RSL vs Seattle Sounders 9/10 - Pre/PBP/Post

Way to call it. When I first read this I thought, "me too."

Why worry.

I agree it was a terrible red by the ref but I do think Sabo did feign the hit to the face just look at it again, he again did what strikers are supposed to do

Trade him.

You forgot to mention Will Johnson's participation in the video...




...um...

Quick hide your kittens

If you say so. Interpreting such a vague statement is a lot like reading tea leaves. If we'd lost it could be argued that her statement was one saying that we weren't ever in contention and she was saving her worry for a game that would be expected to be close, to go either way.

poor kitten indeed, good thing i live by Jeld-wen field where there's enough feral cats to feed a small country of hobos.

Next week no Beltran, no Wingert. Sporting are going to run down their left side all game, knocking crosses into the center. Our CM's are going to have to play the game of their lives for us to get the win.

Nice job RSL. You guys looked pretty good today. Beckerman in particular was outstanding. We thought the officiating was poor again. We had way too many set pieces leading to nothing. Your guys are bigger than ours. That's been a problem for us for years.

I thought Schuler did did well playing outside. He should definitely get the start out on the left next week. Bench Russell's ass and put Wagner out there too. Russell was once again responsible for a goal (also the pk that should have went in).

Not really. She's all about whether they're going to win or not. For all the arguing with her that goes on here that's what it comes down to. She goes off feelings of whether they will win or not - being a girl she relies on that so a good feeling = a win. She was wrong about Philly, right about Seattle.

I've been advised that you may be acting as a sock puppet. <plonk>

Wow - this team drives me crazy. When they desperately need to win, they lose. And now, when a loss would have not only been acceptable, but would have HELPED them in the playoff chase, they go out and beat Seattle on the road.

I'm telling you people, 2nd in the WEST is far worse than 4th in the West, thanks to the screwed up playoff system that Major League Soccer employs.

I think Keller fully understands this and conveniently put one in his own net.

of course im subject to some amount of sounder fan commenting, they seem to permeate themselves in all things PacNW. sounders fans are by far the dumbest fans in the league, they remind me a zoobs all the way through. to them, the sounders never do any harm or cause any problems. the other team never wins games, the sounders just manage to lose. they boo every call even when they are the right ones and they fail to honestly understand the intricacies of the game. for the most part sounders fans are complete idiots. all this bared out in their comments following games, around the blagosphere and on message boards/comment sections. i cant stand them.

and then they missed a penalty and got a red card called against themselves

not cool, man
Campos is and forever will be the RSL cragon.

4th in the west is better than 3rd in the west in the playoff system, I agree.
I don't think its better than second, though.

One less game than the WC.
"home field advantage" in the two leg series*.
challenging LA for the SS, possibly

* We've seen how well RSL does when they have the second leg at home, though

I think 2nd in the West is better than 4th in the West (likely WC1), too. Regardless, the team must play to win *every* game. The alternative begets a 'loser' mentality.

Also, even though the SS is still a longshot, RSL just gave themselves a significantly better chance by beating Seattle.

RSL is evidence of how little seeding means in the playoffs (see last 2 years). Try to win every game a be playing well going in.

form over position
very well said

One thing that will favor us is the lack of travel. Take LA for instance, they play 2 games a week and have a ton of travel out of the country to round out the rest of Sept. That Oct 1st game should be a nice time to hit them while they're worn out.

I watched the LA vs Col game and by the 2nd half both teams looked tired and very beatable. Right now I still give the SS advantage to LA, but by Oct 1st I think thats when the SS race will really be taking shape. I fully see the teams in CONCACAF dropping points in MLS games.

I don't think that a loss ever really helps. I don't care what the playoff seeding looks like, I don't ever want the team to lose.

Avoiding the Wild Card is important. Yes, you might be playing "lesser" teams. But you will also be playing on a lot of short rest. If RSL is a wild card team, here is what the schedule could look like:
Season Finale at Rio Tinto on Sat 22 OCT
Play-in Round at Rio Tinto on Wed/Thur 26/27 OCT
Conf Semis at Rio Tinto on Sat 29 OCT
Conf Semis on the road on Wed 2 NOV
Conf Finals on the raod on Sat/Sun 5/6 NOV

That's five games in 15 days, of which you have to win all but the first one and all of them could go 120 minutes. That's a lot of soccer. I think I'd trade facing Dallas or LA for that week of rest.