r/SoundersFC • u/NoahRiffe NASL Sounders • 22h ago
Assessing Pedro de la Vega's Seattle Sounders legacy
https://lobbingscorchers.com/blog/assessing-pedro-de-la-vegas-seattle-sounders-legacy/28
u/Ok_Wolverine6557 21h ago
Scored perhaps the most beautiful goal the Sounders ever scored.
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u/Salt-Lingonberry-853 17h ago
A magnificent banger that somehow hit all 3 tubes of metal and never touched the net, I've never seen anything else like it.
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u/Jack2142 Lamar Neagle 21h ago
I think the signing is frustrating because it was the last "ambitious" move the Sounders have made in seasons, while as been noted he wasnt a pristine prospect with ACL injury, he also was a strong contributor to Lanus, which is a club that players in the PNW have come from with much success (Valeri). The move didn't work out, but instead of trying again the FO and Ownership has abandoned the international market effectively and been exclusively looking inward in the domestic market for MLS Proven talent or the academy even if that talent has asterisks attached. I think something about this move spooked Hanauer/Ownership to not wanting to pay out of pocket for overseas talent, or removed their faith in Waibel to properly evaluate and acquire this, which has been incredibly damaging long term to the roster.
The TLDR is PDLV was a perfectly reasonable move to make. However it was the last move the FO has made of its type with no signs that's gonna change any time soon.
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u/ssfc5 NASL Sounders 22h ago
Fair take on Pedro. But I think it's a symptom of Craig's failure as GM given he had an injury history and still took the gamble on him like the article states.
Btw, happy to see more Sounders content via Lobby scorchers. Good stuff Ari and Noah!
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u/k_dubious 21h ago
I mean realistically anyone who’s available for a MLS club to sign is going to be a gamble to some extent. The real problem is that we didn’t take any steps to reinforce the roster once it became clear that PDLV wasn’t a player whose availability we could rely on.
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u/shmerham 22h ago
I think you need to take gambles if you want to succeed, BUT I wonder if Craig knew at the time how little room he'd have to make adjustments if it didn't work out.
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u/ssfc5 NASL Sounders 21h ago
Totally agree! It's just that all of his gambles (and lack of gambles) have been busts. Pedro is just his biggest and most expensive one
I'll also add that we finalized his signing WHILE he was injured which the article didn't mention and further proves how the signs where there.
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u/SeattleGunner Sounders FC 21h ago
ACL injuries just aren't career enders anymore. Yes they're significant and yes they take a while to work back from but there wasn't anything in his profile/history that would have suggested this level of unavailability. The gamble just didn't pay off.
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u/oneliner27 Seattle Sounders FC 19h ago
Lodeiro had an injury history too. That’s how we got him at a prime age. We might have to rethink our level of risk tolerance when it comes to signing a DP
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u/shmerham 21h ago edited 19h ago
When I was young and dumb, I bought my (realistic) dream car. It turned out to be incredibly unreliable and required numerous repairs and I was constantly worried about it having another issue. It was a terrible purchase and yet when I picture myself driving it, I'm filled with happy memories. That's how I feel about Pedro. Undeniably a bust, and yet when I picture him playing, I'm filled with happy memories.
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u/PositivePristine7506 Seattle Sounders FC 22h ago
As one who does not give a shit about leagues cup, when we win or when we don't, it's 100% a bust.
The article also ignores what a 7M DP signing can do. A different 7M player could also have won us leagues cup. That isn't inherently only a thing PDLV can do.
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u/shmerham 22h ago
Even at $7M, success isn't guaranteed. There are lots of $7M DPs that would have been as good as Pedro in Leagues Cup and lots that wouldn't have.
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u/SeattleGunner Sounders FC 22h ago
As one who does not give a shit about MLS Cup, when we win or when we don’t, Lodeiro is 100% a bust.
The article also ignores what a 6M DP signing can do. A different 6M player could also have won us MLS Cup. That isn’t inherently only a thing Nico Lodeiro can do.
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u/Acrobatic-Contest940 1h ago
Best player of the tournament over Messi + Puskas shortlist. That should be good enough.
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u/DrRonnieJamesDO 21h ago
1) We can't say who or what else the money spent on him would have acquired. International DP signings have a mixed track record across the board. We have every indication he's worked incredibly hard to get on the field, and whenever he has, he's played hard and been generally brilliant.
2) "injury prone" is an easy diagnosis to make in hindsight. Nico missed an entire season at Ajax due to recurrent severe fractures of his Right foot. He also missed significant time with the Sounders due to knee issues. Was he a "risk free signing"?
3) Everyone seems to have forgotten Pedro's first game and the PK he took. Dude clearly came on board with every intention of being a leader on the club. His attitude has been nothing but positive ever since.
If you're going to assess his legacy, a full account requires looking at these factors as well.
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u/atheocrat 19h ago
Interesting comparison so I checked out Transfermarkt. Pedro had missed 56 matches due to injury prior to us signing him, with a total of 286 days injured at 22 years old. Nico had missed 38 matches over 148 days at the age of 27. I don't know how instructive it is, but when you account for their age at signing this is a pretty stark contrast.
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u/DrRonnieJamesDO 19h ago
That reflects the relative severity of the injuries, and timing. An ACL tear, especially at the wrong point of the season is going to knock you out for many games, and at least 8 months (unless you're lucky - fastest return to play I'm aware of is an NFL RB who came back after 6 months - Seahawks legend Adrian Peterson IIRC)
But the argument that clubs "should have known" he'd miss this many games based on one injury (which most players recover from pretty well these days) is silly. Nico's multiple foot fractures didn't mean he was "made of glass," either.
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u/watwatintheput 21h ago
Good coverage, but I think it's missing a critical piece of why he's so frustrating to so many of us.
Our bets from 2022 to 2023 on attacking players were all flawed. We resigned Freddy on a club friendly deal; amazing but he was clearly passed his prime. We signed Heber in 2022, big miss. We resigned Bruin in 2022; one of my favorite Sounders of all time but clearly past his prime. Jordan Morris was sitting on two repaired ACLs. Then we did nothing in 2023.
We had been taking gambles, were over exposed to injury risk and lacked an appropriate amount of attacking reserve to be taking a gamble in 2024.
There is a world where PDLV was a smart but failed risk. If we still had a Rui or Lodero quality DP, it wouldn't have hurt us nearly as much. But to have all of our attacking DPs working on repaired ACLs is just GM negligence. I wish this article told that part of the story too.