Off-weeks are great for catching your breath, catching up with old friends, and making new ones.

In studio, we have Head Coach of the Kitsap Pumas, Liviu Bird, and Assistant Coach (and friend of show) Shannon Matthews! Before coaching, Liviu wrote for Sports Illustrated, The Telegraph, and Sounder at Heart. He's made some splashes, and is relishing his current role as a full time youth & professional coach.

The boys from Bremerton are looking to make noise this year!  Liviu & Shannon help break down some recent news, and then we get a deep dive into the mind of an analyst-turned-coach -- what drives some of the dynamics on the field, in the locker room, and the challenges & decisions that land on his very complex role.

A huge welcome back to Kevin, who was able to break free for a night and hang with the B-Team! (We're better with you, buddy!)

We hope you have as much fun as we did!

JURGEN SMASH

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Steve & Tim welcome back Niko Moreno (@ELROLONW) of @SportsPulso and @Sounderatheart!

We can’t stop talking about the Seattle Sounders’ CCL win, so we spend some time on Niko’s experience in D.F. travelling with the media team, the general atmosphere of the stadium, the locker room, and the courting rituals of stadium-goers in the biggest city in the Western Hemisphere.

Then we talk about the impact of that win on the choices Garth Lagerwey and Brian Schmetzer will have to make before the window closes, whether we’re back in form, and what the Sounders’ greatest needs will be for the remainder of the season.

Regular featured cast:

@muffintopmodel Tim Hamilton

@podfish Steve Ketelsen

@jm_murf John Murphy

Niko Moreno Sees the Future!

Don’t call it a comeback! Steve, Tim, & John are watch the second half of the USOC entry round for the Sounders, while we talk about the CCL & Challenge Cup results, the tragedy of J. Paulo’s injury and the  outlook for the Sounders’ men’s season.

Regular featured cast:

@muffintopmodel Tim Hamilton

@podfish Steve Ketelsen

@jm_murf John Murphy

RUSS-NACK

We are back! Steve, Tim, & John are joined by local legend Dave Clark for a casual chat about MLS/CONCACAF & Sounders, plus the Academy & US Open Cup. We give initial impressions on Defiance in MLS Next, and dig into the preseason NWSL tournament featuring the very high quality OL Reign side.

We’re so excited to be back and sharing our love and passion for this community.

Regular featured cast:

@muffintopmodel Tim Hamilton

@podfish Steve Ketelsen

@jm_murf John Murphy

Please tell your friends and SUBSCRIBE! on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, or touch the RSS feed link below to add us to your favorite podcast app.

This production of the Flounders B-Team is released under the Creative Commons 3.0 International Share-Alike Attribution License. Please use our stuff! Just tell folks where you got it!

Opening/closing theme is a parody of the opening theme from the A-Team (c)1984 Silva America.

Check out Channel 253’s other amazing podcasts at https://channel253.com/membership and BECOME A MEMBER for only $4/month to get access to special member benefits & events! (Support local new media.)

Thanks for listening, and see you in the terraces!

Is Clint Dempsey Still Suspended?

We’re joined this week by Niko Moreno (@ELROLONW on Twitter) editor at Pulso Sports Network and Sounder at Heart contributor. Niko’s connections to the scouting side of the soccer landscape as well as his relationships with players from all over the league lend an interesting perspective to the current off season of Major League Soccer. 

We start off by talking about the move of Sporting Director and VP of Soccer Chris Henderson to Inter Miami where he will take over a similar role for the second year expansion side. The Sounders will have a big hole to fill in their scouting department and we discuss the successes that Henderson had with player acquisitions over the years and who will be filling the void left by Henderson’s departure for the Sounders. Will there be a gap in talent coming to the Sounders as players divert to Miami? We speculate a bit on what the future holds.

But will we even have a MLS season this year? Thursday night saw the 30 day negotiating window set by the league expire after invoking the force majeure clause that was put into the CBA last summer before play returned last July. MLSPA sent their own offer to league that was rejected despite the concessions that players presented. The league has since extended the bargaining window by another week and has threatened a lock out of players if no agreement is reached. Despite the uncertainty, the Sounders have re-signed a couple of familiar faces from last season in Jimmy Medranda and Stef Cleveland. Federal Way native Kelyn Rowe was also announced as a new signing by the team, joining the Sounders as a free agent from the New England Revolution. How will these players affect the formations that the Sounders roll out in 2021? Are we going to see a return to a 4-4-2 or even a 3-5-2? 

Niko Moreno was able to get a candid interview with Nico Lodeiro, current captain and midfielder for the Sounders. The two discussed Lodeiro’s concerns about the state of the Sounders, Chris Henderson’s department, Jordin Morris’ move to the English Championship where he joined Swansea, and what 2021 looks like for the Sounders without the young winger. The conversation can be found on Sounder At Heart here: https://www.sounderatheart.com/2021/2/1/22259777/nicolas-lodeiro-reflects-on-jordan-morris-departure. We mix in a little roster speculation and where there might be some untapped areas for some prospective talent.

We finish the show with some listener questions collected from the Channel 253 member Slack and Twitter.

Pool Presser with Garth Lagerwey here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upANxZMkn7Y

Regular featured cast:

@muffintopmodel Tim Hamilton

@podfish Steve Ketelsen

@jm_murf John Murphy

@nate_bowling Nathan Bowling (emeritus & occasional)

@cm_peterson Cat Peterson (hiatus)

Please tell your friends and SUBSCRIBE! on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, or touch the RSS feed link below to add us to your favorite podcast app.

This production of the Flounders B-Team is released under the Creative Commons 3.0 International Share-Alike Attribution License. Please use our stuff! Just tell folks where you got it!
Channel 253 read background music: Sro — Self Driving, provided by a CC-BY-SA license.

Opening/closing theme is a parody of the opening theme from the A-Team (c)1984 Silva America.

Check out Channel 253’s other amazing podcasts at https://channel253.com and BECOME A MEMBER for only $4/month to get access to special member benefits & events! (Support local new media.)

Thanks for listening, and see you in the terraces! (Wash your hands and wear a mask!)

NIC(K)O SQUARED!!!

We keep rolling along with our 2020 roundup and focus in on OL Reign and the NWSL. Joining us this week are Susie Rantz (@susierants), Sounder at Heart contributor and co-host of the Coffee & Valkyries Podcast, and Andrew Harvey (@soccervox), communications manager for OL Reign and broadcast voice for the Tacoma Defiance, Tacoma Stars, Seattle Pacific University Men’s Team, Seattle University Men’s Soccer, and University of Washington’s Men’s and Women’s Soccer Teams.

JURGEN SMASH

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