Seattle Sounders offseason acquisition Paul Arriola joined GOAL Convo to discuss his big move, his love for San Diego and his ambitions
Growing up, Paul Arriola's biggest dream wasn't actually to be a professional soccer player. The thought was there, of course, but, in some ways, it never seemed real. His biggest dream did. It was right there in front of him, more than professional soccer ever would be. Arriola's dream? To be a player for the San Diego Padres, and not just any San Diego Padre. No, Arriola wanted to be Eric Owens
No disrespect to Owens, but that's a pretty unusual dream. This isn't Tony Gwynn we're talking about here. The former outfielder hit just 26 career home runs. He's a lifetime .264 hitter. He's no All-Star or Hall of Famer; he was just a guy who made a real impression on a local kid out in San Diego.
"He always had on eye black," Arriola recalled to GOAL. "He always had tar on his helmet and he always got dirty. He was only there for a little bit, but I just loved how dirty he got. I played baseball for a bit. I wore my socks high and I got dirty. I'd wear my eye black all over the place. I just loved it."
Arriola never became Eric Owens, but he did turn into a hell of a player himself. He earned 50 caps with the U.S. men's national team while winning two Gold Cup trophies. He's an MLS All-Star. He could have, and still feels should have, gone to a World Cup, but more on that later.
Arriola has navigated the whirlwind of his soccer career, which has now carried him to Seattle. Traded to the Sounders this offseason, he went through a period of introspection before embracing the move with excitement.
Now 30, Arriola knows that, as a player, he's closer to Owens than Gwynn these days, and he's fine with it. As he begins life with the Sounders, Arriola has accepted that, at this point in his career, he isn't "the guy." He's surrounded by like-minded players, ones he's known for years like Jordan Morris, Christian Roldan, and Jesus Ferreira. Now playing at one of the most consistently successful clubs in this hemisphere, Arriola knows his role is to put on that metaphorical eye black and get dirty.
"I think that the mentality is putting the team first," he tells GOAL. "At this point in my career, that's the most important thing. It's just about keeping that idea of a championship consistently in my mind and understanding what is and what is not so realistic. It's not realistic for me to have a breakout year and get sold for millions to a Premier League team, but that is the case for some other guys, right? Younger guys play well, they have the opportunity to go somewhere else. For me, it's about fitting in. It's about being the best player that I can be in whatever system."
Ahead of the MLS season, Arriola joined GOAL Convo, a weekly Q&A with central figures in the American soccer scene, to discuss his big move to Seattle, his lowest moment, and his ambitions going forward.
Get the MLS Season Pass today!Stream games nowSeattle SoundersON THE SEATTLE TRADE
GOAL: Trades are always pretty complicated and require a bunch of moving parts. How did this move to Seattle come together? What was the process like for you?
ARRIOLA: This offseason was a little bit of a whirlwind! I knew I was going to be traded. I knew about two weeks after the season ended for us, so while the MLS Playoffs were still going on. It was just a matter of where I was going to go. Dallas just said that, for salary cap reasons, they were going to try to let me go and that they would be willing to help pay my salary for the year. My agent told me to just treat it like I was a free agent, that the market was open for me, and that I could dictate where I wanted to go.
I didn't just want to go somewhere for one year; I wanted something long-term, somewhere where I could plant and make sure my family was taken care of. Seattle was one of the teams at the top for soccer-specific reasons as well as knowing Jordan [Morris] and Christian [Roldan] for so long, too. Linking up with them and knowing that this team is always fighting, every year, for championships. That was something I just wanted from a career standpoint.
There are a lot of moving parts in a deal to make it make sense. How badly do you want to do it? What are you willing to sacrifice to get those types of things? This move brings me closer to getting a chance to compete for a trophy, which is something I haven't done on the club level in my career. It's something I really want to do.
It wasn't about finances because I could have gone to multiple teams in this league and continued on my prior salary and made more money. It wasn't about being close to home because I could have gone to San Diego and been more comfortable next to my family. This was for my soccer career, and I'm thankful that my wife was willing to allow me to do that. What the club has done in the past, the record, the guys I know here, the commitment, the fans — all of that plays into it.
GOAL: You're obviously in a new situation right now. The Sounders are a club that always pushes for an MLS Cup, plus this year includes a Club World Cup, too. How do you feel about it all?
ARRIOLA: I'm not coming into a new situation where things are constantly changing. The coaching staff has their ways. Overall, the key for us will just be to keep everyone healthy because we do have the luxury of rotating in a few positions. We don't have to put pressure on one or two guys, which tends to be how it is in MLS. The best in the league, they can rotate. They're deep in multiple positions, and I'm well aware of that. I'm excited to be part of it. I'm excited to be part of everything going on in Seattle.
AdvertisementGetty ImagesON THE USMNT AND MISSING THE WORLD CUP
GOAL: It's obviously been two years now since you got the news that you weren't going to Qatar. In some ways, that's a feeling few people can relate to. In other ways, it's something everyone has experienced in their own life: disappointment and feeling like you missed out on the most important thing in your world. Looking back now, how do you feel about it all? Does it still feel the same way today?
ARRIOLA: It's something I'll never forget. The only thing that I can say about is that going into 2022, that calendar year, I made a promise to myself to do everything I could to give myself the best chance possible. I knew I couldn't make the decision, but I wanted to make sure I did everything I could. I was rumored to go to Club America, Charlotte, and Dallas, and I asked Gregg [Berhalter] which would give me the best chance to make the World Cup team. He said FC Dallas, so I took that decision and went with it. I just didn't want to regret anything. I didn't want to think, at the end of the day, that I didn't make the World Cup team with some kind of 'what if?' I had the best year of my career there, made the All-Star team, was part of the national team the entire year, and scored some good goals, too. I did everything I could. I believed that I deserved to be there, as I think other players and other people did, too.
GOAL: How did you find out?
ARRIOLA: I remember Gregg calling me into his office real quick as I was grabbing my stuff and I wasn't even thinking that he was going to tell me that I wasn't going to go. He just told me I was on the outside looking in and I was in shock. I didn't ask questions. He said he just didn't have a spot for me. All I could do was stay quiet. He gave me a hug and said he was sorry, but I just kind of left it. I called him back a few days later and went through the process and I didn't really understand how I wasn't part of the team after everything I'd been through over the four years with him.
It definitely hurt a lot. I cried at home. I remember Cristian Roldan telling me, after the World Cup, that he cried more when he found out I didn't make the team then when Gregg called him and told him he did [make the squad]. It does make you feel good to have friends like that and people that understand. It's one thing for you to believe in yourself, but to have other people feel that way, too, it helps so much.
GOAL: Are there still any hopes of making a return? Obviously, you know the situation with Mauricio Pochettino as the new coach and this limited run-up to the World Cup. Do you still have hopes of getting back to that level someday or has that ship sailed?
ARRIOLA: I would take it if I earn it. It's a new time with a new generation and a new coaching staff. It's not going to be up to me. I can just do what I do on the field. It's not something that I have as a goal or that I'm focusing on at this point. My goal is just to help my club team win games and championships.
AFPON PLAYING WITH FRIENDS ON A HIGH LEVEL
GOAL: You mentioned Cristian there and he's now your teammate. So, too, is longtime friend Jordan Morris. Jesus Ferreira, who was with you in Dallas, has also been traded to Seattle, so it's not like you're walking into something unfamiliar. What's it like playing with those guys and how do you see yourself fitting alongside them?
ARRIOLA: I see myself as an attacking player first and foremost. I've had a couple of down years within MLS for different reasons, but at the same time, when I look at this team, there are a lot of ways that I can help. I believe that my verticality running in behind and consistent pressing, all of these things that I think last year maybe Seattle might have lacked a little bit. If it wasn't Jordan running in behind, who was it, right? When you add Jesus to that, he can do it all as well. Hopefully having those two together, if we're playing a five-back, all it really does is kind of take away the pressure on one person to score all the goals or to be the guy who is a playmaker. When I spoke to the coach [Brian Schmetzer], I told him, 'I'm not here to be the superstar, and I don't want to be; I'm here because I want to be a part of the team.'
GOAL: Speaking of a five-back there, do you have a favorite position? You've played all over the place. What's your preference there?
ARRIOLA: I just want to be the best player I can in whatever system that is for us, whether that's at winger, wingback, fullback, whatever. Seasons are long and, if I'm able to be trusted in multiple positions like I was in Dallas, I'll be on the field wherever I can be. That doesn't matter to me.
IMGANON BOUNCING BACK
GOAL: What were the last two MLS seasons like? Obviously, it must have been hard to bounce back from that. How did you handle it all?
ARRIOLA: 2023 was a rough year. I just wanted to come back really strong and have the best year I could to show why I should have been there. My wife and I, we lost her mother at the end of 2023 and we had our baby at the end of 2023 so it all just felt so up and down. Life at times isn't easy, and you deal with it. As a professional athlete, you can't always look to people and say 'Can you understand that we're humans and that I feel like a failure because I didn't make the team and that I'm going through a family situation?' As an athlete, people don't want a sob story, right? Once the whistle blows, you have to go out there and score goals.
That was a challenge in 2023, but 2024 was better for me in terms of clear-mindedness on the field. I still feel I have something to prove. There's a lot of hurt when you aren't successful. You learn to cope with it and you continue and try to find a perspective in life. When it happened, I just said 'What am I going to do, lie in bed and retire?' I don't want one moment to define me. I just want to be the best player I can be while understanding that life isn't always going to be fair and you have to be OK with that.