SoccerWise - Cavan Sullivan (Philadelphia Union) & Obed Vargas (Seattle Sounders)

Episode Date: January 17, 2025

David sits down with two of the biggest rising stars in MLS in Cavan & Obed. Cavan talks all about growing up a soccer super family. And then Obed digs into his plans to take the next step on the field, coming from Alaska & preparing for the Club World Cup. 1:45 Cavan Sullivan 9:00 Obed VargasSoccerwise Live 2pm ET Every Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday on Youtube/Twitch/Twitter

Hey everybody, welcome back to SoccerWise, David Goss here. Happy Friday to those of you listening here on Friday. Hope you're enjoying your weekend. If you're listening later on, Martin Luther King Day coming up on Monday. So we'll have no show coming out on Monday. We do have our special interviews though to come on this episode with Kevin Sullivan and Obed Vargas, two players that I have been lucky enough to watch through their academy days. I mean it's odd to say with a player at the age of Kevin Sullivan that I've known him for years at this point. But it was really great to catch up with them last week here in Miami at Media Marketing Day.

I think you can sort of hear why these are two players at their age who have reached their levels. Very mature, very clear-minded about what they want to accomplish and how they can accomplish it. And I do think they are two players that are going to be the biggest some of the biggest storylines of 2025. Kevin Sullivan is clearly going to be a central piece of the Philadelphia Union. They are trying to get younger. There are gaps in minutes that need to be filled as some older players leave and Obed Vargas I do think takes the Seattle Sounders to another level. You'll hear what he talks about in what he's working on to improve in his game I think he's going to be a huge part of that and he really is the first of what I hope is some successful generations of Seattle Sounders homegrowns that are able to affect the first team and eventually be sold on overseas as Seattle has really built out their academy side so

thank you to both of them for taking the time enjoy the interviews uh let's start with kavin sullivan let's start here what uh what's today like you're like off from high school you end up at a media marketing day yeah uh what's the experience like and sort of what do you feel like everyone keeps asking you and expecting of you so obviously i'm having fun this is a cool environment with with great people. Definitely a long day. But, yeah, that's how it is. I think there haven't been crazy expectations or pressure on today. It's been pretty relaxed.

But something people keep asking me about is this new docuseries, obviously. And I don't get bored talking about it once because, like, as I answer the questions, stuff just keeps coming back to me, memories about the day and my debut and that week where they were at our house and following us around. The Box to Box crew made it really awesome and easy for us, and they became friends in like a night. Nice. You're a big soccer person, right?

It's your life. It's your family's life. How do you like to experience the sport? Do you like watching it, playing it more, talking about it? Playing it the most, of course, and then watching it is a close second. Right, it's in my blood, so you can't really miss it. No matter what, at a family dinner, you could be with the most random group of people. They're either going to ask you about soccer or you're just going to bring it up because it's all you have to talk about.

Nice. What's the family dynamic around the sport? Like who's the expert in the family? Who's the final say? Like my dad played, and he's been – all four of us have been coached by him. So he was always a mentor for us and and was always feeding us information um so he's he's truly the the one i listen to the most um just because he has experience throughout the sport he has he's watched quinn um go along his journey. He's learned from Quinn's journey.

Quinn's learned from his journey. And then my two twin brothers are also on their own path. They're playing for FC Delco. You know who they are. So, yeah, all of us give each other feedback and criticism. And I've mentioned this before. There's never really like this anger or any hard feelings taken so so like if you have a game and you think

you played well or didn't play well and Quinn says you did or didn't you wait to hear what your dad said does your grandfather chime in like who my dad yeah yeah okay dadfather usually tells me. Good job. Yeah, usually that, but he's more, you know, subtle with his criticism. My dad's more direct. Okay. Yeah, you can imagine what it's like to have four boys who are thriving at the highest levels of the game.

Obviously, you know, he's proud at the end of the day. He'll always love us. But, you know, it can be anxious as a father who, you know, is at MLS Next Fest and has to get to two different fields within 10 minutes. Yeah, but that's just how it is. Do you all play? Is there like a family game that happens once a year? Is there a time where dad's on the field with everyone?

No, no, no. We do some trainings during the summer. Yeah. But now that I play in the MLS, it runs right through the summer. So I guess we're not going to be doing that as much anymore, unfortunately, because I really did enjoy those sessions. He made them miserable at the end in terms of in terms of fitness yeah and does he run with you like maybe on the first rep stop and then he's like hey you guys are on your own um are you allowed to make him when you play oh no no if you make him it's wraps wraps. No, I mean, he's usually neutral.

Makes it easy for himself. Yeah, makes it easy to just have an extra number. It's a little bit more running on defense, but, yeah, he still has it in him. His level's pretty high as well. I mean, he played at Penn and Columbia. Yeah. Have you watched tape? Is there any tape? I saw one of his.

He's getting old now. No, I'm just kidding. But he, I remember watching one of his, I think he was on like the Philadelphia Freedom. Okay. I don't know if you know what that is. I think it's like A-League USL. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It was, I think that was like like, the USL back then. Right.

What was the league above it then? Because I don't know. Like, wasn't – Not a thing. MLS didn't exist. Yeah, there was no league above it. So that was his – that's who he played for at the start, like, right out of college.

And then, yeah, I mean, he was all over the place. He was at, like, left wing, right wing, the eight. So – There you go. He's definitely more of a winger who was dynamic and shifty and beat guys. So fun to watch for sure. You mentioned NexFest and all of that. I got to watch you in the academy.

How much did you enjoy being a part of that group and when you go into these big tournaments, being with Philly, but being with these guys that you've grown up with? Yeah, I mean, it was like a brotherhood every tournament when we lost to Austin, our U15 year. 20 minutes later you saw we were cheering for the U17s and I think we flipped the game around for them. We brought the energy so there's this sort of love we all have for each other. And I'm proud of everyone in the group.

We just recently won GA Cup, and they made it far in the playoffs as well. So, yeah, I'm proud of everyone in that group, and I hope they feel the same about me. Because, yeah, at the end of the day, we grew up together with most of them. Ups and downs, we were always together. I always had their back, they always had mine.

I'm looking forward to seeing where all of my boys' careers go. Last one, you brotherhood, the chance to represent Philly. How much does it mean to you to wear that city's name on your shirt and represent the city as your first pro spot? Yeah, I wouldn't want to start my journey anywhere else. It's the best city that has the most pride and fight and culture. You're seeing it with the Philadelphia Eagles right now. Just, it's honestly absurd.

Yeah, something else. So it's definitely something I take pride in, and I understand it's a privilege to play in front of the city of Philadelphia, or should I say Chester? All right, awesome stuff there from Kevin. Now let's head over to the other coast, and let's sit down with Obed Vargas. Off season, what have you been up to? What are you thinking about for this season of being like, this is how I want to get better

and this is how I want to improve? I'll tell you very straight up, goals and assists, that's how I want to improve. So you came into the league and you were like a destroyer and a defensive midfielder. We've seen that part of your game grow. As a soccer player, do you see yourself as a creative piece? And that's who you really are.

Yeah, I think that's who I really am, to be honest. You know, coming up in the academy and my youth days, I was always a 10. And over the years, I've been like moved back, pushed back a little bit. Because obviously you're not going to come into Seattle Suns and be the 10. You know, you're going to be the star of the team when you have Nico, Albert, JP, and Christian, guys like that, and they put me into that sixth row, and I did well, but I think now it's coming to a moment where I have to show, like, I can score goals, I can get assists, I can give that final pass, and evolve that part of my game and at a higher level do you

feel like playing at the sixes made you a better player though having both sides now yes 100 it's made me like a box to box for sure you know I always had that range in me you know I always did cross country when I was in uh middle school whatever elementary school so I always had that range but you know playing that deeper role I really understand um what it means when you're higher up like what the job the guy behind you is so um it's helped me evolve my game should we put a number 10 jersey on your back I don't I wouldn't say put a number 10 jersey maybe a number eight though okay maybe 10 and 8 18 hey you could score a goal Hector Herrera scored goals from the number eight though okay maybe a 10 and 8 18 hey you could score goal hector herrera scored

goals from the number eight uh i read that he was one of your favorite players yeah i also read that you were the one who said to the ref that he spit at him yeah walk me through your thought process of seeing it and being like oh my god that's achi achi but i have to say something yeah i mean i had already played against him before and you know you know, I had more interactions with him. But in the game, you have no friends, you have no idols, you have nothing like that. So, you know, I'm playing for my team, you know. I'm not playing for anyone else.

And when I saw that happen, I saw I could get an advantage out of this, and I told the ref, you know, I feel bad for Achi Achi, but, like, I had to do what I had to do for my team, you know? Yeah, that's how you get to the top. Exactly. You've obviously had the big decision with the U.S. and Mexico, Achache being your hero. Just walk me through a little bit of your experience going through that and how you sort of handled it and how it's come now out, you know, how it's affected you now after yeah i think um the process was it was easy for me but it was

relatively hard because i knew like the backlash and all the negative comments that would come with it you know um having spent a lot of time with the u.s national team the the youth teams um it was hard for me to make that decision or make it public. I always knew inside of myself, like even before I went to any U-20s or U-50s, whatever, with the U.S., I always knew at some point I was going to play for the Mexican national team if they gave me the opportunity. But I always just kept it inside and kept it, you know, behind closed doors because of that backlash I'm telling you about.

But it came to a point where I wasn't going to hold back anymore um my dream was to play for Mexico and I had to do what I had to do I did the one-time switch fairly easily and you know a lot of positive things have come with that I made my national team debut um my senior team debut and there's nothing nothing like that so I'm very happy that I did it is a dream of yours to play in league mx as well i wouldn't say dream um obviously watched the league mx a lot as as a kid but um it's not something where i'd look at i'm like oh i wanted to play there one day maybe if the opportunity comes in the moment's right then obviously i'm not going to shut the door on anything so yeah maybe one day is there

any trash talk with the jordan morris and the usmnt guys honestly when when i was going to do the one-time switch i asked them i spoke to them and they they just told me to do what i wanted to do like follow my heart and they didn't try and convince me to play for the us or anything like that i think uh you know they both know, especially Christian, he knows what it means to be a dual national team, dual national. And he just told me to do what was best for me, and they all supported me, so I appreciate that from them. Let's talk childhood.

Alaska, it's not exactly a soccer hotbed as I know. I've never been. What was it like growing growing up watching league like were there people you could talk the game about people that you felt like could challenge you on the field like like how did you develop in that 100% I think you know obviously the soccer in Alaska is not nothing compared to Miami or Seattle or anything like that but we have we have teams we have like four or five clubs in the in the And the way I challenged myself, the way my parents got me to become better was they always put me in a higher, playing against older kids.

So I was born in 05. I was always on the 04 team, and my 04 team always played in the 03 league. So I was always playing two years, sometimes even three years, against kids that were three years older than me and that obviously was going to challenge me you know being little smaller like physically I wasn't going to be able to compete with them but it made my technical ability better it made me read the game faster and obviously it's not crazy level but I've made it this far you know playing 14 years there so i don't think i can

undermine the level in alaska and the game's still growing there so i can see more players coming out of that state your brother might be one of them i've seen him play on the academy a winger but runs through people just like you exactly he has different play style than me a little bit lengthier a little bit taller but i mean I mean, you can see Alaska products. What's it like trying to mentor him as a young player yourself? Yeah. Do you learn from that? It's hard for me and it's hard for him because, you know, playing at Seattle, me on the first team, him in the academy,

there can be a lot of comparisons between me and him and expectations for him or unrealistic expectations because of my pathway the way I the way I made it to the first team and and he kind of feels that pressure oh my brother made it by this age I need to be there by that age and you know the reality is like everyone has a different pathway now everyone makes it the same way and um that's one of the things that I try to tell them is you know if you focus on the day-to-day focus on what you need to do then the doors will open up for you and there's no saying when it's going to happen but it will happen if you do the right things so there's no pressure to to do it by a certain age or you know have unnecessary expectations when when you know that it's day by day.

You're one of the youngest players here, but Kevin Sullivan's also here. We talked with him. Do you have comparisons? Do you compare yourself to the other young players in the league or young players that have come out of this region? Yeah, I think, you know, try to compare myself to kids my age, see what they're doing. It also helps me get better, you know. I try to learn from everyone, but what other kids are doing i try to imitate especially the good things um i don't know

yeah nice last one what's it going to be like club world cup to walk out on the field in seattle against some of the biggest teams in the world. What was it like when you watched the draw? I mean, I had just woken up. Fair. It's early on the West Coast. I had just woken up, you know, offseason, your vacation. I had woken up. I'm like, let me turn the draw on. And then I seen that we couldn't, like, be grouped into certain groups.

I don't remember the restrictions, but at some point I realized we're going to get PSG, Atletico, and Botafogo. And I was hyped. That was... I celebrated that day. That's like a victory for me. Just being on the field against those people, leveling up against those players can you know, can show us,

well, we're really made of what I'm really made of, where I can get to, what my potential is. And that's just something like I can't wait to happen. Nice. Well, good luck. We're looking forward to watching it. Thank you. Thanks, Abed. Thank you. Awesome stuff there from Obed. I cannot wait for this Club World Cup.

Brian Smetzer talked about it at Media Marketing. He's like, you know, if we get a draw in the group stage, that'd be great. If we get a result, you know, that's great. If we get a win, even better. If we can contend to get out of the group, it's amazing. I think he worded it well. And like the Seattle Sounders, when they step on the field, they expect to win. These are not games they are expected to win. but they're going to carry themselves in that way and it's kind of

a no-lose situation after that either you do what everyone expects of you or you surprise them and you're able to put on a show for your fans and I think the Seattle fans are all level-headed enough to understand what they're stepping into but just enjoy moment. I want to get out there for some of these games. I am genuinely excited to watch competitive matches between this Sounders team and those groups. Tom's been crushing it on the groundbreaking news all week. We've got three episodes on YouTube. We did a YouTube-only Q&A on Wednesday,

as well as two episodes via podcast that you can listen to back from this week. You can get our thoughts and reactions to a lot of the moves that have happened. And we were fortunate enough to sit down with Casey Stoney, the new head coach of the Canadian Women's National Team, to talk about what her project looks like now, as well as a little bit her time at San Diego. And then we had Amy Walsh on, former Canadian Women's National Team captain, currently a host at Footy prime up in Montreal. And she sort of gave some light in a different angle about what Casey Stoney's appointment means,

what the future of NSL looks like the new soccer league, professional soccer league, first division women's league in Canada. That's going to launch this year that she's helping work on as well as just the sport in general. So an awesome week of shows. We've got another big week coming up for you next week. Enjoy your weekend, everyone.

I hope you enjoyed the interviews and we'll talk to you again very, very soon.