June 16, 2025 • 8 mins
Seattle Sounders FC Head Coach Brian Schmetzer joins Dave Softy Mahler and Dick Fain to talk about the team’s loss to Botafogo in the Club World Cup yesterday, how it helps them improve in MLS play, the world watching, and Atletico Madrid coming up.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Casting live from the R and R Foundation specialist broad
Jazz Studio. Now back to Softie and Dick, powered by
Emerald Queen Casino, the Betty and Capital of the Northwest
on Sports Radio ninties three point three KJR.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
AM all right here he is joining us on the
radio show Nomberly on Tuesdays. But today it's a Monday
because tomorrow we have hockey at five o'clock. Let's go
Eiler's baby game six down, three to two. Got to
bring it man, no Josse Boyce. But to get the
job done tomorrow in Florida. Well, the Sounders played Barti
Fargo yesterday, played well, but ultimately a two to one
(00:35):
loss for them. But Brian, before we get to that,
we know that you're a p one of this radio station,
meaning you listen to KJR a lot. You're like our
number one fan. You got Dick Fane, foam fingers and
softy posters all that. You heard the conversation last segment
about Raphael Devers going to Boston. I'm just curious, as
a coach, do you really care how much money your
(00:55):
players are making? Like if Adrian came to you and said, hey,
I can get you what's his name? Agains Jackson, Cheat Chongo,
Cheat Show Arongo. We got to pay him a little bit,
but we can get him. What would you say to Adrian.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
Well, I don't know if that's the best example, because
I think he might be a little bit past his prime,
and you know, he's kind of got some dubious character things,
and he's been to a bunch of teams in a
bunch of different years. But what I was and what
I liked about your last segment was Jackson was pretty feisty.
(01:29):
I mean he was, I mean punching it out with
Dick and you and the conversation as a coach. We
had that problem in MLS, you know, a long time
ago when they did the designated player rule, because there
were some hits the guys that were good, but then
there were some big time misses. And so we had
David Beckham I heard was good with his teammates. We
(01:51):
had Oba, you know, he always got the guy's fancy dinners.
Raoul was really good with the young kids. I mean,
we've had some good ones, but then you miss on
a guy in our league who's making two three four
million bucks and the other guys are making two hundred
thousand dollars. That's a lot to deal with inside the
(02:12):
locker room as a coach and as a player. I mean,
you got to get those decisions right.
Speaker 4 (02:18):
So there could be dissension. Then if you bring in
a guy that's making a ton of money and he
doesn't carry his weight for whatever reason or was a
problem like this guy was in Boston obviously when he
refused to play a position, then that potentially could be
a problem with his new team.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
Well, that could be a problem for the coach for sure, Dick.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
He also could kick ass and save your ass as
a coach, save your bacon. At the same time, you know,
I'm getting pissed off with this entire conversation by the way,
I want it to be over.
Speaker 4 (02:48):
Talk about Budafalgo.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
Then well, I just I look, I just think in
the in the end, the Mariners have not deserved the
right to get the break on anything like this because
the way they run an organization has proven too to
be bearing zero fruit whatsoever. And that's what pisses me off. Brian.
I'm sorry to get on a tangent here, Palell, but that's.
Speaker 4 (03:07):
Just you realize, I'm not defending the Marina, I'm talking
about my own.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
You don't even know what's going on anymore. I'm just
very confused about everything. All right. So the two to
one loss last night, obviously nobody wants to lose. But
tell me about the way these guys fought. We spent
the last two weeks wondering how they would show up
given the controversy about pay, and it looked to me
like they played their asses off last night.
Speaker 3 (03:31):
For you. They were able to put all that stuff
aside and Dick, they played up to their potential. Uh,
you know, we fell short and maybe one or two
little areas, but I mean they played great. They played
with heart, they played with desire, They never quit. I
mean the game was exciting that you know, I was
(03:53):
rewatching it just now in my kitchen when I was
listening to you guys. I mean, it was it was
an exciting game.
Speaker 4 (03:59):
So so what do you tell them then when they
have when they fight like that, even though they were down,
they fight in the second half. To hopefully translate that
effort in a second half to when you're down in
an MLS game, which we haven't necessarily always seen that
same type of fight when you're down an MLS game.
Speaker 3 (04:16):
Well, I think, to be fair to the team, I
think the fight in this team since I've been around,
it's been there. But the quality of play, the intensity
of the play, I think is maybe where you're going
with this question. I absolutely said it in the locker
room afterward. They said, look, you guys just competed with
the know the South American champion, and you guys, if
(04:40):
you play like that in our regular season, we're gonna
win a pile of games. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
Well, I mean that's where I was going to go.
Just kind of detour for a second, guys, because Brian,
I'm sure you played baseball as a kid, used to
have a weight on your bat. When you're in the
on deck circle, you take off the weight and the
bat fills a thousand times lighter and it's so much
easier to swing. Do you really get is there a
chance after getting through this Club World Cup that you're
gonna play the MLS and you're gonna be better off
(05:08):
in the MLS for going through this experience.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
Well, I think those this experience, those types of experiences
are gonna be good for like Obed Vargas, I mean,
the kid was on fire last night. He was everywhere,
and you know, getting a taste of what it's like
at that level is gonna make him a better player.
I think it's gonna remind Christian Rodane, who put in
(05:35):
the work at midfield, It's gonna remind him of what
he was like as a twenty two year old kid
trying to make it in sport and you had to
put that extra little bit of effort in so he could,
you know, be a starter on a top team. I
think it was good for you know, some of the
other guys that came on in the second half, like Pedro,
like Reid and some of the other guys. I mean,
(05:58):
those are experiences that they we're gonna learn from.
Speaker 4 (06:01):
I just think it's cool that people from around the
world are watching Seattle Sounders FC soccer last night that
normally would maybe never have seen Seattle Sounder soccer. How
do you feel like teams and fans around the world
senior club maybe for the first time ever last night
and you put out a performance like that.
Speaker 3 (06:22):
I think it was a good performance. Look, there are
fans around the world. I maybe my crazy uncle came
from Germany to watch all three of these games, or
we do have fans around the world. But yeah, I
think it's a unique tournament. It's certainly a great opportunity
for us to showcase the Seattle Sounders, our team, our players,
(06:43):
our city. Because a lot of Botafogo fans were there.
I don't know if they all came from Brazil or
there's local people here, but there's a lot of eyeballs
in Seattle and we looked good.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
Yeah. Well, Brian Schmetzer with us, do you have to
play any differently you think facing a team like Athletic Madrid,
have a different strategy or just play the same way
and rely on your guys to just maybe do a
little bit better and do their best.
Speaker 3 (07:07):
Well, we can't give up the goals that we gave up, Softy,
because you know there at the end of the day,
you know, we gave up a silly fowl. Knew who
knows better his bonehead play. You know, the second goal.
We knew they were good on crosses. We need to
get a body on the guy. But we need to
play with the same intensity. I thought some of our
possession was really good, some of our attacking movements were
(07:30):
really good. We had some chances even in the first half.
You know, to make it one one. Albert had a chance.
You know, Heyzus Ferreira brought it into his left and
maybe could have got it on the frame. And you know,
we did some damage, but we have to play almost
a perfect game for us to really have a chance
to win.
Speaker 4 (07:50):
You mentioned the new h foul, then read Baker Whiting
came in played, Well, do you consider making a change
it forward there?
Speaker 3 (07:57):
Well? Sure, I mean everything's on the table, Dick. Look,
it was when we first started the tournament. You know,
we were thinking about, Okay, we're gonna try and go
out and win, but do we give everybody an opportunity
some guys on the roster that have done well for us. Look,
I felt really bad that I couldn't get Joe Paulo,
who played for Botafogo, on the field. But situation doesn't
(08:20):
wasn't warranted. So you know, we're gonna talk about that.
We're gonna, you know, make sure that everybody's healthy. It's
three games, three intense games in a week, so we'll
probably have to make some changes.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
All right, man, good luck this week and we will
talk down the road.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
Man.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
Appreciate it got them, all right.
Speaker 3 (08:39):
Take care guys and don't beat each other up in
the studio.
Speaker 2 (08:42):
That's too late. Now we're gonna kick each other's ass
at the emeral Queen. That's what we're gonna do, all right,
Brian Schmesser with us, good stuff out of him. We're
gonna break Cody Green, who flipped from Oregon to UW.
Why we'll ask him next on ninety three three KJRFM.
Casting live from the R and R Foundation specialist broad
Jazz Studio. Now back to Softie and Dick, powered by
Emerald Queen Casino, the Betty and Capital of the Northwest
on Sports Radio ninties three point three KJR.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
AM all right here he is joining us on the
radio show Nomberly on Tuesdays. But today it's a Monday
because tomorrow we have hockey at five o'clock. Let's go
Eiler's baby game six down, three to two. Got to
bring it man, no Josse Boyce. But to get the
job done tomorrow in Florida. Well, the Sounders played Barti
Fargo yesterday, played well, but ultimately a two to one
(00:35):
loss for them. But Brian, before we get to that,
we know that you're a p one of this radio station,
meaning you listen to KJR a lot. You're like our
number one fan. You got Dick Fane, foam fingers and
softy posters all that. You heard the conversation last segment
about Raphael Devers going to Boston. I'm just curious, as
a coach, do you really care how much money your
(00:55):
players are making? Like if Adrian came to you and said, hey,
I can get you what's his name? Agains Jackson, Cheat Chongo,
Cheat Show Arongo. We got to pay him a little bit,
but we can get him. What would you say to Adrian.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
Well, I don't know if that's the best example, because
I think he might be a little bit past his prime,
and you know, he's kind of got some dubious character things,
and he's been to a bunch of teams in a
bunch of different years. But what I was and what
I liked about your last segment was Jackson was pretty feisty.
(01:29):
I mean he was, I mean punching it out with
Dick and you and the conversation as a coach. We
had that problem in MLS, you know, a long time
ago when they did the designated player rule, because there
were some hits the guys that were good, but then
there were some big time misses. And so we had
David Beckham I heard was good with his teammates. We
(01:51):
had Oba, you know, he always got the guy's fancy dinners.
Raoul was really good with the young kids. I mean,
we've had some good ones, but then you miss on
a guy in our league who's making two three four
million bucks and the other guys are making two hundred
thousand dollars. That's a lot to deal with inside the
(02:12):
locker room as a coach and as a player. I mean,
you got to get those decisions right.
Speaker 4 (02:18):
So there could be dissension. Then if you bring in
a guy that's making a ton of money and he
doesn't carry his weight for whatever reason or was a
problem like this guy was in Boston obviously when he
refused to play a position, then that potentially could be
a problem with his new team.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
Well, that could be a problem for the coach for sure, Dick.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
He also could kick ass and save your ass as
a coach, save your bacon. At the same time, you know,
I'm getting pissed off with this entire conversation by the way,
I want it to be over.
Speaker 4 (02:48):
Talk about Budafalgo.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
Then well, I just I look, I just think in
the in the end, the Mariners have not deserved the
right to get the break on anything like this because
the way they run an organization has proven too to
be bearing zero fruit whatsoever. And that's what pisses me off. Brian.
I'm sorry to get on a tangent here, Palell, but that's.
Speaker 4 (03:07):
Just you realize, I'm not defending the Marina, I'm talking
about my own.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
You don't even know what's going on anymore. I'm just
very confused about everything. All right. So the two to
one loss last night, obviously nobody wants to lose. But
tell me about the way these guys fought. We spent
the last two weeks wondering how they would show up
given the controversy about pay, and it looked to me
like they played their asses off last night.
Speaker 3 (03:31):
For you. They were able to put all that stuff
aside and Dick, they played up to their potential. Uh,
you know, we fell short and maybe one or two
little areas, but I mean they played great. They played
with heart, they played with desire, They never quit. I
mean the game was exciting that you know, I was
(03:53):
rewatching it just now in my kitchen when I was
listening to you guys. I mean, it was it was
an exciting game.
Speaker 4 (03:59):
So so what do you tell them then when they
have when they fight like that, even though they were down,
they fight in the second half. To hopefully translate that
effort in a second half to when you're down in
an MLS game, which we haven't necessarily always seen that
same type of fight when you're down an MLS game.
Speaker 3 (04:16):
Well, I think, to be fair to the team, I
think the fight in this team since I've been around,
it's been there. But the quality of play, the intensity
of the play, I think is maybe where you're going
with this question. I absolutely said it in the locker
room afterward. They said, look, you guys just competed with
the know the South American champion, and you guys, if
(04:40):
you play like that in our regular season, we're gonna
win a pile of games. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
Well, I mean that's where I was going to go.
Just kind of detour for a second, guys, because Brian,
I'm sure you played baseball as a kid, used to
have a weight on your bat. When you're in the
on deck circle, you take off the weight and the
bat fills a thousand times lighter and it's so much
easier to swing. Do you really get is there a
chance after getting through this Club World Cup that you're
gonna play the MLS and you're gonna be better off
(05:08):
in the MLS for going through this experience.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
Well, I think those this experience, those types of experiences
are gonna be good for like Obed Vargas, I mean,
the kid was on fire last night. He was everywhere,
and you know, getting a taste of what it's like
at that level is gonna make him a better player.
I think it's gonna remind Christian Rodane, who put in
(05:35):
the work at midfield, It's gonna remind him of what
he was like as a twenty two year old kid
trying to make it in sport and you had to
put that extra little bit of effort in so he could,
you know, be a starter on a top team. I
think it was good for you know, some of the
other guys that came on in the second half, like Pedro,
like Reid and some of the other guys. I mean,
(05:58):
those are experiences that they we're gonna learn from.
Speaker 4 (06:01):
I just think it's cool that people from around the
world are watching Seattle Sounders FC soccer last night that
normally would maybe never have seen Seattle Sounder soccer. How
do you feel like teams and fans around the world
senior club maybe for the first time ever last night
and you put out a performance like that.
Speaker 3 (06:22):
I think it was a good performance. Look, there are
fans around the world. I maybe my crazy uncle came
from Germany to watch all three of these games, or
we do have fans around the world. But yeah, I
think it's a unique tournament. It's certainly a great opportunity
for us to showcase the Seattle Sounders, our team, our players,
(06:43):
our city. Because a lot of Botafogo fans were there.
I don't know if they all came from Brazil or
there's local people here, but there's a lot of eyeballs
in Seattle and we looked good.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
Yeah. Well, Brian Schmetzer with us, do you have to
play any differently you think facing a team like Athletic Madrid,
have a different strategy or just play the same way
and rely on your guys to just maybe do a
little bit better and do their best.
Speaker 3 (07:07):
Well, we can't give up the goals that we gave up, Softy,
because you know there at the end of the day,
you know, we gave up a silly fowl. Knew who
knows better his bonehead play. You know, the second goal.
We knew they were good on crosses. We need to
get a body on the guy. But we need to
play with the same intensity. I thought some of our
possession was really good, some of our attacking movements were
(07:30):
really good. We had some chances even in the first half.
You know, to make it one one. Albert had a chance.
You know, Heyzus Ferreira brought it into his left and
maybe could have got it on the frame. And you know,
we did some damage, but we have to play almost
a perfect game for us to really have a chance
to win.
Speaker 4 (07:50):
You mentioned the new h foul, then read Baker Whiting
came in played, Well, do you consider making a change
it forward there?
Speaker 3 (07:57):
Well? Sure, I mean everything's on the table, Dick. Look,
it was when we first started the tournament. You know,
we were thinking about, Okay, we're gonna try and go
out and win, but do we give everybody an opportunity
some guys on the roster that have done well for us. Look,
I felt really bad that I couldn't get Joe Paulo,
who played for Botafogo, on the field. But situation doesn't
(08:20):
wasn't warranted. So you know, we're gonna talk about that.
We're gonna, you know, make sure that everybody's healthy. It's
three games, three intense games in a week, so we'll
probably have to make some changes.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
All right, man, good luck this week and we will
talk down the road.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
Man.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
Appreciate it got them, all right.
Speaker 3 (08:39):
Take care guys and don't beat each other up in
the studio.
Speaker 2 (08:42):
That's too late. Now we're gonna kick each other's ass
at the emeral Queen. That's what we're gonna do, all right,
Brian Schmesser with us, good stuff out of him. We're
gonna break Cody Green, who flipped from Oregon to UW.
Why we'll ask him next on ninety three three KJRFM.
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