This is a must win. Of course they are ALL must wins at this point of the season. Let's go with 4-2 RSL.
We are 1-0 when I wear the RSL polo shirt goobx1 sent me, and I plan to wear it again on Saturday. All available data thus points to a win.
I'd say of all the remaining ones this is probably the bigger one to win. Either way, every game at this point is a must win.
On the road at Vancouver? I think of 1) Olmes and the excitement of his rookie year, scoring a stunner of a goal, and 2) Collen Warner getting a red card when a ball hit his arm while he was sitting on the ground. The good one of those: The bad one of those (forward to 1:45):
Right now, all of the western teams in playoff position are capable of falling out entirely if they slip and San Jose or RSL put up a charge. (Seattle, KC, and Vancouver aren't far ahead of Portland, Houston, and Dallas.) This makes wins against them more valuable than against eastern teams or those which are behind. The 6th place team in the West will likely have 46-48 points, so RSL needs 12-14 to make it. Three wins and three draws might be enough, but probably not. More likely, four wins and a draw or two. That's a tall order. Not impossible, but very steep. This is the hardest game left, I think. The other road games are Colorado and LA, while the home games are Portland, Seattle, and KC. As such, if there's a game left that isn't must-win, it's this. But it would take away the entire margin of error, and that would be devastating in a high parity league.
A few things about that match: Did we complain about the handball? I feel like we would've complained. Paulo Jr.? 'Member him? Was that the only time we lost wearing those kits? I remember the "Victory" Gold as distinctly "Draw" Gold Kreis watching from the rafters. Does he hold the record for suspensions for coaches? Probably Sigi. What a strike for that 3rd goal! Beauty!
Any injury updates? Marcelo? Is Phillips even still on this team? Are Rusnak and Savarino expected back in time to start?
I do also, but I'm torn between supporting RSL and watching the BYU-Utah game at my brother's house where I'll be treated to a games worth of cheesy low-brow family humor. Decisions, decisions.
Vancouver has found a decent bit of form lately. I'm not overly optimistic about this one. And technically speaking, this isn't a must-win, IMO. We win the 3 home games and get points at the cRapids/LA and that probably makes up for a goose egg here. I haven't heard any reason we would be missing players. Yes, Sava and Rusnak did international duty but that finished earlier in the week. Neither of them logged serious minutes. Marcelo fell victim to the "it's just a precautionary" hamstring injury. He's more likely done for the year than going to play again. That's how that injury plays out at this club. Lineup I expect: Nicky Tony Glad Horst Wingert* KB Sunny Sava Rusnak Plata Silva Bench: VanO, Schmidt, Besler, Luke, Lennon, Bofo, Yura *Remember that Acosta got sent off against the cRapids. Petke's comments made it sound like he wasn't overly pissed about it. I fear Wing gets the job the rest of the year, though.
neither team gets vcitory gold! and when I think away at Vancouver all I think of is when Nat Borchers got called for a handball pk because he fell down and happened to hit the ball with his hand
Record the RSL game and enjoy the time with family. Bonus of recording the RSL game means being able to skip halftime, and you can always fast forward during subs and slow moments like waiting for a GK, as well. Makes the game go a lot quicker.
I think Silva was held out from practice earlier this week for an injury, but Petke said it was "precautionary".
Is it bad that my first thought after seeing Yura in the lineup was, "The FO must be giving him playing time in hopes he'll have a couple lucky games so we can shop him"?
Yo Dunny, you don't need to tell us all about Chris Wingert's exceptional physical attributes. That amount of praise is just plain suspicious. Almost as if you're reading BS and feel the need to counter. If so, can't wait to hear what you have to say about Yura soon.