Herculez Gomez spent the 2016 season with the Seattle Sounders, appearing in 21 games and helping the Sounders capture MLS Cup. Following the title win, Gomez retired and joined ESPN as a studio broadcast analyst. Ahead of the Sounders’ MLS Cup Final rematch against Toronto FC on Saturday (12 p.m. PT; ESPN, KIRO Radio 97.3 FM, El Rey 1360AM | TICKETS), SoundersFC.com caught up with Gomez. [NOTE: This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.]
SOUNDERSFC.COM: How has your transition to ESPN been?
GOMEZ: It’s pretty seamless. It’s been a lot of fun. It’s a lot of responsibility, I just didn’t realize how much work it’d be. It’s definitely not as enjoyable as kicking around a soccer ball and going home, but I still get to be involved in the game and talk about it.
SOUNDERSFC.COM: What is your favorite part about your new job?
GOMEZ: Getting to use my head instead of my legs. I’ve been playing soccer for over 16 years professionally, so to not have to stay in shape, to not have to worry about what I eat, to have a beer at night, it’s been enjoyable. There are lot of pressures and responsibilities with being a professional athlete, so it’s fun now to be away from those pressures and see a different aspect of the game that maybe before you wouldn’t have appreciated so much.
SOUNDERSFC.COM: Is it strange watching and not being able to play?
GOMEZ: Honestly no. I think I was content with my playing career. I don’t miss it. It may sound strange, but I get to be around the game every day. The closest thing to hearing that whistle blow and having that adrenaline rush and scoring a goal is being on live TV and knowing that it’s a little bit of the same amount of pressure, everybody’s watching and you can go viral if you say something stupid. It’s fun, I get my fix that way, but I’ve had no urge yet to kick a soccer ball or go run around since MLS Cup. Everybody who is an ex-player here says the same think. ‘Look, sooner rather than later, you’ll start missing it.’ But I’ve had no yearning to get back out there. I’m very content with how things ended. To be quite honest, this is fun, it’s been refreshing getting to talk about the game from a new perspective. It’s allowed me to put myself in the players’ mindset and the fans’ mindset.
SOUNDERSFC.COM: Is there anything you’ve been doing with ESPN that Sounders fans should keep an eye on?
GOMEZ: I have a podcast with Max Bretos called “Max and Herc.” That’s always fun. It’s not necessarily just an MLS podcast, we try to pick topics and discussions that are going on maybe in Liga MX or MLS. We may not hit on weekly news of how games went, but a story of something within the league. This week was salary-based, like in MLS how those numbers are made public and how that affects players’ psyches. If you listen to our podcast, you’re not going to just learn something about your team or a player there, but you’re going to understand them better. People will come on and give very candid interviews. We had Timbers owner Merritt Paulson come on and he gave a very candid interview and a lot of that interview mentioned a lot of Seattle. I don’t want to ruin things, but it’s very interesting to hear someone else’s perspective and see how they feel about you or your team. Those are the kind of things you can get on our podcast.
SOUNDERSFC.COM: What are you expecting of the Toronto match this week with the MLS Cup rematch?
GOMEZ: The atmosphere is going to be great, the energy is going to be top-level. More than anything, the emotional factor is going to play into it. Regardless of what the Seattle fans or the Seattle players think about it, Toronto thinks they got robbed. Toronto feels as though a team came in there and robbed them of their MLS glory. They keep saying that a team that had no shots on goal won MLS Cup. I don’t want to use the word “bitter,” but they’re very mindful and it’s still very present to them how close they were. It’s going to be emotional for those Toronto players.
SOUNDERSFC.COM: What do you think of Brian Schmetzer’s recent personnel shift of starting Will Bruin up front and moving Jordan Morris to the wing? It’s similar to what Schmetzer did last year during the MLS Cup Playoffs run.
GOMEZ: It’s similar in formation and approach, but very different in on-the-field product. This is a Seattle team that is playing better now than we were in the playoffs last year. We had a good playoff run, but our showings were never a complete outing. It was a good 15-20 minutes here and the game would swing our way like we did against Dallas at home where in a span of 8-10 minutes the series was pretty much over. It wasn’t necessarily a complete outing from the team where you’d say it was dominant. Now they’re playing better, but at times they’re still getting caught. The team is still trying to find themselves, and that’s a good thing. There’s still room for improvement and it’s still very early in the season, but I don’t think Brian and the boys want to be put into the same position as they were last season where they had to try and figure things out after summer and go from there.
SOUNDERSFC.COM: What can the Sounders do on Saturday to make sure they don’t fall behind early again?
GOMEZ: You have to limit the influence Sebastian Giovinco has on the game. If Toronto beats you, let it not be Giovonco, let it not be Jozy Altidore. Let the other guys be forced to beat you. If you can limit Giovinco’s influence on the game and limit the amount of touches in the final third that a guy like Altidore has, the better chances you’ll have. If you let those two get involved in the game, I don’t care who you are, the defending champs or whoever, they’re going to hurt and punish you. You also have to not change the way you play because of the opponent. You have to go and dictate and impose your will, you’re playing at home. For as happy as I was that the Sounders came back from three goals down against the Revolution, and I was as excited as anybody, you still allowed a team, and a very weak team at that, to come into your home and score three goals on the road against you. New England let them off the hook, but better teams won’t. Those are things you really have to keep an eye on.
SOUNDERSFC.COM: Given the numerous U.S. national team members involved, how big a match is this match for someone like U.S. head coach Bruce Arena to keep tabs on?
GOMEZ: Clint Dempsey, Jozy Altidore, Michael Bradley and a new guy like Jordan Morris will grab all the attention, and rightfully so, but usually in this type of match when those guys will grab the attention, other guys who may not get the headlines or the accolades are guys like Cristian Roldan or Marky Delgado. There’s always going to be this guy who comes out of nowhere when the eyes are on everybody else and who captures that moment. This could be the case for guys who are looking to stake their claim on a Gold Cup opportunity. Cristian Roldan has played as consistently as anyone in the league, so this could be a big opportunity for someone like him.
