After pronouncing their names correctly all night, suddenly: Ri-MUN-do and WINE-gert.. Wow... I think this crew may set a new record for mispronunciation of RSL player names!
You guessed it (though fairly easy). I think we win the game regardless, I hate games being changed by poor officiating, even when it goes in our favor. I thought the first half was called well, but the second half left some head scratchers.
Props to the mls live app for the iPhone, watched the whole match in perfect quality with zero stuttering. Great win, about 75 minutes of utter dominance by RSL and then a solid ending. Complete reversal of Wednesday.
MOTM for me... Espindola. They were completely baffled by him all night, even after double-teaming him for much of the time he still was a thorn in their side. Ugly but deserved win for RSL. We played our usual smooth passing game for the first 10 or so, then Colorado increasingly packed the midfield. So, we had to resort to over the top balls to loosen them up. That lead to an uglier game, but we handled it well (excuse the pun). Glad the game didn't come down to the missed handball, RSL deserved to own the victory without controversy. RSL! RSL! RSL!
What the heck happened during halftime?! The ref was doing fine the first half, then we get that giant mess. Also, I almost punched the TV after Mullan kicked at Gil's legs with the ball 5 feet away and the ref standing right there did nothing.
I thought it was a foul (don't know if it was in the box, the replay was a low angle). The Altitude announcers used the 'got the ball' excuse instead of 'did he play the man or the ball' perspective to judge it (as did the CR, apparently). It appeared to me he played the ball in such a way as to make sure he got man too. I've seen the same thing called a foul, but I'm no official, so I officially don't know sh!+.
One last change of pronunciation by the Altitude crew: After getting Olave's name correct all night, in the last 5 to 10 minutes he became o-LA-vee (instead of (o-LA-vay). LOL! And, they apparently thought that Beltran was in only his second season with RSL.
THAT was the Beckerman we've been waiting to see. He really dominated this match, and it made all the difference in the world. Really well done by him. While it's true that we got away with one on the handball no-call, I disagree that it was an "ugly win." RSL played their game and dominated for most of the match. I was nervous when it looked like we were going to start bunkering at about the 70th minute, but it seemed like we held our shape really well and dealt with Colorado's pressure without much of a problem. RSL deserved to win, regardless of the missed call, and it showed. Not an ugly win at all, IMO.
Well, he is one of those lesser known, completely under the radar players in the league, so its pretty understandable.
Bullet points on this match. *RSL owned possession and tempo thru-out match. *RSL created more chances. *Beckerman was fantastic tonight period. *Espindola was again the man of the match. *Sabastian deserves to get more starts. *Center official had a good game despite missing the Espindola hand ball. *Gil will be gone soon so play him he is the real thing. *Sabo scored and hopefully it will open the Flood gates. *Olave and Borchers in back are solid, no offense to Schuler. *Homer announcer's on MLS ticket were a joke. Blind faith comes to mind. *Johnson looked better and he looked more in sinc with play. *Beckerman was fantastic tonight, sorry already said that. *15 points and leading the west
I agree. It seemed like we controlled the match until we went up two and Colorado decided to play offense and we decided to bunker.
Our passing and pressure were phenomenal. With better finishing we might have gone big. We are a better side with Velasquez on the pitch - period. He's clearly ahead of Steele in my book as the first mid off the bench. The entire team played well - I was super impressed with Gil in the first 50-60 before he ran out of gas (understandable considering the load he's had to carry).
Weird stat of the night, crapids won possession. Gotta watch the game again tomorrow on a screen bigger than a couple inches.
Really hard to believe if correct. Only thng I can think of is that perhaps RSL's possession was more positive than we have seen in the past few matches. Pass after pass in the defensive end can be misleading.
I just wanna say this right now after watching that game but RSL doesn't really get enough credit for their crowds. I mean Rio Tinto has been a really tough place to play in. I think that alot of the newer franchises and KC bc of the dramatic turnaround get more credit, and RSL kinda got overshadowed. But since opening Rio Tinto and then the title SLC seems to have really responded positively to this team in a way that nearby Colorado hasn't. Granted it might help that RSL are themselves a newer team. Just wanted to give some props bc I don't know if anyone from outside of the city has ever really remarked on it.
Much appreciated. It's really been enjoyable to watch the soccer IQ of our crowds grow each game. There are probably about 7 or 8K die hard (or close to) fans that will come out to games rain or shine. Add the 7 or 8K casual but not obsessive fans and you have a base of about 15k. We still need to grow, we always need to grow. But what is happening, what is there now, is really fun to watch. Section 36 (or whatever one Steinkert is in) is proof of just how quickly this fan-base can grow.
Actual Match Thoughts: MOTM: Kyle Beckerman - Espy probably deserves it, but Kyle really pulled his head out in this one. Incredible play from #5. Or rather, the play I've come to expect from captain. Borlave + Schuler = best CB trio in league - I don't care how long Vancouver kept teams off the board, how good supposedly New York can be with Conde, or how talented Houston is. Our CB trio is best in the league bar none. Wingert>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Tanaka (and Tanaka isn't all that bad) - In case you were wondering how important Wingert is to the RSL puzzle, compare this game to Wednesday's. Soccer Gods hate the cRapids - Seriously, I almost enjoy winning against them in ways like this. It just further proves what a joke that other team is. Mullan can go ******** himself and retire already. Or better yet, break his own leg. - Grade A hack. Tony's ball to Sabo was Robie Russell-esk. - If we can get that kind of service from our outside backs on a regular basis, Sabo will have an amazing year. Oscar Parreja (or however the hell you spell it) is a bitch - I particularly enjoyed after our second goal, while bitching, he wasted his own time just to yell out the ref. Really smart move, dude. Anybody know what the hell the cRapid tifo display was supposed to say? Someone might want to inform them that to properly get a message across in that size of a tifo, going over you, you shouldn't jump up and punch it when you first display it.
Is everybody actually singing that new chant or is that being pumped in by speakers? It would be interesting to see if the casuals can pick up on it. Then you'll have the whole stadium singing.