a team, regardless of how good it is,
because I think this comes into the picture, right. Orlando City,
on paper is a great team, and you know, Oscar
had all the resources that he possibly want. He got Moodiel,
and he got a politic, and he Kep Maguire and
(10:49):
went and got on Gulo, went and got a Twista.
I mean, everything he's wanted, he's kind of got. He's
called this his most talented team. And you're unable to
not just reach the mount, but you go on a
ten game winning winningless streak, or I think you get
one win in those ten ten games and then you
(11:09):
drop from fourth to ninth, and you have to play
this game, and now in this game, your team doesn't
come out and perform. I think that his job is
under line. I think that the criticism is fair, but
I wouldn't go so far into at calling Oscar names
(11:31):
or saying that he provided something that he did not reflect,
because I thought that he did a good job at
getting Orlando City back to relevancy.
Speaker 3 (11:42):
Here I go for it.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
I agree, it's go if. I don't know if people
truly remember, and I don't know if this is just
recency biased because we're just used to Orlando being a
functioning franchise. Oscar got there. Man, Up until Oscar got there,
they were just a series of wildly coyote cartoons in
just different forms. The Jason Christ era. O'Connor comes in
(12:10):
for O'Connor, the I remain convinced that that a chunk
of it was Nonnie when he was there, Who's a
brilliant player, one of the best of our eras growing
up as kids. But man, they were just so mentally
weak in that era, and Oscar seemed to change all
(12:33):
of that. Maybe Oscar is not the guy to take
them to the next step entirely possibly there are History
is littered with those guys who take a franchise in
any sport, in any league and take it from being
a mess to being stable and giving it a solid foundation.
They might not be the one to get you to
(12:53):
the promised land, but that that stuff matters, and maybe
you go get somebody, but I think you have to
be careful full about it because if you go get someone,
you need to make sure that they can build on
that and that it doesn't backslide. And that's a scary
decision to have to make, and especially for me right now,
(13:13):
it would be I'd be, it'd be kind of. There's
a lot of traffic with MLS teams right now. Like
you know, Atlanta's open LAFC is opening after the Cup.
There's a lot of traffic for a lot of big
teams that will want to bring in guys and want
to court managers, managers. Maybe a year after. I don't know,
(13:35):
but yeah, I what Oscar did in Dallas, what he's
done in Orlando, he's been great, and I think he
gets too defensive at times late in seasons and it
stinks and I don't like it. Roscars I don't think
I've ever heard a crossword about him. But if you,
(13:59):
if you make that, I'm not going to tell them
that they're wrong if they think they need to hit
it into another gear. But it's just it's a risky
decision man.
Speaker 3 (14:08):
M hmm.
Speaker 1 (14:08):
Yeah. No, I love that you bring that up, jury,
because I mean, that's the reality. Look as someone who
has covered Oscar Pereja, who has sat down and talked
to him countless occasions ever since his early years coaching
at Dallas, and I've sat down with him and Clavijo
rest in peace, and he is always going to be
(14:31):
true to his form, and sometimes that's fort of the
better or for worse. Look, if you're going to come
and tell me that Oscar's too conservative, y'all all agree.
If you come and tell me that he has been
unsuccessful to win major trophies, sure let's do that. If
you want to come and tell me that his tactics
at time are a little antiquated, let's have that conversation.
(14:52):
But don't tell me that he isn't a good coach
or that he was complete failure in Orlando, because I
would absolutely disagree for everything that you just said. Orlando
had been a mess and Dallas was nothing before Oscar
perej well nothing, but they had been for a long time,
(15:13):
not quite relevant until he got there and made him relevant.
So I just have a hard time with people who
are way too radical when talking about a head coach
that I know is passionate about the game, that is
extremely qualified, that goes out there and gives one hundred
and ten percent every single time he's leading a team.
(15:37):
Whether that works or not, it's fine. Whether it was
a bad decision to let Romir and Rique walk and
you know you were going to depend more on Muriel,
who you thought was at a certain form but then
it wasn't. And you know you were hoping that Maguire
was a certain guy, but then he wasn't, and you
had problems with some injuries. I'm not saying that's why
(15:57):
he failed this year. I think that there's more to it.
But at the end of the day, Oscar Perez went
out there, he did a job and he was just
unable to reach it. But but don't come and tell
me that the guy is a fraud or that the
guy should be put in soccer jail for absolutely no reason.
Speaker 3 (16:16):
Yeah, that's a that's a load of bunk, and that's
that's the terminology that I would use. I know that
we have to discuss the injury to Pedro de la
Vega and what that means, because you've got a series
coming up against the Loons on Monday. I think his
match number one, Jarrett brought up a topic of a
series that starts sooner than that one. So let me
(16:37):
go to this topic and then we'll go to Seattle.
And it has to do with what's possibly going on
in San Diego. And according to Tommy Scoops, now that
he is at the Athletic now, the availability of San
Diego s C star wing er Chucky Lozano for the
club's playoff run is uncertain due to an internal situation.
(16:57):
Absent from the matchday squad in decision absence due to
a verbal altercation that took place in the locker room
earlier this month's sources said summed off at halftime during
the game against Houston October four, unhappy about it verbal
altercation takes place. One source said that Losano needs to
prove how committed he is to the locker room in
order to be available to play in the playoffs. San
(17:20):
Diego obviously is going to be taking on Portland on
the weekend. Mikey Vera said after the win Saturday, he said,
we had a situation we are dealing with internally, and
so in addition to the idea of possibly signing Luca
della Torre on a permanent you got Chucky Lozano and
all of this drama. Nico not something that you need
(17:42):
heading into your first playoff series as an expansion club. No.
Speaker 1 (17:47):
I know said this when I first saw it, and
then later I put it on X. This could have
major implications because when you look at a San Diego
team that depends so much on what those talented wingers do,
and that after deciding not to keep Milan the lost key,
(18:10):
you lost that firepower and that finishing in the final third.
You need a guy like Losano, a guy that has
the magic that can at any moment in time finished
from mid range and just be another problem for defenses.
And look, no disrespect to Pelagrino, who you know, he
is a good player, and you know he's played the nine,
(18:32):
he's played out wide, and of course Dryers the MVP
of this team. But not having Losano is a problem
without a doubt for San Diego. I'm not saying against
Portland because Portland I don't know if they can really
put this San Diego team on their duress enough to
make it worth it. But whoever it gets out of
(18:52):
Minnesota and the Sounders, you best believe they're gonna benefit
if you have decided to not keep Losano. Now, I
do not know what happened. I have reached out to
some sources and it sounds like it is something that
will be resolved. So my guess is that after whatever happens,
if it's an internal disciplinary action or if it's just
(19:17):
a talk I mean he's already missed the game, or
whatever it is is going to happen. I think that
it will get resolved by the time that you need Losano.
But the Bibes are not going to be right no
matter what, and that cohesiveness and that type of identity
(19:37):
that we saw from this San Diego team kind of
depends on that kind of depends on that ability for
this team to play get as a collective. So it's
an issue. I think it'll get resolved, but you cannot
tell me that you know, Corbert, it is what you
want there at the nine with Pelagrino on the side
compared to maybe having Losano and Pelogrino at the nine.
(19:58):
I just think that Sandy it was kind of playing
with fire right now. But at the same time, I
understand that a coach is not going to be talked
to a certain way, and a coach like mikey Verus
is not going to allow diva ish type of attitudes
in his locker room. So for all accounts, I think
that the situation will be handled. But it would be
(20:22):
interesting how it affects the serenity or lack the rough
of that locker room.
Speaker 3 (20:27):
That's an interesting word, Jared, that Nico uses the serenity
of the locker room. I like that breakdown.
Speaker 2 (20:34):
But this is why we talk so much about managers
as not just tacticians, but is man managers of finding
that balance between Yeah. Yeah, this is one of the
worst times possible for you to have a player kind
of get out of pocket or proceed to get out
of pocket, however it's being reported. But you can't let
(20:57):
this kind of thing go if you're the manager, and
if if it makes this three game playoff against Portland
tricky now, but you in doing so, you establish a
hard line in the sand, and you establish a and
you were establishing a culture. Then sometimes you have to
take a half step back to keep moving forward. And
(21:20):
it's important to not let a player dictate everything like that.
And if if they're going to cause problems, you have
to you have to treat them all the same. Now
that means that doesn't mean you, you know, you're a
herd ass with everybody. You don't want to be Bud
Kilmer with everybody like every player needs to be. Do
you treat them differently to get the most out of them.
But on the discipline side of things, you can't let
(21:42):
somebody rock the boat right before the playoffs. And it's
it's a tricky situation. And it's that that man manager
side of things is one of the reasons you pay
for a good manager.
Speaker 3 (21:54):
All right, I've delayed long enough. We have to discuss
the playoff series that is happening on Monday for the start,
and it is the late one. It is nine ish,
so I guess is like nine to twenty Eastern time, Minnesota, Seattle.
The four to five and news came out late last
(22:16):
week Nico about Pedro de la Vega and it's six
to eight months in recovery for a fractured patella. Those
are not words that you really want to have in
any sentence at any time. But the impact of this,
just as as PDV was getting into that rhythm of
that of the offense and the demands that Brian Schmitzer has,
(22:37):
that is awful news at the worst time.
Speaker 1 (22:40):
It is awful news. I have been on record saying
that this minimizes Sounders' chances to go on a deep
run this playoffs. I think that is undeniable that Pedro
de la Vega was an X factor, was a game changer,
was a guy that made your attack elite. Not that
(23:04):
he cannot be good or dangerous with Paul Rothrock playing
that position, not like you don't have dept with guys
like Georgie right behind him, you know you can do
a lot of things at that winger position, even playing
Colonia a little bit higher. You know you could play
read Baker Whiteon a little bit higher. But at the
(23:25):
end of the day, you are losing a guy that
had been a proven player, that is definitely by far
your most talented attacker, that has a bag deep as
it goes when he comes to just being able to
affect and influence the game, both defensively and offensively. So
it's tough. My mind goes directly into being dishearted for
(23:49):
the player. Peter Lavega has put everything in his power
and has turned his life into just rehabit and trying
to figure out how he stays healthy, and for it
to just go down in flames against New York City FC,
you know, in a game that maybe was low stakes,
but that I felt like he needed to be out there.
(24:10):
I felt like it was I felt like it was
important for him to continue to build continuity, continue to
build minutes, continue to build, keep his form. It's just unfortunate.
So he's got surgery. Surgery went well, Brian said, six months,
you know, six to eight sounds about right. He'd be
ready for April. But I do believe that his base
(24:31):
case scenario for the player and for the club had
it been in ACL, which was my first thought, that
he was holding that knee, same need that he did
in Leannews. My mind went to ACL. So I was
happy to hear that it was a potella, and I
was happy to hear that the the idea on recovery
(24:53):
was a lot shorter than he could have been, so
we hope that he gets well. But the the Sounders'
chances are going to be impacted, even if it's against Minnesota.
I feel like they're going to struggle a bit to
break down a team that look to be honest. Minnesota
has fallen off three or four steps to where they
were at at one point. I think that not having
(25:16):
Tanny has been huge for that team. I think that
the lack of Eyoboa because of the injury has been big.
I feel like even defensively, they've showed some holes they
weren't showing earlier. So I think the Sounders are still
the favorite going into this one, regardless of what you
may see in the standings and regardless of the three
game series obviously benefited Minnesota. But I feel confident that
(25:39):
the Sounders with what they have, they can manage to
win at least Round one of the playoffs.
Speaker 3 (25:46):
Right now, looking at juice boxes for this game specifically,
not the series on the hole, Seattle is a road dog,
no real surprise, but it's not a large margin plus
one seventy right now for Seattle to win over ninety
minutes minute draw plus two forty seven and the Loons
are a plus one forty three tomorrow, Niko, we have
(26:07):
a series. I don't know if you've heard of this, gentleman.
There's a guy named Messi. Oh yeah, And so we
could have a situation where Nashville and Messi and Friends
could play four times in a row decision day three
game series. And I think the longer the series goes,
(26:31):
the more I lean toward Nashville in this one because
of experience and age and knees and joints and all
these kinds of things, and finding out that your speed
on the wings can get behind the back line of
Messi and Friends. They start things off on Friday night.
What's your early vibe on match day one?
Speaker 1 (26:49):
Yeah, both you and I are in the same page
when it comes to look, I really believe that this
format benefits Natchville, and I feel like beating a team
five two in a game that didn't really look elect
to fight too that if it's not for the nahar
a handball in the eighteen, Nashville probably does a lot
(27:10):
better in that game, but you allow momentum to shift
to Miami. I like Nashville, I really do. I think
that BJ has a real way to influence the game
and keep the ball away from MESSI Again, it all
kind of goes out of sorts when one of the
best players in soccer history arguably decides to turn it on.
(27:35):
But I do think that because of the amount of minutes,
because of the amount of familiar reality between these two teams,
I really do believe that Nashville has more weapons to
break down and expose Inner Miami than vice versa. And
because of that, and because of what I believe is
(27:59):
a more sustainable approach to the game, I think Nashville
is gonna surprise people. I think this one might go three,
but I do believe that Nashville will come out on top.
Speaker 3 (28:11):
But is it a surprise though, if Nashville takes care
of business in three.
Speaker 1 (28:14):
I mean, I think you'd say for most right, I mean,
everybody who I talked to when it comes to the pundits,
most of them have Inner Miami moving on obviously the
massive factor. And look, as much as I think Rodrigo
de Paul has been underwhelming, yeah, I mean, in my opinion,
I don't think his came on and did anything incredibly Differently,
(28:37):
I believe that without a doubt, Nashville is the better team.
So to your point, do I think it's a surprise.
I mean, I guess so. I think anytime that you
have Messi on the other end and the team has
pummeled you the week before, I think that it's fair
to call it that way. But I think we're both
(28:59):
in the same page, or maybe we should not be
a surprised because we know that Nashville is a good team.
Speaker 3 (29:05):
All right, what's going on? Pulsar Sports sounder at heart
because I know once again you're heading to the Providence
in Swedish delicatesen and five minute oil change to find
out what's going on as they get ready for the
series with Minnesota.
Speaker 1 (29:17):
Yeah, we got a lot of stuff going on obviously.
I mean, if you want to find out what Brian said,
what Jordan Morris said to us yesterday who you know, Oh,
by the way, told us how important it was for
him to get that goal in New York. One of
the positives that they come out of that game was
Jordan Morris getting that monkey of his back when he
comes to not being able to put the ball in
(29:38):
the back of the net after his injury recovery. You
can check that out of Postal Sports We're gonna be
on Love and Courches later on tonight. I believe it's
seven o'clock. We're gonna do a nice little roundtable with
Jeremiah and Noah and Ari. We're gonna be talking about
the playoffs. We're gonna be talking about the Sounders, so
go ahead and check that out. Apples to Sports. I'll
(29:58):
be putting out a video about out my ballot for
the awards ML's End of the Year Awards, although I
don't really have a ballot because MLS doesn't think I'm
good enough to have a vote, but I'm still gonna
go ahead and do it, and I'm gonna put that
video out there. So yeah, a lot of stuff coming up.
Of course, Frida, we're gonna have what we learned this
(30:19):
week with Jeremiah Shan breaking down the week that was
of training, and then on Monday, Loves Cultures kickoff with
Ori little Wall where we break down what happened during
the weekend, And obviously we have the game on Monday night,
so you're gonna have to wait to see what happened
with the Sounders till later that.
Speaker 3 (30:37):
Day and we will recap it all again, and we
reconvene here at the same time again next week as always,
my friend. Great to see it. We'll catch up with
you next week as we are now full blown in
the MLS cut playoffs. Great to see you and have
a safe weekend.
Speaker 1 (30:48):
Thank you, John, Jared, my guy's good hearing you, my
man and SDH family. Always happy to be.
Speaker 3 (30:55):
On all right. We will catch up with you in
a week's time.
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