That Landon Donovan guy - cap him now! Very nice play for an assist, wins a hard challenge in DC's third, penetrates with his dribble and draws the defense, then plays wide to Keane for the finish. Good playmaking.
Once again the scoreline doesn't flatter him, but Meara made some BIG saves against RSL. He was under fire all day and his defense gave him very little help. Another excellent outing from the young keeper.
What about Joe Willis? Dude pretty much stood on his head for 90 minutes against LA today. Credit where credit it due. His defensive line basically left him stranded. LD with a solid game that was even better than his first three (finally has started to look healthy), and an assist. (Also played Robbie in for one of his 1 v 1s that Willis blocked with a chipped one-timed ball over the top after he chested it down). Edson Buddle as a sub was decent with a shot that Willis tipped around the post. Chad Barrett continues to make me want to rip my eyeballs out.
I think excellent outing is too much. I would say a decent or good outing. He had some nice saves but he got five holed in the first goal and i'm pretty sure he killed paulo jr but they didn't call anything.
Semantics. Given his age and experience (or lackthereof) I thought he was "excellent". On even comparison? He was "good." Yeah, some people think he should have done better on the five hole goal, but he was 1 v 1. Strikers should score that 9 times out of 10. Killed Paulo Jr? If you're an RSL fan maybe you think that! Regardless, Meara made the play.
How can that goal be his fault? He was completely left on an island by his defenders. If anything ever is the definition of wide open that play was for the Salt Lake player. It doesn't really matter if the guy five holed him or just hit it to a place where he couldn't get it. People like to make it seem like a much worse play by the GK if he gets five holed, but Meara was in a situation where he had a very slim chance to save the shot, regardless if the guy attempted to five hole him or power it past him to another spot. He didn't kill Paulo Jr. That was my initial thought, but when they showed the replay, he got all ball and he did a nice job of coming out and being aggressive, but not fouling.
This may be crazy, but how about Tally Hall. I realize this is coming from a Houston fan, but he has practically stood on his head to get this team points (this year and last). While he has made some gaffs in the past (Colorado), he looks stronger on high balls in the box and much more commanding of his area since his large mistake. I realize he wouldn't be the number 1, but we always need a 18 or 19 on the roster, especially one who's number isn't greater then their age. Besides, how many times are you going to call in Nick Rimando and Marcus Hahnemann, and not play them. That has to be frustrating for both.
Hall played fantastic against SJ. He has all the talent in the world and I think that he will finish up this season as part of the next wave of upcoming keepers in MLS (with Hamid and Kennedy). It will be interesting to see if any other names (like Meara) can push into that group. Saunders is good, but I think he is 31 so it makes more sense to build on the younger options.
I doubt Rimando is frustrated. I'm sure he realizes that he's not really the #1 now or for the future. He might be the emergency fill in #1 right now but clearly Hamid and Johnson are getting groomed to be Howard's future replacement.
Why is Rimando still in MLS? He's talented enough and experienced enough to make a really good pay day in Europe and start for a decent team.