March 27, 2025 • 45 mins
Tonight on Sounders Weekly, Jackson Felts reacts to Seattle's 0-0 draw against Houston, then updates everything going on in the US Open Cup including hearing from Kelyn Rowe after Ballard's loss, Ari Liljenwall jumps on to update MLS action around the league and discuss a report about a new Sounders player, and San Jose play-by-play voice Ted Ramey joins the show to preview Saturday's match against the Earthquakes.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Coming to you live from our Elliot Avenue studios of
Sports Radio ninety three point three KJRFM. This is Sounders
Weekly with your host Jackson Felts.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Good evening, everybody, Welcome into Sounders Weekly. Jackson Feltz here
for the next hour on a Wednesday edition this week
of Sounders Weekly for the next hour covering all things Seattle,
Sounders FC soccer. Jackson Feltz with you, and we thank
you for tuning in tonight busy show ahead, we're gonna
be hearing in a little bit from the player Kellen
(00:32):
Rowe as opposed to the broadcaster Kelen row of course,
who does our pregame, halftime postgame shows here on KJAR.
And he was also signed with Ballard FC recently last
week Ballard. One week ago Ballard went out in the
US Open Cup. We'll get into that in a little bit.
Had the chance to catch up with Kellen, who made
(00:53):
I guess a little bit of news in the interview.
So if you've been on social media you heard that.
If you have not, we will share that with you
in the conversation with kell and Rowe come up in
a little bit. After he played eighty minutes for Ballard FC,
there in last week's Open Cup loss to Spokane. We're also,
of course going to go around the league with Ari
(01:13):
Lillionwall of Major League Soccer and the podcast Lobbing Scorches.
Ari will react to the Sounders zero zero draw against Houston.
He'll also talk about what's going on around the rest
of Major League Soccer, and as I heard on Monday's
edition of Lobbing Scorches, they broke some news with Nico Moreno,
so we'll ask him about that specific piece of news
(01:35):
that will be very interesting to Sounder fans. And then
of course later on tonight we will preview the Sounders
next match, and that will be against the San Jose Earthquakes.
Let's quickly get you broadcast details on that. So this
last week, if you listened to the Sounders Houston match,
you have been listening on the Sounders FC radio stream
channel on iHeartRadio. Whether it's the iHeartRadio app which is
(01:58):
free redesigned very cool. You can download the iHeart Radio app,
or you can just go to iHeartRadio on whatever internet
browser you use. You go up the Sounders FC radio
stream channel and that is where you heard Sounders Houston.
That is also where you will hear Sounders San Jose
Earthquakes this coming Saturday night. We'll have actually Michelle Ludca
(02:22):
be doing the pregame, halftime, postgame, I'm gonna be doing
play by play alongside Brad Evans this coming Saturday night.
Of course, in addition to that, and by the way,
the Providence, Swedish premat show will begin at seven o'clock
kickoff right around seven point thirty. Once again, Sounders FC
radio stream channel on the iHeartRadio app or iHeartRadio. You'd
also watch the match via MLS Season Pass on the
(02:44):
Apple TV app and listen in Spanish language on LRA
thirteen sixty. I will also mention that Saturday's match is
presented by the Western Washington Toyota Dealers. Ted Rainy, the
play by play voice of the San Jose Earthquakes, will
be joining us for our final segment tonight, as Ted
and I will kind of in depth break down this
earthquake squad, now coached by Bruce Arena, maybe the most
(03:08):
decorated United States men's national team coach ever. Obviously so
much time La Galaxy, New England Revolution.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
He's now in.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
San Jose, so we want to talk to Ted about
how exactly the whole Bruce Arena show is going down
in San Jose coming up later on tonight, But we
will start the show really quickly by kind of reacting
a little bit to that Houston zero zero draw.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
And you know, it's funny. I think two things can
be true.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
I think you can a believe that the Sounders will
be just fine. Offensively, I'm talking about here defensively, rock solid.
We're never going to have any problems with the defense,
even when new who is with Cameroon John Bell slides
in defense is very very good. Still, that's never going
to be a problem. But offensively, I think two things
can be true. You can think that this team will
(03:58):
be fine. Hayes'ssarira, he's only played two games at the
number nine, obviously still working in chemistry. I mean, Brian
Schmitzer spoke at a press conference yesterday, and you know,
one of the interesting things talking to him was about
hayesus Ferreira, and and he said that, you know, he's
putting himself in good positions, teammates aren't finding him well.
(04:19):
That screams to be a chemistry issue. And chemistry issues
get figured out over time. So overtime, and in the
long run, I think that'll be figured out. We'll obviously
get Jordan Morris back in three or four weeks, Pedro
de Levega back in two to three weeks. These guys
are going to be coming back within a month, right.
So the offense, I think it'll be fine. And I mean,
(04:40):
look at last year, right, last year, this team was
horrendous to start twenty twenty four. And we can laugh
about it now, but we can laugh about it because
the team ended up being in the Western Conference Final,
and you know, for my money, you don't make that
mistake there late in that game. We're going to extra time,
and we're very close to a chance to go play
(05:02):
for an MLS Cup at home against New York Red Bulls,
which I think we would have taken care of. So
the margins and MLS are so slim, right, But the
start was so bad. Even this year, it hasn't been
as bad as the start from last year. So all
of this to say, I think we're going to be okay.
But going back to it, I think two things can
(05:23):
be true. You can say we're gonna be okay and
point to all of those reasons why, but you can
also be very frustrated by the product that was put
out there on the field on Saturday against Houston. You know,
I wanted to start the show and I wanted to
really talk about Christian Rodon's honor in Jordan Morris, Nicholas
Ladero's return. But I think it is important to have
a quick conversation and kind of be open and honest
(05:46):
and real.
Speaker 3 (05:47):
You know, I always try to be that on this show.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
I know I'm a club broadcaster, but at the same time,
I don't want to be a full on apologist and
I don't want to talk down to people.
Speaker 3 (05:55):
I mean, I'm a fan.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
The only thing that makes me different from you all
out there is the that I'm talking into a microphone.
I'm just as big of a fan, right, So I
never want to do that. I think it's important to
be real and talk very honestly. And it was frustrating.
It wasn't a lot of fun to watch a zero
zero game, and for I know many of you guys
out there allumin field standing in the rain watching that. So,
(06:20):
you know, I think that talking about those frustrations and
kind of understanding why certain things happened, you know, kind
of to the point of hees who's far right, still
working into the squad, still trying to build chemistry. It's
a different system obviously. I mean one of the funny
things in the pregame show that I had with Pete
Fewing and Chance Fry was I asked, this lineup is
(06:42):
listed as a three four to three and we've seen
it for a few weeks now listed as a three
four three, But how does it function any differently from
a four two three one, or a three five two
or a three four to two one, right, all these numbers,
and you know, they kind of laughed it off and said, really,
they are just numbers, right, And I think that we
are seeing a few specific things like Paul Rothrock last
(07:04):
year was just a left winger, but this year he's
more of a left wing back, so obviously few more
defensive responsibilities for Paul Rothrock is probably the best word
for it. So if last year it was attack, attack,
attack defend, this year it is a little bit more attack, defend,
attack defend, so that obviously takes away something on the
(07:24):
offensive end. You have the injuries, so you have Christian
rolled On having to play up a line, you know,
and that obviously is an entirely different chemistry building, you know,
experience where Christian's playing alongside Albert and alongside heyesus in
the three four to three or however numbers you want
to play it. So there's reasons, I think for why
it didn't look good. They had chances. I think in
(07:46):
between about I don't know about the thirty fifth minute
to the fifty fifth minute, that twenty minute stretch, I
feel like the Sounders put a lot of you know,
interesting and exciting and fun play together that looked like
it could have resulted in a goals. Even late in
the game. I think Georgie attacking off the right, he
hits a shot or a cross that gets knocked away,
(08:09):
the ball lands at Paul Rothrock's foot, but Albert Rusnak
just you know, I think his momentums right in the
lane of Rothrock, and you know, shot goes wrong. So
there's these little mistakes that are mounting, and that's another
reason why we see just you know, I don't want
to say it's not fun to watch, because again, there
(08:29):
were a good twenty minutes in there, but so much
of the stretches of that game before the thirty fifth
minute and then you know, i'd say the last third
of the match, you're kind of just wanting more from
this attack. You're wanting more from these guys. You're wanting
that chemistry to be there. And for Georgie such an
exciting player working down that right wing, but at a
certain point Houston figured him out. And we have to
(08:52):
give credit to the Houston Dynamo. They did an excellent
job defensively of basically saying, you know, a Georgie, we
know you're going to run at us, so we're gonna
load you up with two maybe three defenders whenever it
looks like you're going to, you know, run at a defender.
They did a great job with him, but also they
just clogged the box. I mean, frankly, they kind of
(09:13):
just came into this game. We talked last week with
Hayesu's Oscevedo Junior on this show, and I asked him,
do you think that because of how badly Houston has
been do you just look to come to Seattle to
get one point with a draw or do you go
for it and try to make a statement with three points?
And you know, instantly he was just like, no, it's
it's a draw, we're going we're going to Seattle. We're
(09:33):
gonnamuck up the game, we're gonna make it ugly, and
we're gonna want to get out of there with a point.
Credit to Houston, they did that exact plan that Hazu's
Osceivado Junior said they did. They came in, they mucked
it up. They had what, I don't know how many
fouls it was, It felt like twenty fouls. They only
had six shots one on target to Seattle's sixteen and six.
I mean, they were asking for it all game of
(09:55):
just come on, Seattle, you can attack us. We're gonna
defend strong, we're gonna make this ugly and we're not
going to allow you to score. And Houston did an
excellent job of that. But when you're facing a team
that does that, I mean, Jul Paulo and Brian Schmizer,
one of them, maybe both of them said this yesterday,
but when your Plan A isn't working on the offensive end, you.
Speaker 3 (10:16):
Got to have a Plan B.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
And that Plan B didn't show up in the game
against Houston, and that's what kind of made it a
very ugly game to watch and what's resulted in a
zero zero draw where a lot of fans left the building.
I mean, you look at what happened to Houston. It
was actually that game at lumen Field was the first
of eleven games this season as part of the First
(10:40):
Match on US program. We talked about this a few
shows back. In case you haven't heard about the First
Match on US program. Very cool new thing that the
Sounders unveiled last month. So if you've never gone to
a Sounders game, or if maybe if you've gone to
a Sounder game with a friend, if you've never bought
tickets through the Sounders website, you can go to a
(11:00):
Sounder game for free this year. If you just a
simple thing to do I can tell you is to
google Sounder's First Match on Us and you'll bring up
the web page for First Match on Us. You can register.
You can go to one of eleven games this year
for free. You have a whole welcome package. I believe
there's a complimentary scarf, a very cool one black and
(11:20):
green that says let's rave on it.
Speaker 3 (11:22):
There's a whole.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
Program, you know, for being you know, a new fan essentially,
And this was the first match of the eleven match
program First Match on Us and we saw that in
the crowd. I mean over thirty one thousand people. I
felt it there. You know, even you know, a few
thousand more than the normal crowd of you know, whether
it's twenty nine whatever, thousand, Having a couple more thousand
(11:46):
made a difference. I'll tell you what. In energy, it
was a great crowd. It was an engaged crowd, and
I felt it, and I know a lot of other
people up in the booth did, and that makes a difference. So,
you know, to have those extra new fan you're trying
to build a new fan base, you're trying to you know,
grow the soccer and the Sounders in this city, and
(12:07):
to see a zero zero game, yeah, it's frustrating. And
I feel the frustration not only from them who are
seeing their first game, but also for long time Sounder
fans who are going out there saying you know, I
read Reddit comments, right and some Reddit comments were saying
that was a boring game.
Speaker 3 (12:24):
And you know, I would say that.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
For large stretches the first third, the last third, I
could see what you're kind of going for there. There's
a lot of reasons why, and you know it goes
to the reasons we just talked about, and it's up
to the team to kind of find that Plan B
and find that Plan C. So when a team like
Houston says, no, we're gonna come in, we're just gonna defend.
We're okay with a point, you gotta, obviously, you know,
(12:49):
figure out what those other plans are in order to
a make it exciting and make it fun. And I
think a lot of that is derived from scoring, right,
so derived from the offensive movements that can get a
goal in the back of the net. And you know,
I feel for those couple thousand fans, And if you're
one of those couple thousand who were part of the
(13:09):
first Match on US program that are listening right now
and they're all you're also frustrated because of what you
saw Saturday against Houston, I would say, A, I feel you,
and that makes a lot of sense, and I understand
the way you're feeling and also be that I would
also say that normally sounder games aren't like that. We're
gonna get a couple of those every year. But also
(13:30):
this team can be ridiculously fun. We're just a couple
of weeks removed from the five to two win over
LAFC where we knocked five goals in the back of
their net. That was fun, that was exciting, and I
think that's more of the norm than it is a
zero zero game. Ultimately, I think this team will look better.
And if you're listening and you were part of the
(13:51):
first Match on Us program, and you know, if you're
listening and going to an upcoming Sounder game as part
of the first Match on Us program, there will be
many more exciting game to be had. But it is
just frustrating because right Houston bottom of the table, a
team that's rolling in here clearly just saying we just
want a point and not able to score one.
Speaker 3 (14:12):
Against a team like that.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
Yeah, I get it, and I feel your frustration and
I share it too. A Chance Frying the postgame show
was talking about how you know, and I asked him, like, gosh,
how do you get this confidence back? Because confidence will
lead to scoring goals, which will lead to fun, which
will lead to all of us having fun in the sands.
And he said, you just got to get back to
the simple things. You gotta run drills in training building
(14:36):
towards confidence, and hopefully we're doing that in practice this week,
which will lead to scoring goals on Saturday. Now it
is three straight road games, so we're probably not gonna
see the Sounders at home again until they get perhaps
Pedro and Jordan back. We have San Jose on the
road this week, then we have San Diego on the
road after that, then we have Dallas on the road
(14:58):
after that before we finally return home. So this team
will be on the road for a few weeks. And
I have no problem mucking up and making it an
ugly game on the road, especially more of a defensive
game when it's on the road. But when you're at home,
when you have thirty one thousand, when you have people
in for the first match on US program, yeah, I
would love for it to be more of an exciting, fun,
(15:18):
scoring goals type of atmosphere, and I do think we
will get that in the very near future. I mentioned
what we have ahead San Jose. Ted Raimi, the play
by play voice for the San Jose Earthquakes, will join
us coming up to preview that. Let's switch gears though
to Open Cup action, the US Open Cup Sounders are
not in US Open Cup action, but to coma Defiance
(15:40):
is in Open Cup action. Last week to coma Defiance
one three to one over Washington Athletic Club. They have
moved on to the second round of the US Open Cup.
The team they're gonna be facing is Spokane Velocity. And
the way that Spokane Velocity got to the second round
is including Ballard FC. Because Ballard FC hosted Spokane for
(16:01):
the second straight year in twenty twenty four. This was
at Memorial Stadium. Last year, Spokane scored in the ninety
fourth minute to get a one nothing win over Ballard
in the first round of the Open Cup. So what
happened this year? Same situation, Spokane at Ballard. This time
was at the Ballard's home stadium, Inner Bay, and this
(16:23):
game went past the ninety fourth. This game went all
the way to the one twentieth and two seconds before
the clock hit one twenty. We're at one hundred and
nineteen minutes and fifty eight seconds on the clock. Spokane
is attacking. Moments before we go to penalty kicks. Spokane's
attacking into the west side of the stadium and they
(16:43):
take a shot. It hits a wicked deflection off of
a Ballard defender's foot, ends up in the back of
the net. The clock strikes one twenty and a few
minutes afterwards, final whistle goes and just like last year,
at the death, Spokane make it through one to nothing
over Ballard to the next round of the US Open Cup.
(17:05):
Absolute heartbreak for Ballard. F C Oh my goodness. I
was there, you know, just a little bit like Houston.
It was in the rain, and it was frustration, you know,
not being able to score offensively for Ballard, but it
was you know, it was a fun atmosphere as it
always is for Ballard FC games. Now, a player who
played eighty minutes the first eighty minutes of that Ballard
(17:28):
match is Kellan Row, obviously former Sounders midfielder and former
Sounders defender. He decided to sign on with Ballard for
the Open Cup run. After the game, I was able
to catch up with Kellen and you're gonna hear that
conversation coming up in just a moment. But he said
in this conversation that that's it, Kellan Row done playing.
(17:50):
He said, it was one final night and here's what
Kellen Rowe had to say. It was heartbreaking, but we
were able to catch up after Ballard's won nothing defeat
in the US Open Cup last week. First off, you
played a lot of play a lot of games your career.
Where is a one hundred and twenty eight minute heartbreaker
rank up there for for that?
Speaker 4 (18:09):
Man, this one sucks because those these kids, like just
they work so hard. Yeah, like they they wanted it
so much, and like, I'm glad that they let me play.
But man, these these these guys are gonna be good players.
It's just cool for me to see the talent that
we have coming out of you know, the you do
the Seattle, you guys around here, even guys that flew
in like a Sean sent going to UCLA now, which
(18:30):
obviously album monitors, So it's kind of cool. But man,
it's the heart that these guys put in is is
something to me admirable because and it's I hope they
put it into the pro level because a lot of
times you don't see it all the way through the
team and these guys they just want to go play.
Speaker 5 (18:43):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (18:44):
So it's a heartbreaker for these because I want them
to play more and more. They deserve to play more
and more. They've worked hard enough to do so. But
you know, it's it's a positive team going into summertime.
It's gonna be a fun tam to watch.
Speaker 3 (18:54):
I feel like a lot of.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
What you just said there is is kind of going
to the next question, which is why you wanted to be.
Speaker 6 (18:58):
A part of this.
Speaker 4 (18:59):
Well, I wanted to be a part of it because
I wanted to come back and have that last for Rah,
and they were, you know, willing and able to give
it to me, and these, like I said, these guys
that have been putting in the work of you know,
it's almost like a mentoring piece as well, where I
can kind of coach on the field, because.
Speaker 3 (19:14):
I don't want to be a coach, but I could
do it. I could do a while playing.
Speaker 4 (19:17):
So I didn't think I was gonna last eighty minutes.
I thought it was maybe forty five. So I'll give
myself a little bit for that. But how do you
evaluate those lady?
Speaker 3 (19:25):
Good enough? Good enough? I wish it was a little cleaner.
Speaker 4 (19:29):
Obviously, I've been out of the game for a while
because competitively, maybe almost two years since I've played a
real game and get some real minutes.
Speaker 3 (19:35):
So I'm probably not gonna be able to walk for
the next two days. But it's it's all worth it.
Speaker 2 (19:39):
I mean, overall, looking ahead, I mean, this is obviously
open Cup. You got a USL two season ahead? How
do you much do you kind of step in the
locker room and say we got to kind of change
gears and look ahead to a USL two season ahead.
Speaker 4 (19:50):
They're gonna be looking forward. There is, Like I said,
there's a lot of excitement coming in. The fans got
to see the excitement. They got to see that these
kids can put in all the effort and there's a
lot of chances there. It's gonna be a lot of fun.
I am going to be a fan now I had
my time?
Speaker 2 (20:02):
Was it?
Speaker 5 (20:02):
This was it?
Speaker 3 (20:03):
This is a one night and one night only show.
Speaker 4 (20:05):
Really?
Speaker 3 (20:05):
Oh yeah, so this is it? And I've been done
for two years. I'm done.
Speaker 5 (20:09):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (20:09):
Oh I'm a one hundred and twentieth minute goal. I'm
okay with it. It was good with me.
Speaker 2 (20:14):
So there it is from Kellan Row. That seems and
sounds like the end for him. Uh, but very fun
to see him play. Eighty minutes. Eighty good minutes by
the way. He was good on the field there for
Ballard FC, Spokane Velocity get the win. They are through
to face Tacoma Defiance in the next round of the
US Open Cup. But we'll turn our attention back to
the Seattle Sounders and back to Major League Soccer. Ari
(20:37):
Lillianohl from MLS Soccer dot Com and the podcast Lobbing Scorchers.
He will join us next here on Sounders Weekly on
Sports Radio ninety three point three kjr FM.
Speaker 3 (20:47):
Now back to.
Speaker 1 (20:47):
Sounders Weekly on your home for Sounders FC, Seattle's Sports
Radio ninety three point three kjr FM.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
Welcome back Sounders Weekly, Jackson Feltz here on ninety three
point three kjr F. Good to have you tonight on
back to our normal night of Wednesdays again. We're switching
to Tuesday next week. I'll quickly tell you that Sounders
FC Soccer is presented by Providence Swedish, the official healthcare
partner of Sounders FC. Thanks for spending that first twenty
minutes with us, and that it's perfect time to kind
(21:17):
of get our two cents from one of our experts
from Major League Soccer dot com, where he is a
writer and editor also host of the podcast Lobbing Scorchers.
Speaker 3 (21:25):
Ari Lillian Wall Ari, how you doing tonight, man?
Speaker 6 (21:29):
I'm good, Jackson? How are you?
Speaker 3 (21:30):
I'm all right? Ari, I'm all right.
Speaker 2 (21:32):
Let's start kind of just almost an extension of that
previous segment where I kind of talked about how Saturday
night against Houston wasn't fun, And I think two things
can be true. You can say that this team will
be all right and will be in contention at the end,
but also for incontention, I think for an MLS Cup
at the end, but also look at the realities. And
what were your takeaways from Saturday's zero zero game against Houston.
Speaker 5 (21:56):
Yeah, I take the issue. The way that I see
is that.
Speaker 6 (22:00):
Looks that looks too much like the team that we
saw last year at the beginning of the season when
they were really struggling on offense. You saw some decent
chance generation but they couldn't finish. And you know, they
obviously are injury.
Speaker 3 (22:14):
Riddled right now.
Speaker 6 (22:15):
But I think even with that taken into account, one
goal against the Houston Dynamo at home is not an
unreasonable ask or expectation with the lineup that they did
put out on the field. So uh, I think you're
still getting hastys Perira integrated. You are ravaged by injuries,
so those things are You're gonna have to deal with them,
(22:36):
but you need to figure out how to score some goals.
And take results in the meantime. And what you can't
do is have this snowball into a thing where you're
just doing the same thing that you did last year
when you're in this situation, like they need to, they
need to turn that around.
Speaker 2 (22:50):
They do, and they certainly do. And you know, I
think we'll see it soon with Pedro and Jordan returning.
But before they return, I mean, we can't.
Speaker 6 (22:56):
I will.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
What I said the previous segment was we can't be
missing one or two of our attackers and have the
whole thing breakdown. Ari, Let's talk about some news that
was made a couple of days ago on Lobbing Scorches.
You have your Monday morning live show for Lobbing Scorches
where Nico Moreno also joins, And I understand there was
some news that came out of your Monday Morning Lobbing Scorches.
Speaker 6 (23:19):
Yeah there was. Nico broke a report earlier in the
day that the Sounders are linked to a potential transfer target,
a free agent by the name of Ryan Kent, who
similar name to the guy from ted lasvill but it's
not the guy from ted Lasso. But my impression of
it is, this is your de facto Paul Ariolo replacement
(23:42):
with him obviously going down with the torn acl it
seems like there's similarities skill set wise there. He can
be a threat from out wide and was a member
of the Liverpool Academy when he played his youth soccer
and has played in the English Championship. He's played in
Scotland as in the Scottish Fight for Rangers, and he
was just playing in Turkey for Jose Mourinho's team and
(24:04):
had a falling out with him, So that that could
be the coming edition that hopefully will boost the team's attack.
Speaker 2 (24:11):
Ryan Kent with a bit of an injury history, but
that would certainly boost it. You know, is it two
on the nose for there to be a he's the
He's here, he's there, He's every bleeping where Ryan Kent.
Speaker 3 (24:24):
Ryan kN does that two on the nose?
Speaker 6 (24:26):
You know, people have already been been making that reference.
So I think when you're named Ryan Kent and you
play professional soccer, that is probably just the reality of
what's going to follow you no matter where you play.
Speaker 2 (24:39):
All right, well, well exactly we'll see what comes of that.
But good report there from Nico Moreno there who joins
Lobbing Scorches every Monday morning. Are you where can people
not only Monday but also Thursdays? Where can they tomorrow
night coming up? Where can people catch your live lobbing Scorches.
Speaker 6 (24:57):
Yeah, all you have to do is look up the
Lobbing Scorchers YouTube, subscribe to the channel, turn on notifications,
and you will know anytime that we go live every
Monday at eight am and every Thursday at seven thirty pm.
It's a lot of fun. Nico is my co host
on the Monday show and then the Thursday show. I've
been having a rotating cast of guests, so it's definitely
worth stopping by.
Speaker 2 (25:17):
Yeah, it was great joining you at the start of
the season two and you do great work there on
Lobbing of Scorches. Ario Luine was our guest. That's his podcast.
He also is a writer and editor for MLS Soccer
dot Com. All right, Ario, let's bounce around the league
for a couple of minutes.
Speaker 5 (25:29):
Here.
Speaker 2 (25:30):
Let's start with Charlotte, because Charlotte, you know, in relation
to what's coming with Seattle. With San Jose this week,
they looked real good. For one, I think the Player
of the Match day pet Beal is the overall with
what a goal, a couple assists, great game for Charlotte,
And you know, I kind of feel like I've asked
this before, but I'll ask it again. You know, at
(25:50):
the end of the season, are we gonna look at
that draw and I get it, who was in, who
was out? Situation's late goal, But this is a Charlotte
team that is sort of making head lines at the
start of the season. Is a pretty good team out East.
Speaker 6 (26:03):
Yeah, the whole story with them coming into the season
was they were a team that had a solid foundation.
They were good defensively, but just not dynamic or productive
enough in attack to be a true contender. And I
think a lot of people looked at their offseason and
we're like, all right, maybe they can actually take that
next step and become an actual contender in the East.
(26:24):
And yeah, so far, it's definitely looking like they're.
Speaker 3 (26:27):
Going to make good on that.
Speaker 6 (26:28):
I think Dean Smith has proven to be a good
higher for them. He just signed an extension, but it
seems like he's built a really solid culture there and
their roster just seems like it's in a much better
place this year than it was last year. So I
fully expect them to stay a contender in the Eastern Conference,
and I do think looking at that Seattle game, I'll
(26:50):
never call that a good result because of how they
dropped those points. Yeah, but that that was a very
good team that they were playing in that game. I
think we can safely say that.
Speaker 2 (26:59):
Well, the team they be in that game San Jose Earthquakes,
which is Seattle's next opponent. I guess all the question is,
you know, who are the real San Jose Earthquakes. We
saw such good soccer from them in the first two
weeks of the season where they won both of their
first couple, and then since then it's kind of not
been very good. So who are these San Jose Earthquakes.
Speaker 6 (27:18):
I think they're not as bad as they were last year,
which is an admittedly extremely low bar because they got
the Wooden spoon and gave up almost eighty goals. Last
year they broke the record for goals conceded, so it'd
be pretty hard to have a season that bad two
years in a row. And I think Bruce Arena that's
about as good to hire as they could have managed
(27:38):
in terms of just a guy who knows the league
and knows how to build a successful roster in this league.
So I think, to me, it seems like so full
lot to see, but so far it seems like they're
in a much better place, but it also seems like
they still do have defensive issues. I think they're actually
they look like they're probably going to be a pretty
good team offensively, but I think they're still going to
(28:01):
be susceptible to leaking goals, which obviously, with how goal
star Seattle is right now, they need to capitalize on that.
Speaker 3 (28:07):
We certainly do.
Speaker 2 (28:08):
That sounds just like ripe for the picking to be
able to score and kind of get off the Schneid,
break the dam, all that good stuff. Ariy Lillian was
our guest MLS Soccer dot Com in the podcast Lobbing
scorcheres here on Sounders Weekly tonight. Are there's a lot
of things we can talk about here with our last minute.
I mean, I don't want to mention the fact that
Portland got a big win over Colorado. I guess I
just did LAFC right of the ship with a two
(28:30):
nothing win over Kansas City. Where I do want to
go is Vancouver Chicago, because Vancouver finally losing. But it's
the Chicago Fire and Greg Burhalter and maybe, yeah, we
can talk about Vancouver. We've talked about them a lot.
But for the Chicago Fire, I mean, that's right now,
what three straight wins for them? You know, does Burrholter
(28:51):
kind of have something going there in Chicago?
Speaker 6 (28:54):
Yeah, no, I think he does. The story with the
Chicago Fire for the last I don't even know how
many years, is that they're a team that is I've
never seen a team more incapable of holding a lead
in my life than the Chicago Fire of the last
five years. And that it turns out that that has
been extremely hard for anyone who's coaching them to undo.
Once that type of thing like gets in your DNA,
(29:16):
it's pretty hard to get it out of your DNA.
And that was the task that Greg Burhalter had. And
you know, it's still early, but these three straight wins,
they're holding leads, they're scoring goals. They just beat a
white Caps team, like you mentioned, that's been one of
the big stories of the early season. So they have
to sustain it. We've seen the Chicago Fire be hot
(29:37):
in spurts before and then it comes crashing down. But
I think I think Burholter is doing a good job there,
and frankly, if you watch the US men's national team
play in CONGA Cap Nations League, maybe they should have
kept him.
Speaker 2 (29:50):
I don't know, maybe just to quickly follow up there,
being that the Vancouver why Caps didn't have Ryan Gold
or Brian White and they had internation duty and I
know they're dealing with Conka.
Speaker 3 (30:01):
CAF as well.
Speaker 2 (30:02):
Yes it's their first loss, but not reading too much
into that, I would imagine.
Speaker 6 (30:07):
Uh yeah, not really. I mean, I think they'd been
playing well with Ryan Gall without Ryan Gold, but eventually
he's their most important player, so it doesn't surprise me
to see a little downturn while he's still out.
Speaker 3 (30:19):
Good stuff, my friend.
Speaker 2 (30:20):
Uh, look forward to seeing you back in a few
weeks before we get back to lumin Field together. But
we'll enjoy your lobbing scorches live tomorrow night. Everybody subscribe
to that and get notified when you Ari go is
live there on Monday mornings and Thursday nights, and have
a very good rest of the week, my.
Speaker 6 (30:36):
Friend, Thanks, Jax, appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (30:39):
That's good stuff there.
Speaker 2 (30:39):
From Ari Lillienwall Again, writer and editor for MLS Soccer
dot Com and host of the podcast Lobbing Scorches Well
michelob Ultra ninety five calories and two point six grams
of carbs. It's only worth it if you enjoy it.
We talked for a minute there about the San Jose earthquakes,
but let's go deep into San Jose because their play
by play voice Ted Rainey, who does the radio play
(31:00):
by play out there in San Jose. He will join
us next to preview Saturday's match between the Sounders and Quakes.
That's next on Sounders Weekly Sports Radio ninety three point
three KJRFM.
Speaker 1 (31:11):
Now back to Sounders Weekly on your home for Sounders
FC Cle's Sports Radio ninety three point three kjr FM.
Speaker 2 (31:19):
Welcome back Sounders Weekly, Jackson Feltz. Good to have you
with us here late tonight on a special Wednesday edition
here at Sounders Weekly again. We'll have a Tuesday show
next week at eight pm and we'll get back to
our normal Wednesday seven pm shows when the Kraken season
is over.
Speaker 3 (31:36):
Well thanks to.
Speaker 2 (31:37):
Our guest so far tonight, Kellen Rowe, the player for
Ballard FC, also broadcaster of course after Ballard's loss, and
ari E Lillion Wall that previous segment. But joining us
right now here is the play by play voice of
the San Jose Earthquakes here to preview this Saturday's match,
and I need lots of information for the play by
play call coming up on Saturday evening. Ted ray Amy,
(32:00):
our good friend is back. Ted.
Speaker 3 (32:02):
How you doing Man? Good to have you back on
the show, Action.
Speaker 5 (32:05):
Jackson Man, what's going on? Man? I am always excited
to talk with you and you literally when you texted me,
you beat me by minutes because I thought to myself,
I was like, I need to contact the felts Man.
Literally as I was having that thought, this is not
a joke. I'm not putting on for your listeners. You
texted me so you know they say that we broadcasters
get a little institutionalized, and I think you and I
(32:27):
were operating on the same wavelength WAVELEK, excuse me as
it was.
Speaker 2 (32:31):
Well, my wife's a therapist, and I think she would
agree that I need to get institutionalized sometimes for my
absolute crazy soccer mind. But listen, Ted, Ted Ramy's our guest.
He's the voice of the Santa Seight earthquakes down there
in northern California. Ted, it's good to have you back
on the show Man and there's a lot I want
to get into about these Earthquakes. Why don't you just
(32:51):
kind of, you know, tell us as of you know,
March twenty sixth, What is the story of San Jose
season so far? What are Seattle fans going in need
to be kind of thinking as we are just a
few days away from kicking this thing off.
Speaker 5 (33:05):
Well, I think a lot of fans in San Jose
kind of want to know the same answer to that question,
because in the first two games, the Earthquakes.
Speaker 3 (33:13):
Gave up one goal.
Speaker 5 (33:15):
They had a four nil win over RSL, and then
they had a two to one man down win over
Sporting Kansas City in the Blue Hell, which is not
easy to do with the Earthquakes first win in Sporting
Kansas City since twenty fifteen. Now, since that point, the Earthquakes.
Speaker 3 (33:31):
Have not had a good run of things.
Speaker 5 (33:32):
They played really well against Minnesota United, but couldn't break
down their defense. And I give a lot of credit
to what's going on in Minnesota with their defense that night,
because they were really really good and they lost one nothing.
Then the next game they lost to one, falling to Colorado.
The Quakes had the better XG. They had the better possession,
they looked like the better team, but some defensive breakdowns
(33:54):
allowed them to give up two goals out of you know,
you didn't see it coming. For lack of a better term, now,
I will note the first three games, of which the
Quakes only gave up nil, one and one, they played
with three center backs in two wingbacks. Against Colorado, two
center backs, two fullbacks, they gave up two goals. Now
this most recent game, of which they're coming off of
(34:14):
a pretty upsetting loss against Charlotte, they lost for to
one and once again had two in the back and
there are two center backs and two fullbacks. They switched
back to a three man back line with two wingbacks
in the second half and only conceded one goal. So
you know, Jackson, this is a team the Santols Earquakes
that LA season ago gave up seventy eight goals, an
(34:37):
MLS record. So defense has been a big question for
the team entering the year, and so now they've seen
themselves in consecutive games double the amount of goals that
they allowed the week before. So I'm not going to
be surprised if the Earquakes are back with that three
man back line with the two wingbacks and jamar Ricketts
and Christian Espinosa. Heading into this week's.
Speaker 2 (34:58):
Game, definitely feels like just kind of all the switching
has not allowed San Jose to get in a full
rhythm this season so far. How much of all these
changes is personnel driven versus just what you know the
coach dictates and needs to need to be.
Speaker 5 (35:14):
Well. The broader answer to that question is since Ernan Lopez,
their highly priced DP Argentinian ten that they acquired late
April a year ago, since he drew the red card
against Sporting Kansas City, he has not played, who was
suspended against Minnesota and then it came out that he
had to have shoulder surgery in is out three to
(35:37):
four months. So no one saw that coming. But the Earthquakes,
in my opinion, have not been the same team since,
even though they have been able to create possession and
have some good looks in the last couple of games,
they really just appeared more organized with their non Lopez
in the middle. And that's not that surprising. This is
a guy who is you know, it was expensive for
(35:58):
a reason, I'll put it that way, and you know
Ten's in MLS. If you have a high priced Argentinian ten,
you know, drawing things up on the field in real time.
He usually leads the success. I think you guys in
the Pacific Northwest know that story pretty well. But since
he's gone down the earthquake, scored six goals in their
first two games, then they've only scored two since, so
(36:19):
that is a bit concerning. And then you start to
figure out what Bruce Arena wants to do in the
with the back line, and starting off, he had the
two wingbacks, Jamar Rickett's a second year player and missed
a lot of time last year because he had a
blown on hamstring, and the captain Christian Espinosa, who was
once again off to a quality start this year. He's
getting assists, he's doing his thing. But but I think
(36:40):
Bruce Arena, and I talked to him about it last week,
is that he is still learning a lot about the
players that are on this roster. Because he did bring
in a Dave Romney and you know Mark Anthony k
and you know and Ian Harks, but he's still getting
to know everybody else, and I think that's part of it.
Right now. He's still figuring out how to use all
(37:01):
these guys, and he'll be the first one to tell you.
And he said it after they won their first game.
You know, we could go one and thirty three from
this point was his quote verbatim. So he's not overreacting
or underreacting. I think he's just looking at this as
trying to feel it all out.
Speaker 3 (37:16):
Yeah, and that makes sense.
Speaker 2 (37:17):
I mean the Sounders are doing with a little bit
of a similar thing with Haysus Ferrera, where we're we're
not only as Hayesu's figuring himself out with the players,
but other players are figuring out how to you know,
play with Haesus Ferrera as well at the nine while
Jordan Morris is injured. So I totally hear you on that.
Ted Ramy's our guest. He's the voice of the San
Jose Earthquakes down there in San Jose where the Sounders
(37:38):
will be this coming Saturday night for their game once again.
For folks, it'll be a seven o'clock Providence, Swedish premach
shows seven to thirty kickoff. Myself and Brad Evans will
have the play by play call on the Sounders FCAT
radio stream channel on iHeart Radio.
Speaker 3 (37:52):
Ted Bruce Arena.
Speaker 2 (37:53):
I think that was one of the big things last
year when we saw the kind of the headlines of
San Jose going after you know name head coaches and
the I remember the press release or the tweet that
got sent out from San Jose saying we're looking at
you know xyz, and they're all massive names for head coaches,
but it ended up being Bruce Arena. A. What has
(38:13):
the Bruce Arena era been like in San Jose far
and b how have fans liked having Bruce Arena as
a head coach?
Speaker 5 (38:22):
You know, fans I think initially were a little bit
shocked and directly associated him with the LA Galaxy, But
once they got over the shock and recognized that he
is the most decorated head coach in the history of
American soccer, that this was a good hire. And immediately
Bruce Arena set to upgrading the facilities and expanding the
facilities and investing in the infrastructure at the club, and
(38:42):
I think everybody responded very positively to that. They said, Okay,
this is not just a big name hiring. He's trying
to change the culture in San Jose, of which you know,
since the team came back to MLS in San Jose,
there have not been enough playoff appearances and not enough success.
And I think that in looking at a hire like
Bruce Serena, you're expecting him to change all that. And
(39:02):
in expecting him to change all that, his direct response is,
if you want a change, this is what we need
to do to change what's been going on here. So
I think there's a lot of excitement. It was very fun.
At the end of the first game, the opener, which
they won for nothing, the Ultras were doing the Bruce
Arena Can't over and over, so that was fun to
(39:23):
hear going throughout pay Paul Park. But Bruce is, you know,
he is very just calm and relaxed. He's very even keeled.
He's not overreacting to anything. He's just kind of taking
it all in stride. And you know, when I when
I first met him, I was introducing myself and you know, saying,
you know that I am you know, I'm work for
(39:43):
the team. I know I'm technically media, but I promise
i'm you know, I'm on the payroll. And I was
asking if I could come out to the closed door
scrimmage and he's like, yeah, he's like whatever, He's like,
whatever you need to do. Man. No, he's just so
he's so calm. It's it's it's nice just to see
how he takes everything in stride. He's not con earns about,
you know, much at this point. Even during the loss
(40:03):
last week when they lost four to one and went down,
you know, early on, he just kind of he wasn't screaming,
he wasn't yelling. He was just looking at everything. And
I think that having someone who is that not necessarily
a flat affect, but not unbothered, I guess by it
is pretty calming because that's you know, you remember the
seven to one defeat the Sounders put on the earthquakes
(40:25):
a few years ago, so that was that was a
different type of reaction and a different type of blowout.
To be fair, once you get over five, things start
entering the historic conversation. But you know, I remember at
that point Matthias Aalmeta not being very happy. But Bruce
he can go down the other day and was just
kind of like, Okay, this is not going our way.
We'll figure it out from here. And I think that
(40:46):
his very flat, you know, not again I'm going.
Speaker 2 (40:50):
Back to Yeah.
Speaker 5 (40:53):
He's just He's just very chill in a very Californian
West Coast way. He's kind of like, Okay, well we'll
go from here, and I think players respond to that.
And you know what's really fun. He's talking to guys
like Dave Romney who have been around Major League soccer
since twenty fifteen and this is their third time playing
for Bruce. And you know, I asked him before the
start of the season, what do you think right now?
And he said, it's a work in progress, and you know,
(41:16):
Bruce is figuring everything out. And I think that when
you get a veteran like that who's speaking about things,
I think you guys would look at Jordan Morris this
way to get his long term opinion about things. Is
that you know, that rubs off on guys to where
they don't get overly concerned with the highs and the
lows because they've been through this before and they know
they'll be through it again. And so right now, I
(41:36):
think everything's just kind of feeling everything out. But yeah,
it is fun having Bruce around. He's a unique idiosyncratic
personality and those are fun in sports. As you know,
with your head coach.
Speaker 2 (41:46):
In Seattle, yes, we do ted last thing for you
before we let you go. Ted Ramy's our guest play
by play voice of the San Jose Earthquakes. This could
be a very very quick one, or you could kind
of take it into a number of directions. I'm just wondering,
how in the world did you get Chicho Arongo for
four point one point four million dollars and an international spot,
(42:06):
because I mean, I just I literally, you know, I
literally misspoke right there and said four point one And
I feel like that's what Chicho almost deserves.
Speaker 5 (42:15):
Well from what I was able to gather. Whatever happened
in Salt Lake, they all still love him there, but
they all agreed on both sides that it was time
for a change. And I couldn't try any more information
out of that front office. I tried, you know, I
was saying, you know, trying to figure out what was
going on.
Speaker 3 (42:33):
Point four million. That's pennies, I know.
Speaker 5 (42:37):
But they all agreed it was time for change. How
well for s I knowse and I also people say, oh, well,
his second half wasn't as good last year, but also
coincided with the sale of Gomez, of which that season's
trajectory really changed for Salt Lake, so that has to
be taken into consideration as well. Chicho's already got three
goals this year. He has got a rocket of a boot,
(42:59):
He's got great instincts, He's been in really good experiences.
He's been here. I don't know exactly how it worked
out that the earthquakes got him for such a great deal,
but they did, and I think right now everybody's excited
about it. And I think that there have been a
few moments where you see the interplay between him and
a Joseph Martinez to where you can really see what
could potentially be with those guys going forward. He'll take
(43:20):
time for them to figure it out. And you know,
it's not been quite the same since her Non Lopez
went down with the shoulder injury, but he'll be back.
So I think right now everyone's very much excited about
what happens with the Chicho because he is an MVP
caliber player at this point of his career, and I
think that as he continues to find his former San Jose,
they all expect him to continue to play like an
(43:42):
MVP caliber player. When you combine that with the guy
like Christian Espinosa who has the potential to be an
MVP caliber player in every single game that he plays.
You're looking at a lot of firepower in the attack,
and as the Earthquakes figure it out, I think they'll
have more success. I don't think it's going to be
two wins and three losses with that ratio for the
entirety of the year. But I think everyone has seen
(44:04):
the moments of potential that are directly being played through
Chiho and getting very very excited.
Speaker 2 (44:09):
One point four million dollars, I just I'll just say congrats,
happy for you. Nice, Yeah, awesome.
Speaker 5 (44:18):
It's not my money specifically to sign the check.
Speaker 2 (44:21):
Oh man, what a deal. All right, Well, it's gould
be a fun game here on Saturday. Ted, appreciate the
time here joining our show. Good to get you back on,
and then thanks for taking the time with me tonight.
Speaker 5 (44:31):
Anytime, man, anytime.
Speaker 2 (44:33):
That's good stuff there from Ted Raimie. He's the play
by play voice for the San Jose Earthquakes down there
in northern California, where the Sounders will be this coming weekend.
One more reminder about broadcast details. If you listened to
the Sounders Houston game last week that was on the
sounders FC Radio stream channel on iHeartRadio, the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 3 (44:55):
It's free, it's redesigned, it's very cool.
Speaker 2 (44:58):
Download the iHeartRadio app or on iHeartRadio wherever you have
your browser, Google, Crumme, Internet Explorer, whatever, look up the
iHeart Radio and you lean to look up Sounders FC
radio stream channel. Because Saturday for Sounders at Houston, we're
gonna have a seven o'clock provident Swedish prematch show seven
point thirty kickoff. I will be on the play by
(45:19):
a play call alongside of Brad Evans this coming Saturday night,
So listen for that on the Sounders FC radio stream
channel on iHeartRadio. You can also watch the match on
MLS Season Pass and listen in Spanish language on LRA
thirteen sixty. I'll also mention that Saturday's match is presented
by the Western Washington Toyota Dealers. That'll do it for
(45:39):
Sounders Weekly tonight. We'll talk to you on Saturday there
on the Sounders FC radio stream channel. But for right
here and right now, it's Men's Health Monthly coming up
next on Sports Radio ninety three point three KJRFM.
Coming to you live from our Elliot Avenue studios of
Sports Radio ninety three point three KJRFM. This is Sounders
Weekly with your host Jackson Felts.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Good evening, everybody, Welcome into Sounders Weekly. Jackson Feltz here
for the next hour on a Wednesday edition this week
of Sounders Weekly for the next hour covering all things Seattle,
Sounders FC soccer. Jackson Feltz with you, and we thank
you for tuning in tonight busy show ahead, we're gonna
be hearing in a little bit from the player Kellen
(00:32):
Rowe as opposed to the broadcaster Kelen row of course,
who does our pregame, halftime postgame shows here on KJAR.
And he was also signed with Ballard FC recently last
week Ballard. One week ago Ballard went out in the
US Open Cup. We'll get into that in a little bit.
Had the chance to catch up with Kellen, who made
(00:53):
I guess a little bit of news in the interview.
So if you've been on social media you heard that.
If you have not, we will share that with you
in the conversation with kell and Rowe come up in
a little bit. After he played eighty minutes for Ballard FC,
there in last week's Open Cup loss to Spokane. We're also,
of course going to go around the league with Ari
(01:13):
Lillionwall of Major League Soccer and the podcast Lobbing Scorches.
Ari will react to the Sounders zero zero draw against Houston.
He'll also talk about what's going on around the rest
of Major League Soccer, and as I heard on Monday's
edition of Lobbing Scorches, they broke some news with Nico Moreno,
so we'll ask him about that specific piece of news
(01:35):
that will be very interesting to Sounder fans. And then
of course later on tonight we will preview the Sounders
next match, and that will be against the San Jose Earthquakes.
Let's quickly get you broadcast details on that. So this
last week, if you listened to the Sounders Houston match,
you have been listening on the Sounders FC radio stream
channel on iHeartRadio. Whether it's the iHeartRadio app which is
(01:58):
free redesigned very cool. You can download the iHeart Radio app,
or you can just go to iHeartRadio on whatever internet
browser you use. You go up the Sounders FC radio
stream channel and that is where you heard Sounders Houston.
That is also where you will hear Sounders San Jose
Earthquakes this coming Saturday night. We'll have actually Michelle Ludca
(02:22):
be doing the pregame, halftime, postgame, I'm gonna be doing
play by play alongside Brad Evans this coming Saturday night.
Of course, in addition to that, and by the way,
the Providence, Swedish premat show will begin at seven o'clock
kickoff right around seven point thirty. Once again, Sounders FC
radio stream channel on the iHeartRadio app or iHeartRadio. You'd
also watch the match via MLS Season Pass on the
(02:44):
Apple TV app and listen in Spanish language on LRA
thirteen sixty. I will also mention that Saturday's match is
presented by the Western Washington Toyota Dealers. Ted Rainy, the
play by play voice of the San Jose Earthquakes, will
be joining us for our final segment tonight, as Ted
and I will kind of in depth break down this
earthquake squad, now coached by Bruce Arena, maybe the most
(03:08):
decorated United States men's national team coach ever. Obviously so
much time La Galaxy, New England Revolution.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
He's now in.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
San Jose, so we want to talk to Ted about
how exactly the whole Bruce Arena show is going down
in San Jose coming up later on tonight, But we
will start the show really quickly by kind of reacting
a little bit to that Houston zero zero draw.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
And you know, it's funny. I think two things can
be true.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
I think you can a believe that the Sounders will
be just fine. Offensively, I'm talking about here defensively, rock solid.
We're never going to have any problems with the defense,
even when new who is with Cameroon John Bell slides
in defense is very very good. Still, that's never going
to be a problem. But offensively, I think two things
can be true. You can think that this team will
(03:58):
be fine. Hayes'ssarira, he's only played two games at the
number nine, obviously still working in chemistry. I mean, Brian
Schmitzer spoke at a press conference yesterday, and you know,
one of the interesting things talking to him was about
hayesus Ferreira, and and he said that, you know, he's
putting himself in good positions, teammates aren't finding him well.
(04:19):
That screams to be a chemistry issue. And chemistry issues
get figured out over time. So overtime, and in the
long run, I think that'll be figured out. We'll obviously
get Jordan Morris back in three or four weeks, Pedro
de Levega back in two to three weeks. These guys
are going to be coming back within a month, right.
So the offense, I think it'll be fine. And I mean,
(04:40):
look at last year, right, last year, this team was
horrendous to start twenty twenty four. And we can laugh
about it now, but we can laugh about it because
the team ended up being in the Western Conference Final,
and you know, for my money, you don't make that
mistake there late in that game. We're going to extra time,
and we're very close to a chance to go play
(05:02):
for an MLS Cup at home against New York Red Bulls,
which I think we would have taken care of. So
the margins and MLS are so slim, right, But the
start was so bad. Even this year, it hasn't been
as bad as the start from last year. So all
of this to say, I think we're going to be okay.
But going back to it, I think two things can
(05:23):
be true. You can say we're gonna be okay and
point to all of those reasons why, but you can
also be very frustrated by the product that was put
out there on the field on Saturday against Houston. You know,
I wanted to start the show and I wanted to
really talk about Christian Rodon's honor in Jordan Morris, Nicholas
Ladero's return. But I think it is important to have
a quick conversation and kind of be open and honest
(05:46):
and real.
Speaker 3 (05:47):
You know, I always try to be that on this show.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
I know I'm a club broadcaster, but at the same time,
I don't want to be a full on apologist and
I don't want to talk down to people.
Speaker 3 (05:55):
I mean, I'm a fan.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
The only thing that makes me different from you all
out there is the that I'm talking into a microphone.
I'm just as big of a fan, right, So I
never want to do that. I think it's important to
be real and talk very honestly. And it was frustrating.
It wasn't a lot of fun to watch a zero
zero game, and for I know many of you guys
out there allumin field standing in the rain watching that. So,
(06:20):
you know, I think that talking about those frustrations and
kind of understanding why certain things happened, you know, kind
of to the point of hees who's far right, still
working into the squad, still trying to build chemistry. It's
a different system obviously. I mean one of the funny
things in the pregame show that I had with Pete
Fewing and Chance Fry was I asked, this lineup is
(06:42):
listed as a three four to three and we've seen
it for a few weeks now listed as a three
four three, But how does it function any differently from
a four two three one, or a three five two
or a three four to two one, right, all these numbers,
and you know, they kind of laughed it off and said, really,
they are just numbers, right, And I think that we
are seeing a few specific things like Paul Rothrock last
(07:04):
year was just a left winger, but this year he's
more of a left wing back, so obviously few more
defensive responsibilities for Paul Rothrock is probably the best word
for it. So if last year it was attack, attack,
attack defend, this year it is a little bit more attack, defend,
attack defend, so that obviously takes away something on the
(07:24):
offensive end. You have the injuries, so you have Christian
rolled On having to play up a line, you know,
and that obviously is an entirely different chemistry building, you know,
experience where Christian's playing alongside Albert and alongside heyesus in
the three four to three or however numbers you want
to play it. So there's reasons, I think for why
it didn't look good. They had chances. I think in
(07:46):
between about I don't know about the thirty fifth minute
to the fifty fifth minute, that twenty minute stretch, I
feel like the Sounders put a lot of you know,
interesting and exciting and fun play together that looked like
it could have resulted in a goals. Even late in
the game. I think Georgie attacking off the right, he
hits a shot or a cross that gets knocked away,
(08:09):
the ball lands at Paul Rothrock's foot, but Albert Rusnak
just you know, I think his momentums right in the
lane of Rothrock, and you know, shot goes wrong. So
there's these little mistakes that are mounting, and that's another
reason why we see just you know, I don't want
to say it's not fun to watch, because again, there
(08:29):
were a good twenty minutes in there, but so much
of the stretches of that game before the thirty fifth
minute and then you know, i'd say the last third
of the match, you're kind of just wanting more from
this attack. You're wanting more from these guys. You're wanting
that chemistry to be there. And for Georgie such an
exciting player working down that right wing, but at a
certain point Houston figured him out. And we have to
(08:52):
give credit to the Houston Dynamo. They did an excellent
job defensively of basically saying, you know, a Georgie, we
know you're going to run at us, so we're gonna
load you up with two maybe three defenders whenever it
looks like you're going to, you know, run at a defender.
They did a great job with him, but also they
just clogged the box. I mean, frankly, they kind of
(09:13):
just came into this game. We talked last week with
Hayesu's Oscevedo Junior on this show, and I asked him,
do you think that because of how badly Houston has
been do you just look to come to Seattle to
get one point with a draw or do you go
for it and try to make a statement with three points?
And you know, instantly he was just like, no, it's
it's a draw, we're going we're going to Seattle. We're
(09:33):
gonnamuck up the game, we're gonna make it ugly, and
we're gonna want to get out of there with a point.
Credit to Houston, they did that exact plan that Hazu's
Osceivado Junior said they did. They came in, they mucked
it up. They had what, I don't know how many
fouls it was, It felt like twenty fouls. They only
had six shots one on target to Seattle's sixteen and six.
I mean, they were asking for it all game of
(09:55):
just come on, Seattle, you can attack us. We're gonna
defend strong, we're gonna make this ugly and we're not
going to allow you to score. And Houston did an
excellent job of that. But when you're facing a team
that does that, I mean, Jul Paulo and Brian Schmizer,
one of them, maybe both of them said this yesterday,
but when your Plan A isn't working on the offensive end, you.
Speaker 3 (10:16):
Got to have a Plan B.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
And that Plan B didn't show up in the game
against Houston, and that's what kind of made it a
very ugly game to watch and what's resulted in a
zero zero draw where a lot of fans left the building.
I mean, you look at what happened to Houston. It
was actually that game at lumen Field was the first
of eleven games this season as part of the First
(10:40):
Match on US program. We talked about this a few
shows back. In case you haven't heard about the First
Match on US program. Very cool new thing that the
Sounders unveiled last month. So if you've never gone to
a Sounders game, or if maybe if you've gone to
a Sounder game with a friend, if you've never bought
tickets through the Sounders website, you can go to a
(11:00):
Sounder game for free this year. If you just a
simple thing to do I can tell you is to
google Sounder's First Match on Us and you'll bring up
the web page for First Match on Us. You can register.
You can go to one of eleven games this year
for free. You have a whole welcome package. I believe
there's a complimentary scarf, a very cool one black and
(11:20):
green that says let's rave on it.
Speaker 3 (11:22):
There's a whole.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
Program, you know, for being you know, a new fan essentially,
And this was the first match of the eleven match
program First Match on Us and we saw that in
the crowd. I mean over thirty one thousand people. I
felt it there. You know, even you know, a few
thousand more than the normal crowd of you know, whether
it's twenty nine whatever, thousand, Having a couple more thousand
(11:46):
made a difference. I'll tell you what. In energy, it
was a great crowd. It was an engaged crowd, and
I felt it, and I know a lot of other
people up in the booth did, and that makes a difference. So,
you know, to have those extra new fan you're trying
to build a new fan base, you're trying to you know,
grow the soccer and the Sounders in this city, and
(12:07):
to see a zero zero game, yeah, it's frustrating. And
I feel the frustration not only from them who are
seeing their first game, but also for long time Sounder
fans who are going out there saying you know, I
read Reddit comments, right and some Reddit comments were saying
that was a boring game.
Speaker 3 (12:24):
And you know, I would say that.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
For large stretches the first third, the last third, I
could see what you're kind of going for there. There's
a lot of reasons why, and you know it goes
to the reasons we just talked about, and it's up
to the team to kind of find that Plan B
and find that Plan C. So when a team like
Houston says, no, we're gonna come in, we're just gonna defend.
We're okay with a point, you gotta, obviously, you know,
(12:49):
figure out what those other plans are in order to
a make it exciting and make it fun. And I
think a lot of that is derived from scoring, right,
so derived from the offensive movements that can get a
goal in the back of the net. And you know,
I feel for those couple thousand fans, And if you're
one of those couple thousand who were part of the
(13:09):
first Match on US program that are listening right now
and they're all you're also frustrated because of what you
saw Saturday against Houston, I would say, A, I feel you,
and that makes a lot of sense, and I understand
the way you're feeling and also be that I would
also say that normally sounder games aren't like that. We're
gonna get a couple of those every year. But also
(13:30):
this team can be ridiculously fun. We're just a couple
of weeks removed from the five to two win over
LAFC where we knocked five goals in the back of
their net. That was fun, that was exciting, and I
think that's more of the norm than it is a
zero zero game. Ultimately, I think this team will look better.
And if you're listening and you were part of the
(13:51):
first Match on Us program, and you know, if you're
listening and going to an upcoming Sounder game as part
of the first Match on Us program, there will be
many more exciting game to be had. But it is
just frustrating because right Houston bottom of the table, a
team that's rolling in here clearly just saying we just
want a point and not able to score one.
Speaker 3 (14:12):
Against a team like that.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
Yeah, I get it, and I feel your frustration and
I share it too. A Chance Frying the postgame show
was talking about how you know, and I asked him, like, gosh,
how do you get this confidence back? Because confidence will
lead to scoring goals, which will lead to fun, which
will lead to all of us having fun in the sands.
And he said, you just got to get back to
the simple things. You gotta run drills in training building
(14:36):
towards confidence, and hopefully we're doing that in practice this week,
which will lead to scoring goals on Saturday. Now it
is three straight road games, so we're probably not gonna
see the Sounders at home again until they get perhaps
Pedro and Jordan back. We have San Jose on the
road this week, then we have San Diego on the
road after that, then we have Dallas on the road
(14:58):
after that before we finally return home. So this team
will be on the road for a few weeks. And
I have no problem mucking up and making it an
ugly game on the road, especially more of a defensive
game when it's on the road. But when you're at home,
when you have thirty one thousand, when you have people
in for the first match on US program, yeah, I
would love for it to be more of an exciting, fun,
(15:18):
scoring goals type of atmosphere, and I do think we
will get that in the very near future. I mentioned
what we have ahead San Jose. Ted Raimi, the play
by play voice for the San Jose Earthquakes, will join
us coming up to preview that. Let's switch gears though
to Open Cup action, the US Open Cup Sounders are
not in US Open Cup action, but to coma Defiance
(15:40):
is in Open Cup action. Last week to coma Defiance
one three to one over Washington Athletic Club. They have
moved on to the second round of the US Open Cup.
The team they're gonna be facing is Spokane Velocity. And
the way that Spokane Velocity got to the second round
is including Ballard FC. Because Ballard FC hosted Spokane for
(16:01):
the second straight year in twenty twenty four. This was
at Memorial Stadium. Last year, Spokane scored in the ninety
fourth minute to get a one nothing win over Ballard
in the first round of the Open Cup. So what
happened this year? Same situation, Spokane at Ballard. This time
was at the Ballard's home stadium, Inner Bay, and this
(16:23):
game went past the ninety fourth. This game went all
the way to the one twentieth and two seconds before
the clock hit one twenty. We're at one hundred and
nineteen minutes and fifty eight seconds on the clock. Spokane
is attacking. Moments before we go to penalty kicks. Spokane's
attacking into the west side of the stadium and they
(16:43):
take a shot. It hits a wicked deflection off of
a Ballard defender's foot, ends up in the back of
the net. The clock strikes one twenty and a few
minutes afterwards, final whistle goes and just like last year,
at the death, Spokane make it through one to nothing
over Ballard to the next round of the US Open Cup.
(17:05):
Absolute heartbreak for Ballard. F C Oh my goodness. I
was there, you know, just a little bit like Houston.
It was in the rain, and it was frustration, you know,
not being able to score offensively for Ballard, but it
was you know, it was a fun atmosphere as it
always is for Ballard FC games. Now, a player who
played eighty minutes the first eighty minutes of that Ballard
(17:28):
match is Kellan Row, obviously former Sounders midfielder and former
Sounders defender. He decided to sign on with Ballard for
the Open Cup run. After the game, I was able
to catch up with Kellen and you're gonna hear that
conversation coming up in just a moment. But he said
in this conversation that that's it, Kellan Row done playing.
(17:50):
He said, it was one final night and here's what
Kellen Rowe had to say. It was heartbreaking, but we
were able to catch up after Ballard's won nothing defeat
in the US Open Cup last week. First off, you
played a lot of play a lot of games your career.
Where is a one hundred and twenty eight minute heartbreaker
rank up there for for that?
Speaker 4 (18:09):
Man, this one sucks because those these kids, like just
they work so hard. Yeah, like they they wanted it
so much, and like, I'm glad that they let me play.
But man, these these these guys are gonna be good players.
It's just cool for me to see the talent that
we have coming out of you know, the you do
the Seattle, you guys around here, even guys that flew
in like a Sean sent going to UCLA now, which
(18:30):
obviously album monitors, So it's kind of cool. But man,
it's the heart that these guys put in is is
something to me admirable because and it's I hope they
put it into the pro level because a lot of
times you don't see it all the way through the
team and these guys they just want to go play.
Speaker 5 (18:43):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (18:44):
So it's a heartbreaker for these because I want them
to play more and more. They deserve to play more
and more. They've worked hard enough to do so. But
you know, it's it's a positive team going into summertime.
It's gonna be a fun tam to watch.
Speaker 3 (18:54):
I feel like a lot of.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
What you just said there is is kind of going
to the next question, which is why you wanted to be.
Speaker 6 (18:58):
A part of this.
Speaker 4 (18:59):
Well, I wanted to be a part of it because
I wanted to come back and have that last for Rah,
and they were, you know, willing and able to give
it to me, and these, like I said, these guys
that have been putting in the work of you know,
it's almost like a mentoring piece as well, where I
can kind of coach on the field, because.
Speaker 3 (19:14):
I don't want to be a coach, but I could
do it. I could do a while playing.
Speaker 4 (19:17):
So I didn't think I was gonna last eighty minutes.
I thought it was maybe forty five. So I'll give
myself a little bit for that. But how do you
evaluate those lady?
Speaker 3 (19:25):
Good enough? Good enough? I wish it was a little cleaner.
Speaker 4 (19:29):
Obviously, I've been out of the game for a while
because competitively, maybe almost two years since I've played a
real game and get some real minutes.
Speaker 3 (19:35):
So I'm probably not gonna be able to walk for
the next two days. But it's it's all worth it.
Speaker 2 (19:39):
I mean, overall, looking ahead, I mean, this is obviously
open Cup. You got a USL two season ahead? How
do you much do you kind of step in the
locker room and say we got to kind of change
gears and look ahead to a USL two season ahead.
Speaker 4 (19:50):
They're gonna be looking forward. There is, Like I said,
there's a lot of excitement coming in. The fans got
to see the excitement. They got to see that these
kids can put in all the effort and there's a
lot of chances there. It's gonna be a lot of fun.
I am going to be a fan now I had
my time?
Speaker 2 (20:02):
Was it?
Speaker 5 (20:02):
This was it?
Speaker 3 (20:03):
This is a one night and one night only show.
Speaker 4 (20:05):
Really?
Speaker 3 (20:05):
Oh yeah, so this is it? And I've been done
for two years. I'm done.
Speaker 5 (20:09):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (20:09):
Oh I'm a one hundred and twentieth minute goal. I'm
okay with it. It was good with me.
Speaker 2 (20:14):
So there it is from Kellan Row. That seems and
sounds like the end for him. Uh, but very fun
to see him play. Eighty minutes. Eighty good minutes by
the way. He was good on the field there for
Ballard FC, Spokane Velocity get the win. They are through
to face Tacoma Defiance in the next round of the
US Open Cup. But we'll turn our attention back to
the Seattle Sounders and back to Major League Soccer. Ari
(20:37):
Lillianohl from MLS Soccer dot Com and the podcast Lobbing Scorchers.
He will join us next here on Sounders Weekly on
Sports Radio ninety three point three kjr FM.
Speaker 3 (20:47):
Now back to.
Speaker 1 (20:47):
Sounders Weekly on your home for Sounders FC, Seattle's Sports
Radio ninety three point three kjr FM.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
Welcome back Sounders Weekly, Jackson Feltz here on ninety three
point three kjr F. Good to have you tonight on
back to our normal night of Wednesdays again. We're switching
to Tuesday next week. I'll quickly tell you that Sounders
FC Soccer is presented by Providence Swedish, the official healthcare
partner of Sounders FC. Thanks for spending that first twenty
minutes with us, and that it's perfect time to kind
(21:17):
of get our two cents from one of our experts
from Major League Soccer dot com, where he is a
writer and editor also host of the podcast Lobbing Scorchers.
Speaker 3 (21:25):
Ari Lillian Wall Ari, how you doing tonight, man?
Speaker 6 (21:29):
I'm good, Jackson? How are you?
Speaker 3 (21:30):
I'm all right? Ari, I'm all right.
Speaker 2 (21:32):
Let's start kind of just almost an extension of that
previous segment where I kind of talked about how Saturday
night against Houston wasn't fun, And I think two things
can be true. You can say that this team will
be all right and will be in contention at the end,
but also for incontention, I think for an MLS Cup
at the end, but also look at the realities. And
what were your takeaways from Saturday's zero zero game against Houston.
Speaker 5 (21:56):
Yeah, I take the issue. The way that I see
is that.
Speaker 6 (22:00):
Looks that looks too much like the team that we
saw last year at the beginning of the season when
they were really struggling on offense. You saw some decent
chance generation but they couldn't finish. And you know, they
obviously are injury.
Speaker 3 (22:14):
Riddled right now.
Speaker 6 (22:15):
But I think even with that taken into account, one
goal against the Houston Dynamo at home is not an
unreasonable ask or expectation with the lineup that they did
put out on the field. So uh, I think you're
still getting hastys Perira integrated. You are ravaged by injuries,
so those things are You're gonna have to deal with them,
(22:36):
but you need to figure out how to score some goals.
And take results in the meantime. And what you can't
do is have this snowball into a thing where you're
just doing the same thing that you did last year
when you're in this situation, like they need to, they
need to turn that around.
Speaker 2 (22:50):
They do, and they certainly do. And you know, I
think we'll see it soon with Pedro and Jordan returning.
But before they return, I mean, we can't.
Speaker 6 (22:56):
I will.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
What I said the previous segment was we can't be
missing one or two of our attackers and have the
whole thing breakdown. Ari, Let's talk about some news that
was made a couple of days ago on Lobbing Scorches.
You have your Monday morning live show for Lobbing Scorches
where Nico Moreno also joins, And I understand there was
some news that came out of your Monday Morning Lobbing Scorches.
Speaker 6 (23:19):
Yeah there was. Nico broke a report earlier in the
day that the Sounders are linked to a potential transfer target,
a free agent by the name of Ryan Kent, who
similar name to the guy from ted lasvill but it's
not the guy from ted Lasso. But my impression of
it is, this is your de facto Paul Ariolo replacement
(23:42):
with him obviously going down with the torn acl it
seems like there's similarities skill set wise there. He can
be a threat from out wide and was a member
of the Liverpool Academy when he played his youth soccer
and has played in the English Championship. He's played in
Scotland as in the Scottish Fight for Rangers, and he
was just playing in Turkey for Jose Mourinho's team and
(24:04):
had a falling out with him, So that that could
be the coming edition that hopefully will boost the team's attack.
Speaker 2 (24:11):
Ryan Kent with a bit of an injury history, but
that would certainly boost it. You know, is it two
on the nose for there to be a he's the
He's here, he's there, He's every bleeping where Ryan Kent.
Speaker 3 (24:24):
Ryan kN does that two on the nose?
Speaker 6 (24:26):
You know, people have already been been making that reference.
So I think when you're named Ryan Kent and you
play professional soccer, that is probably just the reality of
what's going to follow you no matter where you play.
Speaker 2 (24:39):
All right, well, well exactly we'll see what comes of that.
But good report there from Nico Moreno there who joins
Lobbing Scorches every Monday morning. Are you where can people
not only Monday but also Thursdays? Where can they tomorrow
night coming up? Where can people catch your live lobbing Scorches.
Speaker 6 (24:57):
Yeah, all you have to do is look up the
Lobbing Scorchers YouTube, subscribe to the channel, turn on notifications,
and you will know anytime that we go live every
Monday at eight am and every Thursday at seven thirty pm.
It's a lot of fun. Nico is my co host
on the Monday show and then the Thursday show. I've
been having a rotating cast of guests, so it's definitely
worth stopping by.
Speaker 2 (25:17):
Yeah, it was great joining you at the start of
the season two and you do great work there on
Lobbing of Scorches. Ario Luine was our guest. That's his podcast.
He also is a writer and editor for MLS Soccer
dot Com. All right, Ario, let's bounce around the league
for a couple of minutes.
Speaker 5 (25:29):
Here.
Speaker 2 (25:30):
Let's start with Charlotte, because Charlotte, you know, in relation
to what's coming with Seattle. With San Jose this week,
they looked real good. For one, I think the Player
of the Match day pet Beal is the overall with
what a goal, a couple assists, great game for Charlotte,
And you know, I kind of feel like I've asked
this before, but I'll ask it again. You know, at
(25:50):
the end of the season, are we gonna look at
that draw and I get it, who was in, who
was out? Situation's late goal, But this is a Charlotte
team that is sort of making head lines at the
start of the season. Is a pretty good team out East.
Speaker 6 (26:03):
Yeah, the whole story with them coming into the season
was they were a team that had a solid foundation.
They were good defensively, but just not dynamic or productive
enough in attack to be a true contender. And I
think a lot of people looked at their offseason and
we're like, all right, maybe they can actually take that
next step and become an actual contender in the East.
(26:24):
And yeah, so far, it's definitely looking like they're.
Speaker 3 (26:27):
Going to make good on that.
Speaker 6 (26:28):
I think Dean Smith has proven to be a good
higher for them. He just signed an extension, but it
seems like he's built a really solid culture there and
their roster just seems like it's in a much better
place this year than it was last year. So I
fully expect them to stay a contender in the Eastern Conference,
and I do think looking at that Seattle game, I'll
(26:50):
never call that a good result because of how they
dropped those points. Yeah, but that that was a very
good team that they were playing in that game. I
think we can safely say that.
Speaker 2 (26:59):
Well, the team they be in that game San Jose Earthquakes,
which is Seattle's next opponent. I guess all the question is,
you know, who are the real San Jose Earthquakes. We
saw such good soccer from them in the first two
weeks of the season where they won both of their
first couple, and then since then it's kind of not
been very good. So who are these San Jose Earthquakes.
Speaker 6 (27:18):
I think they're not as bad as they were last year,
which is an admittedly extremely low bar because they got
the Wooden spoon and gave up almost eighty goals. Last
year they broke the record for goals conceded, so it'd
be pretty hard to have a season that bad two
years in a row. And I think Bruce Arena that's
about as good to hire as they could have managed
(27:38):
in terms of just a guy who knows the league
and knows how to build a successful roster in this league.
So I think, to me, it seems like so full
lot to see, but so far it seems like they're
in a much better place, but it also seems like
they still do have defensive issues. I think they're actually
they look like they're probably going to be a pretty
good team offensively, but I think they're still going to
(28:01):
be susceptible to leaking goals, which obviously, with how goal
star Seattle is right now, they need to capitalize on that.
Speaker 3 (28:07):
We certainly do.
Speaker 2 (28:08):
That sounds just like ripe for the picking to be
able to score and kind of get off the Schneid,
break the dam, all that good stuff. Ariy Lillian was
our guest MLS Soccer dot Com in the podcast Lobbing
scorcheres here on Sounders Weekly tonight. Are there's a lot
of things we can talk about here with our last minute.
I mean, I don't want to mention the fact that
Portland got a big win over Colorado. I guess I
just did LAFC right of the ship with a two
(28:30):
nothing win over Kansas City. Where I do want to
go is Vancouver Chicago, because Vancouver finally losing. But it's
the Chicago Fire and Greg Burhalter and maybe, yeah, we
can talk about Vancouver. We've talked about them a lot.
But for the Chicago Fire, I mean, that's right now,
what three straight wins for them? You know, does Burrholter
(28:51):
kind of have something going there in Chicago?
Speaker 6 (28:54):
Yeah, no, I think he does. The story with the
Chicago Fire for the last I don't even know how
many years, is that they're a team that is I've
never seen a team more incapable of holding a lead
in my life than the Chicago Fire of the last
five years. And that it turns out that that has
been extremely hard for anyone who's coaching them to undo.
Once that type of thing like gets in your DNA,
(29:16):
it's pretty hard to get it out of your DNA.
And that was the task that Greg Burhalter had. And
you know, it's still early, but these three straight wins,
they're holding leads, they're scoring goals. They just beat a
white Caps team, like you mentioned, that's been one of
the big stories of the early season. So they have
to sustain it. We've seen the Chicago Fire be hot
(29:37):
in spurts before and then it comes crashing down. But
I think I think Burholter is doing a good job there,
and frankly, if you watch the US men's national team
play in CONGA Cap Nations League, maybe they should have
kept him.
Speaker 2 (29:50):
I don't know, maybe just to quickly follow up there,
being that the Vancouver why Caps didn't have Ryan Gold
or Brian White and they had internation duty and I
know they're dealing with Conka.
Speaker 3 (30:01):
CAF as well.
Speaker 2 (30:02):
Yes it's their first loss, but not reading too much
into that, I would imagine.
Speaker 6 (30:07):
Uh yeah, not really. I mean, I think they'd been
playing well with Ryan Gall without Ryan Gold, but eventually
he's their most important player, so it doesn't surprise me
to see a little downturn while he's still out.
Speaker 3 (30:19):
Good stuff, my friend.
Speaker 2 (30:20):
Uh, look forward to seeing you back in a few
weeks before we get back to lumin Field together. But
we'll enjoy your lobbing scorches live tomorrow night. Everybody subscribe
to that and get notified when you Ari go is
live there on Monday mornings and Thursday nights, and have
a very good rest of the week, my.
Speaker 6 (30:36):
Friend, Thanks, Jax, appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (30:39):
That's good stuff there.
Speaker 2 (30:39):
From Ari Lillienwall Again, writer and editor for MLS Soccer
dot Com and host of the podcast Lobbing Scorches Well
michelob Ultra ninety five calories and two point six grams
of carbs. It's only worth it if you enjoy it.
We talked for a minute there about the San Jose earthquakes,
but let's go deep into San Jose because their play
by play voice Ted Rainey, who does the radio play
(31:00):
by play out there in San Jose. He will join
us next to preview Saturday's match between the Sounders and Quakes.
That's next on Sounders Weekly Sports Radio ninety three point
three KJRFM.
Speaker 1 (31:11):
Now back to Sounders Weekly on your home for Sounders
FC Cle's Sports Radio ninety three point three kjr FM.
Speaker 2 (31:19):
Welcome back Sounders Weekly, Jackson Feltz. Good to have you
with us here late tonight on a special Wednesday edition
here at Sounders Weekly again. We'll have a Tuesday show
next week at eight pm and we'll get back to
our normal Wednesday seven pm shows when the Kraken season
is over.
Speaker 3 (31:36):
Well thanks to.
Speaker 2 (31:37):
Our guest so far tonight, Kellen Rowe, the player for
Ballard FC, also broadcaster of course after Ballard's loss, and
ari E Lillion Wall that previous segment. But joining us
right now here is the play by play voice of
the San Jose Earthquakes here to preview this Saturday's match,
and I need lots of information for the play by
play call coming up on Saturday evening. Ted ray Amy,
(32:00):
our good friend is back. Ted.
Speaker 3 (32:02):
How you doing Man? Good to have you back on
the show, Action.
Speaker 5 (32:05):
Jackson Man, what's going on? Man? I am always excited
to talk with you and you literally when you texted me,
you beat me by minutes because I thought to myself,
I was like, I need to contact the felts Man.
Literally as I was having that thought, this is not
a joke. I'm not putting on for your listeners. You
texted me so you know they say that we broadcasters
get a little institutionalized, and I think you and I
(32:27):
were operating on the same wavelength WAVELEK, excuse me as
it was.
Speaker 2 (32:31):
Well, my wife's a therapist, and I think she would
agree that I need to get institutionalized sometimes for my
absolute crazy soccer mind. But listen, Ted, Ted Ramy's our guest.
He's the voice of the Santa Seight earthquakes down there
in northern California. Ted, it's good to have you back
on the show Man and there's a lot I want
to get into about these Earthquakes. Why don't you just
(32:51):
kind of, you know, tell us as of you know,
March twenty sixth, What is the story of San Jose
season so far? What are Seattle fans going in need
to be kind of thinking as we are just a
few days away from kicking this thing off.
Speaker 5 (33:05):
Well, I think a lot of fans in San Jose
kind of want to know the same answer to that question,
because in the first two games, the Earthquakes.
Speaker 3 (33:13):
Gave up one goal.
Speaker 5 (33:15):
They had a four nil win over RSL, and then
they had a two to one man down win over
Sporting Kansas City in the Blue Hell, which is not
easy to do with the Earthquakes first win in Sporting
Kansas City since twenty fifteen. Now, since that point, the Earthquakes.
Speaker 3 (33:31):
Have not had a good run of things.
Speaker 5 (33:32):
They played really well against Minnesota United, but couldn't break
down their defense. And I give a lot of credit
to what's going on in Minnesota with their defense that night,
because they were really really good and they lost one nothing.
Then the next game they lost to one, falling to Colorado.
The Quakes had the better XG. They had the better possession,
they looked like the better team, but some defensive breakdowns
(33:54):
allowed them to give up two goals out of you know,
you didn't see it coming. For lack of a better term, now,
I will note the first three games, of which the
Quakes only gave up nil, one and one, they played
with three center backs in two wingbacks. Against Colorado, two
center backs, two fullbacks, they gave up two goals. Now
this most recent game, of which they're coming off of
(34:14):
a pretty upsetting loss against Charlotte, they lost for to
one and once again had two in the back and
there are two center backs and two fullbacks. They switched
back to a three man back line with two wingbacks
in the second half and only conceded one goal. So
you know, Jackson, this is a team the Santols Earquakes
that LA season ago gave up seventy eight goals, an
(34:37):
MLS record. So defense has been a big question for
the team entering the year, and so now they've seen
themselves in consecutive games double the amount of goals that
they allowed the week before. So I'm not going to
be surprised if the Earquakes are back with that three
man back line with the two wingbacks and jamar Ricketts
and Christian Espinosa. Heading into this week's.
Speaker 2 (34:58):
Game, definitely feels like just kind of all the switching
has not allowed San Jose to get in a full
rhythm this season so far. How much of all these
changes is personnel driven versus just what you know the
coach dictates and needs to need to be.
Speaker 5 (35:14):
Well. The broader answer to that question is since Ernan Lopez,
their highly priced DP Argentinian ten that they acquired late
April a year ago, since he drew the red card
against Sporting Kansas City, he has not played, who was
suspended against Minnesota and then it came out that he
had to have shoulder surgery in is out three to
(35:37):
four months. So no one saw that coming. But the Earthquakes,
in my opinion, have not been the same team since,
even though they have been able to create possession and
have some good looks in the last couple of games,
they really just appeared more organized with their non Lopez
in the middle. And that's not that surprising. This is
a guy who is you know, it was expensive for
(35:58):
a reason, I'll put it that way, and you know
Ten's in MLS. If you have a high priced Argentinian ten,
you know, drawing things up on the field in real time.
He usually leads the success. I think you guys in
the Pacific Northwest know that story pretty well. But since
he's gone down the earthquake, scored six goals in their
first two games, then they've only scored two since, so
(36:19):
that is a bit concerning. And then you start to
figure out what Bruce Arena wants to do in the
with the back line, and starting off, he had the
two wingbacks, Jamar Rickett's a second year player and missed
a lot of time last year because he had a
blown on hamstring, and the captain Christian Espinosa, who was
once again off to a quality start this year. He's
getting assists, he's doing his thing. But but I think
(36:40):
Bruce Arena, and I talked to him about it last week,
is that he is still learning a lot about the
players that are on this roster. Because he did bring
in a Dave Romney and you know Mark Anthony k
and you know and Ian Harks, but he's still getting
to know everybody else, and I think that's part of it.
Right now. He's still figuring out how to use all
(37:01):
these guys, and he'll be the first one to tell you.
And he said it after they won their first game.
You know, we could go one and thirty three from
this point was his quote verbatim. So he's not overreacting
or underreacting. I think he's just looking at this as
trying to feel it all out.
Speaker 3 (37:16):
Yeah, and that makes sense.
Speaker 2 (37:17):
I mean the Sounders are doing with a little bit
of a similar thing with Haysus Ferrera, where we're we're
not only as Hayesu's figuring himself out with the players,
but other players are figuring out how to you know,
play with Haesus Ferrera as well at the nine while
Jordan Morris is injured. So I totally hear you on that.
Ted Ramy's our guest. He's the voice of the San
Jose Earthquakes down there in San Jose where the Sounders
(37:38):
will be this coming Saturday night for their game once again.
For folks, it'll be a seven o'clock Providence, Swedish premach
shows seven to thirty kickoff. Myself and Brad Evans will
have the play by play call on the Sounders FCAT
radio stream channel on iHeart Radio.
Speaker 3 (37:52):
Ted Bruce Arena.
Speaker 2 (37:53):
I think that was one of the big things last
year when we saw the kind of the headlines of
San Jose going after you know name head coaches and
the I remember the press release or the tweet that
got sent out from San Jose saying we're looking at
you know xyz, and they're all massive names for head coaches,
but it ended up being Bruce Arena. A. What has
(38:13):
the Bruce Arena era been like in San Jose far
and b how have fans liked having Bruce Arena as
a head coach?
Speaker 5 (38:22):
You know, fans I think initially were a little bit
shocked and directly associated him with the LA Galaxy, But
once they got over the shock and recognized that he
is the most decorated head coach in the history of
American soccer, that this was a good hire. And immediately
Bruce Arena set to upgrading the facilities and expanding the
facilities and investing in the infrastructure at the club, and
(38:42):
I think everybody responded very positively to that. They said, Okay,
this is not just a big name hiring. He's trying
to change the culture in San Jose, of which you know,
since the team came back to MLS in San Jose,
there have not been enough playoff appearances and not enough success.
And I think that in looking at a hire like
Bruce Serena, you're expecting him to change all that. And
(39:02):
in expecting him to change all that, his direct response is,
if you want a change, this is what we need
to do to change what's been going on here. So
I think there's a lot of excitement. It was very fun.
At the end of the first game, the opener, which
they won for nothing, the Ultras were doing the Bruce
Arena Can't over and over, so that was fun to
(39:23):
hear going throughout pay Paul Park. But Bruce is, you know,
he is very just calm and relaxed. He's very even keeled.
He's not overreacting to anything. He's just kind of taking
it all in stride. And you know, when I when
I first met him, I was introducing myself and you know, saying,
you know that I am you know, I'm work for
(39:43):
the team. I know I'm technically media, but I promise
i'm you know, I'm on the payroll. And I was
asking if I could come out to the closed door
scrimmage and he's like, yeah, he's like whatever, He's like,
whatever you need to do. Man. No, he's just so
he's so calm. It's it's it's nice just to see
how he takes everything in stride. He's not con earns about,
you know, much at this point. Even during the loss
(40:03):
last week when they lost four to one and went down,
you know, early on, he just kind of he wasn't screaming,
he wasn't yelling. He was just looking at everything. And
I think that having someone who is that not necessarily
a flat affect, but not unbothered, I guess by it
is pretty calming because that's you know, you remember the
seven to one defeat the Sounders put on the earthquakes
(40:25):
a few years ago, so that was that was a
different type of reaction and a different type of blowout.
To be fair, once you get over five, things start
entering the historic conversation. But you know, I remember at
that point Matthias Aalmeta not being very happy. But Bruce
he can go down the other day and was just
kind of like, Okay, this is not going our way.
We'll figure it out from here. And I think that
(40:46):
his very flat, you know, not again I'm going.
Speaker 2 (40:50):
Back to Yeah.
Speaker 5 (40:53):
He's just He's just very chill in a very Californian
West Coast way. He's kind of like, Okay, well we'll
go from here, and I think players respond to that.
And you know what's really fun. He's talking to guys
like Dave Romney who have been around Major League soccer
since twenty fifteen and this is their third time playing
for Bruce. And you know, I asked him before the
start of the season, what do you think right now?
And he said, it's a work in progress, and you know,
(41:16):
Bruce is figuring everything out. And I think that when
you get a veteran like that who's speaking about things,
I think you guys would look at Jordan Morris this
way to get his long term opinion about things. Is
that you know, that rubs off on guys to where
they don't get overly concerned with the highs and the
lows because they've been through this before and they know
they'll be through it again. And so right now, I
(41:36):
think everything's just kind of feeling everything out. But yeah,
it is fun having Bruce around. He's a unique idiosyncratic
personality and those are fun in sports. As you know,
with your head coach.
Speaker 2 (41:46):
In Seattle, yes, we do ted last thing for you
before we let you go. Ted Ramy's our guest play
by play voice of the San Jose Earthquakes. This could
be a very very quick one, or you could kind
of take it into a number of directions. I'm just wondering,
how in the world did you get Chicho Arongo for
four point one point four million dollars and an international spot,
(42:06):
because I mean, I just I literally, you know, I
literally misspoke right there and said four point one And
I feel like that's what Chicho almost deserves.
Speaker 5 (42:15):
Well from what I was able to gather. Whatever happened
in Salt Lake, they all still love him there, but
they all agreed on both sides that it was time
for a change. And I couldn't try any more information
out of that front office. I tried, you know, I
was saying, you know, trying to figure out what was
going on.
Speaker 3 (42:33):
Point four million. That's pennies, I know.
Speaker 5 (42:37):
But they all agreed it was time for change. How
well for s I knowse and I also people say, oh, well,
his second half wasn't as good last year, but also
coincided with the sale of Gomez, of which that season's
trajectory really changed for Salt Lake, so that has to
be taken into consideration as well. Chicho's already got three
goals this year. He has got a rocket of a boot,
(42:59):
He's got great instincts, He's been in really good experiences.
He's been here. I don't know exactly how it worked
out that the earthquakes got him for such a great deal,
but they did, and I think right now everybody's excited
about it. And I think that there have been a
few moments where you see the interplay between him and
a Joseph Martinez to where you can really see what
could potentially be with those guys going forward. He'll take
(43:20):
time for them to figure it out. And you know,
it's not been quite the same since her Non Lopez
went down with the shoulder injury, but he'll be back.
So I think right now everyone's very much excited about
what happens with the Chicho because he is an MVP
caliber player at this point of his career, and I
think that as he continues to find his former San Jose,
they all expect him to continue to play like an
(43:42):
MVP caliber player. When you combine that with the guy
like Christian Espinosa who has the potential to be an
MVP caliber player in every single game that he plays.
You're looking at a lot of firepower in the attack,
and as the Earthquakes figure it out, I think they'll
have more success. I don't think it's going to be
two wins and three losses with that ratio for the
entirety of the year. But I think everyone has seen
(44:04):
the moments of potential that are directly being played through
Chiho and getting very very excited.
Speaker 2 (44:09):
One point four million dollars, I just I'll just say congrats,
happy for you. Nice, Yeah, awesome.
Speaker 5 (44:18):
It's not my money specifically to sign the check.
Speaker 2 (44:21):
Oh man, what a deal. All right, Well, it's gould
be a fun game here on Saturday. Ted, appreciate the
time here joining our show. Good to get you back on,
and then thanks for taking the time with me tonight.
Speaker 5 (44:31):
Anytime, man, anytime.
Speaker 2 (44:33):
That's good stuff there from Ted Raimie. He's the play
by play voice for the San Jose Earthquakes down there
in northern California, where the Sounders will be this coming weekend.
One more reminder about broadcast details. If you listened to
the Sounders Houston game last week that was on the
sounders FC Radio stream channel on iHeartRadio, the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 3 (44:55):
It's free, it's redesigned, it's very cool.
Speaker 2 (44:58):
Download the iHeartRadio app or on iHeartRadio wherever you have
your browser, Google, Crumme, Internet Explorer, whatever, look up the
iHeart Radio and you lean to look up Sounders FC
radio stream channel. Because Saturday for Sounders at Houston, we're
gonna have a seven o'clock provident Swedish prematch show seven
point thirty kickoff. I will be on the play by
(45:19):
a play call alongside of Brad Evans this coming Saturday night,
So listen for that on the Sounders FC radio stream
channel on iHeartRadio. You can also watch the match on
MLS Season Pass and listen in Spanish language on LRA
thirteen sixty. I'll also mention that Saturday's match is presented
by the Western Washington Toyota Dealers. That'll do it for
(45:39):
Sounders Weekly tonight. We'll talk to you on Saturday there
on the Sounders FC radio stream channel. But for right
here and right now, it's Men's Health Monthly coming up
next on Sports Radio ninety three point three KJRFM.
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